I can't even fathom what has your head thinking that Damon or Crisp would be a better leadoff hitter than Jackson... Speed != Leadoff. And Damon is an old goat anyways, Crisp is going to decline even further, while the logical thinking says that Jackson still has a year or two until he peaks.
Your saying you have a better bullpen? We by far had the best last year, having the best closer ever, someone in the top 5 in era, joba who will be returning, boone logan who can get out lefties like gonzo, and phil hughes. Phil aint in our rotation bro, and freddy is in our rotation along with ivan nova.
maybes, ifs, coulds: the arguments that PEDs ruined baseball. i'll do you the favor and ignore your dubious assertion about steroids' affect on batted ball types. there is just no evidence that steroids have such wide reaching effects like that. this is not to say they had no effect at all on players, as that is similarly wrong; it's just that we don't know how much they actually helped. people point to Bonds' production explosion in his late 30s (and conveniently ignore the fact that he was really good his whole career) but obviously that was just one player; the field is literally littered with journeymen who also used and amounted to nothing.
Changes in bold. I never said the Sox wouldn't win. Neither did Orbpom, he just said you guys better watch it. and you should. I'm not saying you couldn't pull a Bartolo Colon with someone, but I'll be honest, that was pure luck that he was that good. same with Garcia, I don't expect him to come close to a repeat of last year.
ermm...a few notes there: Pedroia is in another universe defensively compared to Cano (and offensively, they contribute the same value) and ARod is 37 years old and his body is deteriorating -- don't count on a "bounce-back" year. and Bard has better stuff than Joba and has no shoulder or elbow problems (the main culprit in Joba's demise); the comparison here doesn't hold water.
Have you seen Jackson's swing mechanics? His alarmingly high strike out count? Damon right now in his old age this moment put up better numbers than Jackson. You can't know how he's going to decline...
Oh darn. You beat me. Yup, In spite of the fact that he stole 42 bases, had just 65 SOs? and merely had an off year with an A's team that was miserable on offense, Jackson is better.
You said Jackson compares favorably to two good, not amazing (I didn't even want Damon, I was just showing how our GM has squandered his time to the point where there were no options left. BTW, I also accidently confused Crisp for his former teamate David DeJesus's OBP. Crucify me for a human error that everyone makes once in a while if you so desire), leadoff hitters who can get on base and steal more of them. Your argument is based on age, a factor you can't truly measure (actually, at Jackson's age, most other players are prospects in the minors... You do know most prospects are a wash right?) playing in, and a rare bad season. Yeahhhhh. No. That's not legit.
i think the point moi was making was that Crisp and Damon are known quantities -- they are veterans that will provide you with, more or less, their career marks (although Damon being as old as he is has a much higher chance to decline), which are generally uninspiring. Jackson has provided similar value (actually, more in 2011) than both and he is still cheap and, more importantly, very young; he has a real chance to improve on his previous years' performance. the long and short of it is that having Jackson at the ML minimum over Crisp @ $6M per is almost a no brainer, as they both provide similar value (even if you are convinced Crisp is better, he's not worth the extra $5.5M).
I can't see how you don't realise that saying this is essentially proving my argument that Jackson can only improve. By saying that his fellow age group are playing at a lower level shows that Jackson is much more advanced than them, and capable of playing at a higher level than those players. which shows how much more potential he has. Saying that prospects that age wash out doesn't mean much; he's not a prospect.
Now hold on. At no point have I said the Tigers ought to dump Jackson. I said he's not a leadoff hitter. I said we needed to sign one who can perform that job better, as I'm not convinced Jackson can leadoff ATM. I do love his glove in CF, especially in CoPa. That is why I'll never desire to abandon him.
I presented counter arguments to these points. How was I choosing to gloss over things?in reference to Coco Crisp said:
Fine. I concede this point. The point I should have made was just that. Sometimes teams assume a player is ready when he's not. After Jackson's last season, I believe he should have been in the minors because his batting mechanics are terrible and his numbers are telling. I guess what I was trying to say that one can't tell what the finished product will be, and you can only go by with such a small sample size with "what have you done for me lately".
because that's what I totally meant when I said "your chart". Seriously, you can't take as that dumb. I consider this insulting.
So, what you're saying is if some of Austin Jackson's small sample size supports your argument than good, but if it doesn't than it's a was. Which is it? Do you want to have your cake or eat it? And you've been barking at me about logic.
See: chronological order of posts. Therein will lay the answer to your question, oh logical one.
Because at that point, I stated that I mistook one player for another and never meant to argue the other (unfortunately I did). You kept on arguing.
If WAR is all you have to offer, then that's not good enough (heck, you just added up his WAR for the last two years, making him look better than he is). He gave up his Curve because he was rushed. Because of that, he struggles to get lefties out. I think he'll get better over time, but he is an example of a prospect rushed to the league with all the expectations in the world and not meeting them.
1. I wouldn't say Pedoria's in another universe defensively, but he is definitely superior. And comparing the two is kinda eh since one's a top-of-the order batter and another is a middle-of-the-order power bat. They both are great regardless.
If Cashman brings Matsui back, he has officially lost my trust. At least Damon can still run the bases and can play the outfield in a pinch. Also, Seth Smith + Regular AB = Interesting, though that park will hurt him.
Ajax is such a streaky GLOVE, something you never hear of. He makes perfect throws and Mays- type plays, but then in postseason he easily drops 2 balls that you make 999 out of 1000 times. I agree that Damon would serve more useful for us then Godzilla, it would be sweet to see him get 3000 with us while still playing an average glove for 20 games or so while the others are resting, and still provide through the DH. Matsui is washed up, and he reminds me of a nick johnson returning to yanks(you know how that turned out).
Andrew Bailey. Melancon will be in Bard's role as 8th inning specialist/sometimes closer, Bard is moving to the rotation most likely.
Facepalm, fuck I forget even though Buttered and I were arguing about it. Well no matter, he's going to blow in the smallest field in mlb and the best division!
