Dojji

Don't bother. I never compared LaRoche to Ortiz. You asked for an example of a pull-happy lefty. I gave you one. That's it.

If you don't think Ortiz was and still is predominately a pull hitter, I just don't know what to say. All I'm asking is, find a lefty we've gotten in recent years who even really suffered any loss of power from coming here. I think the park factors are overblown, or at least the FO does a good job calling the guys who aren't going to be hurt as much by them. If we do sign LaRoche it's because Theo thinks that the park factors aren't going to kill his bat. I'd count on him to be right.

You honestly can't think of another dead-pull lefty? Granted, Big Papi has gone to left field more often in recent years, but the vast majority of his Red Sox HR's have gone out to right.

I can think of one other at least.

Why not? We've been making the playoffs with exactly that arrangement.

Marginal gains, Dipre? I'll take a lateral move that takes a player with an expiring contract with a similar player signed several years into the future. There's value in that. Which is one of the reasons I think he might have some trade value. Only if you look at it solely from the perspective of 2010. It makes a lot more sense in 2011. Course I'm gonna get some grief for the fact that LaRoche would block Anderson, who I was in love with during the whole Teixeira debate. Just to head that off let me throw this out there. Times change, and Anderson sure changed with them. If a guy isn't allowed to change his mind in light of new evidence, like say Anderson's total suckfest in 2009, then you've basically outlawed thought. I still think Anderson's going to be in the bigs sooner than later, but all that power potential is still potential and everything else he had going for him befkre is reduced or gone, so counting on him as a critical piece of the franchise may be unwise. Now, did I or anyone else have any reason to think he was going to do this to us in the 2008 offseason? No. There was no way of knowing or predicting what was going to happen this year with Anderson. But someone's going to call me on it anyway and I wanted to make my position clear for when it happened. It only makes sense if they think they're contenders, which as you said is a plausible scenario. In that case a line drive hitting 3B fits the kind of player the Mariners have liked in recent years. I know that dude, it was a typo.

Calculate the upgrade in of replacing Lowell's -13 UZR/150 last year with Kevin Youkilis' career +7, and an defensively average first baseman comes out to a net positive. They'd only be eating a year's worth of money, and that's only if Lowell's remaining value is lower than I think it is. Unless they think Tuiasosopo is ready right NOW, which is pretty doubtful, the Mariners are close enough to have need of a rent-a-player. And they have a hole at DH* anyway. If whatsisname, Bavasi, was still GM I'd call it a slam dunk. We don't know the new guy's style yet, maybe he'll want more OBP than Lowell can give. * LOL that originally read "a hole at GM." That they used to have. Bavasi was apparently a grade A hole. But that's not what I meant.

I actually like the idea of swapping outLowell and going after Adam LaRoche BTW. I don't think you'd have to sign the guy for that many years, and he produces at at least the Kevin Millar level. You can win with him. And with Lowell as bad defensively as he was, even LaRoche's average to creeping slightly below average numbers do represent an infield upgrade. That idea becomes ridiculous the momsnt it's actually clear that a trade for Adrian Golzalez is a real possibility and not an impossible fan dream . Practically speaking, though, a slight upgrade to a younger player with similar numbers and a longer deal makes sense and Youks provides enough insurance to allow the team to take the risk. A lot of the midmarket teams are going after LaRoche though, anyone who needs a bit of extra power and has 1B or DH open are likely to express interest, so the price might be higher than you want to pay for his production level.

I'm sorry, were you going somewhere with that? You said they'd have to spend a lot of money then pointed out that they had it to spend. You also said that they had a limited window with Ichiro. If that's true, that's a reason to either contend now or trade Ichiro. I could go for eating some salary to facilitate a trade of Mike Lowell for Mark Lowe. Expendable elements from both teams changing hands to fill a stated need on the other. And then sign a midmarket power hitter to replace Lowell's production because there's a difference between "expendable" and "we can totally live just fine without the guy."

The Mariners were an 85 win team this year. It's not unfathomable that they put together a good offseason and find a way back into contention.

I would only go after Halladay if he wanted to sign a bigtime extension with Boston, especially if large number of prospects are going to Toronto. the concept of Halladay playing for the Yankees while Kelly and Westmoreland kill us in Toronto is unbearable. Even if we don't deal bigtime prospects, I can't think of too many FA's in the coming offseason that are going to better than Halladay, so why not strike while the iron is hot and secure Beckett's replacement before we even lose Beckett?

Sorry, my bad. He hit 27 HR's in AA at age 25 in 2005, and instead of getting a shot at a bench role or even at least promoted to AAA was asked to repeat the level. And the answer is that he was an older prospect who struck out a ton, but those are the guys you put on the bench, especially if they're competent centerfielders who can hit for some power. At the very least, you MAKE THE EFFORT TO FIND OUT if he can be useful in a role like that. If he can't, so be it, at least you know that, but if he can, a guy like Van Every can be danged useful. Oh well. It's hardly like JVE's case is in any way unique. There are guys just like him in pretty much every minor league system. I just feel like he did have a better than normal shot to be useful because he plays a fairly premium position and has the downside of a competent defender.

I thought Boychuck looked very good. He was Johnny on the spot a lot to keep the puck in the offensive zone, especially in the critical second period. he and Hunwick seem to work well together. just FWIW.

Yeah, but you know me, I'm always rooting for that guy who works hard and never got his chance to get it and excel. Probably why I like Tim Thomas so much. Someone tell me though, why a centerfielder who hit 26 HR's in AAA at age 25 wasn't given at least a bench role by SOMEONE before the age of 30. JVE's a competent defender in CF so there isn't exactly a ton to lose -- worst case scenario, he's a defensive guy. if he blows up, what exactly have you lost?

And if he couldn't he's not our problem anymore, but there's some good faith issues with trading Tazawa. He DID sign here for less money mostly to pitch with Daisuke after all. I know that doesn't really amount to anything, but I think that if Boston wants to keep the talent pipeline from Japan open they should probably avoid reaming the players that sign from there.

Meh. They'll find someone else, but I always thought the guy got a raw deal. He seemed far more talented than he ever got any credit for and if minor league numbers are any guide he could have cracked a lot of rosters if given a chance.

They do that to him every year and for some reason he keeps coming back. DFA doesn't mean a guy's in the trash can. He can accept assignment after all. And a guy like JVE or Nick Green could find himself back on the team if there's a need so sometimes they decide to. BTW I want to say that as mediocre as Green was as a starting shortstop I hope he's somewhere in the system next year. For a guy who was originally signed as an MLFA and was better known as a second baseman, he really didn't embarrass himself for the most part. And for all the talk of errors his final UZR/150 for the year was +6. Which isn't awful. It got bad towards the end for a number of reasons but I would hope we have him or someone like him available to call on. Especially if we keep Gonzo, because you KNOW he's going to have at least one back-related injury next year. Throw Lowrie's wrist in there too and that AAA infield spot could actually become important.

Speaking of backup outfielders has anyone heard anything about Jon Van Every? he's a nice piece of depth to have on hand and if he hadn't gone down with an injury or something they probably would not have had to rush Josh Reddick this year. It'd be nice to have him back to provide a few at bats and defensive appearances around the edges the way he's done in the past couple seasons.

They both sucked so much the difference is negligible.

A healthy Rocco Baldelli would be a huge asset, but we don't have one. Failing reasonable efforts to find a healthy version, i wouldn't mind at all if we brought Baldelli back next year.

A righthanded version of the same guy would be nice off the bench right now though

Everyone but me. I was over at SoSH using all the same arguments you guys love today about diminishing returns how we didn't need him and it was a waste of talent. Of course, I was wrong too, since none of the pieces the Rangers got proved to be anything useful except for Murphy, who is a kind of player Boston doesn't want or need.