Laser Show

It almost seems as though they don't like it because it is complicated and harder to present to the masses.

Whether or not he is, you can't take one groups thoughts and ideas on a subject as gospel and completely disregard others, some of whom are more qualified and knowledgeable in the subject.

They obviously don't read these boards. It's a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad idea. LH loaded lineup in a RH hitters park, replacing one injury prone LHH OF with another.

He's 28, hasn't missed time in 5 years, is a Boras client, and has been pretty productive. He just came off a 2/12 contract and I'd be willing to bet the farm that he wants stability and money. I don't think your idea of a 1+option will come close to getting it done.

How does a deal along these lines sound? 10 years guaranteed. Vesting options for the last 6. At the very most, it is a 10/290. At the least, a 10/230. 1 35M 2 35M 3 35M 4 35M 5 25M with 600 PA and Top 20 MVP. $15M otherwise. 6 25M with 600 PA and Top 20 MVP. $15M otherwise. 7 25M with 575 PA and Top 25 MVP. $15M otherwise. 8 25M with 575 PA and Top 25 MVP. $15M otherwise. 9 25M with 550 PA and Top 30 MVP. $15M otherwise. 10 25M with 550 PA and Top 30 MVP. $15M otherwise. The least he's every done is 634 PA over 143 games and 9th in MVP voting. This gives him a chance to be able to get an injury and still make the required number of PA and contribute to the team.

Every stat has it's limitations and exceptions to the rule. Crawford is a good hitter, but his OPS suffers because he isn't a power hitter and doesn't take many walks. You use multiple stats to get as accurate a view as possible.

OPS and OPS+ are actually very good stats. And like User Name said, if you aren't using OPS+ because of complexity, you are in fact half-assing it. You can't pick and choose stats when arguing a point. You need to use all available resources. So what if one of them is a players 5th PA of the game, against a LH starter, before the 5th inning? You use whatever you can find. You can't just brush statistics aside because they are complex or obscure. You know that a 1.000 OPS guy is an excellent hitter, there's just no way around it. You also know that a 150 OPS+ hitter is an excellent hitter. If you bisect Barry Bonds career into 2 parts, '86-'99 and '00-'07, you'll see that he was still an excellent hitter who has 2 200 OPS+ seasons by the time the steroids accusations started. There had only been 53 such seasons in MLB baseball history, and Bonds had 2. You'll see some seasons that make you wonder, like Dante Bichette's 1995. 340/.364/.620/.984 40 hr/128 rbi and led the league in hits. It was only worth a 129 OPS+. Outside the top 10. Why? Because of where and when he played. Today, that would be a damn good season. 1995 in Colorado, not so much. You can't disregard the OPS+ stat when comparing players either. Just take a look at the career OPS+ leaders and you'll see a damn good list of hitters, broken down very well, considering some played over 110 years apart. JD Drew has a 125, an indicator of a pretty good hitter. Some other players at 125? Jason Bay, Yogi Berra, Matt Kemp, Magglio Ordonez, Ron Santo, Bernie Williams. The top 10 Babe Ruth 206 Ted Williams 190 Barry Bonds 181 Lou Gehrig 178 Rogers Hornsby 175 Mickey Mantle 172 Dan Brouthers 170 Albert Pujols 170 Shoeless Joe Jackson 169 Ty Cobb 168 Is there any player on that list you can argue doesn't deserve to be there? I sure as hell can't. They make up the best hitters the game has ever seen, compared to their contemporaries. It's not perfect, but between it and OPS, you get a pretty damn good estimation of a players value to a team.

I'd prefer to do something at the top of the rotation. I could see him working out as a #4, but I think we need someone who can reliably give up 200+ innings a year.

I'm growing more and more fond of User Name's idea of bringing in Quentin and playing him in RF/DH. Youk at 3B/DH. Lavarnway as backup C/DH. Between the 3 of them and the other every day players, DH is covered. We don't need a dedicated DH, it's a bad idea.

Rotation looks fine. I'd bat Kalish 9th. More speed on the bases for the top of the lineup. I'd also let Ortiz walk.

I'll be honest, he worries me. Quentin has never played more than 131 games in 5+ years. When he is healthy, he rakes. If he could stay on the field, I'd love to have him, as I think he could be a perennial 35 HR guy.

I'd be worried about such a small sample size. He only had 121 PAs against lefties.

One problem is, those teams know we need pitching, so they have some leverage on us.

The Mariners still match up very well with us. It's possible that we can pry a young arm or 2 from them, there's Pineda, Vargas, Paxton, Hultzen (the #2 pick in the 2011 draft) and Taijuan Walker. Mauricio Robles and Dan Cortes are other highly touted prospects in their system. I think they'll hold onto Felix, but who knows. The M's need a DH, LF, 3B, and SS, and they need LHH to take advantage of Safeco. I'm sure we have what each other need and want.

He did do something though, he told his boss. I agree he didn't do enough, but at least he did something.

Paterno didn't rape anyone.

Holding on to Fenway is akin to keeping Wakefield and Varitek around. It's all sentimentality. We NEED a new Fenway, 37000 cramped seats is not nearly enough for an area like Boston.

I think you're assuming. There's no way the entire Red Sox FO is sitting around playing yahtzee and doing nothing. They're probably doing exactly what we're doing, researching and speculating.

Most players go where the money is. It's almost never about winning or the team.