jacksonianmarch

What now, I stand by that "when healthy" comment. The thing is, you werent healthy last yr. You should be this year, so you should see a major increase in offense. Once again, reading, it is fundamental

I thought the move from our standpoint wasnt bad since we have a few contingency plans. If he comes out blazing, then he gives us a very solid catcher. If he doesnt, then he's keeping the seat warm for Montero.

Cashman in his interview said that the Yankees would not be pursuing Greinke. He said that he is the exact opposite of RJ, who lashed out at people. He said that Greinke "turtles when under stress, not a great quality for a pitcher in NY." That is as ringing an endorsement for not getting someone as I have ever seen

They were a 95 win team with Jeter having his worst season, ARod being non-existant for half the year, Pettitte missing 2 months, AJ turtling with his pitching coach on leave and Tex playing like garbage for 2.5 months. I expect AJ to be better than last yr, how much who knows. I think he could be anywhere from a #2 to a #4 starter, which is better than the #5/swing man he became at year's end. And I do think the extra year will help Hughes. That being said, acquiring another bona fide star would have secured a stellar rotation. But what is left isnt bad at all as long as Pettitte returns. If he doesnt, then we are gonna be scrambling

Sorry Dipre, I am not typically on a website talking baseball at 2am unless I am at work. I put my thoughts in the Lee thread, but might as well put them here. The Yanks are still one of the top 2 teams in baseball, so they dont have to panic. We have time to wait until the trade deadline to analyze and see what needs to be done. I would assume Pettitte comes back, giving us a rotation of... 1. Sabathia 2. Hughes 3. Pettitte 4. Burnett 5. Nova Having the big boy at #1 makes this Lee thing sting a little less, but god it makes things complicated now. Now, the above rotation is littered with possibilities and pitfalls. If Hughes takes the next step into becoming a top tier pitcher, then Lee would have been a luxury. If AJ finds his form again, then Lee would have been a luxury. If Nova turns in a nice season as a #5 starter and shows progress, then Lee would have been a luxury. The pitfall is that if none of the 3 above occur, then Lee or someone of his ilk turns into a necessity. And that's why this deal hurts so much. It turned a surplus into "even" with the possibility of being a deficit. Getting Lee would have put us far and away the #1 team in baseball. As it stands, I think the Phillies take the top spot there and Boston is probably the on-paper favorites in the AL right now. But we'll see what happens. Cash offered the most money and the most years (since year 7 was a player option), so I cannot be mad. I think Braunecker played NY like a fiddle, though. He led the Yanks down the path of following him like a dog then got put down. I can tell you this much, though. Lee's wife better not even come to the stadium next time, cause the rabid Yankee contingent might fling feces at her.

I dont think Salty is starting catcher material

I dont think we'd be forced to do anything right now. If we resign Pettitte and even give Nova a shot in the 5 spot, we'd be good enough to win a playoff spot. I think we definitely need to do something by the trade deadline with the eye for the playoffs, unless AJ finds his old form or Hughes progresses towards ace status

Know, I have known it for a LOOONG time, just that his recent fights have been with ORS and pretty much everyone else on the site. See, I have a reason for people to fight with me. I'm a Yankee fan, and I am biased, therefore I am inherently easy to fight with on this site. But what's his reason? He fights with everyone cause, well, he's a douche.

I'd be okay with Greinke if the prospect cost wasnt huge. Hell, we dealt with Pavano's albatross contract just fine. But giving up the best offensive prospect in the game is not in the best interest of this organization if all we are getting back is a 100 million dollar arm and a 10 cent head

Get it ready, he does this s*** all the time. Pick a convenient piece of your post, tear it apart then completely disregard the rest of the post that explains the initial part. He's a joke

I am going to just throw it out there, but by the trade deadline, I expect Varitek to be your starting catcher and the sox to be looking for some catching help. (Obviously, only if Martin signs elsewhere)

My god you are a dumbass. I said they could put up similar production IF THEY SUSTAINED THE SAME AMOUNT OF INJURIES AS LAST SEASON. I said that if healthy, they should reclaim the top spot in terms of runs scored in a season. Reading is very fundamental ORS. Very, very fundamental

It wont be Johnson. I think the Marlins are in prime position to be contenders in the NL this year, especially if Gaby Sanchez and Logan Morrison take the next steps towards being solid big league contributors

I think the new motivation to corral Beltre in Texas might point in the Lee to the Yankees direction. We'll see, but the fact that he is waiting so long tells me he either is trying to get more money out of the Rangers or he is trying to get accustomed to the idea of being a Yankee. CC had the offer out there forever as well, before he signed. I expect the same out of Lee.

Once again, you guys just cannot actually read what I am saying once again. I said that the sox, on paper with what was known about the players you just lost, look to be pretty similar offensively. And, with the unlikely occurence of 4 starters missing significant playing time, you should be a lot better than you were last yr and may actually be better than you were projected to be should you have been healthy. But instead, you sit back and pull the same old ********. ORS, you're the worst of them, twisting the argument into whatever you want it to be, although the majority of the time you are arguing against something that wasnt said.

Not sure what this means if we sign Lee anyway. Martin would definitely be what the doctor ordered defensively, although I think concerns about his durability coming off the hip injury are very valid. I would assume that Montero would be in AAA to start, and come up for any major injury.

rotoworld. Olney said an agreement might be announced today or tomorrow

It's called reading, and obviously you two dolts do not know how to do it. I said to take the projection for the injured players in 2010 and the actual for the non-injured players and put that together and compare it. For arguments sake, take the 2009 numbers for Ellsbury and Cameron and stick to OPS for Youkilis and Pedroia. Catcher 2010- Victor Martinez- .844OPS 20HR 79RBI 2011- Jarrod Saltalamacchia- career .701OPS with 23HR in 813AB How this isnt "worse by a ton" is incredible. Martinez is the second best offensive catcher in the game. Salty has been a AAAA player for the past few seasons and this might be his last chance at a quasi starting gig. This is a MASSIVE dropoff First base: 2010- Kevin Youkilis .975OPS on pace for 27HR 2010- Adrian Gonzalez .904OPS 31HR. This is pretty much a wash on this end. I think Gonzalez and Youkilis are comparable defensively, and I think Gonzalez could put up a high .900s OPS in this park and this lineup Third base 2010- Adrian Beltre .918OPS 28HR 2011- Kevin Youkilis .975OPS, on pace for 27HR Offensively, when comparing 2010 to 2011, this is an advantage Red Sox, but not that huge IMO. In terms of reliability, having Youk and AdGon vs Youk and Beltre, the sox win out big time since Adrian is very volatile. That being said, strictly from a 2010 vs 2011 standpoint, this is a mild win for the sox offensively. From a defensive standpoint, this is a loss, and could be a major loss depending on how he plays over at 3b. Beltre was a gamechanger over there, and we dont know if Youkilis can even be above average let alone GG caliber. So overall, this is a wash, IMO as well OF 2010 Mike Cameron- total lost season, lets go back to 2009 for comparison's sake where he hit 24HR and had a .794OPS 2011 Carl Crawford- .851OPS, 19HR 47SB. This is obviously quite an upgrade offensively. I doubt Crawford reaches close to 20HR in this park, but he has proven to be pretty reliable in the .300AVG and .350OBP area. His defense in LF is superb as well. Now, strictly from comparison's sake, Cameron in CF with Ellsbury in LF was to be a better defensive outfield than Crawford and Ellsbury, but it never materialized due to injury. What I am saying is that the sox replaced the parts they had to. They upgraded appropriately to a team that was already getting internal upgrades in terms of health. My beef with their initial rumors of letting AdGon go to FA before getting him and going with Lowrie at 3b, maybe or maybe not getting Werth, etc made the sox have to rely on total health again to field a solid offense. Now, even if they are unlucky and a few guys go down, they should still be a top 2 offense. If all stay healthy, then they will be challenging the Yanks for #1, and in that park, I am guessing they will overtake them.

He's not the best defensively, but certainly not the David Ortiz of catchers. He's not quick, which is his biggest detraction. But he has a good arm and who knows how he calls a game.

Yes, and a more patient lineup would get him out of the game sooner. Regardless, the Yanks are set to sign Russell Martin

Offensively speaking, you go from starting Cameron, Beltre, and Victor Martinez to starting Crawford, AdGon and Saltalamacchia. Your offense takes a bit of a hit "when healthy" because while Crawford and AdGon adequately replace VMart and Beltre, the loss of Cameron in the lineup compared to the addition of Salty takes you down a peg (unless he finally realizes his potential). Your defense also takes a bit of a hit. Cameron and Crawford are similar defensively, so the OF is a wash, and if it moves Ells back to CF, then you weaken the D a little in CF and strengthen it in LF. By moving Salty into the C spot and losing VMart, you essentially have a wash there with VMart being more experienced in playcalling and a better blocker, while Salty has the better arm. In the IF, you move Youk to 3b, where he is an unknown in terms of UZR, but likely nowhere near Beltre, and you replace him at 1b with AdGon, both GG defenders. The biggest offensive addition is the fact that Youk and Pedroia should be healthy. Together, they missed 120 games last year. Plus Ellsbury should be healthy, although the fact that he is dealing with pain still makes Cameron's role in Boston a lot more important. Regardless, from an "on paper" perspective, the sox lineup is a little weaker in projection that what a combo of projection and production from 2010 was. This means, project out Youk, Pedey, Cameron, and Ellsbury while taking VMart and Beltre at their stats for 2010. But, the likelihood of losing 4 starters for the stretch run is very very low. Regardless, the sox lineup should mash and their D takes a minor hit depending on how Youk takes to 3rd. The rotation has an ace with Lester. I think Buchholz pitches to a solid #2, but I doubt he can come close to a sub 3ERA next season. But I think the sox post-season and World Series hopes rely on 2 guys not previously mentioned. Beckett and Lackey need to man up. If Beckett comes out and is the hot/cold guy with recurrent nagging injured that he has been for the last 2 seasons, then the sox will be hurt significantly. Especially with the fact that Wake is your #6 and NOBODY is there as minor league depth. Lackey gave innings, but he also has a bit of an injury history. I think his durability will be more important than his performance in 2010. Then on to DiceK, who I think the sox cannot deal without getting a pitcher back. With the loss of Kelly and the conversion of Doubront into a pen arm for 2011, the sox really cannot deal from their "strength" since they have a void after the old knuckler. The pen is definitely the soft underbelly. Bard damn near threw his arm off in the pen last yr. Papelbon showed regression for a 3rd straight year, and Theo dealt away or non-tendered every arm inbetween not named Scott (I shouldnt be a major leaguer) Atchison. The sox as is will make the playoffs, IMO, and I dont think it will be close. But their pen is the reason why they might struggle vs good teams. We'll see who they add. I thought Downs was a guaranteed sock, but I guess not.

Yes, you have to pick someone out of the AL Central since one team will make the playoffs from that division. Lets just put it this way, the Yankees and Sox are far and away the 2 best teams in the AL, especially if Lee departs the Rangers for NY. There shouldnt even be any competition in the Wild Card, as the loser of the division will take the spot