jacksonianmarch

Let's look at what the projected roster is right now, without any additions C- Lavarnway 1B- Saltalamacchia 2B- Pedroia SS- Iglesias 3B- Middlebrooks LF- Nava CF- Ellsbury RF- Reddick DH- Gomez That's your lineup that is under contract. They might re-sign Papi, they might re-sign Ross. But as of right now, that is the lineup. That lineup sucks *******. They cannot feasibly punt the SS position if their offense is that feeble.

The Tigers have the best chance, hence I want the White Sox to go on a run here and win the central

Yet some guys on the site feel comfortable punting a spot in the order for Iglesias

Sooooo getting Tim Lincecum, who looks wrecked in the NL West, and Dan Haren, who looks wrecked in the AL West, gives you a ferocious rotation? That's absurd. You don't need guys who can be aces but are flailing currently. You need consistent innings eaters.

They don't need Farrell but the need Buchholz.

No other SS in all of baseball can make that play? Take his dick out of your mouth for a second and re-read what you wrote. Cause it's pretty lame

They shouldnt even really be going for the big names. They have a shot to develop over the next 2 yrs. Going out and getting Hamilton just makes their s*** a little shinier.

Ace upside while recovering from TJS and having proven he cannot locate. The guy will be in the discussion, but anyone expecting him to be dominant out the gate will likely be left out in the rain. I still think the kid ends up as your setup man next yr by yrs end.

We stuck with Logan at the wrong time. Boone is overworked. Oh well, the O's lost so the magic number goes down

You guys are sox fans. Stop acting like you're A's fans

I think you lose a 2nd rounder

I actually hope you get Swisher. He turns 32 in November and will be one of the best bats on a thin market. Meaning, he is gonna get paid. He is the epitome of just above average and will be paid like an elite. He is probably looking at a 4-5 yr contract in the $15-18 mil range which is a humongous overpay. And one other thing, if he is signed to anything more than a 2-3 yr deal, you will end up with a broken down player worth almost nothing after yr 3. The concerning trend I see with him is the walks are down and he is about to set a career high in K's.

and now you are missing the point and making absolutely stupid points with Lowe (signed to the veteran minimum) and Ichiro ($2 mil for the Yankees).

The big money moves have time to fester and turn into bad money moves. The thing is, you look at ARod. The guy was signed after a 2007 season that was for the ages. He earned his money for 2 seasons, was adequate in 2010 and has been an injury plagued, good player with a bloated contract for the last two seasons. For the first 3 yrs, you could say that he was close to worth the contract (nobody is worth 27.5 mil a yr). These tremendously long deals hamstring teams in the end.

If he brings a .200BA with no power or OBP, then your team will sink. You dont have the lineup of even a year ago, and with Papi being a FA, you could be dealing with a pretty thin lineup and contributions from 1-9 will be needed to win it all. 2-3 yrs ago, you could punt a spot in the order. In 2013, you need production. Now, you dont need .320/.400/.600 production, but you will need a guy who can reach base 30% of the time and not K every 4th AB

Hiroki Kuroda has the 8th highest WAR in the bigs for a pitcher. That's insanely good. If he replicated that in Fenway, you guys would be a lot better than you are right now

Everyone seems to think the Yankees just throw money at their problems. I want you to look at the reasons why the Yankees are where they are right now... Robinson Cano- home grown Andy Pettitte- $2 mil signing Hiroki Kuroda- 1 yr, $10 mil deal (a pittance for good pitching) Russell Martin- non-tender signee two yrs back Eric Chavez- $1 mil per yr Raul Ibanez- $1 mil per yr Ivan Nova and Phil Hughes- home grown David Phelps, David Robertson- home grown Jeter- home grown, ridiculous contract Granderson- acquired in a trade that wasnt a salary dump Swisher- acquired in a trade The big money expenditures on this team are guys like Tex, Arod, CC, and Soriano. This team is built from the rubber first which is why they are in first. They were built on offense from 2004-2008 and it got them embarassed and even missing the playoffs once. The money allows them to eat more of their mistakes, but Cashman has been good with the little money moves and has allowed some development of their minor league system. I hate the deal with ARod, but so be it.

To get an "ace" you have to deal Doubront plus probably one of your B's to get into the equation. Doubie has promise, but he is far from a young ace in the making. He has a lot of warts but a lot of potential

Also, with Iglesias, you have to see what he is. 2013 is a big year to determine the direction of the team. If you delay with Iggy, you might end up having to move him and watch him blossom elsewhere. I have a weird scenario for you. Why not keep Ciriaco as the super utility guy, hand the job to Iggy and if he cannot handle it, swap them.

Lavarnway is a weird case. He goes from being an absolute bomber for his whole MiLB career and a butcher behind the dish, to a solid average defensive catcher and a guy who loses his power. His AVG and OBP are nearly identical to a year ago, but he drops down to 8 homers in the minors and loses 130 points of OPS. Very strange. Regardless, the sox are learning that deficient defensive catchers kill them on the mound. Salty is abysmal. Lavs is a lot better defensively. If Lavs can figure out how to catch 130 games or so and still have the energy in the batters box to whack the ball over the monster, then they will have something. But even if he is adequate defensively and can his .290 with minimal power and a .350+OBP, he will be a humongous improvement. Based on what I have seen defensively, you dont have a choice for next yr. And if you think Salty will be better offensively by not catching 120 times a year, then you relegate him to DH or 1B, have him catch 30 games, stick with Lavs at catcher and let Papi walk. 2013 will not be a banner yr in Boston without massive changes. And if they can see Salty hit to an .800+OPS with 30HR when pulled from the catcher spot and Lavs can man the C spot well while not being abysmal at the dish, then they upgrade without making any acquisitions

Lucchino already is greasing the wheels for Aceves to go as he insinuated in a recent interview that Aceves' return is certainly not a guarantee. I think Melancon has to be kept in the organization lest Cherington lose all his face for that deal. He's still optionable, I believe, so if he sucks in ST, he stays in AAA for one more season before being released into obscurity. The funny thing is, I bet he ends up in KC or Pittsburgh and works his way into a setup role. His stuff is still good, he just shrinks on the bigger stage. And one thing that really left his repertoire from his dominance in the Yankee system and his solid effort in Houston is his 2 seamer. He was a groundball and K machine in the minors and since coming to Boston, he has gotten rid of one of his best pitches. Now, you lay off the curve and whack the 4 seamer. Bailey still has great stuff and I assume he will still be a solid closer next yr. He won't be dominant to the level Pap was since this is Boston, a different park, different foes and different atmosphere. But I do think he ends up being a top 10-12 closer in the bigs in 2013.

Pettitte with 11 straight scoreless IP in his return and the Yankees are rolling again. 2 games up in the L column with 10 to play

Yes, yes it is. With the flames being fanned by the Boston schill Peter Gammons. He should be fired.

If he can work on his plate discipline, he could have a big yr for u

Thanks, I think. Lol