BSN07

Merry Christmas everyone! I'm in Holland with my girlfriends family this year, where going to some resturant for dinner. My girlfiend and I will be having some weird appetizer, then rabbit, then something else I'm not to sure of, the ice cream and coffee. I have no idea if it will be good or not, but I'll let you all know:thumbsup:

Danks, a southpaw, turns 22 in April. He was the Rangers' best prospect according to BA. He throws three solid pitches and has pitched well in the minors despite being young for his levels. He'll compete for the fifth spot in Chicago's rotation. He's the prize of the deal. Got that off of MLBTRADERUMORS.COM, I know its not the most reliable site, but thats what he thinks of Danks. Maybe CHW wanted to go with a young LH pitcher instead of Mcarthy. Maybe they know something about him we don't, but getting two prospects for a realitively low experience ML pitcher is nice.

Well Jacko we will see what Ol Melky is made of now won't we.

A700 I agree with you totally that the NL has the young talent right now that will blossom into the next generation of super stars. All i'm saying is the most likely will end up in the Al eventually. Miguel- Rumors now are he is the next 200M guy in 2009 when hes a FA. How many teams do you know of that will pony up that type of money? STL? No. NYM? No they already have a huge contract on there team and they have a 3B of there own. LA? They will never go that big on a contract. CHC? Nope, they already have a couple big deals and a 3B. the teams that will put up that dough, and might have 3B open are in the AL. NYY,BOS, maybe LAA, TEX are the only teams that will put up that kind of money. R. Howard- If he performs like he has( Ortiz like+) he will command a hefty contract. Philly might pony up, but again NYY,BOS ect will be right in the running for a player of his caliber. It's no secret the NYY are getting old, they have been getting old for a few years now. Boston has a young pitching staff, but they are also ageing in certain areas( Manny,Tek, Lowell). These two teams are not real deep in the farm system with top notch position prospects. And considering neither one will want to be mediocre, they will inturn spend money to bring in the new young talented guys. Don't get me wrong, I don't believe that these are the only two teams that will beable to get these guys, but if the contracts get as big as expected they have already proven they will go that far. If the NL wants to keep theses guys they will have to spend like the clubs in the AL, mostly the AL East(NYY,BOS,TOR).

Well Jacko if he is dealt, then we will know what the NYY really think of him. If they deal him the don't see the upside to him like you do. A good eye and patience is nice, but you need a little more. Melky= overated + dumass team that buys the hype - NYY lineup X new pressure= Jose Cruz JR

tito might not be the best strategy manager out there, but he's a Boston type a guy so I like him. And i'm sure Pedroia will be fine and tito will handle him with care. All he really has to do is play Good D and hit a little and that would be nice. Just aslong as eveyone doesn't expect .300+ avg and 20HRS from the guy. he will be fine, someone said he looked like a Loretta clone, which is fine by me.

I don't believe he had Tommy John, but he had some sort of repair done his first year in Houston. At the time it made the NYY look like geniuses for not signing him. Kinda like Pedro with us, we said his arm fall apart after 2-3 season thats why we wouldn't give the 4th year, no our FO looks smarter for not giving it to him. People try and say Minya did good with him and got what he wanted out of Pedro which is BS. 24-16 349.2 innings isn't worth what they payed for him.

SEASON G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB CS OBP SLG AVG 2002 154 623 118 178 34 11 14 63 276 65 70 31 6 .356 .443 .286 (Damon) 2003 145 608 103 166 32 6 12 67 246 68 74 30 6 .345 .405 .273 (Damon) 2006 105 413 58 109 22 2 8 36 159 31 67 22 4 .317 .385 .264 (Crisp) Damon wasn't what he is now the first couple seasons in Boston, give Coco a couple healthy season too. The only thing about Damon's stats that shouts at me is games played, thats one thing I will never take from him, he was a gamer for us, even tho I hate the prick now.

I'm just saying pressure will change a hitter. Wait to judge Melky when hes not surrounded by Damon,Giambi,Matsui,Jeter,Arod,Canu,Abreu. See what he puts up for numbers when he is relyed on to produce not to get on and get knocked in. Your the man ORS!:thumbsup:

Jacko I would normally feel the same about Milwaukee, but they do seem to be turning over a new leaf. they had a decent team at the beginning of the season but faded late. Probably do to the young guys on the team. But with Sheets, Cap, Suppan and vargas, and there young talented lineup with Fielder JR, Hall and some of the wiley vets they do have the makings of a decent team, and a fun team to watch.

s*** I don't know what IMO, Vorp,Winshares and all the new stuff is. I'm still trying to learn. I just know figured what OPS is LOL. Someone should make a thread explaining all the newer stats figures and how to get them( formulas). That be awesome, I hope someone takes up this challenge, kind of a "Baseball's new stats for dummies". Thanks in advance to anyone who does par take in this Mission. Hey Jacko, I think it is easy to see why Melky's patience was better this year, look at the lineup he was in, barely any pressure on him, all he was told was to make sure to get on base so the big boys can knock him in. I don't need any stats to tell me thats what he was thinking. Sure he took his chances on pitches, but he rarely chased outside the zone because his job was to get on base not to hit doubles or homers.

How can a pitcher have a curse playing for the Dodgers? Isn't it considered a pitchers park? How about he sucks and you didn't realize it until it was too late. Happens to all teams.

Nice post Sweets!

The AL is a stronger league. It's this way because the Al teams spend more money(besides the Mets). They spend more money to bring in the better talent. This looks to be changing a bit tho. CHC, LA uped there payrolls this off season to bring in talent( well CHC did, LA spent alot of money but didn't get the quality CHC got). To say that the AL East isn't stronger then the NL West is just moronic. Even if your not a Sox fan, and have half a brain this isn't hard to see. The toughest division is a toss up between the AL East and AL Central. With CHW,DET, and MINN pitching and the NYY lineup, they right now are the upper teams, with the Red Sox right in there if there pitching produces the way it should and Toronto isn't far behind either. It takes 95+ wins to win either division most seasons, where it takes a +5 games over .500 maybe to win the NL West. LAand SD the best of the NL West, if put in the AL divisions would have finished like this, AL East= 06'-2nd(no playoffs) 05'-SD 3rd LA 5th AL Central=06' -4th(no playoffs)05'-SD 4th LA 4th AL West=06'-3rd(no playoffs)05'-SD 3rd LA 3rd Teams from the NL West wouldn't even beable to make it to the playoffs in the AL. AL is a stronger league. Both leagues had 97 win teams(NY), both leagues have the teams that can't get out of there own way( KC,TB, SEA, PITT,CHC,COL). AL 90+ win teams=5 NL 90+win teams=1 AL 82-89 win teams=3 NL 82-89 win teams=4 AL .500 or below=6 NL .500 or below=10 That should show where the better teams are. Trust me I like watching NL as much as AL, it's all baseball to me, but the better quality teams are in the AL. As far as WS victory's go, it was proven this year no matter how bad your team is if you can get in you have as good a chance as anyone. Which I like so the WS stats aren't really that valid in this argument.

This deal is dumb. Murton should be given his shot in LF. Theres no need to platoon him anymore. He doesn't cost anything really hi, and he probably will hit and play D better the Floyd will anyway. Just a waste of money by the Cubs. Floyd will be lucky to play in 90 games. Hes a sold player when health( which isn't often), but hes a good clubhouse guy from what I've heard. I had honestly thought that baltimore would sign him, he really is there type of player they would sign. I'm surprised they didn't offer him a 3 year deal worth about 30M. If I was a GM and Baltimore was after a player I was after, I would no longer be after that player, I hate the NYY cause I'm a Sox fan, but I dislike Baltimore's FO/Owner/whoever makes horrible decsions there with the upmost regard.LOL

Thats what where saying, hes going to big the next big time money man.

Because in 05 we had enough offense to comeback in games we where down. 06 we kept runs off the board with our spectacular D, but or line up was feeble at best. Our pitching stunk so it didn't matter how good of D we played because we didn't have enough offense to make up for the weak pitching. You need a dominate pitching staff and excellent D if your going to win with a weak lineup. 04= good pitching, avg. D and great offense( WS series champs, 2nd in division) 05= bad pitching, avg. D and great offense( playoffs, 2nd division) 06= bad pitching, great D, weak offense( no playoffs, 3rd in division) 07 we go in with what could be one of the better rotations in the league, good D and Good lineup If it wasn't for our good D last year we might have been in fourth.

I think MC will get traded like ORS said, hes going to get huge money no matter where he goes. Not sure who will be intersted or if they would have him switch positions. I think MC is the next generation Manny, Albert or AROD. I know those are big expectations but he just looks like he has it. I saw him play in ST in 2003 and told my brother then he was the next big thing( next manny where my exact words). I'd love to see him on the Sox, Manny will be off the books so they could have the money for him and will need a 3B soon. I don't however see them giving up big time prospects for him, but to go after him in FA( if they choose to pursue him, thats the course I believe they would take). I know its far off but he wouldn't be a bad replacement for Manny, and besides Pujols he might be the only RH power bat that would be an decent replacement. Of course if they blow there load next year on one of the OF's available, I doubt we would have a shot. f***er better not hire Boras before he hits FA eitherLOL

TED I must apologize, I saw your post and thought it was directed at me and cussed you under my breath!LOL Then I went back a page and saw what tool boy wrote after me.

OFF TOPIC: well kind of, I was reading an article on Miguel Cabrera, it was saying that in 2009 hes a FA and could be looking at AROD money. Some are saying he might get 8 yrs 25M a year or 6 yrs 29M a yr, just wondered what everyone else thought about it.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=2702125 Crasnicks newest article at espn.com talks about next years big name FA. He said with Wells off the market, look for Hunter to either resign or end up in Texas. And puts the Red Sox names in the hat for A. Jones( saying Boras is going to want a 8 year 160 M deal for the 30 year old). Bit hi I say, I don't see the Sox going past 6 years( if they really do go after him). On a sidenote, with Abreu most likely to not be back with NYY next season they will have an OF spot open, but he doesn't mention any of the top guys being sought after by the NYY. Does anyone really think they won't try to land a big name for the OF?:dunno:

I'm the one who compared him to a Jose Cruz JRlite. As far as Jeter goes, I said he was a great player, and has been great for baseball since he has been here, but I just believe that he wouldn't be as good a hitter without NYY lineup. Not a terrible hitter just not as good. And his D was great threw the championship years and a up to early 2000's, but recently it has been on the decline( only to be expected with age) and him winning thbe GG this year was a travasty in my mind, he not only didn't deserve it but was only given it because of his name is Derek Jeter and thats the name the coaches remember, not taking the time to look at the stats and the actual players glove work over the year. If they had Jeter would not have been close to winning as AGON would have run away with it. Torre is overratted. He's a good manager, but most of that has to be credited to the team that has been built for him. Hell I can win the at poker all the time if I get the best cards, but it's when you don't have the cards(players) and you can win is when you have skill. Torre did a nice job threw the championship years, since then he has become just a face in the dugout. He has been given a lineup that can produce atleast 900 runs a year, so he sits back hopes they score alot. When that doesn't work it's usally bad news, he tends to burn the bullpen up now, but thats can't all be blammed on him, he has been given a great lineup, but has also been given a rotation over the last few years thats featured old has beens and injury rittled guys who can barely make it to 6th inninng.

Yes he still has time to prove me wrong, I just have a hard time agreeing with most people about young NYY players. That lineup( I know I keep bringing it up) is probably the best one in the league to hit in if your a youngster. Theres no other lineup out there that can offer you that protection and take the stress of producing off of you. Thats why I say wait to judge them once they have left there fortress of solitude. His D is better then some, but I still would be cautious. I have even said it about Jeter too. He is a solid player and has been great for baseball since he's been here, but put him in a lineup thats ot the NYY and I bet you would be surprised at how his numbers would fall off. Not that this will ever happen, because I would imagine that he will finish his career as a NYY.