jacksonianmarch

btw, I see the sox signing Hong Chih Kuo. He was just non-tendered by LA after an abysmal season marred by social anxiety disorder. If he gets his head on straight, he's a shut down reliever. Then again, Boston might be the last place you would want to go if you have an anxiety issue

Projecting much? The Yankees have a 5 man rotation right now. They also have the high minors flush with SP talent. They dont "have" to make a move. They can wait for the price to come down, and it will

They are still a good team, nobody disputes that. They just came into the offseason with some pretty big holes. Those holes got bigger with Papelbon leaving and Lackey going down with TJS. The flexibility to plug those holes has been hamstrung by the sox need to stay under the lux tax (reportedly) and the fact that your GM picked up an overpriced option for your out of position SS and offered arbitration to your over the hill DH. Doesnt mean they wont luck out, hell, the Yanks did by reinventing the fountain of youth with Colon and Garcia. But the likelihood is low that the team as constructed could beat the Yanks and the Rays out for the division.

He's coming off an injury riddled season. If healthy, he's a top 10 player in the game. And the Marlins would need to be compensated as such

It just doesnt make any sense. You pick up a $6 million option on an aging SS who has a replacement in house and cannot play the position adequately anymore. Then you offer arbitration to an elderly DH coming off his career yr and coming off a $12.5 mil contract. But in the meantime, you let your 30 yr old closer, who right now is having a HOF start to his career, go without a clear replacement. And doing all of this under the guise that you won't exceed the lux tax? Now, I hear the sox are shopping Scutaro? Why in blazes would a team trade for Scutaro without the sox picking up the majority of the tab? He isnt worth $6 million as a SS. Now, they have holes big enough to drive a Mack truck through. You have 2 open slots in your rotation, you now have a green setup man slot into the closers role and you have your everything man (Aceves) slide into the setup role. That leaves a massive gap in the middle of the pen as well as the back of the rotation that you are hoping Franklin Morales and Bobby Jenks can fill? Then there's the school of thought that the sox move Aceves and Bard into the rotation? Aceves was exposed out of the rotation in limited time in NY. He throws all his pitches from the getgo, meaning facing batters more than once in a game will be the death of him. In short stints, he is extremely effective. Over 6-8 innings, he will not be. And Bard was converted to relief because he couldnt do s*** out of the rotation. His stuff got all out of whack when he had to focus on 4 pitches and the windup. They shortened his arsenal, put him in the stretch and voila, he was great again. So this theory takes two solid relievers from a pisspoor pen and moves them into the starting role where they are questionmarks at best. It leaves you with a god awful pen and a "who knows" back of the rotation. The likelihood, in that scenario, would be that the sox fall apart outside of Beckett, Lester and Buchholz. So, in effect, the sox have about $6-8 million dollars to either fill the last 2 spots of their rotation and at least one good pen arm. Or, they have about $6-8 million to spend on an entire bullpen and hope beyond hope that the back of their rotation wont flop. In this division, if the sox dont make some sort of major move, they are toast.

btw, I still think we get a deal done with the White Sox. I just dont think they understand the market. The DBacks just dealt Cahill and 6 yrs of team control to the DBacks and got one marquee prospect and a bunch of potential prospects in the deal. And that's for a guy who is younger than Danks, coming off a better season, and coming with more years of control. Once the White Sox remember that Danks has 1 yr left, that they are rebuilding, and that their best dance partner is the Yankees, then they will likely cave. I think we could theoretically get Danks without giving up Banuelos, Betances, or Montero. But we shall see. I think we could frame a deal around Austin Romine, give them the opportunity to move Flowers out to 1b and be set at catcher for awhile.

I think Madson is in their crosshairs, but they are waiting for his price to come down. Thing is, he's the best closer left on the market and someone will overpay. I think the sox end up with a guy like Francisco Cordero, since his price wont be too high

That's what I mean. If they are going to bully us into a trade for 1 yr of a #2/3 pitcher by taking 2 of our 3 prime prospects, then they can sit and spin. Next yrs FA class looks awesome for pitching Matt Cain John Danks Cole Hamels Zach Greinke Francisco Liriano Shawn Marcum Jake Peavy Anibal Sanchez

The White Sox asked for 2 of Montero, Banuelos or Betances for Danks. ROFL. The price better come down or we go to war with what we have. We could just wait and sign Danks as a FA after 2012

If Bard and Aceves move to the rotation and no major addition is made to the bullpen, you will all be jumping off the Tobin bridge. Nothing like watching your 5-2 leads turn into losses without a shutdown relief corps

Two things... Every media pundit keeps saying that the sox have $8 million to play with. To me that means one of two things... 1. They dont know what they are talking about, that they will soar past the lux tax limit and fill their needs. or 2. Cherington is an idiot for putting the ball in Ortiz's hands if he truly cannot exceed the lux tax limit. That leaves $15 mil in the hands of his elderly (in baseball terms) DH and a little more than half that to fill a relief ace role, 2 starting pitching spots and a RFer.

It's understandable from a health standpoint, but the "integrity of the game" debate is ridiculous. Players are always one step ahead of testing and players were taking amphetamines for decades without being deemed cheaters.

Well, starting next yr, the division will mean a hell of a lot more.

Here's the issue with Beckett. Currently, he's your #2 starter. I think Lester is your #1 and by default, Buchholz is your #3. You have no #4 or #5 for 2012 right now. If you deal Beckett to a contender, you're going to get prospects back, and right now, his value is high, but not ridiculously high since his work ethic has come under question (which is a character flaw rather than a mechanical one). So you're going to deal him about 85 cents on the dollar to a contender for prospects, then what? If Seattle is serious about going after Fielder, they arent moving Felix. What, you go get Garza? Maybe Floyd? You're either worse off or equal to where you were before. You have to keep Beckett, there is no way around it

btw, Willingham has officially written off the sox and the rays. Looks like the sox are going into 2012 with Reddick/Kalish. That is, unless they sign Beltran.

BTW, I've been scouring some stats and noticed a target I want the Yanks to pursue. Time to go after Gavin Floyd. The guy has done nothing but fly under the radar since he got to Chicago. He's pitched 30 or more times a yr for 4 straight yrs, he's averaged 6+IP per start, and his peripherals were good this yr. He was right at 7K/9IP, his BB rate was at a career low and he had a ridiculously good WHIP of 1.16 (which is 7 points lower than our ace's, Sabathia). His ERA last yr was misleading and I think we might be able to get him without breaking up Montero, Banuelos or Betances. We'll see, but he's a guy I target

Right, but it's not like they built their entire club with lottery picks.

I guess not. Thus far, he hasnt made one impact move and did let a potential HOF closer go for draft picks. And he did get Papi back at what is likely to be astronomical dollars. So no, thus far, he's been a dud, but it is December 10th and the trades are just starting

It's semantics at this point. Regardless, the facts are this. The sox havent won a playoff game since 2008, they havent been to the playoffs since 2009 and have seen their payroll steadily increase. They have just had a major meltdown and a massive change in leadership. This is a period of flux, and thus far, Ben is holding pat instead of going crazy. That might be a smart move, or it could be fatal, who knows

Well, if he cannot beat out Esteban German, then I dont think I'd want him in a Yankee uniform, lol. Regardless, this guy will sign. I just have a feeling either he or Nunez will then be dealt for some pitching. Cashman is playing this really cool right now, but we know he's working as hard as he can to sure up the rotation. Our rotation has a lot of potential, but the gap between potential and current is pretty big and as of right now, we have no contingencies. With Burnett, Nova, Garcia and Hughes behind CC, we'll need a few contingencies

I look at playoff appearances more than anything. Wins are a good thing to look at, but sometimes you are out of it and dont go for the jugular and other times you are up by so much that you once again dont go full force. The playoffs are about talent as much as they are about luck. You gotta have a team that gets hot to go through it well, and sometimes, that just doesnt happen.

Absolutely. Big Stein was great at building and keeping a brand. Even when the Yankees sucked, they were always entertaining and always in the news.