saskjayfan

please...they've said his signing is imminent and he could sign tonight for three straight days. He knows the players, the numbers are there.....the difference between 150 and 160 after tax will have a minimal effect on his quality of life. The reality is choosing the highest offer and being miserable for the next 6 years vs taking less money and going where you're going to be happiest is ridiculous, but ego gets in the way. We've already seen AJ Burnett choose happiness over money to the tune of 4 mil over 1 year.

seriously..what's the hold up with Lester..just f***ing sign somewhere already.

Come on Lester...Just sign already.

thing is that 4.8/9, 4.5 FIP and 2.5 mph drop in velocity still is better than what they have in the rotation. The bad masterson still might be as good or better than what the sox have in the rotation....it's pretty ugly.

Elliot says he'd consider Norris for Holland. McCowan say no f***ing way....on prime time sports right now.

fair enough...if the asking price isn't going to be a Norris, let's get in there and get him. I'll pay 15 mil for the next 2 yeas of Holland.

Income tax consideration could play a roll. This just makes me laugh. It's all about ego for these guys. Seriously, 10 years from now is Lester's lifestyle going to be materially different if he gets 125 or 135 or if he pays slightly higher income tax. Why doesn't the guy sign where he's going to enjoy playing baseball the next 6 years

I think Holland would be nice, but from the Royals perspective, why would they trade the guy? They made the playoffs last year so they are going to want major league ready talent, not prospects. They don't need Navarro. What else do we want to part with? I'm all for flipping Navarro and Pillar for Holland, but I somehow doubt that will get it done..lol.

Jays need to go get jeong ho kang to play second....the value of have 3 players with big leg kicks can not be discounted. I can see the leg kick commercials already.

I'm curious as to what changes you think he should make.

I don't understand the obsession of having a guy dominate at AAA for two months before bringing him up. If we missed the playoffs by 1 game and Sanchez pitched well in the majors, but spent the first half of the season in AAA everyone would be pissed. Let Sanchez start and if he fails, there's Norris. If he fails, go to Estrada or trade for someone. By the end of spring training, you might already know that Sanchez isn't the guy to start. Who knows what will happen? Just play the best players. Just because the Jays are saying Sanchez looks like he will be the number 5 guy going into spring training, it doesn't mean that's set in stone. Norris, Estrada are options as well. We may very well sign or trade for another starter before spring training.

I really could care less about the projections. What were Jose Bautista's projections for 2010. The margin of error on a player of Sanchez' age going through the changes he underwent the last couple years makes projecting what he will do almost impossible. He made some mechanical changes in AAA just before coming to the MLB. AA was asked about his control problems in an interview before he got to the bigs and Alex talked about the changes he had made in AAA and that he expected his control to be fine. All the experts on here said he would be terrible in the pen prior to him actually pitching in the majors. When he came up and pitched well, people are now saying well he did that as a reliever, but he will be terrible as a starter. He couldn't command his fastball in the minors either. It wasn't just his change or curve that caused him issues. He made meaningful strides later on in the season that people are completely dismissing. I am excited to see him as a starter. I know he will have different challenges as a starter and I'm not expecting him to be lights out as a starter. He could be anywhere from very good to very bad. I can't believe people are convinced he will be anywhere from below average to terrible, like there is no upside to the guy. To each their own though.

I see...so they are completely irrelevant. Got it. Thanks for clearing that up.

You forgot Sanchez' major league stats.

depending on who they trade for they may be able to resign the player. The Jays have Ricky Romero and buehrle coming off the books at the end of the year, but I understand what you are saying. Sometimes you have to go for it. It didn't work out for the As last year though.

JA Happ had a very good second half. I hope he can continue, but with the move and the smoak move we cleared salary and we now have room to see if Sanchez or Norris run with the opportunity. Estrada provides depth. The big thing that I see is that there are a whole number of quality pitchers with one year left before free agency. Come the deadline we have a lot prospects to acquire a starter if need be.

And why will Sanchez definitely blow as a starter? What makes you so confident of this fact that your are willing to mortgage your rare action figure collection to make a 10 k dollar bet

I have no issue with this....left field, dh and pitching should be more of a priority as far as I'm concerned.

Grilli is one guy that I've wanted. I don't think he will cost that much, but with these DFAs there are obviously some things brewing. I was kind of hoping they would keep dirks.

texas wants a catcher...I'd be on board with this if they were...I'm not sure they would be though..lol

His defense would play fine in left field. His .347 OBP is very appealing for the club, but you're not going to give up a top prospect for 1 year of fowler. If the price is right, go get him.

lol...my personal tirade. When you are considering resigning a guy and you are questioning it because of a down year it is relevant. You have to consider were there any reasons for that down year? There wasn't just an explanation for that down year, there was a really good explanation. Saunders didn't go through what Melky did. 99% of players would not have played through the pain Melky did. If you want to say, don't sign Melky because the dollars are too much, his defense is poor, you want the pick, then fine. I tend to find myself agreeing with those arguments, but I have every confidence that Melky will be an above average hitter for years to come. The guy is a professional hitter.

Jason Frasor had 2 tommy John's and then went on to pitch 10 years...albeit as a reliever

didn't Beachy get non-tendered as well?

yeah, and if a guy had a wRC+ of 86 and only used one hand when swinging the bat, I'd probably throw that year out when considering his true talent. I know thinking outside the box and considering something other than the numbers. Don't let your head explode.