jacksonianmarch

He'd have a s*** ton of trouble replicating what AGon did offensively, though

That's a reasonable and well thought out idea. I think they should hire you to give Cherington some advice. They should make a move. And I think they will, eventually. And this is not sarcastic at all. I think you are the first person on here to propose making a move for the pen that doesnt involve moving Bard back to the pen.

His UZR/150 with the Red Sox in 2006 was 14.6. That's awesome

I have a feeling that Bard may be in the pen sooner than most think. If Melancon continues to suck in key moments, then the sox will promote Cook to the rotation and they will put Bard in the closers role.

Without Bailey or Bard, the pen as currently constructed is no better than average and probably below average. Bailey won't be back until August 1 in all likelihood, so while he will help out for the final 1/3 of the season, he won't put in enough innings to skew the ERA that much. Also, if Bard is in the rotation until he hits his innings cap, then he wont be in the pen until August as well. Hill isnt expected to be back for another 2 months as well. You are definitely right about the idea that the second half will be worth keeping the first half afloat for. The reinforcements coming in August will change the pen from pedestrian to stellar. The question is, will they make a move in the interim to shore up the weaknesses. I think they will have to, especially if Melancon continues to show up small in big spots. That was the reason he was moved in the Bronx and he didnt do anything to dispel that notion tonight. It will be interesting to see how things play out. I think this yrs sox team is going to be the most interesting experiment in the bigs. I won't be able to turn away

Alex Gonzalez was easily a plus defender. You're having selective memory

He was a bit lucky last yr. His ability to get the GB helped. He'd be able to give you innings, but in that park and with his mediocre stuff, he'd be a risky, risky move.

Yankees deal George Kontos for backup catcher Chris Stewart. He's a defense only catcher. My guess is Girardi hated Cervelli's D so much the past 2 seasons that he wanted someone solid. That being said, not sure why they needed to move a guy like Kontos who had a shot at being the first reliever called up. He's got more potential than this schmuck.

And it dies with the "chart" being brought up. That's okay, continue to think you're winning! /sheen

The Cubs are designed to fail in 2012. I think Theo is hoping for a run of high draft picks while trying to let some of these horrible contracts dissipate. He'll eventually be able to spend some change, but right now, he gets to do what I think he wanted to do in Boston. He gets to blow it up. In Chicago, the Cubs have been blown up so many times in their history that I dont think the fans will give a s***. If he tried to rebuild in Boston, he'd have been crucified. The Cubs will be winners by 2015, bank on it.

4yrs $50 mil, equals $12.5 mil per season. The sox paid him $12 million in 2011 alone. He's getting roughly the same rate as the sox gave him. And he has performed at an elite level for his entire stay in Boston. The gold standard is $15 mil a season, which Mariano is earning. Papelbon isnt Mariano, but he's probably right behind him in performance over the past 6 seasons. He's also 30 yrs old. A 4 yr contract takes him through his 34 yr old season. He shouldnt see a non-injury decline in that span. If the contract took him past 35, then I'd agree. The contingency with closers is injury. Mo is lucky he hasnt had a major one in his time in NY. Papelbon had his shoulder scare, but he hasnt either. If he stays healthy, he'll be worth the contract. If he doesnt, then he won't be. I've said it 1000X on here. Papelbon isnt irreplaceable. He's just very difficult to replace. He's given you elite production (sans 1 season) out of a very important position since he took the role 6 yrs ago. The combination of production, durability, and ability to handle the pressure made him worth what he is earning. If he continues to show he can perform at that level, then he's worth it.

UN, if Papelbon continues to stay healthy, then his contract is a boon. The problem with relievers is their frequent injuries, so that might have been the reason why the sox didnt go long with him. If he can keep it up and stay relatively healthy, then he's worth it. They proved that by paying him $12 mil in 2011. If they didnt think he was worth it, he'd have been dealt last yr

Two entirely different situations hence two separate thought processes. Pineda was in a rotation that had 6 big league starters and one working his way back. He did nothing all offseason and shows up fat, out of shape, and with diminished stuff. They couldn't justify demoting him due to his yr 1 performance. He says he had some normal shoulder soreness after his workout, NY gets an MRI which is clean and calls it tendinitis. They needed a reason to put him on the shelf so he can get into game shape, and they quite possibly made one up. Bailey is a counted upon closer with limited contingencies. If they had a reason to think he'd only need a few weeks, they'd have revealed that early on. They held off on telling the world he'd miss 4 months until they had all opinions in. Not sure what you're patting yourself on the back here for. One situation the team is mad at the player and has contingencies, the other is a player who is heavily counted on who just has s*** luck

Tell me how the crow tastes. 3-4 months, I said 12 weeks. It's like I do this for a living or something...

You move Bard back and forth and he'll end up on the DL as well. You make a decision and you stick with it for now. Also, it is much easier to move him back to the pen than from the pen into the rotation

Unless this is just a sheath (and I am sure the sox would have leaked it if it was) then he is likely out until the ASB. Imagine 80 games with a closer who shrivels in big spots and a converted long man closing out games. It's kinda funny that the Yankee cast-offs will be shutting things down for you, although neither should have been traded/released IMO

This was a stupid move for a team that will likely never go over $100 mil in a season. They never should have dealt everything they had for Latos. They had Alonso and Grandal ready to take over 1b and C and they should have dealt Votto for a humongous haul and actually rebuilt on the fly. Instead, they put all their chips on Votto and Latos and won't have much cap room to make any adjustments.

nevermind. Some sort of glitch

It obviously depends on the surgery they are recommending. The hand is a tricky area and I would assume they are talking about surgery on one of his tendons. If they are just opening a sheath, he'll miss 6 weeks or so. If they need to repair a partial or complete tendon tear, then he's out 12 weeks. If the adductor muscle is torn, then he might need 8-12 weeks. We'll see what that is. Obviously, this is his pitching arm, so he'll need to then build his arm back up. You can only do so much dry tossing to keep your arm in shape

They can go lefty and pull the stranger. Lester would have to move to right though

CMon man, you can definitely do better than that. Sumo-wrestling, maybe. Do you need it on a tee

Valentine will need to suspend team circle-jerks until further notice. Too many thumb injuries

The Yankees in-season thread has a problem. I posted in it, the thread says it was updated today and that there are 3 pages, but when you go to the thread, the third page isnt there. What's the deal?