As for CF, A-Jax might be ready this year. We don’t know yet how well he’s going to do in Scranton. If he tears it up for 2-3 months, and it isn’t because of a fluky BAbip or something, then there’s no reason to keep him down there.

boston dave-

aren’t the red sox the ones who held onto their cash? it seems they are in a better position to take advantage of small market teams then.

i think the biggest additions are simply getting arod and wang back( though i’m officially concerned about wang ).

i never thought gardner would hit well enough to be a starter. he’s too stiff. where does this team upgrade? not catcher, first, second, shortstop, third base, right field or left field. not any of the five starting pitchers. not the closer.

that leaves middle relief, the 8th inning guy, and the center fielder.

i agree as the season goes on this team will get streaky in a good way. i just hate year in and year out to watch the team have to play it’s way into shape.

you’d think with all the money they spend on players they’d have the the best leadership and coaching to get those players off to a good start.

when the bad starts keep happening, it’s not just turning the ship or bad luck: it’s part of the culture and how they do things.

This is after Posada talked down about Swisher smiling on the mound. At least Swisher runs balls out..Who cares if he had fun throwing a scoreless inning. I would too.

He’s one of the few players on the team that can hit well situationally, Matsui and Jeter being the others.

I think if the Yankees had dangled Damon at the trade deadline last season, I believe they would have gotten a decent return. He’s still a really good offensive ballplayer. His contract is not that exorbitant.

Matsui has bad knees. It is what it is. However, I don’t think anyone could or should question his effort. He’s a DH now, and he’s swinging the bat really well.

There’s a multitude of problems on this team, but Damon and Matsui aren’t two of them.

It’s pretty simple why the team is struggling. Lousy starting pitching, and a mediocre bullpen that wasn’t helped by the lousy starting pitching.

Sabbathia pitched well last night, but he’s only had two good starts.

Burnett melted down in his biggest start, and Wang’s three starts did incalculable damage to the bullpen and essentially cost the team any shot of winning three games.

The offense will be better once A-Rod replaces Cody Angel Pena at third(Test out that VORP)Tex, who is the only source of power on the team, will see better pitches, and it will filter down through the lineup. A-Rod is not the cure-all, but it’s a huge step.

I don’t agree with the calls for Mike Cameron. He’s has a $10 million price tag, has diminishing range, will cost a decent prospect and is a roids guy. No thanks.

That being said, if you want to replace Gardner/Melky in centerfield. There are no young options out there to be had.

Nate McClouth is not worth what he will cost and he’s a poor defender.

Austin Jackson should not be an option. He must stay at Scranton all year. He’s simply not ready. Rushing him to the majors could destroy his development.

The only option I see is Jim Edmonds. He hit very well for the Cubs last year and even though he’s pushing 40, wouldn’t cost anything more than a cheap 1-year deal.

he did. he called the team old and unathletic…

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but as far as making changes to that group and adding players, I don’t think they should address that now. With perhaps once of the best trading deadlines in recent history for the big money teams coming…

they should probably wait for the bargain guys to be made available (bargain in terms of what they’ll need to give up)

The yankees forfeit their 1st rd pick to the Angels for signing Teixera.

the only reason they get to pick in the 1st rd this year is because they failed to sign their 1st rounder last year. because of that, they are given a compensatory pick.

it’s all explained in the link in the “compensatory picks” section.