Gom

I guess you would call the Beckett deal a good one. Umm...how about giving us Manny for Melky? Yes, so far, it's been a disaster of a deal. Well, considering all things he could have done better. Getting Abreu and Lidle was a steal. Not acquiring a starter is a big negative, though. That's all he really did, but this thread isn't about Cashman. It's about Theo. Well, they would have been better off trading spare parts, like the Yankees did, for Abreu. It's obvious the Sox had the money, and pulled the wool over your fan base for years, saying you can't spend, which is horseshit. Abreu is a better, more durable player than Drew, and would have cost about the same as Drew will [more money, less years]. Nixon and WMP have disappointed, due to injury and lack of skills, respectively. My question is why do you guys credit him so much? I think he has been a very average GM overall, with a horrible 2006 [and a great 2004, I give credit where it is due]. Sorry, in New York, we are much more of a "what have you done for me lately" kind of crowd, and do you believe that he would still have a job in New York if he made the mistakes that Theo did, trading say Cano and Melky for Beckett? I mean come on, give the guy credit for 2004, but if he just left your team alone and signed Damon, you may have won the World Series last year. I just don't see what you love about this guy.

Ok, I know he got you your first World Series in 86 years, blah blah blah...congrats. However, he has not done well recently. He traded away Ramirez, the ROY in the NL, and Sanchez for Beckett, which has been a disaster so far. He let Damon walk [i don't buy the "resigned" crap, he never really left the Sox, and everyone really knows it]. He botched the Abreu deal, and when asked about it, he turns around and says "We can't spend like the Yankees". Abreu cost 23 million for one season and two months, and then he goes and posts 51 million for Matsuzaka. I don't believe that the Sox's financial status has changed that much from July 31st until today. In other words, he is full of s*** [or ownership is making him say things that are full of s***]. He is going to sign Drew for more money than Damon got, and he is more of a health risk than Damon, and probably for the same amount of years. Drew opted out of 3 years, 33 million with the Dodgers, so you know he will make more than that. He traded away Meredith, who right now would be the best pitcher in your pen and probable closer for Mirabelli, who hit a whopping .191. Arroyo was one of the best pitchers in the NL for half the season, would have been your second best pitcher after Schilling for WMP, who is a waste of space. Now, this isn't a knock on the Sox, just Theo. I give him 2004. Kudos for that. However, in 2006, this guy has been a disaster. What are your thoughts?

No he is not. I would like to find out though. I am not going to tout him for being an ace when he comes up either. Sometimes you get lucky, you get a Dwight Gooden in 1985 who comes out of the gate and is phenomenal. However, I think he will develop into a good pitcher. I've seen too many pitchers over the years who were can't miss who missed, not just for the Yankees, but all over baseball. Remember Generation X for the Mets? More recently, King Felix from Seattle? I think that it is very unreasonable to expect a pitcher to come up and dominate the majors without ever having pitched in the majors. I think the Japanese league is better than AAA, but I have no scientific study to show this. Just my personal feelings. I think that AAA is a better indicator of success due to the fact that AAA has been tied to baseball for much longer than Japanese baseball. The Yankee fans who claim that Hughes will be the next Clemens are just as foolish as the Sox fans who have penciled in Matsuzaka for the Cy Young this coming season. No different. I'm trying to look at this from an objective point of view. Here is an interesting question for Sox fans. Forget about salary, posting, etc....would you trade Matsuzaka for Hughes straight up, right now? I know there are quite a few Yankee fans on this site, I would be interested in hearing both sides. I for one....don't know. No idea. No clue. Damn, I ask good questions, lol.

You know what's funny? The fact that you guys adore Theo Epstein. Yeah, I know, he helped end your curse, congrats, it only took 86 years, blah blah blah. When he was asked about how he didn't go for Abreu, he responded "We can't operate like the Yankees". What was it, 17 million per for 2 years? So it's what, 23-24 million for the one year, two months of baseball? Then he goes out and posts for Matsuzaka a total of 51.1 million, has to sign him, closing on Drew for more than what Drew opted out for [3 years, 33 million was what he had with the Dodgers]. It's not like he posted for Matsuzaka AFTER all these insane signings happened. Matsuzaka was first on the list. I find it very hard to believe that the Red Sox financial picture/model/strategy changed that quickly from the trade deadline to now. In other words, he is insanely full of s***. Not only that, but the guy doesn't know how to make a trade. He trades Arroyo for WMP, which was probably the most lopsided trade in the last two or three years in baseball that wasn't a salary dump [and even more lopsided than most salary dumps], He got rid of Meredith, who would currently be the closer on your team after the year he had in SD for Mirabelli, who couldn't even hit .200, and I won't even re-hash the Beckett disaster [i don't buy this "he resigned" s***. He was still in the operations side, I am willing to bet]. You guys actually like this guy? Why the hell aren't you guys talking about getting rid of this guy? If he was in New York...well, he wouldn't be now. The guy is an idiot.

Two or three behind or ahead of Mussina. There is a huge gap between 1 and 2 with the Yankees. I think he would start off third behind Mussina. He is definitely better than Johnson. Excuse me for wanting a player to actually play in the major leagues before I deem him with having four major league caliber pitches. Sometimes you get surprised, both positively or negatively. It's not homerism, it's being burned in the past [Contreras, Irabu] and getting more than expected [Matsui] that has kind of taught me to temper things. None of the players the Yankees got turned out to be what was expected. Even Matsui, who came here with the hype of being a homer hitting outfielder with poor skills otherwise, has turned into a decent defensive left fielder, with good instincts, good baserunning, solid all around hitter with good pop in his bat. Call it what you will. Was there a point to your post?

I think that Papelbon will do better than the consensus here, and Matsuzaka will do worse. MLB caliber? How about he throws a pitch in the majors before we deem his stuff major league caliber? As for pitching less, he will pitch more frequently than in Japan.

That would be a dream come true for Yankee fans. Get rid of Manny. Please. LOL!

I wouldn't. The Yankee front office agrees with you. Probably the entire world too. I'm a big Zito fan. Being a lefty at Yankee stadium will allow him to probably keep his same ERA in the East. Lilly is a dependable and solid pitcher. A solid #4 type pitcher. I always like the proven player over the unknown. Sometimes you get lucky and get a Hideki Matsui or Ichiro Suzuki. Sometimes you get a bust like Kaz Matsui or Irabu. You know what you are getting with those guys. You simply don't with Matsuzaka. So, no...I wouldn't want Matsuzaka at double, and most likely, triple the cost of Zito and Lilly. I guess next season will tell.

Umm...Shawn Green? LOL! Come on, you can't be serious. Move Alou to RF, or Manny. It's not like either of them will be good at either position. Beltran makes up for both of them. Think about it...if Manny does end up on the Mets, he will end feeling like that kid who played CF in the original Bad News Bears movie.

Agreed. I think they both should retire and simply go away.

Posada is still elite, there is this guy in Cleveland who is pretty good, lol...and the Detroit catcher isn't that bad, but he has a noodle for an arm.... Come to think of it, all the good catchers are in the AL. There really aren't any good ones in the NL.

I may be the only one in the world who likes Zito. He had a down year for him, and he still was one of the best pitchers in the A.L. There is no comparison between the two pitchers. Plus, I put a lot of stock in the fact that he has a career post-season ERA of 3.25. Take away that bomb he had against Detroit this year, he has a career post-season ERA of 2.45. Most of that ERA came against us and the Red Sox, he outdueled Santana this year...I think the guy is a very solid #1 pitcher. He isn't a shut down ace, like Santana or Halliday, but I think Zito is one of the top 30 starting pitchers in baseball..hence, I call him an ace. I think that $25 million spent on Zito [15 mil] and Lilly [10 mil] would be very good value in today's market. If you give me a rotation of Wang, Zito, Mussina, Lilly, Johnson [with Hughes in the wings], I will take that against any other rotation in baseball and take my chances. Let's also not forget that the Yankees have been known to score a run or two. When you think about it, it's a payroll increase from last year of 3 million from last year, when you factor in Mussina's decrease, Wright's buyout, and Sheffield's trade. In other words, if you were the Yankee GM and someone offered you Zito, Lilly, a reliever [britton], a top tier prospect [sanchez] and three mid-level prospects [the rest from the Tigers deal] for Sheffield, Wright, and 3 million, would you do it? I thought so. Now, it is nothing but utter speculation, but how great would it be to get Lilly AND Zito for HALF the money it cost the Sox to post for Matsuzaka? I, for one, would love it. However, it still has to happen first.

Why do you think the Yankees have to make a huge offer over the Mets? That makes no sense at all. Is Flushing such a better place to play than the Bronx? It's not like the scrutiny, media, or expectations are really that different from one borough to the next. As for Sox predictions: Schilling 15-8 4.20 ERA 196 IP Beckett 16-11 4.79 ERA 215 IP Matsuzaka 11-7 4.22 ERA 181 IP Papelbon 13-6 3.56 ERA 152 IP Wakefield 8-10 5.02 ERA 142 IP I think Schilling and Wakefield will continue their decline with age...Matsuzaka will struggle a bit as is the case with all pitchers who come from other leagues in their first year [with very few exeptions]. Papelbon is the real mystery, he can be anywhere from a Cy Young candidate, but with the looseness in the joint, I think the Sox will be wise to keep him on a strict pitch count, hence the lower than average IP. Beckett will be a horse, and he will improve slightly, but not significantly. I will predict that the increase in effectiveness of Beckett will be offset by Schilling and Wakefield's decline due to age. In other words, expect the same from Beckett, Schilling, and Wakefield. Matsuzaka and Papelbon are much bigger wildcards, and I expect Papelbon to have a better season than Matsuzaka.

I think Lilly is going to the Yankees. I think the Yankee rotation will be Wang, Mussina, Lilly, Johnson and..umm....someone. Boy, would I love to see Zito. I don't want anyone to die, like Corey Lidle [RIP], but I kind of home Pavano goes missing for a couple of years...oh wait, he's already done that. Stupid prick. f*** him. I hope he has a sex change and joins the WNBA.

Ummm...the award is the most VALUABLE player. I think Jeter should have won it, due to his phenomenal VORP rating over Morneau, but I can see why Morneau won it. It's not like it was highway robbery, but I think he should have won. Either way, the MVP should go at the very least to a team that made the playoffs. For that reason, Pujols should have won over Howard. If it's going to be for having the best season, it should be called the Ted Williams award or something like that. Seriously, how valuable can a player be if his team is not one of the remaining eight? No offense to Ortiz, who should have won last year, but he shouldn't have won this year. His team didn't make it to October. Just my two cents...

He's what the Yankees need!!!! Who cares that the Sox won the bid for Matsuzaka, and will probably sing Drew. WE GET ZAUN!!! Yeah baby! Eat your heart out, Sox fans! What the hell is Cashman sleeping on? Why is Zito not already a Yankee? I'm getting worried...

That pretty much ends this post. :thumbsup:

Nothing makes sense this off-season. Stop trying.

Well, the fact that Boras is also Drew's agent, I think he has the Red Sox over the proverbial barrel more than the other way around. You don't think he's going to use that? Look, I think the Red Sox will get both players. I just think it's not going to be cheap.

It's not breaking the rules. The player can negotiate a buyout with team. I doubt that Boras will offer Seibu the amount of money the Red Sox did, but like I said, it's possible. Guys, he has leverage. More than you think. I've been saying this all along. If he goes to the Lions, tells them they want to negotiate a buyout for 25 million or he will come back to Japan, leave next season for nothing, what do you think the Lions will do? Don't you think the Yankees/Mets/Rangers will pony up 3 years, 60 million? They were willing to post in the 30 million range. Don't you think a team will offer a 7 year, 100 million contract? Come on, guys, I know you can see this. Out of all the parties involved, Boras has the MOST leverage. He can use the threat of going back to Japan, costing the Lions 51 million and the Red Sox complete embarrassment. I would be extremely surprised if he doesn't use this threat of going back and buying out the last year of Matsuzaka's contract. With Soriano signing for 136 mil, Lee for 100 mil, Matthews for 50 mil, etc., I think the Sox are dreaming if they think they can get away with a 3 year 30 million deal like what has been posted here. Either way, we shall see. Did anyone see this salary explosion coming? To be honest, I didn't.

It's not like playing in Boston is a piece of cake, either. Although I do think that Matsuzaka will sign, if Boras doesn't like the offer [play along with the line of thinking for a second], there is nothing that will stop him from letting the time frame expire and then going to the Seibu Lions and negotiation a buyout himself, then put him on the open market. He is pretty much sure to get close to 100 million at this point with the salary explosion. Like I said, I don't think it will happen, but the possibility exisis.