oldtimer

I still like the idea of setting a budget for the team, in the form of a pay pyramid with the most valuable guys at the top but with an eye on paying all the players. If you pay enormous amounts for one or two players that takes away from what can be paid to the more journeyman types, who nevertheless contribute to the team. The league really sets the total amount available and assuming the big market teams will be willing to pay that much, then the distribution among the players can be argued, but clearly has to leave enough to get quality supporting players. As far as the length of time allowed for a contract, I see it as dependent upon the age of the player. Most players start to decline in their early 30's and by their mid 30's the change in capability becomes evident. Then their are injuries which haunt the careers of most players. Pitchers are in a special category as few of them are still able to produce into their later 30's so the risk goes up. Most pitchers also incur injuries so are more fragile. I would set the 10 year limit on the absolute star who is 25 or 26. Between 27 and 30 I would go with 7 or 8 years, just over 30 5 years and 33 up maybe 2 or 3 years as an upper limit. Historically, we will be carrying Pedey for a few years, perhaps as a reward for his long and valuable service. Panda was a mistake and Price might turn out to become a burden. If we lose a guy when staying within reasonable guidelines it is too bad, but remember, other teams are accepting the risk that management sets as being too high for us to accept. In the long run, being prudent should work out the best.

What Cora seems to bring to the table, in addition to new coaches, is the point of view of being aggressive at the plate and on the base paths. Maybe that also translates into a different morale on the team. That cannot really be inferred although is possible. I saw Farrell as passive during the game and jokingly referred to him as the standing Bhudda. Both Cora and Farrell had/have their questionable decisions but the results for both have been/are good.

We are aggressive on the base paths and that may explain why we have more hamstring issues than most teams. Nothing like accelerating between bases to strain ones hamstring.

There is always a danger of replacing a pitcher who is doing very well with a guy out of the BP. One would think a closer is fairly safe but we have seen even Kimbrel seems to let his nerves get to him. What a downer it would have been had Kimbrel given up a HR to Bird. Still,, Cora has done very well with the team using these approaches.

Wonderful pickups, all three and Theeee Yankees lose, Theeee Yankees lose!

That you are crude and stupid is self evident. From now on, I will ignore any message that you choose to befoul this site with.

Exactly the reaction I would expect from you!

Just because you reply in BOLD script doesn't mean it makes sense. Putting 1/5 of your available luxury tax salary money into one of your 25 players doesn't make a lot of sense.

We have had a run on hamstring injuries. Maybe Devers will be back from his while Swihart is on the Dl with one and now Kinsler may have strained his stealing second. We are getting unlucky with these injuries.

Great pitching, better defense and timely hitting. 2 in the books and now the Yankees face humiliation.

This is still a team game played with 25 man active rosters. While one of the 25 can do great things, it is hard to justify earnings differences of 10 to 1 between starters. Teams can come along and bid up the salaries but eventually it can imbalance their own team and work against them. I believe the front office should consider pay scales for the importance of players to the team and then stick to those.

Are you drunk or are you just a potty mouth? Either way, you sound like a stupic child!

Kinsler had a terrific defensive outing tonight against the Yankees. What a big turnaround from Nunez. He also hit well tonight. Great pickup by DD

Seeing the top of the order hit was a great thing and timely for the first Yankee game. Keep it up and now Bogaerts can get going tomorrow. Maybe Severino will have command issues tomorrow and we can take advantage of his slippage as during his previous 4 games. We still need a good game from Porcello.

Eovaldi didn't do badly either.

Beni hasn't pulled the ball and has been trying to go to left field but that isn't working. Try pull the ball and hit line drives. He is too good a hitter to not at least hit the ball hard. Fly balls toward the wall or into center are most likely outs.

Lets hope the bats get going tonight. Betts has been strangely unable of late, Beni needs to pull once in a while, Pearce and Holt have had their problems. I see Bogaerts will get a night off to get over that contusion. He has been off of late as well and a night off may be what he needs. Hope it isn't longer.

His listed weight is bothersome. Shedding a few might help avoid more injuries and give him better range. At 21 you might be able to get away with carrying extra but for how long. If 237 is what he weighs now, it is heavy for a 6' ball player.

It's typical to go with 12 pitchers. Including Thornburg, there were 15 listed. Drop any 3. Do we need 3 catchers? Maybe not since 2 do not hit well at all. So drop 1. Keep the rest. An alternative is keep Swihart as a utility guy, backup catcher and backup DH and keep 3 catchers getting rid of one of the near lock utility guys. Hard to drop Kinsler as he is our best defensive second baseman and Nunez is our best backup at 3rd. All this may become moot due to injuries or poor performance during the next period before the playoff. Fun ot speculate though.

It just occurred to me that Thornburg was left off the list. He certainly is one of our strong relievers at this point and will make the team ahead of several others.

You preface it with being 100% healthy and there is a ways to go for that and possibly includes additional injuries. If we play along and assume 2 catchers will be involve. Swihart is very likely to be first in line if he keeps hitting anywhere near where he is now. In my opinion that leaves a pick between Vaz and Leon for the 2nd. Either is servicable. I think Kinsler will make it along with Nunez. Depending whose hitting remains acceptable either Holt or Pearce will be selected from. I think they will keep Brasier and Kelly, provided Kelly gets form back. That's 24 of the 25 so one of Pom, Workman, Pearce/Holr, Leon would fill the roster in. If we go 12 deep in pitching then Workman and Pom get left out and possibly Leon. A lot can happen in the interim and we have to see how people perform down the stretch.

Since the AS break Swihart .368 , Leon .083. Pretty clear choice here. Rest Leon and help him restore himself and play the hot hitter.

Theeeee Yankees lose! Theeee Yankees lose! This time to a depleted Baltimore.

He is hitting 368 since the AS break and has helped us although he certainly hasn't had a lot of plate appearances. During the same period Pearce has hit 227, Betts 208, Bogaerts 205, Moreland 143, Holt 111 and Leon 083. So you can make the case that we have faced good pitching while he has compiled this club leading average. Good for him but a little worrisome for the others.

Their command has to be better as the hitter can sit on one pitch. If a starter can rely on 3 or 4 pitches he has a better chance of fooling the hitter. Pretty obvious I would think.