jacksonianmarch

Pretty happy with the overall haul here. Been reading up on Tamarez and some of the scouts had him listed as the #1 SS in the DR over Odor and Peguero. Sounds like he has 4 tools at least with a good glove, plus speed, a good arm and a quick bat. Power will be late to the game. Wilmer Romero was a top 10 IFA, and after Vazquez and de la Cruz, he was the best OF available. His bat is top 3 in the entire process, he loses a bit due to his poor route running in the OF. Then DePaula, who is the most polished pitcher out there with the best stuff. He was #1 last yr until his scandal hit. Now, he's Yankee property and should start to show off some of that top velocity. So the Yankees hauled in one of the top IF's, OF's, and pitchers in this IFA period. It's a good haul and looks good for the upcoming IFA period where the depth is supposed to be impressive

Pretty happy with the overall haul here. Been reading up on Tamarez and some of the scouts had him listed as the #1 SS in the DR over Odor and Peguero. Sounds like he has 4 tools at least with a good glove, plus speed, a good arm and a quick bat. Power will be late to the game. Wilmer Romero was a top 10 IFA, and after Vazquez and de la Cruz, he was the best OF available. His bat is top 3 in the entire process, he loses a bit due to his poor route running in the OF. Then DePaula, who is the most polished pitcher out there with the best stuff. He was #1 last yr until his scandal hit. Now, he's Yankee property and should start to show off some of that top velocity. So the Yankees hauled in one of the top IF's, OF's, and pitchers in this IFA period. It's a good haul and looks good for the upcoming IFA period where the depth is supposed to be impressive

The reason that happened, though, was Soriano accepted arbitration. This yr, he did not. I doubt he comes here. Doesnt make a whole lot of sense. We dont need a bullpen ace right now. We need a complimentary piece. Soriano would make the pen better, but by how much when you already had a top 10 pen to begin with? I like Jon Rauch. I hope we can reel him in then convince Pettitte to come on board. If we can go into ST with those two in the fold, we'd be in good shape. If we use Pettitte's money on Soriano we are better in the pen but worse in the rotation. And the pen can only save leads that the rotation hands over to it

That is per Boras mouthpiece Jon Heyman. This is a negotiating ploy, IMO.

You must be joking?

Back to the hot stove. Sounds like the Yankees should be locking up Andruw Jones soon. I like the move. He's a better defender than Thames and crushes lefties just the same. .931OPS vs lefties last yr. Believe it or not, Jones actually had a good yr last yr overall with an OPS of .827, an IsoPatience over .100 and 9 steals in half a season. He'd be an upgrade over Thames and is capable of playing LF or RF

Fuentes is getting a 1 yr deal. Downs got 3 yrs

People love the Patriots in Boston. People live, die and suffer with the Red Sox. It's different. People identify with the Red Sox, remember where they were during big sox moments and collectively become enraged or elated by them. I am sorry, but in Boston, baseball is king.

Actually, one theory is that Pettitte is reluctant to return since he is the key witness in the Clemens purgery case which kicks off in July

Andy Pettitte not ready to rule anything out, but tells NY to move on without him. Not a good sign

You forgot Shields

Diony, Kerry Wood was phenomenal for us, but his BABIP was low and his walks were sky high. I dont think he'd repeat a sub 1 ERA for us. Rauch, I think can give us a 3 ERA and be durable, which should be the name of the game. I wouldnt hesitate to offer him 2 yrs

Me too. Millwood could see a nice amount of innings and could be a bit better in a pennant chase

They are scrambling right now. Cashman needs to stay the course. If Pettitte comes back, then you're all set to enter the season knowing that an upgrade will fall into your lap within the first 60 games or so. If we dont get Pettitte, then we need someone. Bonderman isnt that guy. I'd rather see Jeff Francis. I think a lefty who throws a good amount of grounders and actually showed he's back is better than Bonderman (never came back well from his shoulder woes), Young (shoulder injury plus FB pitcher), or Garcia (lost velocity with his shoulder injuries). But we'll see.

Not official yet

Oh, and we should also pickup Jon Rauch. Wont cost us a pick and he's been a solid setup man or closer for the past few seasons. I would like sliding him into the rotation of setup men with Robertson and Joba. You add him into the pen and we probably continue to have one of the best pens in the game... Mitre Joba Robertson Rauch Logan Feliciano Rivera

Soriano is a luxury. If we are really on a budget, then we need to keep some money aside for a big in season acquisition. And our major need is starting pitching. I do think Pettitte comes back. I also think he goes back to being a 4ERA guy, which means Hughes and Burnett need to step up this yr and Nova needs to show he belongs. That rotation wont be in the top of the league, but it will definitely be in the top half of the AL behind the likes of TB, Oakland and Boston. But if Pettitte doesnt come back, we're in a lot of trouble. The best case is Pettitte comes back and some team that thought they were contending implodes at the start of the yr. That opens up trade possibilities. I think that team will be the Cardinals, as I think the Reds were less of a fluke than people think. And I think Chris Carpenter will be on the block assuming he is healthy come June or July. He is the kind of stopgap I'd like to see. Veteran pitcher with solid command of a plus arsenal who knows how to pitch. Then, in the offseason next yr, we could make a big splash on the trade market when some of these young pitchers will be one yr closer to arb or free agency

So Jed Lowrie is hitting 20 homers in 2011? Wow. The guy had a good 150ABs or so in 2010. Lets see him do something over a more solid sample size. He might, but any prediction right now is based on a very small sample size. It is also unknown whether he can survive a full season physically let alone be productive

He's taking advice from GWB. Oh boy

He's a dumbass. A bullpen is only good if they are given leads to protect

The fans would spin it kinda like they did when the sox went out and signed over the hill Smoltz and fat Penny. The A's are gonna be tough draw for offense. Their park is cavernous and definitely affects hitters negatively. For players looking for prime offensive numbers so they can get prime dollars, going to Oakland is a negative move. Matt Holliday would have lost 50 million if he stayed in the Bay for all of 2009.

Wouldnt be a bad idea. If the rotation is full of ???'s after CC, Hughes, and Burnett (who is a ??? in himself) them you might as well create a lockdown pen.

The sox need a lefty reliever. I don't doubt that they'll find one. My guess is that Fuentes is holding out for the sox best offer since he would really complement them really well. If you have a pen with Wheeler, Jenks, Bard, Fuentes and Papelbon, you'd fall into the top 10 even if 2 fall off a cliff

I do think the grand plan was to sign Lee, obviously. But now with the need and the farm to make a few moves, I think the grand plan has changed. I would be fine with the Yankees getting a veteran stopgap measure. We need something other than throwing Nova and Mitre out there every 5th day. I'd be fine with Pettitte. I'd be fine with Francis. I'd be fine with Chris Young. We need someone who, if they can stay healthy, would be an average option out of the SP role. I like Pettitte the most obviously. I like Francis the second most. Young would be an option, but one that I would like to be the lowest fallback option. We need to hold the fort until the deadline. If we can get to the deadline or at least into July, we'll make a big move. Lee and Haren were dealt last season before the deadline. I would assume someone would become available should a team fall out of it. I do think that Chris Carpenter might be on the radar for now since the Cards are trying to pool funds for Pujols and he's in the last yr of his deal. I'd be down with that

Tex is saying that Pettitte is leaning towards retiring as well. We might need to accept the possibility that Andy is finally done. If that is the case, we will need to make an acquisition. I think a stopgap measure is a guy like Jeff Francis who keeps walks to a minimum and could at least give us some depth past CC, Hughes, and AJ. We cannot go into the year with 2 open spots for rookies. We have a ton of pitching depth, but only Nova is ready for the big time out of the gate. Giving two spots to kids is disastrous. My guess is that Cashman has a grand plan in place, but I am unsure until it actually plays through. If Andy calls it quits, we're in a major bind