After signing Raul Chavez to a minor-league deal last week, Brian Cashman said he was happy to let Chavez and Wil Nieves battle for the backup catcher job. That may change now that the Dodgers non-tendered Toby Hall, someone the Yankees have always liked. It's no given Hall signs with the Yankees; his big beef with the Dodgers was, in fact, that he wanted more playing time. But his availability certainly changes things.
I had to hold back laughter when I read this quote from Octavio Dotel on the wire today: "I'm really happy to be here. Happy to get my role back, happy to be a closer," he said. "It will be nice to be the closer guy for the Kansas City Royals. I'm really proud to be here and I'm really proud to be a Kansas City Royals player."
A quick story: Dotel was the rare player you could actually poke fun of, because he was so fun-loving, always smiling, joking. Oddly enough, I remember being in Kansas City this year and jokingly asking him for his memories of his days with the Royals -- because when he was traded from the Astros to the A's in 2004 it was part of a three-team deal with the Royals. So you could make the case he was a Royal at one time. But for whatever reason Dotel didn't really laugh at that joke, I remember. Maybe it was just a bad joke, maybe. But this much is certain: his new home is for real.
Comments (527)
Dotel's smart. He gets the job that he wanted with a team which will provide limited opportunities for stress on the elbow.
Sign Toby Hall as the backup catcher - now. He lives in Tampa year 'round. He's home for all of spring training. He comes back there for 9-10 games when the Yankees play there on the road. He knows the AL / AL East. He'll get a decent amount of playing time. A chance at a ring. All the right reasons.
I think Hall wants to get paid more than he wants a ring.
Dont sell bad teams short with closers. Even bad teams win 70 some odd games and most are close. a good closer can rack up saves on a bad team.
The Red Sox have allegedly offered Matsuzaka $8 mil per year. I still believe a deal will be done by the deadline. If not I expect the Sox to jump right in and offer a huge sum of money to another Boras client, Zito.
The Blue Jays have offered Vernon Wells a contract that would pay him in the top 10 of all players in baseball.
Toby Hall and Joel Piniero are both interesting options. Piniero as a 5th starter wouldn't be horrible, he's a classic case of a guy who just seems to need a new environment.
Hall isn't a great defensive catcher but he's serviceable and he's familiar with the AL East which would serve him well calling pitches against certain lineups and he's relatively young. A huge change from the Yankee pattern of employing geriatrics as back-up catchers.
The player who would really interest me is Claussen. I would love to get him back in the system. Yankees have lots of good young right handers in the minors but only Ian Kennedy from the left side.
I love Dotel's move to KC, like Larry M. said, he won't wear out the elbow and he's only there for a year. That way, he can build up 20 saves with a reasonable ERA and he'll get a nice 3-year deal from a decent team next year.
If the Yanks have any intention of moving Pavano, I think a signing of Pineiro would be a solid deal. When he was a starter he's up 14 and 16 games a few years ago and pitched a little under 200 innings. He has good stuff, fairly young, and could benefit from leaving Seattle.
With the young arms we already have in the system and on their way up, there is no chance I take a shot at a pitcher who hasn't met his potential, and try him in the Bronx as an experiment in changing scenery. Not worth our time.
Toby Hall isn't a bad pickup as a backup catcher, but what Cashman really needs to do is start seriously considering the possibilities he has in front of him for Jorge's replacement. Toby Hall certainly isn't that.
Chip,
I'm certain the Matsuzaka deal will be done with Boston, but on the off chance it doesn't I'd have a hard time being convinced that Zito would be the choice for Boston for two reasons:
1. Fenway is not very friendly to LH pitchers.
2. Boras is Zito's agent and if the DM deal doesn't get done, I'd have to think their would be really bad feelings between Boras and The Sox. So much so that moving right into a negotiation for another player would probably be impossible.
Also on some of the more appealing non-tenders: I'd have to believe the Nats and Royals will probably pick up Piniero and anyone else who can start. The Nationals literally only have one starting pitcher right now and he was hurt all of last season (John Patterson).
Turn Two has a very good point. BC should be looking for Jorge's replacement, now. Trading Crash Pavano for a high level AA or AAA ready to do backup. Jorge and all his preparation can not stop father time from taking his toll on the body. Pena and Jorge would be so good for a youngster to learn from. Jorge would embrace this situation becasue he's a true Yankee.
BC should divert from his pitching crusade to settle this problem. Nieves and Chavez statisically don't appear to be the solution. Nieves from a lack of oppts and Chavez has averaged about .219 BA in 19 games a year for the last 10 years. Talk about a good job with benefits.
Morning Jim:
Reason I think they'll go after Zito (regardless of the agent) is twofold:
1. There's no one left
2. They will face a very ugly backlash from their fan base if they don't bring in a pitcher. Here they went ahead and got the guy everyone wanted, watched as Schmidt, Lilly, Pettitte and all the others went off the market and they did nothing...Theo essentially waited for 2 weeks before even talking to Boras about Matsuzaka.
If the Sox don't sign him (again, I think they will) they will be forced to do one of two things...over pay for Zito or deal Manny for pitching.
Could they wait around for Clemens? Sure. But what happens if in June he decides he doesn't want to pitch for them? Then the Sox wasted time waiting for Matsuzaka and wasted time waiting for Clemens when they should have been improving their team.
Of course this is all rather moot. Steve Phillips last night said that there was no way Boston and Matsuzaka were going to work out a deal...as we all know from Steve's track record this means that Dice-K will be signed by 8pm tonight.
As for the non-tenders, I'm sure you're right that the low budget teams will try to swoop in and pick most of them up, but some might opt to go to a better situation like the Yankees where they can slink in as 5th starters, relievers or minor leaguers and not be looked upon as saviors and aces.
It looks more and more that 1st base is going to be a platoon situation with the Yankees getting closer to signing Doug M. (can't spell his last name, won't try...we all know who I'm talking about) from the left side offering a good glove and Josh Phelps and Andy Phillips battling it out for the right handed side of that rotation.
If Phelps beats out Phillips I would try to keep Andy anyway. He can play 3rd, 2nd, 1st and the outfield and represents and offensive upgrade over Miguel Cairo or Nick Green.
I'm not as intrigued about Hall as most seem to be. I think we need to start prepping the next catcher, Nieves has been around for a while and he's pretty decent with the bat. I think this season should be his chance to make a statement. If it works he'll be familiar enough with the opposing hitters and our pitchers to take over so that Jorge can give us a few more years as the DH and back-up catcher with an occasional stint at 1B. Jorge is such a great hitter and all round player, and a fiery guy that it would be in our best interest to conserve his knees and keep him in the line up as long as possible.
Nieves man-up it’s time to impress!
OYF: The problem I have with Nieves is that he couldn't hit his way out of a paper bag with regular at bats in AAA. In a back-up role he's going to have to hit without the benefit of getting into rythem at the plate. Then again, Torre has often said he prefers a defensive whiz as his back up catcher rather than a good hitter (which is why Todd Greene was let go in favor of John Flaherty) so if that's the case Nieves has an edge on Hall.
Good point Chip but Nieves wasn't always bad, I think he slumped last season. I might be wrong but wasn't Nieves viewed, as the guy they thought would take over? That's why they let Navarro go to Tampa Bay. Maybe he needs a shot at the bigs to wake his bat? He's young and athletic and with all of the offense up and down the line up I don't think we need to worry about the day's Jorge doesn't start, maybe Jorge will get more AB as a DH this season and on those days Giambi gets a rest of plays 1B.
That's a good point, Chip. I didn't know that Steve Philips said that there was no way D-Mat signs by the deadline, so in that case, it's safe for all the Red Sox fans to order their #18 Matsuzaka jersey.
Hey, guess who has two thumbs and is all done with finals?!
I like the Pineiro idea too, I always kind of liked him, thought he had a lot of potential and was solid.
IF Nieves does well this season he'll have some MLB AB under his belt and he'll get to know the league, which will set us up with the next generation.
Do you know who has the top rated catching prospect? (Not just as a hitter but handling pitchers and defense. The catcher has to do more than hit, he has to call the game and get the pitcher through tough spots etc. it's why Jorge is so valuable)
OYF:
Navarro was traded to Arizona as part of the Randy Johnson deal (then later spun to the Dodgers for Shawn Green) but even before he was traded his stock had slipped due to issues with his conditioning.
The Yankees got Nieves from the Angels for Bret Prinz - the Angels at that time had both Molina's and Mike Napoli ahead of Nieves on their organizational depth chart.
As for where he is viewed by the Yankees, well the team last year brought in both Koyie Hill and Ben Petrick to compete with him at the AAA level.
The catcher who sort of intrigues me is Jose Reyes who was just non-tendered by the Cubs. He's 23, a switch hitter who has not shown much with the bat (he hit in the .220's in AA and AAA last season with no HR's) but he's supposed to be very strong defensively and the hitting might develop given some time.
Congrats atticas! You must feel relived you can spend all your time blogging with no guilt now.
Atticas...now the only question is whether or not you passed.
Piniero has at times been a good pitcher, he's a lot like Meche that way. It would be interesting to see what he would do in the role of 5th starter as opposed to when he was counted upon to be a number one or two.
I seem to remember him being very good until Freddy Garcia was traded and Gil Meche got hurt and he was looked upon to be the young ace to compliment Jaime Moyer.
this stuff about Pineiro winning 14-16 games a few years ago,maybe we should sign him,he's lost 4-5 mph off his fastball,Hargrove banished him to the bullpen after 1 failed start after another,they wouldn't tender him a contract,why should the Yanks go after him? that belies logic!....If Toby Hall decides it's time to assume a role as a backup catcher then maybe the Yanks have a chance to sign him,otherwise look for him to sign w/ the Marlins or the Angels who don't know for sure what they have in Napoli
OYF: I think the highest rated catching prospect is Jarrod Saltamatccia of the Braves (don't know that for certain, Baseball America has not released their prospect handbook yet)
Ruse: I don't think any of us are talking about Piniero as a stud pitcher, but you can never have too many arms with MLB experience. Then again if he wanted more than a 1 year 400k contract I would let him go on to other offers since I'm certain that Karstens, Rasner or Igawa can produce similar results.
Hall would be a nice pick-up if he's willing to back up, but there are always catchers without options who are available in Spring Training so it isn't that big a deal.
Thanks Chip, I didn't remember all the details of the RJ deal. I was one of the few who opposed it and I’ve probably blocked it from my memory.
The Yankees have great catchers in their history. With Yogi hanging out at Sprint Training and Tony Pena as the infield coach and of course Jorge's mentoring the Yankees should let a youngster willing to learn take the back up position. Whether it's Nieves or some other kid it'll set us up for the future and give us a stable backstop for a few years. Instead of getting an established FA for a few years at a time or wearing out Jorge. Which is why Toby Hall is not exciting to me at all.
I read about Jose Reyes in Scout.com, he is interesting.
Chip : Yanks want a pitcher who is subject to injury, hasn't pitched effectively in 3 yrs because of arm problems ,surgery ,and lost velocity.Well if he wants more than 400,000 than the hell with him,so we're right back where we started w/Karstens ,Rasner etc.??????
My List of Players that Cashman should go after.
Toby Hall,
Joel Pineiro
Brandon Claussen
Damon Hollins - Yankees need a righty bat especially right handed off the bench - He could play all the outfield position. All He could play against lefties and has good power.
List of non-tendered players
Here is the list of players who were non-tendered yesterday:
Orioles: Todd Williams, rhp; Aaron Rakers, rhp; David Newhan, of.
White Sox: Eduardo Sierra, rhp.
Tigers: Alexis Gomez, of.
Royals: Scott Dohmann, rhp; Brandon Duckworth, rhp.
Angels: Jason Bulger, rhp.
Twins: Luis Rodriguez, inf; Willie Eyre, rhp.
Yankees: Aaron Guiel, of.
Athletics: Jerome Williams rhp.
Mariners: Joel Pineiro, rhp.
Devil Rays: Damon Hollins, of.
Rangers: Michael Wood, rhp.
Braves: Marcus Giles, 2b; Chris Reitsma, rhp.
Cubs: Jose Reyes, c; Adam Harben, rhp.
Reds: Brandon Claussen, lhp; Miguel Perez, c.
Rockies: Chin-Hui Tsao, rhp.
Dodgers: Toby Hall, c; Jayson Werth, of.
Mets: Victor Zambrano, rhp.
Cardinals: Rick Ankiel, of; Jorge Sosa, rhp.
Padres: Jon Knott, of.
http://www.lohud.com/blogs/lohudyankees.html
No word on who, if any, the Yankees would consider
Ruse: I didn't realize he had been ineffective for so long. My bad on Piniero.
James:
No interest in Hollins, if the Yankees decide to carry a fifth outfielder behind Cabrera and the three starters it will be either Kevin Thompson or Bernie.
Claussen though I would go after. He was rushed up and got hurt, sign him, let him take a breath. He could open the season at AAA with Sanchez and Hughes, if he shows nothing, the team has lost nothing, if, however he rebounds then the Yankees will have back a young lefty they never should have traded in the first place.
Can the Yankees released some players in their 40th man roster Peter?
How about The 4 guys I mentioned signing them to minor leagues deal.
I read Ny post today That Yankees might Dealt Melky and Proctor for Mike Gonzalez. Is there any truth of that trade rumor Peter?
If the Yankees trade Melky and Proctor , and then they could sign Damon Hollins. thoughts?
Yankees need a right handed bat with power. Melky won fit that description Chip.. I hope the Yankees trade Melky.
I see the Yanks swinging a deal for a catcher who is off the radar screen,has a good resume and good work habits and could step right in.Brad Melhuse w/Oakland comes to mind w/ the signing of Piazza it's doubtful the A's will carry 3 catchers,he's a switchhitter to boot...Thoughts?
Yankees still have some pieces in their farm system if Proctor got traded .
Cox, Sanchez, etc....
Other options - Braves released Reistma. How about the Yankees going after him.
James : I find it hard to believe the Yanks would even consider trading Proctor for Gonzalez straight up let alone throwing in a possible up and coming star in Melky...there would have to be more talent involved for the Yanks to make such a move.
Ruse:
I don't think that the A's consider Piazza a catcher at all, much like they didn't consider Frank Thomas a 1b, so I'm not sure his signing effects their depth chart.
Also, the Yankees and A's haven't matched up well in trade negotiations lately. When the Yankees were interested in Mark Kotsay Billy Beane wanted Hughes, Tabata and Duncan for him and wouldn't budge off that stance. Now maybe things have changed, but I doubt it, Beane loves to try and swindle other teams. But Melhuse would be a good suggestion.
A guy I would like is Gerald Laird from Texas, but since they just let Barajas go I don't see that happening. Maybe Shoppach from the Indians could be had. They have Victor Martinez in front of him and Shoppach is supposed to be a very good defensive catcher with some offensive ability.
James : the Yanks are after talent not a bunch of streetwalkers...Damon Hollins ? If a bottom dwelling team like D-Rays don't want him why do you think the Yanks would ? Hollins has more holes in his swing than swiss cheese
Yankees need more role players in this team. He right handed and can play outfield position. He has power and has good numbers against Melky. Melky has holes in his swing.
Damon Hollins got squeezed because the only position the Rays have depth is in the outfield...that said I agree with Ruse that there is no place for him on the Yankees either.
The Yankees don't need their fifth outfielder to be a power bat, they are looking for good defense and guys who can do what Melky did last year offensively. Defensively Hollins is a poor outfielder, he has limited speed and strikes out a lot.
I would rather have Melky and Kevin Thompson handling the fourth and fifth spots in the outfield. In addition the Yankees will have probably Phelps and or Phillips who could play a corner spot in a pinch, with Brett Gardner and Bronson Sardhina in the minors incase of long term injuries to the starters.
Damon Hollins got squeezed because the only position the Rays have depth is in the outfield...that said I agree with Ruse that there is no place for him on the Yankees either.
The Yankees don't need their fifth outfielder to be a power bat, they are looking for good defense and guys who can do what Melky did last year offensively. Defensively Hollins is a poor outfielder, he has limited speed and strikes out a lot.
I would rather have Melky and Kevin Thompson handling the fourth and fifth spots in the outfield. In addition the Yankees will have probably Phelps and or Phillips who could play a corner spot in a pinch, with Brett Gardner and Bronson Sardhina in the minors incase of long term injuries to the starters.
Red Sox, Matsuzaka headed to Boston
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2696321
"They all took off together," Red Sox owner John Henry said in an e-mail to The Associated Press
Damon Hollins got squeezed because the only position the Rays have depth is in the outfield...that said I agree with Ruse that there is no place for him on the Yankees either.
The Yankees don't need their fifth outfielder to be a power bat, they are looking for good defense and guys who can do what Melky did last year offensively. Defensively Hollins is a poor outfielder, he has limited speed and strikes out a lot.
I would rather have Melky and Kevin Thompson handling the fourth and fifth spots in the outfield. In addition the Yankees will have probably Phelps and or Phillips who could play a corner spot in a pinch, with Brett Gardner and Bronson Sardhina in the minors incase of long term injuries to the starters.
sorry for posting that three times, my computer went screwy on me.
Chip : Beane would probably place to high a price tag on Melhuse,in the SF Chronicle ,Piazza seemed to suggest a desire to still catch a few games,he is a good handler of pitchers,just can't throw.If Martinez catches the majority of games then Shoppach might become available.Come to think of it Shoppach would be an excellent choice....Chip what do you know about Charlie Mannings the Yankee pitching prospect,is he a lefty? He seemed to have a great season at Trenton I was wondering if he was in their plans ?
Ruse: Manning did have a pretty good year at AA and is a lefty, but he's also 27 which is a little old to still be pitching at the Double A level. I know he's not rated in the Yankee's top 10 prospects. I would suspect he's somewhere between 20 - 30. Baseball America projected him as a fringe guy...then again they have been wrong before. I imagine that he's in the same boat as Danny Borrell, Steven White and Justin Pope in that if the Yankees get something out of them, great, if not, ok, and if someone wants one of them in a trade Cashman won't stay up at night wondering if he made the right move dealing him.
It's Over the Redsox will be in first place next year.
"The Monster" Matsuzaka has arrived in Boston
"The End of the World is Near"
He hasn't even thow one pitch in the majors and you're giving him the Cy Young already? Come on! Let's get real!!! He has to get used to a new culture, language, batters (who are much better than japanese), catchers, more media coverege, a longer season and the pressure of being a $100 million man!
I personally think he'll be Boston's Hideki Irabu.
Steve Phillips had predicted he would not sign with Boston. I guess the good news is that if Phillips can't be right he's at least being consistantly wrong.
This Boston Team and Redsox fans will be cocky once again because they landed Biggest prize and number #1 pitcher in the world . Ortiz and Manny will be dancing and do their thing to kill the Yankees pitching all over again.
Boston Pitchers will hit the Yankees batters since Pedro left. This Redsox team will be be Rejuvanated by recent signings offseason.
Good old Steve Phillips called it again, you gotta love that track record. Hey, at least he gets paid for that "expert analysis" and we're doing it for free.
I always remember Lou Piniella being very high on Piniero and also being frustrated with him. I know it's hard to picture Lou being frustrated with a pitcher, but it's true. Lou always claimed he thought Piniero could be a number 1 pitcher if he, and brace for the cliche'..."trusted his stuff".
I think the fifth spot in the rotation is better left to Igawa or Rasner/Karstens.
Don't we have Ben Davis in our minor league system? I don't know how old he is by now but do you guys remember when he was supposed to be the next Johnny Bench? Last I remember he was a Yankee.
I don't think Cash needs to drop what he is doing as far as pitching is concerned to concentrate on a backup/future catcher right now. There is a little bit of time for that to shake out. Jorge had one of his better seasons last year, especially on defense, so I would concentrate on finishing up the pitching staff for now.
Doug M. will do fine for the Yanks. For a LH, he hits LH pitching pretty well, used to have some pop and is a fine defender.
Jim:
Thank you, I said Ben Petrick before but I was thinking Ben Davis. Davis will be 30 this season, hit .222 in 48 games in AAA last season. Not the answer.
Jim Callis from Baseball America has a chat on ESPN.com in 15 minutes. Hopefully there will be some more information there provided about Miranda
Yes Proctor is workhorse but he has straight fastball. I would rather Gonzalez who is lefthanded and better than proctor.
Jan:
Gonzalez has not pitched in a meaningful game once in his career. Who knows how he responds to the lights of NYC - Proctor is a horse and has the stomach for the big game.
Ruse:
Another catcher to look at in addition to Shoppach is John Buck of the Royals. I know his numbers don't look very good at all but he's still young and could be a serviceable player. The Royals traded for former Cincy catcher Jason LaRue so maybe Buck would come cheap.
The yankees are a hopeless lost cause, why dont all you new yorkers look to the mets for hope? Steinbrenner is a senile old fart who will soon retire to a sunny place after the yankees let him down again, season after miserable season. For the amount of money that bastard puts into your team they really do completly and totally SUCK!!! Imagine wasting more cash then any other team in baseball simply to be humiliated in the playoffs. Oh and one last thing, A Rod was quite possibly the worst waste of money in baseball history. Your team blows! have a good one New York.
Poor Sox4life loser. 1 title in 86 years to celebrate. How much money did Boston spend over 86 years for 1 championship? Your deep farm system and fiscal restraint really served you well over 86years. I hear the Red Sox now want to trade for Allen Iverson to play shortstop. Heck, they've had so many since Nomar left.
Something that caught my eye.
I was on the Baseball America website and noticed a AAA pitcher for the Yankees named RJ Swindle. He's 23, left handed and his numbers read:
22 games, 46.1 innings pitched, 4 wins, 2 losses, 2 saves, 0.58 ERA, 36 hits, 5 walks, 46 k's and a .201 BAA.
Now, I've never heard of this guy. I know he wasn't with the team all year (most of his stats came with the White Sox farm team) but with numbers like that I don't see any reason he can't replace Ron Villone in the Yankee pen.
On the Yankee Mailbag Mark Feinsand answered his take on life after Posada:
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061211&content_id=1759216&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy
Jorge has been so important to this team that for me it's a scary thought to not have him behind the plate as a starter.
Boston can have Matsuzaka. He hasn't proven a thing except getting out players AAA or less in Japan. Just another attempt at trying to outdo big brother. Pfffft ! Where's their closer ? What about Lugo's average of 20 errors a year at SS ? Drew a team player ? They'll be certain players upset with making less $$$ than a guy who takes the ball every 5 days. Laughable. Very laughable.
Soxin07 from Espn Says
The Yankees Fans should be scared and worried about the Redsox Rotation for 2007 with the addition of Matsuzaka and possibly adding Clemens. Yankees will be in third place in Al east and not making the playoffs since for first time since 1995. He also says yankees rotation have too much finesse pitchers and very old. Mussina -,Rj - coming back surgery,and Petite - Elbow
Redsox rotation has questions mark as much the Yankees.
Sox fans need to get a life. Don't you have a little cult Sox meeting you need to attend? Congrats on landing a guy who never threw a pitch in the majors. You better prey he performs otherwise it will look alot like Carl Pavano in a Sox uniform. The funniest part of this all is that if the Yanks were to sign him Sox fans would say how much he sucks but since they have him they make him out like he walks on water. Speaking of water why don't you Sox fans take a bath and shave because 90% of your fans are not only ugly but also ungroomed. Washed out shirts and dusty hats is there apperance. I am suprised Sox fans even know what's going on right now I kinda figured it would take you guys till at least 7pm to sober up since the bars up there open at 8am. Bring it on Sox fans! GO YANKEES!
Sux fans have nothing better to do than come over here and post their dumb rants every time Matzusaka sneezes, it's pretty ridiculous, he hasn't even pitched yet and he isn't signed yet. They could be flying to Boston to say no-dice DMat. Sux live to know what the Yankees are planning and what Yankee fans think, it's an obsession, and one can say they are Yankee fans too.
Fiscal restraint? Did those two words even come out of a New Yorkers mouth? The Yankees are the epitome of WASTED MONEY. Lets see, AROD is the biggest waste of money in sports history, every team hes ever played for has LOST! look at Texas and Seattles record when the A Fag was playing for them. And this is a guy steinbrenner went out on a limb for?? come on! And you wana talk about fiscal responsibility?? Yes the Sox won one title in 86 years but you know what, IT MEANT SOMTHING!!! Yankees fans expect a title every year because of the amount of money the bastard (Steinbrenner) puts into his worthless team. And what has happened the last three years for the rich and wonderfull yankees?? Nothing but dissapointment. And I pray to god it continues... have a good one New York
SI.com is reporting a 6 year 52 mill deal.. on Matsuzaka.
thats cheap!!
Did you call Sox fans dirty??? Hold on, This would mean your also implying Boston is dirty. LOOK AT YOR OWN CITY!!!
Lets see, never before in my life have i been to a place where bums s**t on the sidewalk and whores walk around time square like its well, their job. John Rocker was completly right when he talked about riding the subway in New York.Your city is an absolute embarresment to the rest of the country.
The sound of such a bitter Boston fan. Thats what the "B" stands for on your hat: Bitter. This year it stands for "Bought" after the second coming of Hideo Nomo signs. History speaks for itself: 1 in 86 years is a poorly run franchise. You wish you had King George since 1973.
We should work a trade with the Giants for Alfonzo to be our reseve catcher. Pena and Posada can work with him defensively. The guy has "pop", and that's tough to find at that position. The Astros must be in "shock" after Andy signed with us. What a horrible deal they made for Jennings. No way we could, or even should, compete with an offer like that.
Alright, first thing's first:
Red Sox fans talking about Yankee payroll is like a 400lb man calling a 500lb man fat.
As for A-Rod...I seem to recall that before the Yankees made that trade the Sox entire winter surrounded trading Manny for A-Rod and then dealing Nomar for Magglio Ordonez...and it would have happened had the Union not prevented Alex from lessening the total value of his contract...so lets not sit here and pretend the Sox had no interest in him.
And when it comes to "buying a title" outside of Trot Nixon, not a single member of the Sox team that won in 2004 was an original Red Sox player:
Rotation:
Pedro - Dodgers and Expos
Lowe - Mariners
Wake - Pirates
Schilling - Astros, Phillies, D-Backs (no his two years in the Red Sox farm system doesn't count)
Main relievers
Foulke - White Sox and A's
Timlin - Blue Jays among others
Embree - career journey man
Lineup:
Ortiz - Twins
Varitek - Mariners
Manny - Indians
Cabrera - Expos
Millar - Marlins
Damon - Royals and A's
Mueller - Cubs and Giants
Yankee core was made up of home grown players including Jeter, Posada, Williams, Rivera, Pettitte.
hold on, did you accuse red sox nation of being un groomed and dirty?? well buddy take a good look at the dirthole you call home. New York is a haven for the swine from all over the country. Every poor, out on his luck bum seems to hear a calling compelling them to live in the city of bums, New York. Your city is and has always been filled with the dirtiest of the dirty. John Rocker painted a very accurate picture of the New York subway a few years ago and god knows you all took offense to that. Maybe before you start accusing the redsox of being dirty you should take a look at your bum infested city
6 years $52 million may be cheap. 6 years $52 million + the $51 million to talk with him is ridiculous.
No one cares what you sox fans think or what you perceive as failure. The sox are the symbol of failure and have been trying to model themselves after the Yankees for decades. Get a clue and get a life! Go to the sox blog maybe someone there actually cares about the sox and what you think. It seems that sox fans are more Yankee haters than fans of anything. They hate this team more then they love their team. (It’s a thin line between love and hate) I think sox fans that comment on Yankees blogs are closet Yankees fans.
36,000 fans is a sellout! whatta joke of a stadium fenway is, a minor league stadium for a bush league team. The "B" on your hats stands for "B"ush league franchise.
Funny a Red Sox fan mentions dirty, considering your "victory" song is called "Dirty Water" (“Well I love that dirty water; Oh, Boston, you're my home”). Interesting.
David (Holmdel, NJ): How do the Yankees' signing of Juan Miranda and injuries to Melancon and Garcia affect their top ten?
Jim Callis: (2:28 PM ET ) Miranda won't make the Top 10, but Christian Garcia and Mark Melancon will drop out of the Top 10 in the Prospect Handbook after having Tommy John surgery. Replacing them will be trade acquisitions Humberto Sanchez and Kevin Whelan.
I love how Sux fans don't even have the guts to put a name down when they post. For your info last time I checked we didn't have any casualties at our world series celebrations. It is funny how you bash A-Rod when he was about to sign with you guys and you Sux fans ran and got his jersey. Hey Sux fan how do you justify JD Drew's contract I assume he walks on water right? Or how about Lugo the best shortstop ever right? At least we don't play dirty unlike your team nickel and dimeing everyone. I hope the Dodgers sue your franchise. It is another case of a bitter New Englander obsessed
with the Yanks.
jj (ny): Jim- what can you tell us about Juan Miranda? Could he have a sleeper type impact for the Yanks down the road and how would he rank amongst their org. prospects?
Jim Callis: (2:34 PM ET ) I'll believe it when I see it. Word is he's older than his listed age (big shock, I know) and nothing special. Think of him along the lines of Josh Phelps, another candidate for the Yankees' first-base mix.
It was a beautiful 5 game sweep in August up in losertown USA. Another bad luck episode for a franchise filled with bad history. The "B" on their hat stood for "Broom" back in August, that's for sure.
The signing of Matsuzaka is a feather in the cap for the Red Sox's. This will make the 2007 baseball season quite interesting with all the tension that we know and love.
Besides the above thoughts on this event. I'm not concerned. One major leaguer does not dominate the game today as in the past. To read the Red Sox or Met fans pretenting to be Red Sox fans comments about the Yank doom and gloom. They obviously believe the Yanks are still a threat or the team to beat.
Getting back to Matsuzaka, I'm sure the Red Sox have signed a quality pitcher to their rotation. It will not be easy for Matsuzaka. He'll probably have success early as the hitters early in the season are getting to know him and pitchers are always ahead of the batters early on. Matsuzaka will hit a wall and come back to earth so to speak as teams get to know him. He'll have to pitch every 5th day which is way more of an issue come July and August. His performance will not match his Japan League Stats. Yes, it will be interesting but he'll be hit and will his mind and body deal with the realization that this is not baseball in the land of the rising sun.
We'll see how much of a Ace or number 2 man in the rotation for 100+ mil.
First off, no one will respond to the comment about New York being, by far, the dirtiest, crapiest city in the entire country so ill just assume you guys agree. Hey honesty hurts. Second your right, you dont nickel and dime anyone Steinbrenner just takes out his pocketbook and writes a check for whatever player he doesnt want to go to the sox. I guess the check for Matzuka was a little steep for the bastard. Thirdly, Julio Lugo is a promising defensive short stop and he is vital to our kicking your ass in 0'7. Lastly i do not understand how a yankee fan could possibly insult the Red Sox for taking on Lugo when the Yankees took a short stop, made him a 3rd basemen, expected great results and got....NOTHING
This year their B will stand for Bad Business since they've been tampering with the league all off-season.
How can anyone accuse the Sox of "tampering" when George Steinbrenner has been on a personal quest to ruin baseball for a long, long time. I wonder what he'd say about a salary cap?? Those two words would probally give the guy a heart attack...we can only hope
Last Series in september The Yankees was playing THe Redsox who won 3out4 in yankees stadium. Manny wasn't even in the lineup and playing. Ortiz and Varitek returns. Beckett shutdown the Yankees who he gave up two stinking earned runs. What do guy takes on last series Yankees and Redsox play against each other?
Sox shady business practices:
Tried to get A-Rod to violate the Union agreement and reduce the value of his contract
Stole Kevin Millar from Japan, violating well known baseball etiquette
Backed out of a trade with Baltimore and Colorado after AGREEING to a deal
Had a "missing player" involved in a trade with Minnesota
Were reported to tamper with Julio Lugo during last year's trade deadline that caused the DRays to back out of trade talks with the Sox
Are reported to have attempted to tamper with Matz and his contract negotiations.
Are reported to have tampered with JD Drew to get him to opt out of his contract.
First off...this is my last comment that will in any way acknowledge the posts of anonymous:
Julio Lugo is 30 years old. There is nothing "promising" about him, he is what he is. And what he is boils down to a very good n