jacksonianmarch

Great D at all infield positions has its worth

Let's just look at something here before we all of a sudden think Youkilis will be healthy playing in his second season at a more demanding position without the pillow of a DH. 2010- Thumb muscle tear 2011- Back spasms 2011- Hip bursitis 2011- Abdominal sports hernia He finished the last 2 seasons on the operating table. He also had a back injury and posted his worst season since his rookie yr. Yep, sounds like a guy who is going to rebound quickly /sarcasm

Last yr, the sailing was way smoother than expected because our rotation unexpectedly solidified. Our offense saw ARod miss a lot of time and come back a shell of himself, Teixeira stay at his prior season's low, and Posada fall apart. This yr, we should have an even more solidified rotation with Pineda and Kuroda coming on board. Now, injuries aside, we are the obvious, hands down AL East favorites. Injury could change it all

Barrel chested, thick legged, unathletic frame. Not sure anyone would dispute that I am unsure if you want a term paper on the topic, this is a baseball forum. Guys on the wrong side of 30 who suffer injuries more frequently tend to continue to suffer frequent injuries. Either you lighten the load or they get injured. It's not rocket science. He cannot slide into the DH slot, so it isnt like he can take a half game off twice a week. He's gonna be out there for the full boat. And the third quote, prove these statements? That's assinine. The DH spot allows for rest. An oft-injured player gets more rest by DHing. If he cannot DH, then he loses a chance to stay in the lineup and rest. I am not sure of your angle here, but you're being pretty annoying and not adding much substance

I didnt create an imaginary position. I created the position the sox are in. Bard in the rotation without a parachute. That is where they are right now.

Right now, Aviles is your starting SS. Unless you're cool with Nick Punto playing 40-50 games a yr, then right now, Youk is slated for a full role at third

Anything can happen, I just don't think it's likely that we completely implode

Hanley isnt a salary dump. He is coming off an injury plagued season, but is being paid pretty reasonably.

Poor body type, 2 straight yrs not being able to finish the season, and being 33 yrs old. And also now not being able to rest 1/3 of the time as a DH is killer. If Ortiz declined arb and went away, then I think Youkilis gets preserved much better and makes it through the yr. Either the sox are going to baby him or he's gonna end up on the pine come October. He has the bad combo of playing overly hard and reckless and having a bad body type with an injury history

Which is surprising that a team with such youth could have such injury issues the past 2 seasons.

Burnett is a mess....and currently is 6th or 7th on the Yankee rotation depth chart. If the season started today, he'd be battling Hughes for the swing man role Pineda is moving from SafeCo to NY, not Petco. And his peripherals outside of SafeCo were ace level. 1.17WHIP, 8.7K/9IP, 3.4K/BB. So it's not like he is lighting up the show at home and sucking on the road. Just for reference, those road peripherals are better than Lester's entire 2011 season. There is an angle with Pineda, but it's more health and ability to handle the bright lights. But those come with any Yankee acquisition Kuroda has been remarkably consistent with his velocity, so thus far, the angle isnt a decline. It might come, but his stuff hasnt seen a major drop. My only concern with Kuroda was a spike in HR's last yr in a pitcher friendly park. But he's a veteran, who's started 30+ games in 3 of his 4 seasons in the majors and has been remarkably consistent all 4 seasons. He's being expected to be a #3 or 4 rather than a #2 like he was in LAD, so even if he throws to a low 4 ERA, he'd still do his job. The only major caveat here is health as it is with everyone, but realistically, he should give quality innings, even if he sees a rise in ERA Joba is post-surgical and as it stands right now, would be in line for 6th inning duties should our plethora of starters not be able to go past 5. Not really a critical part of the pen here. ARod and Jeter are a year older and they now have a pillowy DH spot to rest their heads so they dont have to work too hard and get hurt. ARod was lighting the world on fire before he got hurt and Jeter actually didnt look horrible like he did the yr before. We may see a decline, but we also might see a boost from a lesser grind in the field. Tex has been trending down, but he also has put up 3 straights yrs of 30 and 100. And he's 2 yrs removed from a .900+OPS season. He isnt exactly old either at 31. He may rebound, but I doubt he slides much further Montero had nearly no impact on the 2011 season. While it will hurt projections for 2012, you cannot consider him a loss since his only impact came in a month where the Yankees werent playing for anything If the Martin that gets on base as a .350-.380 clip comes back, then maybe we actually get better. I'd take his 8HR and .360OBP season over his .324OBP and 18HR season. Regardless, he's young and no real worry there. And Granderson has been doing it since August of 2010. An adjustment in his swing was all he needed. He was actually remarkably consistent last yr. He actually had an OPS of .840 or higher in all months except September, when once again, the Yankees had nothing to play for. I am not sure he hits 40 again, but there isnt any evidence that he cannot be a very productive player.

Cashman said he expects to make a trade for his DH, most likely from his plethora of SP. That either means he's going to make a bad contract for bad contract swap with AJ for a primary DH type or he's angling Hughes for a cost controlled defensive butcher with a big stick. He cannot move Garcia and he shouldnt move any of the top 4. My guess is he is going to find a taker for AJ in a salary swap for an overpaid DH who is butchering a defensive position. Maybe the Yankees can trade AJ Burnett for Carlos Lee. That deal straight up would net the Astros out with 2 yrs of Burnett at $7 mil per and rid themselves of a guy with no position and no worth to the club. It could also offer Lee the capability to right his career in a pennant race. I could also see the Yankees targetting Billy Butler. The guy would mash in this lineup.

Hanley

If you are going to make that experiment, with that kind of payroll and that kind of prior history, you'd want to make sure your 1-4 is solid. Right now, your #3 is coming back from a fractured vertebral body and your #4 is also a converted reliever. It's a great risk/reward when you have him as the 5. But when he may slot into the 4 hole and you may end up needing to keep him there, then you're in trouble. You'd rather have the rotation strength to endure a lump in the 5 hole and the depth to replace him if he flames out. I think the sox as currently constituted lack those two necessities

I think the sox will definitely see a fair amount of Middlebrooks. Youkilis isnt holding up and I have a feeling that they may protect him from himself by putting him on the DL at any sign of discomfort. Maybe a few phantom DL stints keeps him fresh and gives them time to see how the kid can handle the show in limited duty. It also has the potential to create a good problem should Youk play well in less time and Middlebrooks showcase well in limited time.

iortiz, the Sox medical staff cannot examine the player until a trade is complete. They can look at his file at any time as long as the Marlins are okay with it. But they cannot examine the player until a trade is agreed to. They also dont have nearly the pieces needed to acquire him

Where? Tell me where the ???'s are. I am being honest with you here. After getting Pineda and Kuroda, they effectively closed their final major hole. Their offense lost Posada from last yr, which is addition by subtraction and a month's worth of Montero. They are likely to improve their offense over 2011's edition just by allowing Rodriguez the appropriate rest afforded by putting him at the DH spot more often than not. And, they are going to bring in someone who can put up a .700+OPS that Posada couldnt do on days that ARod can play 3b. The offense should at least tread water Their pitching now has them 7 deep with bona fide big league starters. They have their ace, Pineda slides into the 2 hole, Kuroda the three and a 16 game winner from last yr in Nova is the #4. And their pen sees the return of Joba by midseason and likely sees the addition of Phil Hughes. And, you can expect a healthy Soriano back there. I havent been this happy with a Yankee team in awhile. I think the Tigers still have some offensive holes and their pen isnt as good or their rotation as deep. And I think the Rangers are relying on Darvish to replace their ace, which isnt a given at this juncture. I am sorry, but right now I think the Yankees are the AL favorites

When it comes to ranking, your top 3 must be from each division. It doesnt matter the order. I doubt anyone wouldn't say the Yankees and the Tigers are the top dogs coming into 2012 in the East and the Central. 1. Yankees 2. Tigers In terms of the AL West, I think you are massively underrating the Angels. Their pen has a good closer and a bunch of mush in the middle because after their top 3, they didnt have depth. Throw a healthy CJ Wilson in there and the rotation sures up, which will help the pen. Also, they are getting Morales AND Pujols on the squad for next yr, with Trumbo potentially being able to play the OF if needed. Their lineup will be pretty solid, their rotation nasty and their pen improved. I think they and the Rangers are the 3 and 4 teams respectively in the AL. You also have to figure that they play 40 games vs the A's and Mariners and you have to say the loser of that division is one of the top 5 teams 3. Rangers 4. Angels For the all important 5, it's going to be between the Rays and Sox. The sox added Ross, but subtracted Scutaro and Reddick from the lineup. Plus, you are without Crawford for the beginning of the yr and who knows how long it'll take for him to respond. You also have Youkilis another yr older after another injury plagued yr. I think the offense is still a top 10 offense, but I doubt they replicate their #1 status. I think their pen additions stemmed an absolute disaster, but they arent enough to replace 3 very valuable relievers. As of right now, I have them on the outside looking in for the 5th and final playoff spot, mostly since the Rays pitching was lights out and now they have a full yr of Matt Moore. And they added Pena and a healthy Scott who both could team with Longoria, Upton, and Jennings to improve an anemic offense. If the sox add a quality #4, though, which thus allows them to shift Bard or Aceves back to the pen, then I think they flip up to the 5 spot. As of right now, I have the Rays 5 and the Sox 6. 5. Rays 6. Sox After this, I think you see the next tier. The teams capable of being near .500 maybe better. I have the Jays in that discussion. I also have the Twins in that spot. The Twins should see Mauer and Morneau return to prominence which will see them improve their dreadful offense. Losing Cuddyer will hurt, but I think their rotation sees a boost from a healthy Liriano. 7. Blue Jays 8. Twins Then there is the 70 win club. I think the Guardians, the Royals, and the Mariners fit into this club, 3 teams with good young cores, but not enough to be .500. 9. Guardians 10. Royals 11. Mariners Then there are the doormats. This is the realm of the Orioles, White Sox and the A's. The O's just seriously suck and have no idea what they are doing. The White Sox dealt away their second best hitter and their second best pitcher left via FA. They also dealt away their setup man and closer without getting any true proven talent back. The A's also jettisoned their rotation by dealing Cahill and Gonzalez while getting prospects in return. 12. White Sox 13. Orioles 14. A's

If he wants to try and recoup his value, though, it may be best to take less money this yr in hopes of landing a 3 yr deal after this season. I am sure LA would take him for $3 mil

Exactly. If I were him, I'd go out to LA and pitch in Dodger Stadium against all the anemic offenses in the NL West.

The Tigers got really formidable all of a sudden.

Thank you Jorge. Enjoy those 5 rings

$3 mil guaranteed with escalators for PA's