Offseason Pitching

[Tabbert]

ME TOO! Although I have to give you credit for pointing out the lefty bit.

Give me a 4/5 starter that will eat 190+ innings, and won't give up a boatload of runs per start (aka, an ERA around or below 4.25).

That is joe blanton... do you really want that? just ask the phillies.

[BryanV21]

bryan, you make great points... however i would say thats its not really fair to compare other pitchers to greg maddux.. thats simply not fair.

Let me throw this one out there for u though... What if the phillies or redsox were to get roy hallady... leaving each of those teams with halladay/beckett or halladay/ lee then would you be open to us spending the money to bring in a guy like lackey to give us the dynamic duo of cc/ lackey? this is all hypothetical of course.

One, if it's not fair to compare Maddux and other pitches, why is it fair to compare Burnett and Lackey?

Secondly, I don't think a duo of CC/AJ is that bad compared to those other two you gave. So no...I wouldn't be all that worried. Hell, get a top of the rotation starter. Fine. But at least get one that we can count on, and not have to hold our breath for throughout the year...hoping something doesn't snap in his arm.

[EAGLES3658]

I would love to see us give Bedard an incentive heavy deal, is he stays healthy, we would have 2 of probably the 5 best lefties in baseball on our team.

I completley agree.

[jxnhole]

Give me Wolf or Davis on the cheap. Let Phillies and Sox sell the farm to land Halladay. How many players do you trade for one starter when even in a good year, they toss under 15% of your innings?

[Tabbert]

One, if it's not fair to compare Maddux and other pitches, why is it fair to compare Burnett and Lackey?

Secondly, I don't think a duo of CC/AJ is that bad compared to those other two you gave. So no...I wouldn't be all that worried. Hell, get a top of the rotation starter. Fine. But at least get one that we can count on, and not have to hold our breath for throughout the year...hoping something doesn't snap in his arm.

im sorry but CC/Aj is no Halladay/ Lee. CC is just as good as those guys but aj is no where near as good as cliff lee or roy halladay. Your using the example of one pitcher who pitched late into his years... do u realize how deep we could dig and find out how many players were injured due to age. Lackey is still young and can easily bounce back and be fresh next season... its simply just not as easy for 37 year old to keep himself healthy all season. There is a 50/50 chance anyone could get injured at any point at any sport but it does take the older guys longer to rebound if at all. IE: a 25 year old with tommy john surgery bounces back a lot easier then a 35 year old with the same surgery.

[BryanV21]

[/b]
That is joe blanton... do you really want that? just ask the phillies.

Well, the Phillies rode him into the World Series. Not saying I want him, but I'm talking about a 4/5 starter...not a 1,2,or 3.

im sorry but CC/Aj is no Halladay/ Lee. CC is just as good as those guys but aj is no where near as good as cliff lee or roy halladay. Your using the example of one pitcher who pitched late into his years... do u realize how deep we could dig and find out how many players were injured due to age. Lackey is still young and can easily bounce back and be fresh next season... its simply just not as easy for 37 year old to keep himself healthy all season. There is a 50/50 chance anyone could get injured at any point at any sport but it does take the older guys longer to rebound if at all. IE: a 25 year old with tommy john surgery bounces back a lot easier then a 35 year old with the same surgery.

Philly just traded away a good chunk of their farm for Lee. I don't see them doing that again for Halladay. Last season it was Halladay OR Lee. I don't think that's changed now. They will make adjustments to the team, but making another huge trade like they did for Cliff...I believe...is not in the cards.

As for the Boston side, Halladay/Beckett is not much better than CC/AJ. I don't think Beckett is all that great to be honest with ya. His walks went up, while his Ks dipped slightly. His HRs didn't go up a whole lot either, but they did go up. He doesn't stink. But I believe AJ can have just as good a season as Josh. Oh, and Boston's not trading the farm for Halladay either. It wasn't a great package, but the Sox did give up a decent amount for Victor Martinez...somebody that they actually needed (meaning good decision by Theo).

But besides that...it's a fair point. If two of the best teams in baseball get better, then the Yankees should do something so as not to fall behind. And I'll say it again...John Lackey, and other pitchers with an injury history, is NOT THE ANSWER. I've got just as much reason to be concerned about Andy (I'll concede here, not that I'm actually worried though) and AJ's health, as I do Lackey's. So now we have THREE pitchers in the rotation to be concerned about? DAMN!

Why is CC, AJ, Andy, Phil, ___ not enough?

[Tabbert]

Well, the Phillies rode him into the World Series. Not saying I want him, but I'm talking about a 4/5 starter...not a 1,2,or 3.

Philly just traded away a good chunk of their farm for Lee. I don't see them doing that again for Halladay. Last season it was Halladay OR Lee. I don't think that's changed now. They will make adjustments to the team, but making another huge trade like they did for Cliff...I believe...is not in the cards.

As for the Boston side, Halladay/Beckett is not much better than CC/AJ. I don't think Beckett is all that great to be honest with ya. His walks went up, while his Ks dipped slightly. His HRs didn't go up a whole lot either, but they did go up. He doesn't stink. But I believe AJ can have just as good a season as Josh. Oh, and Boston's not trading the farm for Halladay either. It wasn't a great package, but the Sox did give up a decent amount for Victor Martinez...somebody that they actually needed (meaning good decision by Theo).

But besides that...it's a fair point. If two of the best teams in baseball get better, then the Yankees should do something so as not to fall behind. And I'll say it again...John Lackey, and other pitchers with an injury history, is NOT THE ANSWER. I've got just as much reason to be concerned about Andy (I'll concede here, not that I'm actually worried though) and AJ's health, as I do Lackey's. So now we have THREE pitchers in the rotation to be concerned about? DAMN!

Why is CC, AJ, Andy, Phil, ___ not enough?

okay, well who do you want then? i will give up the lackey talk if we can come up on a decision on to whom we would bring. I would like to atleast see a true #3 though and not a 4 or 5. With hughes in the rotation ( we hope for the best but we cant bank on it) and we still have to think that aj could get hurt and andy will be his normal self... which pitcher out there is a consistent 190+ inning guy? The formula you put up earlier = joe blanton type stuff but i feel like we could use something better then that. I will say we dont need the ace, but what middle of the roatation type guys are out there? i dont know the list of free agents.

[jxnhole]

I vote for Randy Wolf. His starts are consistent but don't wow. He could have been an 18-20 game winner this year, but his bullpen blew at least 8 wins for him. He has played in LA and Philly, so being criticized and/or booed isn't new to him, and he's a lefty.

[Tabbert]

Wang is always another option for us... but like we have been talking about that is a MAJOR injury problem. God, i would love to have to 2007 wang back.

[BryanV21]

okay, well who do you want then? i will give up the lackey talk if we can come up on a decision on to whom we would bring. I would like to atleast see a true #3 though and not a 4 or 5. With hughes in the rotation ( we hope for the best but we cant bank on it) and we still have to think that aj could get hurt and andy will be his normal self... which pitcher out there is a consistent 190+ inning guy? The formula you put up earlier = joe blanton type stuff but i feel like we could use something better then that. I will say we dont need the ace, but what middle of the roatation type guys are out there? i dont know the list of free agents.

No. No. Don't give up the Lackey thing. It's your opinion, and there's nothing wrong with that. I don't agree with it, but...whatever.

As for somebody else, I have no idea right now. I'll take a look at the FA list from Cot's and get back here on that.

[BryanV21]

Jason Marquis (Type B) - He's 31, his ERA isn't bad and has dropped in each of the last 3 years, no real injury history, HR/9 has gone down the last 3 years. My only question is his K rate, as it's not all that.

Joel Pineiro (Type B) - He's also 31, good K/BB ratio the last 3 seasons (2.31, 2.31, 3.89) due to walking very few batters.

Todd Wellemeyer - 30 years old. I'm a bit worried about his high BB/9. But I like this kid. And looking at his numbers this past season, he shouldn't cost much in $ or years at all.

I think a rotation like this would be pretty good...

Sabathia
Burnett
Pettitte
Pineiro
Hughes/Joba

[Tabbert]

Jason Marquis (Type B) - He's 31, his ERA isn't bad and has dropped in each of the last 3 years, no real injury history, HR/9 has gone down the last 3 years. My only question is his K rate, as it's not all that.

Joel Pineiro (Type B) - He's also 31, good K/BB ratio the last 3 seasons (2.31, 2.31, 3.89) due to walking very few batters.

Todd Wellemeyer - 30 years old. I'm a bit worried about his high BB/9. But I like this kid. And looking at his numbers this past season, he shouldn't cost much in $ or years at all.

I think a rotation like this would be pretty good...

Sabathia
Burnett
Pettitte
Pineiro
Hughes/Joba

thanks for the list! jason marquis would be a really nice fit! plus, he is a new yorker.

[jxnhole]

I picked up Pineiro in my fantasy league this past season. He is a consistent starter whose W/L record is reduced because of really bad run support.

[BryanV21]

I looked up these other FAs, but found issues with them

Backe-not that good
Cabrera-high ERA
Davis-not bad, but could get better
Duchscherer-depression keeping him out all year? Really?
Garland-not good
Harden-injury history
Looper-nah
Washburn-got beat up in Detroit

*not to mention any of these guy's options

[jxnhole]

Duchscherer-depression keeping him out all year? Really?


.....Might as well just go for Dontrelle Willis