rjortiz

When's the last time you read the news? 2007? Teixeira is coming off two down years, one if which he spent most of the season on the DL. He's in decline with his bat, and doesn't provide any value elsewhere. Maybe scrub is too harsh a word, but he isn't a good player. At best, he'll be average. Jeter is going to be 40. 40-year-old SS's don't age well. I wonder what's the O/U on the balls that roll past Jeter in 2014? I think he's going to be horrific in 2014. He'll probably wish he retired.

If everything breaks right they could be in contention. The pitching staff could carry them, and they avoid the injury bug. That's a lot to hope for from that roster.

Good rotation, but the offense is going to hurt their chances. I just don't see them winning with an infield that terrible. Beltran, Ellsbury, McCann, Gardner, and a bunch of scrubs.

I disagree. Kuroda's pretty good, Sabathia is still a useful pitcher who could rebound if his HR/9 goes back to career levels, Nova is underrated, and they just added Tanaka. They all have question marks, but those are four potentially good pitchers. They are weak at the back, but Pineda or Phelps won't kill them.

I looked at the Red Sox payroll, and looks like can go $9.2 million without going over the luxury tax. He'll get better offers.

Completely forgot about Workman. Where does that leave Dempster? I'm guessing that they would use the veteran first, although I have no evidence to back this up.

22% increase in three years would be very shrewd investing, but that's besides the point. I honestly think that Rodriguez believes he is going to play in 2015, if not 2014. The only thing that would keep him away would be for him to be released outright. Rodriguez has all the leverage. The mere threat of him reporting will get him the axe. The Yankees are not going to want him around. Of course this is all just speculation, and Rodriguez could have an epiphany and just retire, but I doubt it.

There has been only three relievers in MLB history with a higher AAV, and zero with a higher total contract value. You are drastically overpaying and overvaluing the closer. Closers pitch in 60-70 innings out of the whole season. Most of them are horribly used, so those aren't even the highest leveraged 70 innings possible. There's also the fact that there are far more good relievers then there are good players at a given position. It's easier to find someone to close, then it is to play 2B. The Red Sox lost two closers, and still found someone to close. They probably would have been OK with Tazawa as the closer if Uehera went down. What I'm trying to say is that paying $12.5 million for 70 innings is an extremely inefficient way to build a team. Maybe there's an exception on a short term deal if you are a championship level team. That wasn't the case with the Phillies. They went four years. I bet they could use that money to fill all the other massive holes on that roster. When you start seeing results like this, it probably makes sense to reevaluate what metric you are using. Papelbon has had a good career, but his 1% difference in saves doesn't make him worth $12.5 million.

Why would he have to accept a buyout? The Yankees will have to pay him the full $61 million that he's owed, and I think they will gladly pay it. Rodriguez is probably delusional enough that even the threat of him playing in 2015 would force the Yankees hand. I honestly think that he's living in his own world, and that he can't process that he did something wrong. If he's not forced out, he'll try to play.

Haha, thanks.

I don't mean to beat this to death, but I have to respond to this. A SV% of exactly 90% would be 13th in MLB in 2013. Would you pay all of those relievers Papelbon money?

Probably his lawyer. I think Rodriguez is narcissistic enough to believe he's truly innocent.

Papelbon is getting paid $12.5 million as a reliever. He has to be a lot more than average to justify that salary. I think he has to pitch at his 2006-2008 level to be worth it. That won't happen with his fastball in decline, and no dominant secondary pitch. I wouldn't be surprised if he's just an above-average closer in 2014. Looking back at when the deal was signed, he was coming off a fantastic year, but he was going into his age 31 season. Giving an aging reliever with one pitch four years is a bad signing, and bad might be a nice way of putting it. Mariano Rivera is the only reliever in the history of the game that would be an exception to that rule, and 4/50 could arguably be an overpay for him as well. Haha, OK. I wasn't completely sure behind the context of the "Mo Highway.

Haha, he's got pitch to he's 43, and for the next nine seasons he can only have one season with an ERA over 3.00. He also has to throw in seven seasons of sub 2.00 ERA. With his fastball declining, he probably won't even be a closer in four years. I think I remember that whole Papelbon argument. He's good, but he's overpaid. He'd be my fourth option to close for the Red Sox in 2014.

Other than Dojji, no one has advocated this. Everyone is advocating a lowball offer, which the Red Sox would be stupid not to offer. If they landed him for 1/10, he'd be a pretty nice trade chip for someone when he's able to be moved. It's really hard to call 2/26 a dumb move, because it doesn't and didn't hinder the Red Sox payroll flexibility. He's not good, but he's not useless. He did eat innings, and wasn't completely awful. There's some value in his performance. I also disagree when you say they are stuck with him. He's got 1/13 left, and seeing how the price for free agents are exploding, there would be some interested teams. Especially NL teams. The Red Sox wouldn't get anything that useful in return, but they would be able to move that contract. Personally, I would keep him, and pitch him out of the bullpen as a swingman to start the season. He's a great 6th option for the rotation.

I think Bogaerts is already the best player of all three, so I'm not sold on making him the backup. I think that would permanently make him a 3B, which would be a horrible long-term move.

I agree with you, because I'm not high on WMB, but I can see the argument for why the Sox could be worse. WMB could emerge as a 30 HR .320 OBP player. I think that if he played up to that level he'd be more valuable than Drew. In this scenario, Bogaerts would be primarily at SS, which maximizes his value. Also, the possibility of a regression from Drew is always possible. He had a 6.7 UZR/150 last year, which could regress to average as he gets older. Steamer and Oliver both are projecting a decline in his defense in 2014. They also project him to be much worse offensively, as they forecast over a .60 point decline in slugging. He ultimately is projected to a 1.4 WAR by Oliver, and a 2.0 WAR by Steamer. Middlebrooks is projected to exceed that total, although not by much. I think they are too pessimistic for Drew, but the possibility that Drew is the worst of the three players does exist. He'd also kick Bogaerts to 3B, which would reduce his value. Personally, I think they should have the 1/10 on the table, and never play him against LHP. He could also be used as trade bait if Middlebrooks shows potential. However, I don't think 1/10 for a player like Drew would get it done. I have to think the Mets, or Blue Jays would make him a better offer.

http://www.rotoworld.com/headlines/mlb/417869/players-wanted-to-expel-a-rod-from-union He definitely played his last game.

I can understand this point of view. There's a lot of uncertainty with Tanaka. I'm just disagreeing with the opinion that the Cubs shouldn't try to improve themselves, because they have little chances of competing in 2014.

You can't say with certainty that the Cubs are two to three years away from winning. They can't even be ruled out from making a playoff run next year. They aren't Astros bad. Remember the 2012 Orioles, A's, and Nationals? The Orioles and A's were expected to finish at the bottom of their divisions, but ending up winning 90+ games. The Nationals were projected to finish with 75-85 wins, but were the best team in baseball. Teams can easily exceed expectations, and the Cubs aren't completely devoid of talented players. Rizzo and Castro could both rebound. Samardjiza, Jackson, and Tanaka could all pitch lights outs. A few surprise years, some luck, and regression from the rest of the NL Central and they could be a playoff team. Granted, they have a higher chance to finish with 70 wins, but their chances aren't 0%. You also have to remember that this isn't all about 2014. They are signing him to a long-term contract because they expect him to anchor their rotation for the next decade. They expect him to be around when they are contending again. Why do you think bad teams give long-term contracts to their young stars? Players like Tanaka don't come around very often. He's only 25, and he's likely to make an impact for the length of his contract.

They are saying that you criticize the Cubs for not making big moves in free agency. Unless that's not true, they are right.

There needs to be a sarcasm button for the internet. I was replying to iortiz with that tongue-in-cheek comment. He said that Samardzija was overrated because he remembered a bad start against the Phillies.

This is just speculation on my part, but I think they are going to try and keep him. They have the young talent for positional players, but are a little short in the pitching department. Samardzija and Tanaka is a good foundation for a rotation, and they have the money to pay both. I clearly remember a game against Colorado when Clayton Kershaw was destroyed. He's so overrated. He's starting to get expensive and he's got only two years of control left. He's not exactly an ace either. He won't command a haul of top prospects. Maybe one. Clement had substantially worse control than Samardzija. I guess they both played for the Cubs, though.

Has this rumor even been confirmed by anyone? It sounds like complete speculation.

Tanaka isn't even a short-sighted move. He's young, and would be locked up between 6-8 years. He'd be around when their young players start contributing to the major league roster.