jacksonianmarch

I doubt he clubs over 20. But having 50 doubles and 15 triples isnt out of the equation

Red Sox top 5 in offense Ellsbury hits less than 20HR AdGon OPS's over .950 Youkilis misses 40-50 games due to injury Ortiz regresses significantly Ross has a resurgence Crawford misses 2 months with wrist issues DiceK throws less than 50 innings and is DFA'd by the end of the yr Bard is a pen arm by mid August Aceves starts out strong but fizzles out of the rotation Josh Beckett has his typical even year and misses time due to injury Jon Lester rebounds to have a Cy Young caliber season Clay Buchholz throws around 150IP and misses time due to various ailments Andrew Bailey locks down the closer spot Mark Melancon puts up good numbers but draws the ire of RSN for a few big lapses against NY Ryan Kalish finishes the season in RF The sox win 89 games and narrowly beat out the Rays for the 5th playoff spot The sox make a move for Matt Cain at the trade deadline

a700, a 90-91 team will be the 5th playoff team this yr. You just need to win 90 and you're in

Melancon is not Bard. Anyone thinking he is Bard will be sadly mistaken. He's a kid with a good fastball and a plus curve. I am intrigued to see how he is going to fare when the lights are brightest. He seemed to shy away in NY, granted, he was a rookie. We'll see how he feels when he has to face Cano with a 1 run lead in the 8th

Hell, what about McClellan? The guy was the balls in 2010 out of the pen and showed he could at least hold his own in the rotation last yr.

I hope that therapy includes some Winstrol and some Bolies. Bitch tits needs to stay healthy this yr

You do understand that a .500+ win % vs playoff contenders is good, right? Also, 2009 we won the world series, 2010 we lost in the ALCS, in 2011, we were 1 run from going to the ALCS. It's not like we haven't won any playoff we're 4-2 in the last 3 yrs.

I used LAA, DET, TB, NYY, BOS, PHI, and TEX. You know, the teams that were in contention or won a playoff spot. Where's the ERA you say? ERA isnt something a pitcher can control. He can control how many guys he K's and how many baserunners he allows for the most part. When was the last time someone with actual baseball acumen used ERA as anything more than just a novelty?

Laughable is your response that once again lacks any sort of grasp in reality. Pineda away- 94IP 83H 27BB 91K- 1.17WHIP, 3.4K/BB, 8.7K/9IP Pineda vs contenders- 69.1IP 57H 27BB 69K. 1.21WHIP, 9K/9IP, 2.6K/BB The only thing that he could control that he did vs contenders was walk them more often, which is to be expected. Typically, contenders have a better lineup with more patient hitters.

Huh? They have always done this. That has been the blueprint since 1996. .600 or better vs bad teams, .500 or better vs good teams. I am starting to think you arent grounded in reality here. You're projecting

Clay Buchholz is unequivocally not an ace. Aces are not only productive, but they give innings, have high K rates, dont get hurt and carry a rotation. Buchholz has one season in the bigs that he's thrown more than 96 innings in and his career IP max is 173.2IP. Plus, his K rate in his "ace season" was 6.2 per 9IP. He's not an ace, and right now, it is unknown if he's healthy enough to last a season. Hell, even in his best season, he missed a few weeks with a pulled hamstring. Look at the numbers please. Pineda has been torn a new one on here for being in a big park, not being proven, not having thrown a lot of innings, etc. His numbers in his first full season dwarf Buchholz's numbers in his best season. And, Buchholz is coming off a fracture in his back. But Buchholz is the ace, and Pineda is an unproven commodity coming from a big park. Right....

Another interesting thing to keep an eye on is if the sox are mentally tough enough to be division contenders. It's one thing to be supremely talented and get up for games against good teams, it's another to be mentally tough and professional enough to take every game seriously and beat the bad teams. The sox have had a pretty rough go of things lately vs the bad teams in baseball. Here's a run down of what they did last yr vs BAL- 10-8 vs NYY- 12-6 vs TB- 6-12 vs TOR- 10-8 vs CWS- 2-4 vs CLE- 4-6 vs DET- 5-1 vs KC- 5-3 vs MIN- 5-2 vs LAA- 6-2 vs OAK- 6-2 vs SEA- 5-4 vs TEX- 4-6 vs PHI- 1-2 vs CHC- 2-1 vs HOU- 3-0 vs MIL- 2-1 vs PIT- 1-2 vs SD- 1-2 Overall, vs non-contenders they were 54-42. That's a .562 win %. Overall, vs contenders they were 36-30 vs contenders for a .545 win %. That just isnt good enough. A team with superior talent that can take 55% of its games from playoff contenders should make the playoffs. Period. One of the reasons why the Yankees have been successful is because they demolish the bad teams and play .500 vs the good ones. The Yankees record vs non-contenders was 64-34, good for a .653 win % Vs contenders, it was only 33-31, good for a .516 win % Bobby Valentine may be able to help here. Continuing to keep the players motivated even vs the s*** teams could go a long way.

Also, the bruising offense isnt enough to carry in the AL East. Especially with the projected 6-9 of the lineup. There isnt much upside there unless Crawford is able to come back completely healthy and back to his 2010 level of production. As it stands, he's projected to miss at least the first month of the season with the wrist issue and it was an operative wrist injury. No guarantees he bounced right back

They have to. If they have any interest in having a fresh and productive ARod and Jeter, they need to plan on them playing at least 40 games at the DH spot. I have a feeling Nunez is going to get a lot of PT this yr

Edes is saying that they are "close to an agreement". Other sources are saying they have an agreement, he just needs to pass a physical. He turned down $10 mil from the Tigers. Sufficed to say, he's gonna sign in the NL and the Cards are a logical stopping ground

From the sounds of it, an agreement is in place, but he has to pass a physical. Nothing is official until he passes a physical, which he very well may fail

BTW, I just wanted to point something out here. ARod is apparently healthy right now and should have a good shot at playing 140 games, with about 40 of them as a DH as long as Girardi isnt a knucklehead. Prior to his knee injury, here was his line... .299/.373/.507. .880 OPS. Not too shabby. Right before he left for the DL, his OPS was as high as .897. If we can keep him healthy rotating him in and out of the DH hole, he very well could be back to being a feared hitter with 30HR, 100RBI and .900ish OPS potential.

cmon guys, lets give a theoretical here.

Alright, I have a theoretical for you guys. Right now, the sox have their rotation filled in in pencil. They seem to be content but are obviously searching for options. Let's add some instability. Let's say Buchholz goes to throw for the first time this offseason and starts having back pain again. Let's say there is no timetable, but he's going to miss a significant amount of regular season time. What do they do? And....go

Every yr I do a positional ranking on the Yankees MILB players. This yr will be no different. Catcher 1. Gary Sanchez, 20 yrs old: A- .256/.335/.485 Depending on the publication, Sanchez is considered to be a top 100 prospect in baseball and anywhere from #2 to 5 in the Yankee list. He's big bodied 20 yr old with light tower power, a solid hit skill and advanced defensive skills. His 2011 season was played in long season as a 19 yr old but took awhile to adjust. His second half was torrid and saw him finish with 17HR and a .229 IsoPower. Most 19 yr olds are either freshman in college or toiling in the short season leagues. He was impressive. He should start the season in Tampa, and with the glut of catching talent, may be forced to take it one step at a time for a couple yrs anyway. His potential is as an all-star 2. Greg Bird, 19 yrs old: N/A Bird was drafted in the 5th round in 2011 and only saw a handful of at bats, but the Yankees like what they've seen. He's a big bodied 19 yr old who received the highest bonus in the class. He's got a powerful left handed swing, an advanced hit skill and showed improvement in his defense skill in instructs. His projection will be interesting. He has the look of a power hitter, but as of right now, his ultimate position is up for grabs. He'll stay at catcher as long as he is improving, but he could shift to a COF spot or 1b due to depth or stagnation of his catching skills. He should start 2012 in the GCL and it is too soon to tell what his projection will be 3. Austin Romine, 23 yrs old: AA- .279/.343/.368 Romine is a tough nut to crack offensively. He had one season of .300 AVG, 3 seasons of double digit HRs and was even the MVP of the FSL at a young age. But AA seems to have seen him stagnate. He posted a higher OPS in 2010 in AA, but posted a higher BA and OBP in 2011 at the same level. The question remains if his being kept in AA stopped his development. Well, he has a chance to prove himself once again after a promotion to AAA. Defensively, he is the goods. Strong, accurate arm, quick feet, calls a good came, great blocking skills. He safely projects as a big league backup, but if he can translate some of his MiLB success to the bigs, he could be a lot more than that. I am optimistic on Romine. He's not an all-star caliber catcher by any means, but I think he can hit 10+HRs, OBP around .350 or higher and hit in the .280 range. I actually think the guy at the top of the entire org depth chart is his projection. A Russell Martin type player. 4. J.R. Murphy, 20 yrs old: A/A+- .287/.325/.434 Murphy's numbers are a bit deceiving. His SAL numbers were solid with an OPS right on .800, then he was promoted to Tampa. He hit .136 in his first 6 games in Tampa, then hit .302 in his final 17 before going down for the season in late July. He is another guy with other options outside of catcher. He can play 3b and the corner OF spots well also. But for now, he's shown good athleticism and has shown significant improvement defensively. He's very young, but he looks to have 20HR potential as well as .300AVG potential. He hasnt shown a lick of patience, though, walking only 21 times in 86 games. He should start 2012 in Tampa, but his potential is cloudy due to the glut of C in the system and his potential shift around the diamond 5. Kyle Higashioka, 21 yrs old: A/A+- .231/.291/.367 Higashioka is an enigma. The kid is already a plus defensive catcher and could play right now defensively in the bigs. His issue is on offense. Isolated, he has a good eye, makes solid contact, and can hit the ball along way. But in games, he just hasnt put it together. He's still young, but his offensive woes make him look all the more like a future backup or insurance salesman. I am not optimistic about this kid being anything more than a John Flaherty type 6. Isiais Tejeda, 21 yrs old: GCL- .331/.402/.563 Tejeda is another interesting prospect. Defense needs a lot of work, but the bat is there. He can hit the ball to all fields, hit for average and be patient enough to get his pitch. He was old for his league and has already had a yr in the DSL, which may be why he dominated as he did. He will likely start 2012 in SI or maybe Charleston. He's more a boom or bust prospect. He doesnt play D well enough to be a backup and his hit skill should be his meal ticket. I am unsure if it will carry all the way to the bigs.

Lets put an end to the bickering right now. As currently constructed, the sox have a fair amount of flaws. There. That satisfies the optimists who think the sox are going out and getting another pitcher. That satisfies the pessimists who think the sox havent done enough