Dipre

Career 4.23 ERA against Boston with a 1.39 WHIP and a .786 OPS against and 11 HR's in 11 games. Your point?

His xFIP, which in my opinion is more reliable than FIP, because it eliminates an over-valuing of Homeruns lists him even lower at 3.64. It's a great improvement in terms of both rotation and bullpen for a very reasonable cost.

The fact is, the Yankees are getting the #4 starter for their rotation. And even if he posts an ERA in the 4.50 range, he'll pitch at least 180 innings and average a K per inning and win 13-16 ballgames. Pretty damn good for a #4 if ya ask me.

Not to mention the fact that Vasquez is not, by any means, a salary dump. They may have gained "salary relief" on the deal, but they also got their starting CF for next year, a bullpen arm that's likely to excel in the NL, and a pretty darn good prospect.

Javier Vasquez is a fantastic addition for the Yankees, specially at the cost. He's going to provide innings and keep them in ballgames. Anyone who argues otherwise is speaking out of pure bias.

@ you.

Exactly.

If you go to the Forbes website, you can see "total player expenses" which also incorporate international signings, bonuses, and everything not "payroll": New York Yankees player expenses: $236 million (does not account for 26 million for luxury tax). Boston Red Sox player expenses: $165 million. Difference without luxury tax: $71 million. Difference with luxury tax: $96 million.

because? Nick Green hit like Nick Green. He followed his career statistical average to a tee. Of course it is a trend. Definition of trend: A general tendency or inclination. The trend has been Varitek exhibiting worse numbers over the second half, and it has gotten progressively worse as he has aged. I admit to not being clear enough about the subject, and i apologize, since being new to the board, you couldn't have known my prior statements about the subject. But my definition of "Brad Penny being Brad Penny" means absolute mediocrity. I have to disregard what you said, since you were making a subjective opinion over a subject that neither you nor anyone on this site has clear knowledge about. What we do know is that his training schedule was thrown out of whack by the WBC, and that contributed to his lack of conditioning. This is fact. If you don't consider 2/3 of the starting rotation to be key players for this team, you're entitled to, but it is incorrect. Not to mention both Lugo AND Lowrie being down for prolonged stretches, as well as Lowell's hip woes. To the bolded part, Youkilis and Pedroia were a model of consistency, Drew posted one of the better OPS's (5th best to be exact) for an OF with enough AB's to qualify for the batting title. Martinez was a monster since being acquired from Cleveland (.912 OPS), Ellsbury performed much better than his 2008 season, including 20 more stolen bases, and a .41 rise in OPS. All of the players you mentioned sans Bay's massive slump (and even he still had a better-than-career-average OPS) performed up to or much better than their career standards. Your premise in incorrect. On all accounts.

He might have been, but Vasquez is equally bomb-prone to both lefties and righties. That trend will likely continue regardless of his home stadium when it pertains to the AL.

Julio Lugo defensive statistics 2009: With Red Sox: -53.0 UZR, 3.3 RF/9. With Cardinals: -35.0 UZR, 5.1 RF/9. Julio Lugo career UZR: 1.5. He's never been great, but he's been on a steady defensive decline the last few years. The stats back up this statement, and so does the fact that the Cardinals actually played him more at 2B (168.1 Innings) than SS (158.0 Innings) in favor of Brendan Ryan, a 2B by nature. Pertinent links: John Smoltz may have been tipping pitches in Boston. Smoltz says he was tipping pitches. Link number two right out of the horse's mouth. So if John Smoltz was BS'ing about his own mechanics, you may have a point. As for Lowrie, if you don't think a nagging wrist injury has a profound impact on a player's ability to hit, then you're simply wrong. Nick Green is a career backup infielder whose career line is .239/.307/.352 for a .660 OPS, his OPS last year was .669, i was wrong however, in noting it was a career high. Nick Green hit exactly like Nick Green last year. Jason Varitek is an aging catcher who has been known over his career to be a notorious 1st-half hitter. That characteristic can only get worse with age. Career 1st-half/2nd half OPS: 1st: .795 2nd: .756. Last 3 years 1st half/2nf half OPS: 1st half: .759 2nd half: .669. This is not a one-year occurence, but a career trend. I never said he drops off at the end of the season. I said he was expected to supply around or below league average production, and that's exactly what he did. First of all, this is a completely subjective opinion. You really don't know what's going on through his mind. He comes from a different, nation-first culture. He, as every ballplayer, is a creature of habit, and his training habits were disrupted by the WBC. No, you're missing the point. This is a team that lacked a certified thumper in the lineup and suffered through a slew of injuries, as well as offensive and defensive uncertanties in many key positions. Chemistry has nothing to do with any of the above factors. Health, luck and production do.

Credit goes to ORS for that chart. I didn't come up with it

Best option: Bay to Mets. Holliday to Saint Louis.

I was being sarcastic. I proved to Gom he has both hit AL pitching and inside fastballs. He'd be a fantastic addition to the Yankees, if anything, i'm s***ing my pants at the prospect of them signing him. Holliday would significantly boost the Yankee chances for the repeat, and is a more likely bet than Bay to maintain offensive and defensive productivity through the duration of his contract. I'm not on his "balls" as you would say, i simply look at his production objectively and see how he would greatly improve any team he joined.

Team chemistry had nothing to do with that. Ortiz started his training late, and couldn't get into a groove until after the first two months. What does chemistry have to do with that? Tek and Lugo are simply not good. Lugo has always been a mediocre defender, and Tek is an aging catcher. Nothing to do with chemistry. Nick Green is a career journeyman who had a career year both offensively and defensively. I'm surprised he's even being mentioned here. Brad Penny was Brad Penny. Nothing to do with chemistry. John Smoltz had a mecanical glitch that they found when he got to Saint Louis. Don't see how chemistry affects that. Lowrie was injured. Ditto for Dice-K, who showed up out of shape and overworked from the WBC. Bay quite simply dissapeared, but slumps happen and team chemistry has nothing to do with it. The lighthearted atmosphere was not a factor in 2007. Between the Manny drama and the core of the idiots gone, this team won a championship. Besides, in reality, i doubt any of us knows what really goes on behind closed doors in the ballclub.

Not to jump on the defense team or anything, but i really thought it was Gosawks as well.

The FO loves Drew, and hates drama, that's why they shipped Manny off. The FO thinks one thing, you think another. Who do i believe?

Not over 183 IP. You've been the one focusing on ERA all this time. This is pretty ridiculous. It was a well-documented fact last year that he had velocity issues. He would be throwing 88-90 in one inning, then 95-96 the next. This goes to show you that you're really not very well versed when it comes to Chamberlain's situation. He had serious mechanical issues last year. The stats proved this, yet you try to discount it as a fabrication when there's extensive documentation backing up this fact. Pertinent links: Lost: The Velocity and command of Joba Chamberlain. Joba's struggles. You can try to discredit the validity of this if you want, but the fact is that even Yankee fans on this board extensively discussed his mechanical issues and difficulty to maintain fastball velocity. You keep using "career averages" when it suits your argument, Chamberlain's peripherals all went south, and they went south very deep last year, so in the context of "who would you choose for the rotation next year" most people would go with the guy who didn't face a massive regression. Snarky and sarcastic remark. Didn't you want sound baseball discussion? Grow up. I find it pretty humorous for you to make this statement, since it's clearly a massive cop-out. You're taking the discussion completely out of context again. Stay focused. Who has a better chance of providing at least league average production? But when they "fluctuate" downwards two years in a row, and in one of those years the downwards trend is massive, there is reason for concern. This argument holds no water in the context of the discussion.

Not good.