jacksonianmarch

Anderson was a big time prospect, but by the time the deal for AdGon came about, Lars had already washed out. He apparently didnt live up to the 20 time all star floor that Dojji predicted, lol

I would assume a middling level prospect, right? Wouldnt want to give up too much.

Matt Diaz and Juan Rivera enter the fray for our RH counterpart in the corners. Rivera is washed up and cannot play the OF anymore. Diaz is coming off a hand injury. I really, really hope they know what they're doing, cause if these guys cannot hit lefties this yr, we're gonna be incredibly vulnerable to the lefties in division

Bird is also way too low. He's a beast who will be unleashed this yr in Charleston, IMO. He's a guy with top notch power with a good hit skill. Cave should be on the list as well. Goody will end up getting discovered when he tears through Charleston this yr. Cote had shoulder woes this past yr and low some velo. I agree with his ranking outside the top 31.

Buchholz and Bailey for Stanton. I dont even think MLB the Show would allow that deal.

Why would you lump him in? Maybe because he isnt one of your starters as it stands right now

I think the sox end up as #10 in the AL with a starters ERA around 4.65. Toronto was #10 last yr, but their ERA will lower dramatically. Baltimore will come back to earth a bit and drop behind the sox. The Angels will drop beind the sox and the Royals will stay just barely in front of the sox.

Bradley, Barnes, and De la Rosa get the deal moved past the "NO" stage. Subbing in Bogaerts for one of the three might get a "Yes". I just doubt the sox would be willing to do that. If you got Stanton, though, you'd be set at your #3 spot for the next 10 yrs, assuming you sign him to a big money extension. If he played in the Fens, he'd hit 40+HRs annually

I see, since counting on Franklin Morales as a starter has gone well at all times, especially in big spots, oh wait. And btw, you should have lumped his starts in with the detritus you'll be ridding from last yr's crap fest, but you didnt.. And Rubby de la Rosa is the second coming is he? The guy with 2 big league pitches, profiles more as a closer, has minimal big league experience and who he himself is also coming off TJS. You're touting depth that isnt really there because you cannot tout the 1-5 that are slated to take the bump come April. Dude, this is a pretty weak argument in total. Come midseason, you should be able to see what the true colors of your real depth is, especially with your 3 minor league options in Webster, Barnes and De la Rosa. If it falls in line with what most people see, you'll see one guy get injured, one guy make an impact in the bigs and one guy flame out spectacularly

Wait, so they improved by removing the fodder above and giving those starts to Lackey? Lol

I am surprised Santana slipped so far. He's a highly talented kid coming off a bad injury and wasnt right last yr for most of the yr. He started to show his talents again in instructs. A lot of these rankings involve ceiling and Santana's ceiling is as high as anyones on the list

It is homerism when every single stat you throw out there is trying to justify the actual performance that went out on the field. It is also homerism when you expect a guy like John Lackey to be your savior in the rotation when he's a year removed from major arm surgery and prior to that was the worst pitcher in Red Sox history. It is also homerism to consider that Dempster will give you above average performance on top of his capability to eat innings. I doubt the sox suck to the degree that they sucked last yr, that much I agree with. But expecting them to drop an entire run in ERA is a little much. I think their starters ERA ends up in the 4.6 range, which still has them in the back third of the division, especially since the AL starters just got a boost with Toronto gaining significant talent, the Yankees having Pettitte and Phelps up for a full yr and with the Royals gaining James Shields.

You probably didnt look at the stats in the league from last yr when making your post above. Maybe a little more analysis would make you seem less like a homer. To be clear, the sox ushered out DiceK and Beckett from their rotation and influxed Dempster and Lackey. Probably a wash, but maybe a slight improvement. That being said, here is a ranking with ERA's of the AL starting rotations from 2012 1. TB- 3.34 2. Detroit- 3.76 3. Oakland- 3.80 4. Seattle- 3.93 5. LAA- 4.04 6. NYY- 4.05 7. CWS- 4.15 8. TEX- 4.30 9. BAL- 4.42 10. TOR- 4.82 11. KC- 5.01 12. BOS- 5.19 13. CLE 5.25 14. MIN 5.40 To get to #7, they'd have to shave off over a run from their ERA. Can you honestly say they have done that with their acquisitions this yr?

I find it completely hilarious that your "analysis" of you're rotation has it's a top 3-5 rotation in the AL. Lol. You brought in a career NLer at an advanced age, who'll give you IP, but whose production isn't expected to be much better than the departed Beckett. And you're returning the worst SP in Red Sox history coming off TJS. Barring finding a patch of 4 leaf clovers, your rotation is set for a debacle in 2013.

you needed two IMO. Lackey prior to TJS was not a workhorse, he was a bullpen and team assassin. You're hoping that a guy whose velo was gone, his stuff was gone and his arm was shredded will return to the 200IP guy he was in Anaheim

And your comment also diminishes the likelihood that injuries will play a part in 2013.

It's possible. Just like it's possible Kevin Youkilis hits .300 with a .900OPS in pinstripes. I wouldnt hold my breath, though. You need both of them to not only pitch at a high level, you need both of them to be durable

Kool Aid is running thick in the icy cold in the Big Bean. What was your biggest deficiency the last 3 yrs? Answer: Your rotation. What have they really not improved over the last 3 yrs? Answer: Your rotation. I dont care if you have a pen of Percival, Rivera, Hoffman, and Goose in their prime, if you are using them for 3+ innings on average a night, they will die, and die quickly. And your lineup is not better than it was last yr. And you forget, your offense was 8th in the game last yr a full 70 runs behind NY. And that was with AdGon around for most of the season. The only way the sox make the POs or contend is if the starting pitching finds its way. And right now, the only changes were Lackey for DiceK and Dempster for Beckett. Not much of an upgrade

I was strictly talking about on the baseball field. When it comes to finances, the worth seems to merge

Gibson was a guy who played until his knees needed replacing. He doesnt handle prima donnas well. He's more your military style manager. He brought in a guy in Prado who is well respected, plays hard, and plays good D. They brought in Gregorius who is a whiz with the glove as well. And their OF is pretty stacked even after these moves. I like what they've done.

How about Nava? Well, I expect him to hit .350 for April then .190 from there on out, be on the bench for most of the yr and be an afterthought from there on out. For some reason, teams forget the scouting report against him the first time through then remember that he'd a dead red, easily fooled hitter who you can go right after with some deception and he ends up making easy outs. Dont pitch him cute, don't just try to blow him away, mix it up and he's got no chance

Upton is a malcontent with a big time gift for hitting the baseball. He's 25 and nearly won an MVP in 2011. His owner dogged him for a nagging injury in the offseason, he responded by sucking ass for most of the yr. His OPS in the final half of the yr was 50 points higher and his OPS in September was near .900 with 5 of his 17HR. It seems like his issues were health related. His bat in Boston would have been something to behold and considering that most players dont peak until 25-30, you're about to see him go off in Atlanta.

Napoli at 1b is a downgrade any way you look at it. Yes, AdGon had a down yr offensively, but the defensive drop will be massive. He'd have to hit 35HRs just to overturn his butchery at 1b. That being said, he might do just that in Fenway. I think the sox positioned themselves as they had to. Push enough cash flow into the team to keep it interesting while waiting for the prospects and the cap issues to flow away. They wont be a playoff team in 2013, IMO, but have set themselves up pretty well for the future

I dont think it would happen, but imagine the haul for a 2b with the second highest WAR in baseball, who could slot in as your 3 hitter and is 30. His value is immense and I think Boras is going to force us to pay it. I am very conflicted on the future of the Yankees, Divinity. I think our 2013 campaign should land us in the playoffs because, for once, we should have one of the top 3 rotations in all of baseball. The reason why I say that is we have a bona fide ace in CC who is healthy. You have a guy in Kuroda who was dominant, durable and had great stuff last yr. You have a full yr of Pettitte, who looked like he took a yr off to juice (fastball velo 89-91, havent seen that in a few yrs). You have a healthy Hughes in a contract yr. And you have Nova and Phelps fighting for that final spot. That's a deep rotation. Our offense puttered along last yr with ARod playing like s***, Grandy hitting in the .230s, and Gardner missing the whole yr. I think with Ichiro and Gardner there for a full season, our offense should weather the loss of Swisher and we should be pleasantly surprised by the introduction of Romine, especially since Martin was a near lost cause offensively. That being said, we're f***ed come 2014. The roster turnover will be tremendous. These are the guys we are losing.... Cano, Granderson, Hughes, Chamberlain, Pettitte, Logan, Kuroda, Jeter(maybe), Rivera and Youkilis. Seeing as we are losing such a big piece of our team and we're probably going to re-sign Cano for an AAV of around $25 mil or so, we're going to be in salary cap hell. Between CC, ARod, Tex, and Cano, we'd have $100 mil tied up long term. We'd have a cap of $189 million with another: $6.5 mil tied up in Ichiro $5 mil or so for Gardner in arb $5 mil for Robertson in arb $1 mil for Nunez $2 mil for Nova That's another near $20 mil off the board. That means we'd have around $70 mil to fill 2 spots in the rotation (assuming Nova and Phelps move in full time), the closers role vs the entire middle relief if Robertson closes, SS, and LF. We will likely see our relief corps get temperized with one signing and a bunch of kids coming up. We'll probably see 2 pillow contracts in the rotation. We'd probably be forced into re-signing Jeter at a rate we arent comfortable with. We might be able to promote from within in the OF. And we should fill out our bench with some low risk, high reward vets on the downturn of their careers as usual. When all is said and done, we'll have to absorb some significant losses by either turning to downgrades or rookies. In the end, 2014 will not be a banner yr and I think we all know it. Now, 2015 will see the shackles of the cap come off, we'd have had 2 yrs more experience for our top prospects and we'll be closer to the end of the ARod deal, but we have to be realistic. Robby Cano is under contract in 2013. Do we want to commit 7 yrs and $175 mil to him from 2014 on knowing that we won't be a playoff contender until at least yr 2 in the contract when he'll be 32 yrs old? These guys make their money on the long term deals in yrs 1-3 or 4. You burn one or two of those yrs on bridge yrs and by the time you're ready to contend, the big money player is a glorified DH.

He had tendonitis in his elbow after having his second TJS procedure in 09, so there were concerns. He returned and was throwing as well as he did prior to those issues, though. I thought he was a prime candidate for a 2 yr deal, but on a 1 yr pillow contract, I thought he suited the sox well. I get why he went to the Mets, if he shows he's healthy and gets back to what he was doing, then he's a prime candidate for a 3-4 yr deal at big money after 2013. But I thought the sox situation could have been tempered with his effectiveness and history of durability