jacksonianmarch

Dipre, the market value is a Posada deal. And for some reason, I thought Posada signed for $15 mil a yr. As it turns out, he signed for a little over $13 mil a yr. So, $13 mil is the number. Sorry.

They are, but they have a lot of money and seem to love Red Sox free agents.

Wakefield

But why should he take a sub market value deal to stick with the Red Sox? The market value for a switch hitting catcher in his early 30s with prime offensive value is $15 mil a yr. Someone will pay him that, and as a catcher, this may be his final deal. I can guarantee one team who will be bidding on him plays in the same city as the Yankees and has needed a catcher since Mike Piazza left town.

Black improved A LOT in the last 1/3 of the season. His velocity increased, his location improved and he showed improved bite on the breaking ball, which earned him a late season promotion to Tampa. He's a polished arm with great stuff.

Salty is going to be your backup, at least that is the plan right now. Hence why Tek is expendable. I have a feeling VMart is priority A. If VMart signs elsewhere, Buck is the best plan B. The only way Salty starts the yr as your catcher is if VMart negotiations drag past the time when Buck signs, then he goes elsewhere. Then, you're stuck needing a trade that might not come. Colorado would be the best site, but they are letting Olivo walk and probably setting up for Iannetta to take the job there. My guess is that Olivo would probably be plan C

I saw that. John Buck would be a major risk. He's always shown power, but defensively he is suspect and offensively, he's had one consistent season in his career (which happens to be his walk yr). That would be a massive downgrade from VMart

I would assume VMart and Salty are plan A. Obviously, if VMart goes elsewhere, the sox are probably going to be calling Tek for backup services

My top 50 is under construction. But if I had to give a top 50 at this point, it would look something like this..... And I graduate players when they make the bigs. So Nova and Nunez have graduated. I had Nunez in the 11-12 range and Nova around 18-19 prior to them coming up 1. Jesus Montero- C 2. Manuel Banuelos- LHP 3. Dellin Betances- RHP 4. Austin Romine- C 5. Andrew Brackman- RHP 6. Gary Sanchez- C 7. Corban Joseph- 2B 8. Graham Stoneburner- RHP 9. Slade Heathcott- CF 10. David Phelps- RHP 11. David Adams- 2B 12. Robert Segedin- 3B 13. JR Murphy- C/3B/OF 14. Cito Culver- SS 15. Hector Noesi- RHP 16. Jose Ramirez- RHP 17. Brandon Laird- 1B/3B/RF 18. Adam Warren- RHP 19. Mason Williams- CF 20. Brett Marshall- RHP 21. Bryan Mitchell- RHP 22. Angelo Gumbs- 2B/SS 23. DJ Mitchell- RHP 24. Zoilo Almonte- OF 25. Eduardo Sosa- CF 26. Melky Mesa- OF 27. Sean Black- RHP 28. Kelvin DeLeon- OF 29. Cristofer Cabrera- RHP 30. Ramon Flores- CF 31. Tommy Kahnle- RHP 32. Bradley Suttle- 1B 33. Gabe Encinas- RHP 34. Anderson Felix- 2B 35. Henry Pena- OF 36. Yeicok Calderon- OF 37. Lance Pendleton- RHP 38. Taylor Morton- RHP 39. Mikey O'Brien- RHP 40. Nik Turley- LHP 41. Jose Mojica- SS 42. Ravel Santana- OF 43. Kennedy Agramonte- RHP 44. Taylor Anderson- OF 45. Jorge Alcantara- 3B/OF 46. Jose Pirela- SS 47. Abraham Almonte- CF 48. Jeremy Bleich- LHP 49. Kyle Higashioka- C 50. Evan Rutchkyj- LHP Notable mention: Matthew Richardson- RHP Dan Brewer- OF George Kontos- RHP (see if he recovers well from TJS next yr) Jairo Heredia- RHP (see how he recovers from a shoulder injury) Robert Lyerly- 3B Rafael Polo- 3B Daniel Burawa- RHP Evan DeLuca- LHP Eladio Moronta- OF Mariel Checo- RHP Taylor Morton- RHP Damon Sublett- OF Brett Gerritse- RHP Chris Austin- OF Ben Gamel- OF That's a rough top 50, the last 15 or so off the top of my head.

Betances certainly is our highest ceiling pitching prospect with Brackman right on his heels. The article has his height wrong, though. He's 6'9".

Maybe a 1 yr stopgap, or maybe they are ready to hand it over to Doubront since they'd be dealing from a strength. Lets just say Beckett is capable of coming back to 180IP, 4.2ERA performance, and Lackey can come back to 200IP 4.2ERA performance. Two reasonable possibilities. Then DiceK will have almost no worth to the club since their rotation would be solid. He would generate more worth by grabbing a catcher or a 3b on the market. Maybe the sox eat some coin and ship him to Colorado for Chris Iannetta?

The Reds are acting like a team that hasnt been there in almost 2 decades. They are young, and they should be good enough to compete next yr. But this yr is a learning experience. Mistakes against playoff teams are going to kill you. I felt bad for Chapman. Kid didnt pitch all that poorly. Rolen throws to the wrong base, the right fielder and 2b cannot field a relay causing 2 runs to score.

Companies typically hype a stock right before they are about to sell it. Wouldnt be surprised if that is the case here

Manuel from BA takes Brackman over Kelly in his rankings....

That's the thing. These second tier guys who have been #2's at best are getting ace money.

I just think some of the extra pressure is off. I am very much into this series and this postseason, but I am just not as nervous this time around. I dont know if it is confidence or what.

Also, have you noticed that last yr's championship has made this a much more enjoyable post season thus far? Last yr, I couldnt breathe deeply until it was over. But these past two games have been very enjoyable

CC goes in games 1, 4, and 7 if needed. Guarantee it, unless we are up 3-0 come game 4. I think the series will be played by ear. If we are down 3-1 after game 4, I highly doubt AJ goes. If we are up 3-0 come game 4, we'll go 4 man. Heck, we might go 4 man if we are up 2-1. But in no way, shape or form will we see AJ with us behind in a series OR if we are facing an elimination game. No way. This is the post season. You dont f*** around with your slumping pitchers if your back is against the wall.

I would bet that we'll be going 3 man rotation unless we are way up, and obviously if we get there. Gotta finish off those pesky Twins

I dont know about that. Lackey turned in a bad season, but he at least showed he would take the bump and give innings. Burnett was getting shelled in the last 2 months which got him pulled early too often. The only thing on Burnett's side is that he has 3 yrs left instead of 4. Both guys are untradeable and I wouldnt even broach the topic. Both have the capability to be dominant starters, and selling now would be selling incredibly low.

Theo subscribes to the Billy Beane theory on closers. I highly doubt the sox go out and pay through the nose on a long term deal for a closer when they have the heir apparent on cheap coin there already.

Great to see a Yankee win in the playoffs from start to finish. Pettitte looked very, very good. He located the heat, the curve was sharp and the change was solid. Everything was working well. Up 2-0 coming back to NY? And 8 straight wins against the twins, and the twins led in all of them. Gardenhire should bury himself rather than just the uniform

Alright Yanks. Time to reverse the bar watching curse. Cmon Pettitte. Heading out, have fun y'all