Dojji

Iglesias is a fine defensive SS, but Reyes is a potential elite offensive guy, insanely athletic, switch hitting gap power + speedster. The two do not compare in what they can do for you. As long as Reyes is at least average defensively the package Iglesias offers is not as good as what we could be with Jose on the team -- assuming of course, that Reyes is healthy and has his attitude in line, which is always the biggest risk with the guy.

Chart time. I can't find it, anyone have more luck?

No, Kalish would not be a necessity. He was not a necessity for Gonzalez, he will not be one for Reyes. Even when trading for franchise talent you're allowed to keep one guy back. THey're already getting one guy back who's ready to make an impact quickly in Iglesias, throw in Che-Hsuan Lin and 2 mid-minors prospects, and you have a package they'll at least talk to you about.

Actually they don't. Most of the best offensive shortstops right now (all of them in fact) are National League players. They need to crowd as much offense into 8 positions as we do into 9 and it shows at 6 more than anywhere else. In fact the Jedi is probably a better trade piece with the NL than Iglesias really, unless the NL squad is convinced Igsy will hit.

You guys are getting a little carried away. Papi's still a fine power hitter, what he isn't is a guy who carries the team himself. He's a contributing player now, but still a rather solid one.

Agreed. When you have a clear path to an upgrade, and you're the Red Sox, you put the foot down and don't let up. If we had Reyes, Lowrie would be fine in the sub role and Iglesias would be fantastic fodder for a future piece to flesh out a roster. I'm still not convinced he'll hit that much anyway (Igsy), and if he doesn't he's not quite dime-a-dozen but he's not a good AL East SS either, you need at least some offense from every position to compete in this division. Luckily for us the Mets have spent themselves into dire straits so that we might even get a guy like Reyes. I'd be happy to offer them Iglesias and any 2 prospects not named Kalish to get it done this year if they'd bite. I love the idea of 3 50+ base stealers in the same lineup very much..

I'd happily give up my Lowrie fixation to bring Jose Reyes into a lineup that already had Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury in it. That lineup would be the terror and bane of catchers everywhere.

Even splits in the minors, he only showed any kind of platoon split after he got to the bigs. If he continues to have this problem though he could possibly switch to a pure RHH, depending on whether the issue is mechanical or more with his eyes.

Depends on what you see going forward out of Felix Doubront. As effective as he was out of the pen last year I wouldn't be too shocked if he managed to put up a creditable 5th starter performance this year for Boston if called upon. As for an RHH off the bench, if they really do decide Scutaro's their starting SS, Lowrie will be available to provide that service. I wouldn't mind too much bringing McD back though, he was really solid last year and looking at his career that may not be a fluke.

Two questions to ask here. He's not as strong against righties as he is against lefties, but he's not competing against mirror double, he's competing against Scutaro, who isn't a very good offensive player. Also Scutaro is also righthanded, and has a slight platoon weakness of his own that puts his healthy .715 v. right in the same universe as Lowrie's injury-exaggerated .660 or so against right. And the comparison between Lowrie and Scutaro against lefthanders is frankly embarrassing. Lowrie had a .823 OPS this year v. right this year, probably his first healthy sample since midseason 08, which was his rookie campaign anyway. SSS is playing a role, but "can't" is an overstatement. Playing down the significance of 08 and 09 because of the wrist injury, which we all know affects switch hitters' ability to hit differently based on which side of the box they're standing in, I'd expect him to have something of a platoon weakness, but I'd also expect him to put up about a .720-.750 OPS against his weak side which is about as much as Scutaro can do against his strong side.

If you're dealing off a vet, you take the BPA, you don't focus on team needs. If the BPA happens to be a catcher, fine

For prospects, I would think. You don't make a deal like that to fill a position of need.

Between Miller and Doubront we could get at least one matchup lefty and I'd rather stock up on relievers that can get everyone out anyway. I think Doubront takes the next step as a solid 2 inning reliever out of the pen, high 3's ERA, nice middle relief guy. Those kinds of pitchers are easy to underrate and hard to find.

If the problem is physical, then nothing you do is gonna do him any favors, either pitching everyday or pitching a lot every 5th day. If he has shoulder problems of that magnitude he needs to get it looked at.

That's what these guys do best. Do I know only too well.

That 2006 was only flukey in the ERA sense. It was at least consistent with 2008 otherwise.

It's a viable position to take, but on the other hand the further removed he's been from his starter training the worse he's done too. He's not a guy who can blast it by at 97 like he could in '08, so the lessons he picked up as a starter on how to throw secondary stuff and use command etc need to be reinforced. I just don't see what it'd hurt.

His best years as a reliever were the 2 seasons they had him working the hardest on developing the stuff it would take to start. I'm just saying. Not necessarily calling for him to actually start, but force him to develop his stuff as if he could be stuck into the rotation in any given year and we'll probably see a better Papelbon. Training him as a starter in the preseason would develop exactly the skills he needs in order to succeed in the pen with a diminished heater.

I doubt if he opted out, NYY would be petty about it. If he wasn't a mercenary he wouldn't have signed with the Yankees in the first place, and they know he can pitch in New York. I imagine if he did opt out, NYY would be at the forefront of the bidding to get his services back, much like they were with A-Rod.

I met one attractive female baseball fan but she was a: spoken for b: a Blue Jays fan. She also thought John McDonald was an elite player because he was a flashy defensive SS, but she did know her team's roster at least so that's something.

So, Sabbathia gonna walk at the end of the year? If I was in his shoes at age 31 I'd at least test the market. Pitchers are getting AAV comparable to his, and he knows that NYY would consider him proven so he's not closing off the Yankees as a potential buyer. If a tiebreaker is needed, he'd be going for a new contract age age 31 instead of 35, easier to get both years and AAV that way and lock himself into a deal most of the rest of the way to retirement. It'd come down to how NYY rotation does next year. IF they're bad, then there's no reason for Sabbathia not to opt out as he has the ability to instantly put NYY over a barrel and add pick up a 7 year deal. The better the rest of the Yankee starters do, the less leverage CC has and the more likely he plays out his deal.

I'm sorry 26 to 6, is that thing in your avatar supposed to be attractive? Because all I can think of when I look up and see that is "Oh hey, the Geico caveman is a Yankee fan."