At this point, I'd say that the wise choice would be to review his bet, analyze his masterful logic, and then bet the complete opposite. Your wallet will probably thank you. Since I no longer gamble, I will sit back and laugh as this whole process unfolds.
Answering comments
Amit K-O said...
thanks for the response man and def appreciate your insight...re Ortiz, lets see what he does this season as i would love it for him to prove me wrong...hopefully 2008 was only an injury-related aberration (and hopefully that wrist injury has fully healed up)...sticking w/ the sox, any thoughts on michael young from the rangers? is he a Top 5 or Top 10 MLB shortstop? payce
January 13, 2009 10:45 PMAmit, thanks for the question. It looks like Michael Young is no longer on the trading block so if you were thinking of adding him to the Sox, I guess that's no longer a possibility. He's 32 years old and BEGINS a 5 year $80 million extension this season, so technically the Red Sox would be one of the few teams that could afford him. I like Michael Young. He's been a consistent All Star at shortstop since A-Rod left the Rangers and he's a career .300 hitter who averages 15 homers and 87 RBI per year. He also won the Gold Glove last year. As far as if he's a top 5 or top 10 shortstop? Well, that's tough to say. He's really a borderline top 5 guy. The top 3 guys are obviously Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez, and Jimmy Rollins (in whatever order you want them in). These guys are bonafide 5 tool players, hands down. After that, there's some gray area. As much as I hate to say it, I'm gonna have to go ahead and put Derek Jeter as 4th best. His offensive capabilities are solid, his defense has noticeably lost a step in the last few years, but he has the intangibles that make him invaluable to the team. As for the 5th best? It's a big debate between Michael Young and up and coming guys like Stephen Drew, J.J. Hardy, and Troy Tulowitzki (bad year last year because of injuries).
I'm actually not going to make the decision on Michael Young for 2 reasons:
- If you read the article that I linked to, he's no longer going to be playing SS, he'll be playing 3B from now on.
- His numbers can really only regress going forward, while all these young guys have the potential to explode.
Kotsey was a big signing for the sox - Allows the sox to be flexible at third base now with the return of Mike Lowell still unknown-Youk will be on third and a casey/kotsey platoon @ first -
Matty, I'm pretty sure that Sean Casey is still technically a free agent as he only signed a one year deal with the Sox last year. He's not listed on the official 40-man roster right now. I'd like to see him come back to add some depth, and a HUGE clubhouse presence, but we'll see what happens. I think that if Lowell is still hurt, Youk will play third and Kotsay will start at first for the time being. We might even consider bringing up Lars Anderson (our best power hitting 1B prospect) for some spot duty as well. One more thing: good to hear that the Sox re-signed Youk to a 4 year $40+ million extension. Having Pedroia and Youk locked up for at least the next 4 years, especially at moderate contracts, is pretty damn solid. Good work Theo.Anonymous Hooker said...
Hey Barkley, you owe me money for that BJ I gave you the other day.
Anonymous Hooker, thanks for the comment. Hey Barkley, you owe this chick some money, pay up! If you are short on cash, make sure you listen to all of Big Q's bets so you can make an easy score.
Posts
5 comments:
Mike Young is in no way a top 5 SS right now. He's on the decline and if you throw in economics I'd put him as a bottom 5 SS.
I agree, Reyes, Ramirez & Rollins are top 3 in no particular order. From a GM perspective and in most cases, from a talent perspective I'd list the following SS as far more valuable:
Mike Aviles - this kid is straight-up nasty. For all you fantasy geeks out there, follow this kid through pre-season to figure out where he should be drafted and take him a round earlier. you want him on your team.
Troy Tulowitzki/JJ Hardy/Stephen Drew - all still in their original cheap contract (or cheap contract extension by today's standards.) All have tremendous upside and still very young. All with comparable stats with plenty more years left in the tank.
Jhonny Peralta - don't let the retarded spelling fool you, kids knocked in over 20 four baggers in 3 of last 4 years and is still just 26 years old.
Hell i'd even put our own Jed Lowrie ahead of him. Maybe even O-Cab unless you're scared he's gonna pull another Jose Offerman and go after someones wife again. Funny how that can screw up a clubhouse. Offerman single-handedly ruined Troy O'Leary's career.
I honestly don't think you can put Aviles, Tulowitzki, Hardy, Drew, or Peralta ahead of Michael Young... YET. Michael Young has been pretty damn consistent throughout his career and his numbers aren't really declining all that much.
If you take into consideration the fact that he played through injuries the last two years, plus extrapolate his stats (for those years) to a 162 game season, his numbers are pretty much spot on with his 162 game career average.
If the question is asking who's a top 5 SS, you can't put all of those other guys ahead of Young because they all don't have the resume that Young has. Aviles, Drew, and Tulowitzki are still way too young so they are question marks. JJ Hardy's resume isn't that great either. Peralta has been so-so minus the power numbers. Putting Lowrie in there is a joke. He hasn't even played 50 regular season games. Michael Young's numbers trump O Cab's too. And you can't throw defense in as an argument either because Michael Young just won the Gold Glove.
I'm not saying that these guys won't have a better resume than Michael Young in the future (they just might), but Michael Young right now is comparable, if not better than them. The stats prove it. Do the research.
well you have to note that i said, "From a GM perspective and in most cases, from a talent perspective I'd list the following SS as far more valuable"
If anybody called up Texas' GM and offered Tulowitzi, Hardy, Drew, Peralta or Lowrie straight-up, I think he'd pop an instant woody. And after he jizzed his pants he'd call back and accept the trade.
Well yeah, but economics is not part of this question. Obviously a GM would trade a $16 million per year contract for a cost-controlled Drew/Lowrie or a low salary Tulow/Hardy/Peralta with a lot of upside. That's common sense. When you ask who's a top 5 SS right now, it has nothing to do with their salary or their "upside". It has to do with performance. Michael Young was injured and managed to win the gold glove and almost acquire 200 hits for the 6th straight season. Any way you cut it, he's in the argument for top 5.
I am a top 5 shortstop!!!
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