I looked up Abreu’s and Manny’s fielding numbers on BP and was surprised by what I saw. Abreu was 10 runs below average last season, which was only surprising in that I thought he would have been worse. But Manny was actually slightly above average both on the Dodgers AND the Sox last season. That astounded me.

Typically, as in from 2002 through 2007, Manny has been a below-average fielder. In 2002-2005 he was over 10 runs below average, and in 2006 he was an incredible 22 runs below average. That’s just ridiculously bad.

Obviously there are other fielding metrics out there, and some might be kinder to Manny. And I had mistakenly assumed that 2008 Manny was just as bad as 2002-2006 Manny. In fact, Manny’s defense improved significantly in 2007-2008. But Manny is on the wrong side of 35 and I think it’s much more likely that we would see more of his horrible 2002-2006 defense than his passable 2007-2008 defense. If we did get Bad Defense Manny, we’d be getting a player whose glove is so bad that it could change our season for the worse. And that has to be a serious concern when the player in question is demanding at least an $80 million commitment.

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Morning,Pat. Does Bob Forsch golf with you guys? Those two brothers were outstanding pitchers.

I saw where somebody let it slip that 21 mil a year wasn’t enough to get Teixeira. They maybe looking at close to Alex Rodriguez money. I don’t know who would have put that out. It surely couldn’t have been the normally close-lipped Boras.

personally i think the yankees should let them all pitch for thier wbc teams and let the ST crowds see just what we’ve got working in scranton and trenton. ok, sorry, somebody’s gonna get stuck paying to watch igawa pitch, but hey, it’s ST!

all the better if they are all competing for a trip north and a rotation spot!

I really think Andy will sign..not sure how the $$ will shake out but I believe he will sign with us..

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He’s certainly a safer and better short term option than anybody else on the market. The only team taking a shot at Sheets will be a team desperate for starter to make a run at a division. Texas will most likely bid the most, but, I think that Atlanta, Texas, St. Louis and maybe LA Dodgers take a run. I’m guessing that NYY will give Pettitte about another week, and, then go internally for a starter. I can’t imagine them wanting to close the last spot in the rotation up for the next 2-3 years.

I re-thunk that after I wrote it. I guess I was picturing the banker/Bud Selig look.

BTW, if they don’t sign Andy, I think they stay pat. If Aceves has a good ST, he’s the #5. If and when Phil is blowing away AAA guys, he’ll come up. I’d move Aceves to the bullpen to do long work.

Staying pat also leaves the door open for Andy. Still don’t think they’re harboring bad feelings about the Mitchell Report. If they were, they would’ve just cut ties.

every day they put damon in CF and manny in LF, i’d be looking for them to reprise the “cut-off.”

with damon’s arm in CF, it might be thier best play…

the frosted hair and mod glasses are new, but the sweater under a jacket is standard-issue professor garb. wonder if the jacket had elbow patches…..