Burnett starts to distance himself from Lackey a little bit. Neither was the paragon of perfect health, although Burnett was likely helped by his 224 inning campaign in 2008 and durability that it showed. Burnett struck out and walked more batters. Another advantage Burnett has over Lackey is his ratio of ground balls to fly balls, with the latter besting the former by a margin of 1.55-1.21 for their careers.
Other than those minor differences, however, these pitchers are very similar. Should Lackey get more money than Burnett? No, I don't think so. But you never get what you don't ask for, so Lackey (or perhaps more accurately, his agent, Steve Hilliard) made a wise comparison and then tacked on a little bit. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Lackey earn more than $15MM per year, and if he could be had at that price for fewer than five years, I think it'd be a bargain.
The Yankees have met with Lackey and appear unlikely to pursue him. However, given the paucity of front-line starters on the free agent market, he could go to the first team to get frustrated with the Roy Halladay whale hunt. - beyondtheboxscore
Church was non-tendered yesterday and is available to be signed to be anybody’s 4th outfielder. Hmm… stranger thinks have happened, my friends. Church’s career line: .272/.345/.441 and great defense. One downside… I don’t think he’s going to invite Jerry Manuel over for Christmas dinner. So, you sign Jason Bay, and keep Fernando Martinez down on the farm. Your 5-man outfield would be Bay, Carlos Beltran, Frency, Angel Pagan, and Church… not too shabby.
Royals agreed to terms with RHP Brian Bannister on a one-year, $2.3 million contract. Bannister went 7-12 with a 4.73 ERA before missing the final month of last season with a sore shoulder. That was good enough to get him a $600,000 raise here, and he's all set to remain a part of a Kansas City rotation also set to include Zack Greinke and Gil Meche. Kyle Davies, Robinson Tejeda and Luke Hochevar figure to battle for the final two spots.
Mack: still miss this guy… I always felt he would have been a 5-year SP-5 for the Mets. By the way, my current long shot 5-year SP-5 in the future is Dillon Gee. A real control pitcher, a la Tom Glavine, that can eat up the innings. - rotoworld.
Why would the Mets sign Hank Blanco. Yeah, he's a great defensive catcher, but Josh Thole deserves a shot. They push so many of their guys thru the minors at warp speed but they don't give the sweet swinging(albeit powerless)Thole a shot. Whatever.
Frankly, a post from an uninformed non-Met blog. Anyone that has followed Josh through his growth knows he needs another year at AAA. I’m sure even Josh would say that.Can’t wait to see his smiling face in March. - .milbprospects
Magallanes 17, Zulia 5 - Former Major Leaguer Michael Ryan hit a pair of three-run homers to lead a 19-hit attack as the first-place Navegantes handed the Aguilas their fourth straight loss. Mariners prospect Ezequiel Carrera and Yankees farmhand Reegie Corona each added three hits and scored four times for Magallanes, with Corona driving in two runs. Rodney Medina went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored for Zulia
Mack – I’m telling you… this one may still come back and haunt us more than Carlos Gomez…
Your 5-man outfield would be Bay, Carlos Beltran, Frenchy, Angel Pagan, and Church… not too shabby.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Church would be an upgrade over the Cory Sullivan/Jeremy Reed types we've seen recently. He could still compete for a job in right field, since Francouer is no guarantee to put up acceptable offensive numbers.
someone finally agrees with me...
ReplyDelete