MLB 2005-2006 Offseason Thread

[VonErich Lives]

Originally Posted by Excellance of Execution I'm not to sure of your assesment of Damon being replaceable. I agree he has a horrible arm, but i feel he made Manny and Ortiz way better. Good leadoff hitters are hard to find. Having your leadoff runner on makes it possible for your 3rd and 4th batter to come up with runner(s) on (unless someone hits into a dp). Loretta may do ok, but he's not in the same league as Damon IMO as a leadoff hitter. As for Beckett, i'm not sold on him at all. He had an awesome playoff and World Series run in 03, but what has he done since? He was dominant that year and he hasn't even come close to repeating that performance. Granted he was on Florida, but still he hasn't come close to 03. It seems like he's on the DL for blisters atleast once a month. We'll see what happens though. Manny will be the key for you guys. If he goes and you don't replace him with someone close to his caliber, than i believe Ortiz's numbers will decline. Manny make Ortiz better. Pitchers will pitch differently to him if there is not a dangerous hitter in front of him.

I agree on some of your points. Damon does make the rest better by being on base, but Loretta has had a better avg, slg and OBP the last 2yrs then Damon, so I'm not overly worried there.

Does leave a hole at the 2spot though if you move him up to leadoff.

Manny clearly makes Ortiz better, no question about it, take away Manny and they walk Ortiz almost every at bat or pitch around.

Hopefully Manny stays or they get something of his caliber for him, a deal that somehow brings in a Tejada or even a deal that bring in Hunter. But if it brings "prospects" or dumps salary it could be a long summer.

I was uneasy about Beckett, but the more people talk the more I seem to get sold on him.

[The Miz]

Originally Posted by VonErich Lives but Loretta has had a better avg, slg and OBP the last 2yrs then Damon, so I'm not overly worried there.

lol where did you read that

[VonErich Lives]

Originally Posted by The Miz lol where did you read that

pulled his stats on MLB.com for 2003 and 2004. hmm... ok, just realised that's missing 2005... ok, so 2 out of the last 3yrs...

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/team/p...ayer_id=113028

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/team/p...ayer_id=117928

yep, Damon had better stats in 2005, but also I see Loretta didn't play a full season so who knows.