jacksonianmarch

Per Bob Klapisch, friends of Andy Pettitte said he is definitely retiring. Not sure why this is being reported now by Klapisch since he said that this was conveyed to him 3 weeks ago

Navarro is not a prime talent, and dealing for a guy like Willingham would be a steal for the sox

You cannot trade picks in baseball. My guess is that they were saying that their haul is better than the 2 picks they would have received if he had left

No picks went to SD

For Kam Mickolio and David Hernandez. That's a low selling price for a guy with his skill set.

Iglesias is not a fall back option currently. Scutaro and Lowrie can hit circles around the Cuban kid. Iglesias is a glove only right now, and if the sox feel like they can grow his bat, then they have to keep him in the minors

Cause Willingham is in his last contract yr and the Nats have already given up negotiating with him

where do you put him? Regardless, the Angels need an OFer and a 3B. I wouldnt be surprised if he goes out west still. Oakland is where good hitters go to die, I can see why he has used that offer to try and drum up more interest

Hey JimEd banned? Nice

I loved having Thames here, but you have to take into account defense. Thames was so bad in the OF that he was relegated to PH and platoon DH duty by season's end. There were regular season games where his defense alone cost us in crucial moments.

The entire premise of your post about comparing the leagues and what-have you misses my point. I am truly just looking at OPS and the fact that you are replacing one player with a .900+OPS with another one. From a pure statistics point of view, AdGon replaces Beltre and the sox hope the injured players from 2010 can replace enough of VMart's production to make the offense potent again. I think AdGon is significantly better than Beltre and is much more consistent. But, from just an offensive perspective, the two players for 2010 are a wash. Now, I dont expect Beltre to put up .920OPS' every year, while I expect Gonzalez to do so regularly. Now, if you wanted to use WAR, that takes into account defense, and Beltre had him in 2010, 6.6 to 6.3. But that isnt the premise of the argument here

I am on record as saying that I like our OF and dont think we need to fix what isnt broken. But I think it will be a distinct possibility, especially if the Angels dont go out to 7 yrs

Instead of sticking to their guns, the Yankees decided that the extra $6 million was worth not having to battle in the press with the aging face of the franchise. So be it. A lot of pink pinstripers should be happy. In terms of Lee, the Rangers sound like they wont go past 5 years. I guarantee the Yanks go to a 6th yr and trump the AAV of the Rangers. The question is whether Lee wants to come to NY, which from all reports, he doesnt seem averse to. I expect Lee to be in pinstripes by the end of next week. In terms of Crawford, I have changed my tune in terms of what I think the Yankees will do. With the Werth deal, the Yankees are probably looking at $15-$16 million per annum to resign Swisher. He isnt worth it, IMO, since he has shown to be nothing but inconsistent in his career, although he has been very strong as a Yankee. Crawford would be quite an upgrade offensively and defensively and would give the Yankees a more athletic team, which Cashman has been trying to do. I dont think we need it, but we have seen Cashman go out and put a second big player under the tree before, and I think he might do it again

I have a feeling, just an inkling, that Crawford is gonna end up in the Bronx. I dont think the Yankees are too keen on extending Swisher, and could get a good haul from him if we sell high. Cashman loves speed and youth, and Crawford fits that to a T. That would also create the fastest OF in the game.

So this kinda puts Beltre as a definite out here. Lets see how big of a change this is... You lose... Victor Martinez....302/.351/.493 .844OPS Adrian Beltre........321/.365/.553 .919OPS You add back in... About 2 months of Kevin Youkilis, who was on pace for a career high OPS at .975 About 3 months of Dustin Pedroia, who was on pace for close to a career high OPS of .860 Presumably, a full season out of Jacoby Ellsbury Presumably, a full season out of an aging Mike Cameron Then, you add in Adrian Gonzalez, who had a .298/.393/.511 line, which essentially replaces Beltre. The question is, whether the crew above plus Salty starting is enough to offset the prime production of Martinez. It also entails that the sox players above return to prime production and stay healthy, which is far from a guarantee. Regardless, the sox are gonna score some runs this yr. Their 1-5 is very strong with Ellsury-Pedroia-Gonzalez-Youkilis-Ortiz. The 2 biggest things that will dictate the strength of the sox offense will be health, and the play of JD Drew. If Drew bounces back to a .900OPS hitter, then the lineup is 1-6 deep with All Star caliber players. If he doesnt, then it leaves the back end of the order a bit weak

In retrospect, I bet the sox are kicking themselves that they didnt go after Holliday, since he's young and absolutely crushes the ball. But I doubt they are kicking themselves as hard now that they have AdGon.

Okay, back to the trade. I think the Jayson Werth deal kinda forced the sox hand here. Werth got a RIDICULOUS deal, something that should skyrocket AdGon's overall deal. I think this makes a 7th AND 8th yr pretty mandatory from the sox perspective. My guess is that the sox and AdGon reached an accord once their second tier power threat went to the Nats. My guess is that a Tex deal is in the works

Henry wants a small market payroll with a big market following. If the sox strike out on the FAs and Beltre goes elsewhere, the lineup looks like: 1. Ellsbury CF 2. Pedroia 2B 3. Youkilis 1B 4. Ortiz DH 5. Drew RF 6. Cameron LF 7. Lowrie 3B 8. Scutaro SS 9. Saltalamacchia C That's pretty weak compared to 2010

A home grown team will suffer in 2011, and the market will crash.

Oh and Werth's contract brings Beltre's worth up too. Both are early 30s and coming off a .900 OPS season

Beltre returning would be bad for the sox, on the PR front and on the field. He's oft injured and incredibly inconsistent. If he gets what Boras wants (5-6 yr 90+ mil) then he'll be more of a risk and more overpaid than AdGon at likely much less production

So, AdGon slips through the Sox grasp, Werth gets an uber contract and Crawford's value just skyrocketed. Oh boy. This offseason just fell thru the floor in Boston. This is why you must be willing to overpay for elite level talent. Cause if u dont, someone else will. 7 for Werth makes 8 for AdGon look like a bargain