jacksonianmarch

My hope is that we arent revisiting this in 5 yrs and adding Robby Cano to this list. He just turned 30 so he'll play out his final season on this contract at that age. He will likely get a 7 yr contract covering yrs 31-37 and he will likely produce to his career norms for the first 3 yrs of that contract. After that he could be hurt, ineffective, slowly decline or completely combust. I know we have to re-sign him and if he continues on his current trajectory, he's a HOF lock, but I dont like the look that Boras seems to have in his eye on this contract. He'll make King Felix's deal look like a bargain

Wait, you're asking the most vitriolic and meddling media market in the world to not meddle in the affairs of it's market's most tumultuous and followed team? Yeah, they'll listen to you, LOL

Only an idiot takes the mound in the spring without a plan of action. He's either an idiot or wasn't fully invested in what they were doing for some reason.

Kalish is a hard nosed type of player and sounds a lot like a Trot Nixon type when it comes to motor. That's not really a complement since his reckless play has led to some serious injuries. He has to learn to pick his spots or else he'll be washed up physically by the time he's 30. His issue is akin to Yankee prospect Slade Heathcott. Talent through the roof, but reckless beyond belief and injuries are running the risk of career derailment

Exactly e1

You dont need to make that move right now. If Bogaerts shows improvement and can even be an average defensive SS, you have a guy whose value is immense. The sox should be getting back to value instead of "pop" as the dumbasses wanted. Bogaerts offers considerably more value as a SS. Give him 2013 to work his way into being useful at SS. If he fails, then consider the move above

He's trying to undo the s*** he said earlier

I agree there jung. Lohse might be a mild upgrade, but the only way he'd come to the bean is for multiple yrs at 8 figures per yr. If Boras can't drum up interest in a long term deal, I could see him going to the Mets on a 1 yr deal at high money.

Unfortunately one of the Yankees backups for the 3b position has already gone down for an undisclosed amount of time with a back injury. David Adams, who has been made of glass, wrenched his back and will miss big league camp. When healthy, he rakes and plays good D, but an ankle injury and now this back issue are setting him back. I hope he is ready when the season starts because he's probably the best RH portion of a platoon if Youk gets hurt early on.

I doubt he's a no-sign risk as a college junior, but he was the top rated guy coming into the yr and sounds like a Carlos Gonzalez type player, so I dont know why they'd have him slipping unless he's injured.

I have seen scouts all over the board on this kid's capabilities at SS. Some say he will definitely stick, others say he can't handle SS right now and others are saying he'll come up a SS and move to 3b within a few yrs when he grows into his body. Based on the majority, it seems like the last one will be the likely scenario, that is unless Iglesias pulls his bat out of his ass and can actually hit to league average.

Youk is either going to be spectacularly good or spectacularly bad and here's why. If he is truly healthy and comes out strong, he'll win the support of the Yankee fans who are looking forward to seeing someone else step in for AFraud. If he starts out slow, he'll be the embedded Red Sox player and he'll get crucified at home on a nightly basis. Also, the Yankees have a few prospects who are big league ready and capable of handling the hot corner, so the leash wont be long

Bradley needs at least another half season in the minors. Blowing through the minors in his first full yr was a nice accomplishment, but the league now has a shot to adjust to him and they will. It's better he learn to adjust back while in the minors than after an unsuccessful stint in the bigs performed prematurely

Lohse is a guy I don't offer money to. He's your typical St. Louis reclamation project who came up aces. His success in the AL was minimal at best and he's in his mid 30s if he's shooting for a 1 yr deal, it won't be in boston since he knows his numbers would suffer.

The Yankees dealt Abraham Almonte to the Mariners for Shawn Kelley. Kelley is a RH reliever who has been pretty solid for the M's in their MiLB system and has put up solid numbers thus far in parts of 4 seasons in the bigs. Low 90s heat with a good slider, he projects to earn a spot in middle relief

STOP DRINKING THE KOOL-AID! To say that De la Rosa, Webster, Wright, Aceves, etc are guys you can rely on for league average performance is f***ing insane. You have no idea what to expect from them, be honest. Morales is a guy you actually have a track record on, so he might be able to give you some useful innings, but his history shows that relying on him in the rotation is a problem.

LOL, I guess it's better than being called a wet blanket?

Not a very good article, to be honest with you. It lumps in Lester with some good players and one of the greats in Palmer. They aren't equals, though. Stieb also isnt a very good comparison. There is a reason. Jon Lester is a strikeout pitcher, or he was. The two guys he is really comparing him to never were. Palmer's career K/9IP was 5.04. Stieb's was 5.21. Lester's is 8.21 and when Lester was dominant, he was between 8.55 and 9.96. Last yr, he slipped to 7.28, his lowest since his pretty solid 2008 campaign. And the interesting thing about Lester's 2008 was that a lot of people, myself included, predicted that either he'd regress to the mean in terms of his FIP after 2008 or increase his K's to continue his solid ERA and production. Well, he upped the K's until last yr. The funny thing is, his xFIP was lower in 2012 than it was in his dominant 2008 campaign. Funny how that works, isnt it? His xFIP was lights out in 09 and 10, showed he was a little lucky in 11 and unlucky in 12. That being said, if Lester continues his trend of decreasing K amounts, he will increase his FIP and will likely even out above the 4.00ERA mark again. Last yr, based on his performance, his FIP was 4.11 and his xFIP was 3.82, an entire run below what his ERA was. Hence why I am predicting Lester to be right around the 4.00ERA mark, maybe a tick below. If he corrects his "mechanical" flaw (IT'S MENTAL BTW and maybe a little physical since he lost some of his velo) and starts K'ing batters at his prior rate, then he would be something more.

A hammy pull in mid February will not knock him out into the season, although it might leave him a little behind in his ST regimen. Instead of being able to throw 100 pitches in start 1, he might be at 80. Not that big of a deal

KC has an outside chance of being respectable this yr. Shields and Guthrie give them a decent 1-2 punch. Davis slides into the 3 hole, Chen into the 4 and Hochevar into the 5 with Mendoza and Duffy on the sidelines. They should also see Felipe Paulino return after the ASB and he was lights out until he blew out his elbow. They have the makings of a pitching staff and their pen is stout. I think they will surprise a few teams, especially if they see a rebound from Hosmer and a full season of production from Moustakas. I think they will be very exciting

Shin Soo Choo is a big loss for them. They arent close to competing right now as their pitching staff is in shambles. They need Ubaldo to return to his 2010 form, Masterson to return to his 2011 form and Bauer to fulfill his potential. I find the Guardians to be as perplexing as any team this offseason. They took 2 steps forward, a step back and a few steps sideways. I dont see the logic in loading up on expensive contracts for guys on the wrong side of 30 when their team is a few yrs away from contributing. They're going to go from doormat to .500

I said the same thing last yr with Pineda.

There is no way he got shot in the leg, is missing 4 weeks and didnt hit muscle. There is no god damn way he missed a muscle. Thing is, as long as he didnt completely tear tendons or ligaments, then the muscles should heal without much issue

I still saw a few mid 90s heaters there. He doesnt consistently sit in the mid 90s anymore, but he isnt a soft throwing guy by any means

He throws his knuckler in the 80s and gets a ton of late, unpredictable movement. He can also locate his in the bottom of the zone which keeps his knuckler in the yard. Remember, he has a different physiology than you and I. He has no UCL and by having no UCL, his mechanics are a little different and the ball comes out at a different angle. It leaves him with a pitch he used to call "The Thing" but is really a modified knuckler. He's finally perfected it