I figured I'd start our own thread.
Sounds like the Yankees will have a new pitcher next year, they're close to signing Sabathia to a 7 year deal. I figured he'd stay in the NL after how he dominated over there.

Yeah looks like he?ll sign. Wow that?s a lot of money. I?m happy the Yanks did not have to give up any younglings in this deal, just money. They have plenty of that.

Nice to see the Yankees back to their old ways.
How's the new Death Star coming along? :-p

?those grapes looked sour anyways?

Sorry to disappoint you but, no. I didn't get all that excited when I heard the Sox made an offer to Tex. He is good but, I think he's slightly over rated. I want a catcher, Varitek and a trade for Saltalamacchia. I want a middle reliever and a starter. I want a 4th outfielder and...I want Lugo to be traded.

I want anopther pitcher...
I'm not a fan of the idea of trading for Saltalamacchia. His minor league numbers are almost identical to Kottaras, and the Rangers want to move Salty to first base because his defensive skills are not good.

Plus, the Sox already have a offensive Catcher as good as Saltalamacchia in their farm system:
Kottaras.
Based on Number of At Bats in the Minors: (Salty 1365, Kottaras 1917) Salty hits a homerun every 28.4 Ab's to Kottaras's 29 AB's; they both Strikeout once every 4.3 at bats and have comparable BA amd SLG (.276/.269 BA; .460/.444 Slg) and Salty walks once every 7 AB's compared to Kottaras's once every 6.5 Ab's.

Why would the Sox trade for a player they already have, who teams want to move to a different position because of how bad he is defensively?

I haven't heard much about Salty the last year, I remember hearing nothing but good things about him two years ago. I can live with waiting on a prospect, worked pretty good the last few years.
Penny, if he can pitch like he was a few years ago and lose the attitude(I've heard/read he can be a dink) that would be great but, a NL pitcher's first year in the AL? Errrr...

Well, if your willing to wait for the prospect to develop, why not wait and sign either Mauer (2010) or Russel (2011) when they become free Agents.

At least you know what you're getting for certain then.

I'd be more worried about Penny if the Sox were relying on him as a #1, or #2 guy. He's either the #4 or #5 guy (depending on where you rate Wakefield), so I'm not concerned with the AL/NL change.

Whether he is the #1, #2, or #5 pitcher in the rotation it doesn't matter. He's still starting every 5 games. Who knows, he could bounce back, make a smooth transition to the AL and have a great year. Have you heard anything about Lugo? I heard a couple rumors but, nothing seems to be happening with him lately. Lowrie is obviously the new SS, I think the Sox are just waiting to see how Lowell feels before they trade Lugo.

I just read today that we signed Bard and Cash went to the Yankees.

Bard is a 1 year, non-guaranteed contract. It'll be interetsing to see if he actually stays around in trip #2 with the Sox

Just saw this while watchign the Bruins game..Red Sox sign Rocco Baldelli and John Smoltz.

They also resigned Kotsay, and signed Takashi Saito.

Not really excited about Saito - I'm not impressed by him

From a friend of mine: "There's the division baby, and 100 wins...The Yankees are stepping to it. Goodbye Boston."

Better luck next year.

100 Wins and winning the Division worked out oh so well for the following teams:
Angels, 2008
Cardinals 2005
Yankees 2004
Cardinals 2004
Yankees 2003
Braves 2003
Giants 2003
Yankees 2002
Athletics 2002
Braves 2002
Mariners 2001
Athletics 2001 (Ok, not division winners, but they won 101 games)
Braves (1999)
Diamondbacks (1999)
Braves (1998)
Astros (1998)
Hey the 1998 Yankees won the division, 100 games and the world series...but then they had to beat the Braves who won over 100 games and the division too...
so let's see that would be 1 in 17 over the past 10 seasons.

You have to go back to 1986 to find the next time a team wins 100 games and the World Series.

97 Braves
95 Indians
93 Braves
90 Athletics
88 Athletics
88 Mets
all come up short as well...
so that 2 - 23 over 21 seasons (1994 doesn't count becuase a full season and playoffs weren't played)