Gom

Like I said, Duncan is garbage. For once, we agree. I wonder what they would want from the Yankees for him, however. Hughes and Tabata are out, I wonder what else they would take, if anything.

I can understand a win in 2005, when we ended up tied for the AL East. However, he has a fear of letting starting pitchers pitch past the 7th inning. I can't tell you how many times a starter has 80-85 pitches going into the 8th with a 4 run lead, with the pitcher throwing a 5 hitter, and he yanks him. He is an absolutely horrible manager when it comes to pitchers. Every year, I mean EVERY SINGLE YEAR, he has two or three in the top 10 of appearances. He goes through relievers faster than Dwight Gooden can violate his probation.

The Yankees aren't trading Hughes and Tabata for Johnson. However, trading Duncan and one of the pitchers they got from the Sheffield deal [not Sanchez] I can see happening. Bowden can say and do what he wants, but seeing what Soriano went for, makes you realize someone would have anted up for the guy. I think he is under a lot of pressure to improve the team after his colossal screw up with Soriano. Expect his asking price to come down a bit with all of his players, not just Nick Johnson. Plus, outside of the Twins, there aren't really any top notch lefties in the AL, especially if Zito leaves for the Mets.

Come on Jacks...you have been watching the Yankees long enough. This guy burns out his bullpen every year. He doesn't adapt to the team like a good manager. He doesn't know how to manage guys that don't fit in his mold. You have to agree with me on that point. Outside of 1996, when was the last time the Yankees won a playoff series when they weren't favored? He got out-managed by Bob Brenly, and Francona for goodness sake! I think the biggest pickup the Yankees could have made was Pinella.Instead, they have a lame-duck Torre. In fact, he was really only good with Zimmer, if you remember. Zimmer was a bench coach, came up with all the ideas. Case in point. I wish I could remember which game it was, but it was September [or late August] this year, with the Yankees having wrapped up the division after the Boston Massacre II. Karstens is cruising along, throwing a two hitter, and he takes him out with a 4+ run lead late in the game. Why not let him finish? Rest your pen that you burned out. No, he has to pitch Proctor [maybe he has him in his fantasy league], he stinks up the joint, and Rivera has to pitch to save the game. Even if Proctor shut them down, why waste a day's work with a reliever that you are going to use in the post season, for a rookie who can throw all day since he isn't going to make the post season roster? This is one example of many, Jacks. Another prominent one is that when THE GM has to talk to THE MANAGER about overusing Ron Villone, then maybe THE MANAGER has no idea what the hell he is doing anymore.

For once, I completely agree with a700. He will take the highest present value of a contract. That's how this guy gets paid. I have commended the Sox on getting Matsuzaka, and as a baseball fan [not a Yankee fan], I would tell you to be wary of pitchers with pedigrees from other leagues. We fell for it with Contreras, who is a decent, but unspectacular pitcher. The game here is much different in Japan. Remember that the other teams like Japan, Cuba, etc., had prepared for this WBC a lot more than we did. Our guys were still in spring training. I think a lot of you are buying the hype and giving him the Cy Young award before he pitches in the AL. I see him as being an upgrade from Contreras, but not by much. Anyways, I think it's funny that I said that he would get at least 15 million, and everyone here laughed at me for saying so. I remember reading that the Sox were going to offer him 8 million or so from other posters here. I guess that went out the window. I kind of hope this free agency thing kind of goes away anyways. I miss the days of old-fashioned trades. Ones that weren't salary dumps. Even though my team, the Yankees, have benefited the most, it would be fun to see an honest trade again.

Tell you the truth, I could see a deal involving the Red Sox and Blue Jays involving Manny and Wells as the centerpieces, as long as the Red Sox could sign Wells to an extension. Obviously, the details have to be worked out, I'm not saying Wells is as good as Manny, but Manny will bring back more next year when he gets traded in the last year of his contract, and the Red Sox get a decent bat right-handed, and great defense in the outfield. It may have some juice, who knows?

I don't care what anyone says. Torre is an idiot. I'm a diehard Yankee fan, and he's an idiot. I could have won with the teams he had. The only good job he did was in 1996. The rest was a joke.

Personally, in light of the absolutely insane free agent deals, I think that Matsuzaka is going to come with a very high price tag. I thought posting 51 million for Matsuzaka was crazy, but after seeing what Matthews got, 50 million, I must admit, I have no idea what the hell is going on anymore.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2668465 This is insane. To top it all off, they gave him a no-trade clause to boot. What the hell is wrong with the Cubs? That being said, good luck Sori! He's a really nice guy [i've hung out with him a few times, and we "knew" one girl in common, lol]. This offseason is reminiscent of the turn of the century, with Manny and Moose getting their monster deals, along with Giambi, etc.

What is the prize? A bagel with lox, and a 50% discount at 47th Street Photo?

Clemens closing? Why? Until Matsuzaka proves himself, he is your ace. Foolish.

As you all know, I am a Yankee fan, and I will go on record saying Torre is useless. He never won elsewhere, and won because of his team, not the other way around. That said, I like what the Yankees have done so far. I like Cashman better than any GM we have had in recent memory. However, his positioning has helped the Yankees out tremendously. The jury is still out though. If he doesn't acquire Zito, Schmidt, or some other pitcher in a major deal, I'd say the off-season is a failure. This is the prelude [i hope], otherwise, the Yankees won't play in October. Someone brought up something interesting the other day [on the radio in NY]. If Sheffield had gone on record, agreeing to play first base for the Yankees, do what he could do to help the team win, etc., would I have wanted to trade Sheffield? The sad answer was no. I would have kept him. We may have made do without him last year, but the guy is a monster, and I know other teams feared him more than any other hitter in our lineup. Cashman has done well so far, but he has a lot of work left to do.

You know the phrase "If there's grass on the field, play ball"? We'll Pavano can't get on the field, so I think his cousin is safe with him.

I think it is a very real possibility that the Red Sox FO may have bid with no intention to sign him. I also agree that it would kill their image in the Far East. Overall, I would have to say it is a longshot that the Red Sox intent was never to sign him, but by no means can I completely disregard it. We'll see in what...27 days at the most?

Why? What's so good about either of those guys? Do you see something up there I don't?

This would be good, just edit the first post every time a new move is made. Easier to keep track.

It's a pissing contest he can't win. I'm done with it as far as I'm concerned. The Red Sox front office proved my point. He can argue 'till he's blue in the face, but money talks.

Yes, those. The Yankees played meaningful games in October. Your team stopped in August.

Based on regular season record. The playoffs don't count towards it...you know, the games Manny and Ortiz were watching on TV in October. Either way, cool website.

I said they have similar revenue streams. You disagreed. If anything, your foray with Matsuzaka shows that the revenue streams are much closer than you think. Why am I even debating this with you? Just go to any web site that has the details of the Matsuzaka posting. I have stated this before, and I will state it again, the Red Sox have the ABILITY to compete with the Yankees financially. They simply choose not to. The gap, which was 70 million in payroll last year, is not a true indicator of the difference in revenue streams. You also stated that the Yankees would not be able to get rid of Sheffield without eating some of his salary. I did. I said that the Yankees would find some team to take his entire salary, and get something in return. They got more than I thought they would. I would have loved to have seen Lidge, or Linebrink, but just because we want someone, doesn't mean that team will give him up. Sanchez becomes the #2 pitcher in our farm system. They've also increased their trading chips. All for nothing, really. Did they get more than you thought they would, considering the Yankees didn't pay a dime to offset his salary? I would find it very hard to believe if you said no.