USSoccer

Wins and Losses are a terrible, terrible metric for evaluating a pitcher.

Oh. My. God. Are you serious? It's probably their biggest strength.

Remember when he got busted for HGH? Also, didn't he refuse to travel with the team on road trips?

Two big bits of news: Beckham called back up to England for their must-win qualifier. And, most importantly, Jozy Altidore is on the roster for the South Africa friendly on 11/17. Words cannot express how awesome it will be to see Jozy and Freddy Adu on the same field for the senior side.

LOL. I never screamed the 98 Yanks had a better offense. I said that team was a better TEAM then the current crop of pinstripes. Pitching, defense, desire to win, heart and soul! Nothing about being better offensively. I am also not anti-Alex. Let him get that money elsewhere. I am willing to suffer a bad season or two after losing him. He is a great player, I just don't like him on my team. And contrary to your belief, I know the Yankees have more problem than A-Rod. I have said as much in other threads! There are many flaws and I see them. Pavano, Farnsworth, Sheff over Vlad, they Yankees have made MANY mistakes and I don't put it on one guy. Yet you can't seem to wait to be rid of the best player in baseball... Only one of those things is relevant, and it has nothing to do with Alex Rodriguez.

Not really. Hughes, Chamberlin, Tabata and Kennedy. What else is there? Eric Duncan, Humberto Sanchez and plenty of B level talent. Notice I said MINOR holes. We have plenty of Theriot, Fontenot types in the farm. And you never know what those players may give you for a season or two. Eric Duncan is completely worthless. Humberto Sanchez is fairly meh. And "B" level talent in the Yankee system is like C level talent elsewhere. They might be able to hype someone up and luck out in a trade with an idiot GM, but it's nowhere near a productive system (partly because of how active they've been in FA over the last 4 years). And if you're counting on Theriot/Fontenot types to help you in the AL, you're hosed. You're in the 2nd best division in the better league.

It's Tejada. He's gonna get traded for way less than he's worth. The Orioles are idiots. Probably, but if it's not Tejada, it should be Cedeno for at least the first 2 months of the season.

Not really. Hughes, Chamberlin, Tabata and Kennedy. What else is there?

To a degree. It's a massive advantage to be able to outspend your mistakes.

Unless the Yankees All-Star team is like 2002's All Star team in 2008.

Don't kid yourself. It will always matter. As great as Tampa's young talent may be, NY and BOS will always be able to threaten the 95-100 win range with just a handful of moves. Money matters. It's the one advantage the Cubs have over the 5 NLC teams, and the one reason they might stay at or near the top of the division. New York's payroll is going to be massive in 2008, and unless they pull a rabbit out of the hat, they aren't going to win 90.

I agree, but I've been saying that for 2-3 years now. First with the Gomes/Baldelli/Kazmir/Crawford incarnation and now the Young/Dukes/Longoria one. They'll make the playoffs for sure in 2009 or 2010. I know Callis keeps banging the Rays in the WS in 2010 drum, I wouldn't go that far, though. Longoria/Price/McGee/Davis/Brignac is the best top 5 minor leaguers in any farm system in baseball. Sheesh. what is going to happen in '09 or '10 that will prevent the Yanks/Sox from spending $160M more than TB? If 2 or 3 of those guys reach their level it won't matter how much Boston and New York spend.

The difference between ARod at $16-20m and ARod at $30m (not sure where you're getting $35-40m from) is $10-14m. Or, if you prefer, Jared Wright or Carl Pavano. That amount of payroll is nothing for your team. If you let ARod go, you're weakening your offense, so you're creating another hole to fill.

That's not entirely accurate. The Yankees only paid $16m of it. The Rangers picked up $9m. Since he opted out, the Rangers are the happiest team in the world. No, I know. But still, it's an extra $14m (not $10m). What's the difference to the Yankees? Are they going to be able to find better players for the extra money?

So, wait...you don't care about the playoffs, you want to see excitement? What's more exciting that watching the best player in at least a generation play? And how is ARod dead weight? Mussina, Giambi, Damon-there's your dead weight. You're not making sense. I agree, but you forgot Pavano, Farnsworth, and the half the bullpen. As far as me wanting the Yankees to miss the playoffs, I didn't say forever! Yes they may miss for a year or two, but they will still win!! I said miss the playoff for a year!! Argue all you want,The Yankees do not NEED A-Rod! He is not the Savior!! We need much more help and to pay him for 10 years is INSANE!! Let him go elsewhere and I will take my chances!! I understand who he is, but I understand WE AMDE THE POST-SEASON FOR 8 CONSECUTIVE YEARS BEFORE HE ARRIVED. It isn't like they will become the Astros when he leaves!! We can fix it, we have the technology!! Actually, there's a very decent chance they end up like the Blue Jays if he leaves. You need to realize that your lineup is pretty average without him. Jeter's declining. Damon and Giambi are both done. Cano and Cabrera are nothing special. Shelley Duncan is nothing. Matsui is declining. Abreu is good but on the downside. Posada is going to regress. And as far as your pitching goes, Wang is good, Mussina is old, Pettite might retire, Chamberlin's arm might explode, and Hughes is still learning. Your bullpen is meh. You take those 90 or so runs over replacement that ARod provides out, and you're in more trouble that you think. Also, yeah, ARod wanted 30m, but he was already making $25m per. Is the extra 10m or so per year really going to cripple you payroll wise?

So, wait...you don't care about the playoffs, you want to see excitement? What's more exciting that watching the best player in at least a generation play? And how is ARod dead weight? Mussina, Giambi, Damon-there's your dead weight. You're not making sense.

So they miss the playoffs, but maybe the rest of the guys learn how to play together and grow into a TEAM. Say what you want the 2006 and 2007 Yankees had great players but were not a team!! This is silly, silly logic. You're saying that by getting rid of their best player, the remaining, high cost, low performance guys and the younger, marginally talented postition players are going to somehow overcome their respective flaws and be better off without the best player in the game? Please tell me you're kidding. You cannot really believe that losing the best player in baseball is a net positive for your team.

This team does not need left handed bats, and just because Jacque had one year where he was actually not incompetent against LHP, doesn't mean he can handle LHP. This team needs bats, preferrably ones that get on base. Jacque doesn't get on base, and hurts the team. You don't think, that with 1 year left on the deal, he's an acceptable 4th OF? If you can't move him, or if you'd have to pay somebody else to take him, sure, he's an acceptable 4th OF. But he can't hit LHP and this team doesn't "need" LH bats. Those were my points. I agree on both counts. Not sure where anyone could think that he can hit LHP.

This team does not need left handed bats, and just because Jacque had one year where he was actually not incompetent against LHP, doesn't mean he can handle LHP. This team needs bats, preferrably ones that get on base. Jacque doesn't get on base, and hurts the team. You don't think, that with 1 year left on the deal, he's an acceptable 4th OF?

I don't know that you're correct in saying Pie is a better bet to be an improvement at his position over Soto.

Pagan sucks and I'd rather not back Pie up with Fuld. Fuld would be a nice 5th OF/AAA callup in an emergency, but what about either guy makes you think "that's a good insurance policy for Pie"?

Because he's just about the best player in the world. He's also been playing at an extremely high level since he was what, 16? Oh, I knew the answer. It was just a rhetorical question. Either way, C. Ronaldo is the truth.

Really? I liked him a lot more when he hit 27 homers. I think he'll end up between his 2006 and 2007 power numbers if he plays everyday. Pie could do that too at the league minimum. If we can get someone to take the whole salary, I don't care what we get in return. We should be committing to Pie, and use part of Jacque's money to find a real backup CF, not someone who has been a starter their whole career and now has to sit unhappily on the bench. I don't know. He's not prohibitively exepnsive, and there's a decent chance that Pie is terrible. As bad as Jones is against LHP, Pie is worse. Jones isn't a bad guy to have as a backup in that instance. Or vice versa. And for what it's worth, I though he handled his 2 month banishment to the bench in a very good way.

Really? I liked him a lot more when he hit 27 homers. I think he'll end up between his 2006 and 2007 power numbers if he plays everyday.

That's pretty much it right there. With 1 year on that deal, he's really fairly useful to have around.