i think we'll be hard after Sabathia this offseason, so he'll likely be on our roster by 2010 if that happens.

Holliday would be awesome & since Boras is his agent he'll go to the highest bidder... i guess it's possible... that would keep either Austin J or Jose T from playing tho cuz i do think Matsui will be re-signed to at least a 2 year deal.

Crawford is a possibility if the Rays don't pick up his $10m option in 2010... distinct possibility but we can't have em all obviously.

u know there's also no guarantees that CMW will be on the roster past this season also... they didn't re-sign him to a deal when they had the chance this offseason & if he flops in the postseason again this year (assuming we even make it), they may decide to go w/someone else depending on how much his agent is asking for... you gotta figure it's gonna be a hefty price.

[Edited by - TMS on 06-11-2008 10:41 PM]

Posted by TMS:

i think we'll be hard after Sabathia this offseason, so he'll likely be on our roster by 2010 if that happens.

Holliday would be awesome & since Boras is his agent he'll go to the highest bidder... i guess it's possible... that would keep either Austin J or Jose T from playing tho cuz i do think Matsui will be re-signed to at least a 2 year deal.

Crawford is a possibility if the Rays don't pick up his $10m option in 2010... distinct possibility but we can't have em all obviously.

I didn't realize that Boras was Holliday's agent. There's no chance that he doesn't hit free agency then. If that's the case then we have a great shot to sign him.

Do you really like Gardner better than Jackson going forward? Tabata is still very young but I'm concerned that he's not going to develop the power that people thought he would.

Re-signing Matsui for a year or 2 wouldn't be a bad idea if they have no other options and he wants to stay.

Posted by islesfan:

Jackson and Gardner? That's a really young and inexperienced OF. Plus there's no power. If they had a big time bat at DH, which Matsui isn't, then maybe. With only ARod and Texeira, that lineup is sorely missing power.

CC Sabathia scares the crap out of me. He's going to want at the minimum $18M a year for 6 years. He's a big guy with lots of innings on that arm. I can see him having issues with injuries real soon.

yeah but to tell u the truth i'd like to get back to playing more small ball type baseball & stop waiting around for the damn 3 run HR... that's what we've been doing since '00 & it hasn't gotten us anywhere... we gotta get back to moving runners over, stealing bases, playing good fundamentals... the team i posted is solid at all positions defensively (w/the possible exception of the corner OF positions), & they'd still have some power bats like ARod, Tex, Jorge & Matsui... plus Tabata's supposed to be the real deal so if he lives up to half his hype he could be at least a 20-25 HR guy if not more... i really like adding Brett Gardner as a leadoff man... he's leading the minors right now in SB's & has only been thrown out like 5 times all year... he hits for contact & gets on base at a good clip... he'd be a nice top of the order guy in that lineup to replace Damon, who'll be outta here by 2010.

as for CC, i think he's as good as we're gonna find to replace Andy's left arm in our rotation... he's only 27 yo so in 2010 he'll still be in his physical prime pretty much... no way would i sign him to no 6 yr deal tho & i don't think the Yankees would either (if they didn't do it for Johan i don't see them doing it for CC)... i think they'll try to nab him on a 5 yr deal at ~18m per, which for a guy of his ability is probably market value IMHO... if he wants 6 years i don't think many teams will pay the fare, unless the Mets get even more desperate than last year.

plus, he's not pitching lights out this season so his agent can't ask for the moon... the risk for injury is there for anyone we sign so i don't think we can let that stop us from making deals... he may choose to stay in CLE tho, who knows, but as a lefty ace there's not many on his level in the game right now... Bedard is one but he's sorta smallish for a power pitcher & i dunno how well his arm will hold up, whereas CC is a big husky dude so i think there's a better chance his velocity will stay consistent for a longer stretch... Kazmir is another but he already re-upped w/the Rays thanks to those damn welfare checks they've been collecting from us over the years.

Posted by islesfan:

Posted by TMS:

u know there's also no guarantees that CMW will be on the roster past this season also... they didn't re-sign him to a deal when they had the chance this offseason & if he flops in the postseason again this year (assuming we even make it), they may decide to go w/someone else depending on how much his agent is asking for... you gotta figure it's gonna be a hefty price.

[Edited by - TMS on 06-11-2008 10:41 PM]

The Yankees have his rights for a few more seasons, at least going through the 2010 season. Last year was his first year of arbitration eligibility.

Personally I don't think CMW gets enough credit. He's a solid #2 starter who had a bad week last October. He's pitched in big games against the Red Sox and trying to get us into the playoffs the last 2 years when there was no margin for error. That has to count for something.

i thought they shoulda locked him up longterm when they had the chance but i guess they figure they can afford to wait... this probably means they end up paying more for him later but that's par for the course for this franchise i guess (see Jorge & Mo).

i dunno if i'd classify Gardner as a role player only... to me he's like a Brett Butler clone & he had a very nice career in the bigs as a fulltime starter... i mean he's not gonna wow you w/gaudy numbers anywhere but he'll get the job done & he'll add a nice element to the team that would need to be filled once Damon's gone... we need a guy who can get on base, play small ball, create some disruption on the basepaths, play good defense in the field, etc... basically play that Chuck Knoblauch role that we haven't had for a long time... Damon's clearly lost at least 3 steps & the way he goes back on balls at the fence is a nightmare... his bat is still nice obviously but in 2 years he'll be gone & we need to start thinking about a leadoff batting replacement... at this point in his career i don't want Jeter leading off games either.

We've tied our season-high mark of 2 games over .500! Once we got to 12-10, I realized that there might be some tough times ahead but I knew it wouldn't be long before we equaled the greatness of our 1st 22 games!

[Edited by - bonn1997 on 06-14-2008 4:21 PM]

Posted by TMS:

a 10 of 14 type stretch at the right time & this team is right back in the thick of the pennant race... that's exactly what happened last year & it happens every year to more than a few teams in baseball... this season still has a LONG way to go yet... let's assess our chances of making the playoffs in late August.

OK, let me try again.

Once we got to 12-10 last season's playoffs ended, I realized that there might be some tough times ahead but I knew it wouldn't be long before we equaled the greatness of our 1st 22 games that season!

he wanted us to acquire every high priced bigname available while holding onto all our top minor league talent & have them all turn out to be studs while we get to the WS every year... y is that unreasonable?

Posted by islesfan:

Bonn, exactly what did you expect this year and why?

Actually, I probably misunderstood the word "expect." (I answered as if you had asked, "What would you require?") What did I "expect" from Cashman and the Steinbrenners given the roster they constructed with this $200 mil payroll? Honestly, about 94 wins and another 1st round playoff loss. Anything can happen but I think I was being too generous.

Moose is only 40 wins away from the Hall! I know it's a long shot but I'd love to see it happen.

[Edited by - bonn1997 on 06-15-2008 07:06 AM]