He's saying Rickey Henderson announced his retirement.

I don't like that much, as Duchscherer has been very solid for the A's the past two years or so.

Why would the A's trade for a veteran pitcher? I mean, Wells can be very effective even at his age, but he's an big injury risk. Clearly Zito would be gone after this trade. It's not like Duchscherer is expensive. It's so un-Beane-like. Or maybe I'm missing something.

David Wells did a fine job for the Sox last year and they really want him back. Add to his numbers the fact that he's only guaranteed $2.5 M next year in a well constructed incentive laden deal. The Sox know that Wells will retire rather than return to the east coast so he's on the market but will not be given away.

What the Sox are aware of is that the White Sox and Angels, like the Yanks of the '90s, have built their success on shutting the opposition down after the sixth inning. A bullpen with Timlin, Mota, Duchsherer and a closer, maybe even a healthy Foulke, can be awfully intimidating, particularly when you have a team that scores a lot of runs.

Everytime I think of the possibility of Darin Erstad in a Sox uniform, I die a thousand horrible deaths.

I think the 03 Series gave Wells that reputation. Unfairly, based on the stats you provide, but still a tough one to swallow for Yanks fans.

Rob,
Tough to swallow, I know. Blame Cashman. Wells wanted to come back, Cashman wanted Wright and Pavano. And the upshot of the Wright and Pavano deals is that now Cashman is gunshy. Admittedly it is better to be gunshy than silly ala JP Ricciardi, but wouldn't you like to see him do something?

"A bullpen with Timlin, Mota, Duchsherer and a closer, maybe even a healthy Foulke, can be awfully intimidating..."

You're kidding, right? Timlin was good -- statistically. But even the most faithful of Sox fans admitted last year that he couldn't keep inheritted runners from crossing the plate if his life depended on it. Plus he, like Gordon, is a 39 year old reliever who just came off a season where his manager grossly overworked him. My guess is he owns an ERA in the 4.50 range in '06.

As for Mota, the guy is a damaged pitcher who many scouts still think has some sort of shoulder issue. Mota had a 4.70 ERA in a pitcher's park last year.

Would that be Keith Foulke, the "headcase" who Sox fans were ready to run out of town?

If I was a GM and he's already on my team, I think I'd feel alright about him, but I wouldn't trade for him unless I was desparate for pitching, which the A's clearly are not.

First off, Wells has a fabulous contract with only 2.5 M guaranteed. The fact that it has only 1 year to run is a plus, considering Wells' age.

And while they do HAVE to trade him, they don't have to trade him to Oakland. Reliable 15 game winners who make 30 starts every year don't grow on trees and Oakland isn't the only team trying to acquire him. The Giants, Dodgers, and Padres are all making offers.

Joe Sheehan had an article in BP yesterday suggesting that the era of the Frank Lane/Gabe Paul style GM may be coming to an end. The Sox have had a fabulous winter rebuilding a weak pitching staff with a team functioning much better than a single strong GM could ever hope to. For one, it's much harder to do something stupid when there are more voices in the discussion and for two, the job in the Moneyball era has gotten much more complex and may be too much for one.

Schteeve and unpopster can say what they will, but I'm very happy with the current structure of the Sox bullpen and will be more so if Duchscherer comes aboard. At the moment, it can be constructed from Mota, Timlin, Foulke, DiNardo, Delcarmen, Arroyo, Hansen, and maybe Duchscherer. I'd frankly be happy with this crew, but certainly two will have to go; there isn't room for them all.

Getting back to the Yankees' needs . . . Cashman does't want to trade Pavano (or so he says) - and as a 4th/5th starter, Pavano is probably OK. But, what if the Yanks offered Pavano to the Nats for Brad Wilkerson? (And threw in, say, $15 mil to cover half of Pavano's salary over the next 3 years.) Wilkerson can play all 3 OF positions, as well as 1B, and he and Bubba could essentially split (not 50-50, say 70-30) the CF job, and when Bubba's in CF Wilkerson could play a corner, letting Sheffield or Matsui DH. Bowden is always willing to take on guys like Pavano . . .

I also think Cliff is right on for suggesting Piazza as a C/DH/1B? guy, to spill Posada. I don't know what it would take to get him, but I also think that Pirates RF/1B/C Craig Wilson could be a steal, too.

All that said, if the Yanks do nothing else this winter, no complaints here - as long as the 'kids' get a real chance in the bullpen, and Andy Phillips as DH/backup 1B, come the season's start. I'm hopeful, but we'll see.

Debris, Cash shouldn't be gunshy but I don't want to see another Wright/Pavano experience (even though I think Pavano turns it around this year if he stays). I feel like everyone's first year in NY kinda blows.. Can anyone name someone recent (who arrived via trade/FA signing) who blew up his first year in NY? I can't think of any at the moment.

Giambi's first year in NY: .314/.435/.598/1.033

apparently debris was not witness to last year's off-season for the new york yankees. I believe there were plenty of voices involved (Tampa and New York) and Womack, Pavano and Wright were the result.

http://minorleaguebaseball.com/app/..._milb&fext=.jsp

And debris, its great what hindsight can do, so much for the panic about Theo. But, what about those rumors that he's coming back, if he does, is it suddenly time to revert back to the one manager world? Just like the closer by commity experiment, eh?

Funny who Clement's name is suddenly popping up in trade rumors too, guess they are losing some confidence in their 'ace.' I wouldn't go so far as to say they have had a fabulous offseason. They had the luxery of a great trade which was much more a result of the Marlins' fire sale than the Sox ingenuity, but I wouldn't be confident in either the Sox or the Yanks' bullpens...

And as for the Jays having the best rotation, well, they may have the best top of the line guy, if he can stay healthy, but beyond that, who the heck knows....

Maybe a 2 yr contract for 7-8 mil, and move Matsui to Center? It is a relatively minor amount of $$, and is a significant offensive upgrade. Not sure how good/bad he is on 'D'.

And I for one would give Milton B. a shot if he would sign for 1 or 2 years. These days, a decent OF'er for under 5 mil is a deal. Its nuts, but this is todays market.

Even with Budda a quasi-regular, we need another OFer (unless you want to see Bernie or Ruben wearing a glove).

Anybody want to guess how much (or rather how little) it would take to keep Bernie on the squad?

Gotta get my fix during the hot stove.

No to Nomar. In fact, no to anyone at this point. I like Cashman's poise in the face of ping pong trade and free agent action around the league. There ain't shit out there, so why force it? We've taken a dive on a number of big names that we jumped at for lack of better options (Kevin Brown) and we have a solid team. There's no reason why we can't win the division again, and advance.

I like the team as is. The only holes are CF and some pitching issues that will go unresolved. There's no way around it. There isn't a magic fix and we have horses to play with.

I'd be happy to leave the CF job open during Spring Training. Let someone win the job. It happens in other sports every year and the Yankees have some guys to try out. Start with Bubba, Melky, and perhaps another minor leaguer or two. Maybe you invite a veteran in for a look during the Tampa days. It'll take care of itself or Cash will get creative during the season.

Pitching should be cool too. We have plenty of starting arms. Compared to the league average I think we probably can put up enough runs to get our bunch a lot of wins. The pen is an issue.

Anyway, hope to be here more often. It's gettin' hot up in here!! Turn down the stove!

Speaking as a Sox fan, that bullpen sounds good but hardly "intimidating"...