Eminor3rd

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 10:29 AM) The real risk for the Sox is passing on Rodon and him going to the Cubs a pick later and becoming David Price. This draft will be forever held under a microscope if the Sox get a bust and the Cubs get a star. I would argue that this is the farthest thing from a "real risk" that has been presented in this thread.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 12:06 PM) He never refused to move. He was never asked. "The idea's never come up from anyone in the organization," Jeter said at a retirement news conference Wednesday that he refused to call, you know, a retirement news conference. Actually, Jeter himself brought up a position change seven years ago in a trainer's room conversation with Gene Michael, telling the longtime executive that he wanted to play another 10 seasons and would be willing to switch to first base or designated hitter to do it. Michael was among the team officials in attendance at the news conference and among the many in Yankeedom thrilled that Jeter, 39, would finish his career right where it started, right where he always belonged. And the contract he signed seems fairly reasonable. I am assuming it was the one signed previously. e's guaranteed $15 million in 2011, $16 million in 2012, and $17 million in 2013. In each of those three seasons, the Yankees will hold back $2 million in interest free money. In the 2014 season, his income depends on his achievements the first three years, and the 2014 season. In 2014, his base salary is $8 million, of which $6 million is the deferred money from the 2011-2013 seasons. He can earn extra based on the following incentives: Not being privy to the actual truth, I can just say that I've read dozens of times over the years that there was real heat in the clubhouse when they acquired Alex Rodriguez. After Googling around a bit, though, the only things I see are random bloggers and commenters referring to his "refusal to move," which causes me to doubt its veracity for the first time. If that was all a media hoax or hearsay, then I stand corrected. As for the contract -- I don't have a problem with 3/45 at all. But Jeter absolutely did: http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2...=blogs&_r=0 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writ...es.jeter.close/ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/sports/b...l/24kepner.html http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball...rticle-1.454099

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Apr 1, 2014 -> 12:29 AM) The 2 outs he made were bad ABs. The broken bat single he had was lucky. But what was wrong with that single he smashed up the middle? He almost took the pitcher's leg off on that rocket. Yeah, you're right. It was three horrible at bats. The hanger he crushed was fine.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 11:35 PM) He is 22 correct?? He will change once he gets time and understands the game more.. I would say not looking good and still being 2 for 4 is encouraging. Shows how much potential he has I'm just saying that as long as he keeps getting lucky on broken bat shankers, his BA will stay reasonable and he may look at his results and refuse to change his process, that's all. I would rather that he looked at yesterday and thought "damn, I got played really hard," than, "alright man, batting .500! Keep it up!"

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 09:30 PM) Great win today. Watched the game with my dog lol. Sale, Abreu, Eaton, Gillaspie, and De Aza were great today. Nitpicking negatives: Avi and Semein pitch selection. Alexei did look slow at SS today. First game of the year though Yeah, Avi with four horrible at bats, still ends up 2 for 4 somehow. That's discouraging because it makes me think he'll never change. But f*ck yeah to everything else.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 10:46 AM) Viciedo's arm actually makes up for some of his deficiencies out in LF, or at least it did in 2012 before we adopted circus music as the team's official theme in 2013. He'll never have spectacular range out there but he's shown he could potentially be a tolerable fielder out there if he hits well enough to hold down the position. Benny Hill Theme to replace "Don't Stop Believin'"? Yeah, you're right, he can fake it. I'm just saying I wouldn't mind seeing a Jordan Danks-ish defense guy out there instead against lefties when Viciedo would DH and Smith would be benched. Plus it's not too hard to find mediocre OFs that mash lefites -- the addition of a Smith/lefty crusher platoon might be a sneaky substantial upgrade.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 11:28 AM) The guy had a .305 obp last year with a .695 OPS. Adam Dunn would make 100% more sense (.320/.762). Anyone would make more sense than Conor f***ing Gillaspie. ^ Connor can bat third if he's legitimately the hottest hand, but that's it.

QUOTE (chisoxfan310 @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 09:51 AM) Most realistic option without giving up a draft pick or paying a lot of money? Seth Smith. Can be the primary DH but also spell guys in left and right. This is a realistic choice. Good call. He's a straight platooner, but we don't really want Viciedo in LF that much anyway, right?

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 09:30 AM) A 3-4 combination of Abreu and Davis.... The problem is that if Davis proves he's for real, he's going to be unavailable.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 09:30 AM) Thank you for starting this thread. A lack of a middle of the order left handed bat continues to be the most glaring flaw in the Sox organization. There isn't a single candidate at either the Major League, or Minor League level, who could realistically be expected to contribute any time soon. It's a shame that there probably isn't even a candidate to fill this void, in the upcoming Amateur Draft, and that's picking third, with likely all of the position players, from whom to choose!!

Jeter is a first ballot HOFer. THAT SAID: There are two reasons that I don't think he is as "classy" as everyone gives him credit for: 1. His refusal to move off of SS as he aged. If the team needs you to move, a "classy" guy moves. 2. The public hissy fit he put up about his last contract. No one owes you money for your past. He was coming off a garbage season and was offered a better deal from the NYY than any other team. So I tend to play a strong devil's advocate role when he comes up, not because I think he's a bad guy, but because I'm not seeing this whole "greatest ambassador of teh game evarr" crap. Guys like Jim Thome deserve that, not Jeter.

QUOTE (ScottyDo @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 07:13 AM) Well, I should modify my statement. You can show you completely suck in Spring Training, but you can't show you're awesome. Every professional player has a good couple of weeks. There's no way to know whether those couple of weeks are sustainable, though. Thus, Boggs can pitch his way out of a job, but Semien shouldn't be able to play his way onto the team unless he's completely proven his mettle in his development process. He hasn't yet. Soon. But Beckham is hurt, and so he IS playing in the Majors now. So how he performs during the season SHOULD count toward whether or not he stays. I don't THINK he's ready either, but since we're going to find out now anyway, it would be senseless to jerk him around if he's raking. If he still looks rough around the edges, then sure, send him down. My point is just that there should be a scenario where he keeps the job, and that is that he looks ML ready when he's filling in.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 01:07 AM) But Jeter is a starter, Konerko is a bench player. I just hope he wasn't implying Konerko should get the attention Jeter is going to get. He's just saying Konerko wouldn't want it.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Mar 30, 2014 -> 10:11 PM) Wrong thread? He's implying that PK is humble, whereas DJ is controlled by his ego.

Too many good arms to think Sale is THE favorite. Certainly he'd be a preseason contender. Abreu as ROY is much more likely, but I think Tanaka is a better bet in NY, given they're much more likely to contend and, of course, they are NY. There's also the potential for a Xander Bogaerts breakout, and that's another nice East Coast story. I voted neither, but both are certainly plausible.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 30, 2014 -> 02:58 PM) Would the emotional joy of getting rid of Beckham be worth the risk of having Semien jump to the big leagues without much time at AAA (when we already saw him struggle somewhat last year with the 2nd jump, with his walk rate declining both from AA to AAA and then big time from AAA to the big league cup of coffee)? If Semien is even average, he goes down for seasoning, IMO. But there should absolutely have the opportunity to steal the job. If he decides he's going to break out this year, the FO would be insane to interrupt it.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Mar 30, 2014 -> 02:52 PM) You're nuts. Beckham has had his chances. I'm not going to give him another year. Screw that. If Semien plays good, he should play, period. This ^

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 28, 2014 -> 09:19 AM) For us that was clearly talking about the early-2nd round pick, I thought. Sorry, I was referring to the #10 rank on mlb.com earlier in that post.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Mar 27, 2014 -> 05:46 PM) Gettys is likely long gone by the time the Sox pick. Some have compared him to Buxton with an ugly swing. MLB.com has him ranked as the #10 overall prospect. This was interesting though: "It's a bad swing, but I can't just ignore the other talent," an AL Central scout said. "It may only end up a 45 [on the 20-80 scouting scale] hit tool, but when you're above-average to plus everywhere else, I think you can still be a major league regular, in my opinion. It's going to take some time, but his skillset is a special one." "...can still be a major league regular..." No thanks in the first round, lol.

Gotta get team control in trades right now

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 26, 2014 -> 04:11 PM) Ervin Santana and Ubaldo Jiminez are making roughly the same salary per year as Abreau. How are they being paid like stars and Abreau is being paid like a league average player? If you consider $2-4 million dollars per year "roughly the same," then yeah, it's not much difference. Santana at $14.1m, and Ubaldo at $12.5m AAV. If the Sox got Santana, I'd assume it would be at the same price since it was essentially just "choose your team" for him. You figure the Sox would beat the Orioles offer at $13m AAV at the minimum to get him.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 26, 2014 -> 01:48 PM) Again, in the Abreu thread, you said if he was a bust, $60 million wasn't going to harm the team. At least be consistent. The fact that the Sox were in on Tanaka tells you all you really need to know about their finances. Apparently JR WAS WILLING TO THROW MONEY AT HIS PROBLEMS. He threw $68 million at Abreu and in total was probably willing to go twice as much for Tanaka. You never read my response when you say this. Please read the following: NO ONE IS AGAINST SPENDING MONEY EVERYONE IS AGAINST SPENDING MONEY ON STUPID, RISKY, LOW UPSIDE DEALS Jose Abreu's contract was smart because he is being paid like a LEAGUE AVERAGE PLAYER. Ergo, his contract is easier to tolerate if it busts. An investment in talent with upside is good. The downside is limited, in context. You are the ONLY one who thinks I said that $68m doesn't matter. Truthfully, I don't even think you really think that's what I said, I think you just like to disagree with everything I post. Ervin Santana (and every other old, dead cat bounce, injury prone, flash in the pan, etc.) is a BAD INVESTMENT because there's limited or no upside, he/they are being paid like STARS instead of league-average players, and thus come with MORE downside. This is risky. This is bad. I don't know how else to explain this.

QUOTE (TheTruth05 @ Mar 26, 2014 -> 01:54 PM) What a tease. Haha no joke

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 26, 2014 -> 11:18 AM) This board is so concerned with JR checking account balance. I just wonder, what if the Yankees or Dodgers needed a 1st baseman and Abreu's price went up, what would have been the cutoff money-wise before his current can't miss, can't wait to see him in the middle of the line up would have change to the "he's never faced a pitch in the major leagues, he's not worth it, maybe when the team is a little better you could spend the money". We don't care at all how much money that JR has, it's just we're looking past that and dealing in reality. None of us know how much the Sox make, how much they have saved, ownership's ability or willingness to expand budget, balh blah etc. The reality is that there is a limit to how much the team is going to spend on payroll, and we have some frame of reference that tells us that our team is willing and able to be in the upper quarter when they feel it's necessary. This is PLENTY of information for us to like or not like deals based on financials. You can wish JR would spend endlessly if you like, but it isn't going to happen. There IS a ceiling, it's a reasonable ceiling, and therefore we don't like s***ty deals that waste money because we know there's a limit. The morality of that is completely separate from the analysis and interpretation of the deals that happen to the team. Marty's kindergarten logic dictates that we should sign overpriced players because JR should have enough money to continue throwing money at problems anyway DESPITE the fact that there is no precedent for this type of behavior. But we know that he WON'T continue to throw money at problems anyway, and therefore we should NOT sign overpriced players. Marty deals in Martyland, the rest of us are dealing in reality.