I don’t think Jeter would have made that play last year, although it looked like he was shading up the middle slightly.

Shouldn’t a shortstop who is lousy at going to his left shade up the middle pretty much all the time?

Toronto’s front three starters are as good as anyone in baseball’s

Their #4 ain’t too shabby, either.  I know nothing about this Wells kid, but Marcum is probably a cut above most fifth/sixth starters as well.  And getting into their bullpen isn’t necessarily a big help.  It’s a good thing they only have half a lineup.

David Eckstein led off with a double.

Instead of calling this a double, I would at least give it some air quotes, or better yet, just say what it was: a little turd of a fly ball that snuck into no man’s land behind 3B and in front of Matsui.

the Yanks actually put on a lot of men against the Jays. as evident by the fugly 15 LOBs yesterday and 2 DP zzzz

Shouldn’t a shortstop who is lousy at going to his left shade up the middle pretty much all the time?

This is something to watch out for with Girardi this year. Some have speculated Jeter’s issue might be positioning (or to say it better, bad positioning relative to his weaknesses). Maybe Girardi will be all over this instead of Torre, who is convinced Jeter could do no wrong.

btw, Jeter is on pace to ground into 110 DP

I think Giambi has looked fine so far. he’s only whifefd once and walked twice with a HBP. a few sharp drives right at people etc. he’s fine. Damon has hit the ball pretty hard too but right at people. Cano has been looking the worest to be frank though he’s showing some ridiculas range over the last few games. (but also some more brain farts)

Shouldn’t a shortstop who is lousy at going to his left shade up the middle pretty much all the time?

I guess it depends on if the gain from making more plays up the middle costs them plays in the hole.  I’d like to think that the Yankees should have the ball in play distribution for each of their pitchers and the opposing hitters and use that to at least guide their positioning.

I’m worried about Hughes’s velocity.

I’m with RW: Giambi has definitely looked good at the plate.  His eye is there and he’s making solid contact.  Let’s see what he can do when it gets a bit warmer.

It’s fun having so many kids on the pitching staff.  I really looked forward to Hughes last night, and now we get to see Kennedy tonight.  Any given evening we’re liable to see Joba or Ross…and there’s plenty more in the hold.

People are really talking up Horne.  Is the hype to be believed?

villainx…if it’s 75 degrees in June and Hughes hasn’t added a few mph to his fastball, then maybe there’s reason to worry.

People are really talking up Horne.  Is the hype to be believed?

I think Horne’s getting the prospect bounce.  He went from being behind Hughes/Joba/IPK to being the best prospect as far as how close he is to the majors which I think is giving him more hype. 

Here’s a snippet of what Kevin Goldstein said about him in his Yankee top ten list at Baseball Prospectus.

The Good: Horne has a prototypical pitcher’s frame and good stuff to boot, relying primarily on a low-90s fastball than can dial up to 94-95 on occasion. His changeup is above-average and he throws both a curve and a slider, using the latter to keep left-handers off balance. When all of his pitches are working for him, he’s awfully hard to figure out.
The Bad: Horne still often loses feel on his secondary stuff, which forces him to rely too much on his fastball. His mechanics are still a little violent, and with one Tommy John surgery already in his past, there are concerns. He ran out of gas at the end of the season, losing a bit of velocity as he put up a 6.00 ERA in the final month of the season. He needs to develop a better pickoff move, as with his slow delivery he is very easy to run on.

If Hughes needs warm weather to throw his “regular” fastball, why are guys like Bruney, Burnett, Joba and McGowan hitting their normal mid 90’s velocity?  That’s what I don’t quite understand.  Shouldn’t the cold dampen everyone’s velocity?  And if Hughes is in the shape of his life, which he is according to all reports, shouldn’t he be able to throw the way he’s capable of right now?

Igawa threw 6 perfect innings with 7 strikeouts in SWB last night. It will be interesting to keep an eye on him. The dude could always miss bats.

I guess it depends on if the gain from making more plays up the middle costs them plays in the hole.

Well, of course, but it was supposed to be a semi-snarky rhetorical question.  Still, it would be an oversimplification to say that you should base positioning solely on the BIP distribution of the opposing hitter.  The fielders’ relative strengths and weaknesses at moving in different directions has to enter into it as well.

Some have speculated Jeter’s issue might be positioning (or to say it better, bad positioning relative to his weaknesses).

Others have speculated that the Yankees have employed a very unusual defensive alignment on the left side of the infield for most of Jeter’s career, and that this is part of the explanation for his poor zone ratings.  This speculation has been backed up with data (Yankee third basemen consistently field unusually high numbers of balls in the shortstop zone).  Mike Emeigh is one guy who wrote a number of articles on Jeter’s range a few years back.  SG might have links to some of these studies.

If Hughes needs warm weather to throw his “regular” fastball, why are guys like Bruney, Burnett, Joba and McGowan hitting their normal mid 90’s velocity?

Joba popped a lot of 98s and 99s last August and Spetember.  Has he hit those heights in his 2008 outings?  But again, I’m never really sure what to make of radar gun numbers because I’m never sure which gun they’re coming from.

The dude could always miss bats.

And strike zones.  Seriously, he was legitimately great against lesser competition in Japan, so you might expect that to translate to the minors.  I’m not sure that proving himself to be a AAAA pitcher will be enough to give him some trade value.  He probably needs to make some effective major league starts at some point.

I don’t know, WJ, Andy Phillips always used to mash in AAA and then hit occasional singles up in the bigs.  Igawa is also in his late 20s facing much younger hitters.  Personally, I’d rather see someone like Horne or Marquez get a spot start before Igawa has another chance.  As I remarked in an earlier thread, perhaps if he continues to mow down minor league batters, that will bump up his trade value a bit for an NL team.

I am more concerned about Hughes’ lack of secondary pitches than I am about his velocity. I think he eventually will hit 93-94 mph consistently with his FB.

I wonder if he can be succesful if he commands a good FB and a good curveball without trusting in his secondary stuff.

Did they really rule Eckstein’s bloop a double?  Matsui clearly let it roll through his legs.

And what was up with that steal (Rios, I think) where Cano let it get past him and Jeter wasn’t there to back him up?  That’s some pretty sloppy play.  I don’t think Rios scored in that inning, but if you take away Matsui’s gaffe Hughes’ line looks even better.  And maybe he gets the “W”.

Matsui clearly let it roll through his legs.

I think there was no error on the play because Eckstein was already at 2nd.

Hughes was definitely not hit all that hard last night, save the RBI single by Rios who looks downright locked in. I thought it was an excellent start and if his defense helps him out a little more (Cano on that stolen base) and he doesn’t get blooped to death, he would have been out there for the 7th.

Yeah, it didn’t seem Hughes trusted his changeup yesterday, but maybe that was a little bit because of the cold (I could never throw my changeup in the cold, either, but then again, I never made it past college ball). Hughes’ command of his fastball was exceptional, though, and that should get him through this year with a good ERA. Maybe not great, but good.

He seems to be able to two seamer it in on righties and they don’t seem to get good cuts or even good looks at these pitches—as evidenced by Thomas’ utter confusion. It seems like Hughes will be more of a 91-93 MPH kind of guy, which might mean his ceiling is a little lower than we hoped. But we’ll see. I was encouraged by his start and with the way MLB ballpayers hit hard fastballs in this day and age, I think it is much more important to hit spots and tail and cut the ball with control than it is to crank it up to 95 (a al Farsworthless).

Well, of course, but it was supposed to be a semi-snarky rhetorical question.
Semi-snarky won’t cut it.  I demand full snark.

Mike Emeigh is one guy who wrote a number of articles on Jeter’s range a few years back.  SG might have links to some of these studies.

Yep.
<u>And the Beat Goes On: Derek Jeter and the State of Fielding Analysis in Sabermetrics</u>
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8

Did they really rule Eckstein’s bloop a double?  Matsui clearly let it roll through his legs.

Eh, I think he makes second anyway.

Given that we’ve been told over the last couple years that Hughes is a low-mid 90s guys the velocity is a bit disappointed. But its not like anyone is hitting it. Also, it is very possible that the cold could be bothering him, and he’s only 21 so theres a lot of physical development to go. Power athletes hit their peak in their mid 20s, providing they stay relatively free of major injury. So its not impossible that in the next several years he adds some velocity.

I demand full snark.

Three games into the season?  Before 9 AM?  Tough crowd.

...it didn’t seem Hughes trusted his changeup yesterday…

I may be way off here, but doesn’t he use the changeup more against lefties?  Toronto has a very right handed lineup.

Eckstein takes extra bases at will because he’s just that scrappy.  What I don’t quite understand is why Yankee announcers seem to be in love with him so much.  During last night’s broadcast Sterling and Waldman, I had the feeling they would write lyric odes to Eckstein if either had the vocabulary.  Even All-Star Alex Rios, who Sterling loves to play up and is actually, you know, good, paled by comparison.

I don’t think Jeter would have made that play last year, although it looked like he was shading up the middle slightly.

i thought the EXACT same thing.

when the ball was hit, i though, “shit, tie game”.

i was surprised when Jeter fielded it rather easily.

i think this is a FANTASTIC sign.

Everyone’s in love with Eckstein.  He knows how to win championships, dontcha know.  And he’s scrappy.  Has anyone said that yet?  With grit.  Moxie, too.  Got it in spades.  Did you know he’s only 5’ 8” and he needs his whole body to throw to first?  He WILLS it over there.  He’s just a hard nosed player who knows how to play the game right, and how to win.  And he can fly and shoot laser beams out of his eyes.  He’s made of candy, too.

Regarding pitching in April and the cold, I think different players respond in different ways.  Some guys come out of the gate throwing heat, some take time to pick up speed, and others flare out.  I guess I just can’t get either excited or concerned about pitch velocity until the season’s gotten on a bit.

FWIW, Hughes says he threw changeup and then curve to Wells at 3-2 with one out and Rios on third in the fourth.  That doesn’t sound like a situation where you throw a pitch you aren’t trusting.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2008/04/04/2008-04-04_yankees_future_goes_arm_in_arm.html

Damn.  Some real Eckstein haters here.  I don’t love him, but I can’t understand the piss-and-vinegar.

Save that stuff for the Red Sox.

Watching the Jays made me think that the Sox and Yanks had better watch out this year - Toronto could make it a three-team race, especially if some of the older Sox hitters and pitchers falter or the young Yankee pitchers struggle.

At least the Orioles are horrible.  The AL East needs a doormat now that Tampa seems to be improving.  Thanks Angelos.  Keep tanking your team and litigating asbestos.

Given that we’ve been told over the last couple years that Hughes is a low-mid 90s guys the velocity is a bit disappointed.

let’s put this to rest right now, b/c this meme is spreading like wildfire. the post on WasWatching was just ridiculous.
here is the gameday from his last spring training start in Florida:

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2008_03_29_nyamlb_flomlb_1&mode=gameday

he is throwing 93, 94, and hits 95 in the 5th inning.  this was 5 days ago.

it was cold.  Hughes is fine.

Thank you yup- I just removed teh shot-gun from my mouth. I will now resume pointing it at Curt The Shill.

Yatt, I think it’s less hatred for Eckstein and more befuddlement and annoyance at the ball-washings he receives from all hands in the media.  Dude’s a .350 career OBP leadoff hitter with zero power.  He’s an okay player.  But listening to Sterling and Waldman strap on the kneepads every time he comes to the plate gets pretty old.

Gah, that was what I was trying to say Yup, just worded it wrong. My point was yeah, he was at 90-91 guy last night, but A) he’s getting people out and B) we’ve seen him throw harder. Along with the whole 21-26 development period.

or, less “wrong” than badly.

Radar gun angst aside, it is still worth reminding ourselves that Hughes is not a pure power pitcher who is going to blow high heat past guys on a regular basis.  The thing that will make him an exceptional major league pitcher is his remarkable command of both the two- and four-seamer, and that curve.

If he throws 25 starts like last night’s, are we really going to sit here all year kvetching about him not hitting 96 or using the changeup enough?

Aren’t you concerned about his lack of secondary pitches. He throws fastballs and curveballs 95% of the time.

Gah, that was what I was trying to say Yup, just worded it wrong.

word.

i guess i am just a little fired up after reading Lombardi’s post about how Hughes is going to suck in 2018 because he only throws 91 MPH now and will surely lose 4 MPH and turn into Jamie Moyer over the next 10 years.

i wish i had the videotape of Hughes running over Lombardi’s dog.  it’s the only explanation.  well, i guess it’s possible that Cashman ran over his dog, but Phil was in the passenger seat whooping and hollering as they drove by.

Aren’t you concerned about his lack of secondary pitches. He throws fastballs and curveballs 95% of the time.

well, he went through 6 innings giving up 4 hits, and i am not sure if there was a single hard hit ball.  his pitchcount was low enough to go another inning if this was later in the season.

basically, he only threw two pitches because that was all he NEEDED to use last night.

he has a change, and he has a slider. 

as the season wears on and the league sees more of him, he’ll use his other pitches more.

either that, or we can turn him into a 7th inning guy to be TEH BRIDGE TO JOBA TO MARIANO!11!!1!!!  maybe Kennedy can pitch the 6th and Horne can be the 5th inning guy.  then we can just use Kei Igawa to pitch 1-4.

The YES gun had Hughes hitting 95 in the 6th inning.

I like that Girardi seems to be willing to use all of his relieves, which will maximize their relative effectiveness.

I was just reading an article on that Horne kid…

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/SPORTS/804030329

I’m sure this guy has no merit what so ever, but in case you haven’t read the article yet…

“That’s who I am. That’s how I got here. I’m not going to change for anybody. I don’t care what they say or what goes along with it.”
-Joba

Love this guy!  I hope to see the same quote in 2 weeks after he puts one in Youkilis’ ear!

Aren’t you concerned about his lack of secondary pitches. He throws fastballs and curveballs 95% of the time.

Isn’t the curveball the secondary pitch, and changeup the thirdary pitch?

I’ll wait until a couple of more starts before going nuts about the velocity.

The YES gun had Hughes hitting 95 in the 6th inning.

Is this true?

The thing that will make him an exceptional major league pitcher is his remarkable command of both the two- and four-seamer, and that curve.

He was getting the call on his curve high in the zone last night we well…

My favorite pitch was the at bat when when Thomas was ejected, not to say that call wasn’t a ball, but the first breaking pitch he got buckled him at the knees… I couldn’t help but laugh after that pitch.

Isn’t it astonishing that we’re even having a discussion about Hughes?  Wasn’t April Fool’s Day a few days ago?

He gave up on hard single last night and made a mistake in walking Scutaro.  Otherwise, he was lights out.  It’s crazy.

Interesting link Illusion.

the NYT or some other paper had a note that said girardi had the infield in for the fourth inning (which i missed) with no one on and no one out. that so? why?

FJM has it that Chass is leaving the New York Times.  There goes one pinata.  I feel conflicted.

“The fans who run these sites come from all over the country. Replacement Level Yankees Weblog, at ReplacementLevel.com, gets into extra sabermetrics and statistical analysis.”

That’s one awfully-organized paragraph.  Get that writer an editor, stat.

VillianX:

Tertiary.

Dave S.:

That’s awful!  And I was just thinking about finally getting started; I’ve been on the lookout for my first entry, even.

Curry-holes just doesn’t have the same ring.

Curry-holes just doesn’t have the same ring.

please tell me no pun intended.

I know, Frog, it’s a little depressing.  It’s like we’ve come to the well just as it runs dry.  Well, one well at least.  We certainly won’t go thirsty.

After all, Lupica isn’t going anywhere soon.

Was at the game last night…

As MC in VA mentioned above, Hughes struck out Wells on a changeup. In general, there is no reason to go to one of your lesser pitches if your frontline stuff is working fine. The Jays didn’t give Hughes much of a reason to show his change last night so he only used it sparingly. He succeeded used it when he needed to and was successful in doing so. I see no reason to worry about him using mostly just two pitches to breeze through a mid tier AL lineup.

I can’t get over how smooth Cano looks in person. There was one play where he got to a ball in the hole between first and second and made it look easy. 90 percent of the second baseman in the league couldn’t have thrown their glove at it.

Jeter again looked much sharper than normal in the field, at the plate was a different story, but righthanders who throw hard (McGowan was NASTY) always give him trouble. I do think he was safe on that bunt. This was my first time seeing Joba throw in person, the ball explodes out of his hand the same way it explodes off A-rod’s bat. It was awesome to see. Agreed that Giambi has looked good despite not getting a hit. Cano needs to calm down at the plate again. Melky = supremely awesome. A-rod got the Frank Thomas treatment on that strike 3 call, RB joked that there was a special strike zone for 500 HR hitters. This is an exciting team.

I have tickets to Monday evening’s game and am a bit bummed because I’d rather see anyone but Mussina pitch but perhaps he’ll surprise me.  After all, I saw him pitch a complete game shutout against Pittsburgh three years ago.

As for Toronto, their pitching is top notch, but their offense is going to be problematic.  The first thing Gibbons needs to do is bat Aaron Hill behind Frank Thomas.  Hill would also fit nicely in the no. 2 slot.  Second, the Jays will definitely need another bopper, perhaps Adam Lind at some point - which is why the Shannon Stewart signing looks absolutely ridiculous.  Rolen coming back and raking would also help, although right now they are going to have lots of trouble scoring runs.

IE, don’t worry; with Moose starting you will certainly see someone else pitch.

Aren’t you concerned about his lack of secondary pitches. He throws fastballs and curveballs 95% of the time.

Others have already responded, but since this was directed to me I’ll chime in: No, I am not at all concerned about this.  Most pitchers who have a major league quality fastball throw it most of the time, and throw their second best pitch most of the rest of the time.  You need a third and possibly fourth pitch so that you can do what Hughes did to Wells last night—show him something he hasn’t seen before when you get into a tough spot.  You also need those pitches for the third and fourth time through a lineup that knows your stuff.  The last thing you ever want to see is a pitcher showing all his pitches the first time through the lineup.

After all, that’s what Matsuzaka did all last year to his detriment.

Did anyone catch Micheal Kay saying that every Yankee reliever has seen action? Did I miss something, or has Albaladejo still not gotten into a game?

Off topic, but good news is good news. From Goldstein over at Bpro:

Dellin Betances, RHP, Low-A Charleston (Yankees)
Betances is the kind of prospect who generates a ton of emails and chat questions. Why, you ask? First off, he’s a Yankee, and second, he’s a bit of an enigma as a six-foot-eight power arm from Brooklyn who can get it into the upper 90s but has pitched less than 50 pro innings after last year was cut short by elbow inflammation. Now all of 20 years old and still a bit of an unknown, Betances began the season in style, striking out eight over five innings while allowing three hits and a pair of runs. Players with his kind of size, body, and upside are still a rare commodity, and he’s definitely a player to keep an eye on this year.

Fangraphs doesn’t have Hughes’ pitch breakdown up yet, so I can’t confirm the 95% estimate, but he threw 89% fastballs and curves last season.  Johan Santana threw 88.3% fastballs and changeups in 2007.  Scott Kazmir threw 88.4% fastballs and sliders.  They did OK, so being a two-pitch pitcher doesn’t seem like a barrier to success.  AJ Burnett threw 92.3% fastballs and curves the other night.  I bet the Yankee hitters would have loved to have seen him throw his third and fourth best pitches a bit more.

Did anyone catch Micheal Kay saying that every Yankee reliever has seen action? Did I miss something, or has Albaladejo still not gotten into a game?

No, you’re right, Albaladejo hasn’t pitched.  I guess he doesn’t really count to Kay, since he’s just keeping Pettitte’s roster spot warm until tomorrow.

Hughes was good.  I shook my head when he walked Scutaro, and he was duly punished.  You just don’t walk Marco Scutaro.

Indeed.  Throw the ball over the plate and make Scutaro hit his way on.  He’s like David Eckstein, only a bit less scrappy.

How dare you compare Scutaro and his 0 rings to the Mighty Mite Eck who has personally lifted two teams on his small and sloping shoulders and willed them to championships. 

That’s like those people who think A-Rod is better than Jeter.

Very good point MC. Now I am not concerned about it.

I rolled my eyes at Paulie’s ode to the scrappy Eck right after that double.  Apparently it’s a job requirement.  Ok, it wasn’t an ode.  He just said Eck is the type of guy to get those sort of hits “because he just battles up there.”

Translation: Eckstein is the sort of guy who hits crappy little loopers that sometimes fall in odd spots that result in doubles.  Not that I’m complaining about little loopers in light of Abreu’s RBI single…

On the hand, Scutaro did strap the lowly A’s to his back and carry them to the playoffs with his scrappiness on numerous occasions but, as I said before, he was not quite as scrappy as Eckstein and hence the team from Oakland could never quite reach the World Series.

How big is Dellin’s shlong?  I hear BJ (Bill James) is about to publish a study where he finds strong correlation between a pitchers endowment and his ERA+.  Thus Becket and Pimplebuns are on the block and Curt The Shill will be released imminently.  Bill James now projects Joba as first ballot HOF and wants the Sawks to resign Manny to pitch.  Bill James certainly is innovative.

And for the record, Abreu’s game winning bloop was not nearly as scrappy as Eckstein’s double.  Had Eckstein produced that bloop, he would have raced around the bases before the Yankees knew what hit them.  After all, as Dave S. pointed out, he’s made of candy.

Eckstein is the sort of guy who hits crappy little loopers that sometimes fall in odd spots that result in doubles.

To be fair to O’Neill, if you hit a lot of crappy little loopers, then you’ll probably have more crappy little loopers fall than most players (who don’t hit as many crappy little loopers)?

Just watched the YES reply on mpb.tv…6th inning, two outs, 0-2 count, Shannon Stewart fouled off a 95 mph pitch from Phil Hughes.

umm…sorry, that should have been—> mlb.tv

To be even fairer to O’Neill, that actually was a pretty scrappy at-bat by Eckstein in the fourth.  He fell behind, fouled off a couple of tough pitches, and put the ball in play.  A lot of better hitters strike out right there.  Sometimes a crappy little blooper isn’t such a bad thing.

Several good discussions here, to which I can’t add much, though that never stopped me from trying. So two points:

Hughes still costs less than .003% of Johan Santana. So does Lester. Obviously neither of them can be considered equal to Santana on the basis of their first start of the year*, there’s something extra refreshing every time your team gets a quality start from a young stud making $300k for whom you didn’t have to mortgage half the team.

OTOH, the As and Jays have a way of making pitchers look good. So stay tuned.

[*counting starts within 6 time zones of Boston]

Also, I don’t know why I can’t stand Chass. I should thank him for making FJM’s job so easy. Still, I can’t.

-How big is Dellin’s shlong?-

I think that’s more Rags than Pags talking.

“OTOH, the As and Jays have a way of making pitchers look good. So stay tuned”

The Jays have a much better lineup than the Triple A’s. And also the Colliseum is much friendly with pitchers than YS.

Boston should have traded Lester for Santana. I don’t think you can compare Lester with Hughes going forward.

I’m not a huge fan of Lester, especially given his problems finding the strike zone, but it’s quite premature to say that Hughes will outperform him.  Also, everyone knows Theo never intended to trade for Santana because neither he nor Cashman wanted to ante up the necessary $140 million.

Lester is quite the question mark, because nobody really knows the extent to which the cancer messed him up, in addition to the usual “young pitcher” and “lefty” considerations.  He certainly seems to have good stuff.  Were I a Sox fan I would still worry about his command, of course.

I think the two can be compared, even if people differ on just how successful each can/will be, if for no other reason than the similarities of being young pitchers in the AL East with strong (though not identical) minor league records who have experienced some success in the majors, including the post-season.

Well, of course you can compare the two.  Hughes is three years younger and has better peripherals at every level.

You can add McGowan to that list.  Even though he has never reached the post season (in those dark, dreary pre-Eckstein years), he seems poised for a breakout and his stuff seems more comparable to a guy like Joba or Kazmir than Hughes or Lester.

I wasn’t pretending to compare Hughes and Lester, or to predict where Lester’s career will wind up. I have no idea (though “comparable” doesn’t sound preposterous to me). Just sayin’, the kid plus three other players plus the extra $20-something million sounds a lot better than Johan, especially if the Kid is pitching three-hit shutout ball. And will probably improve.

To add, the point is that the differential between what you can get from Hughes/Lester right now, vs. Santana, is and always was ridiculously expensive.

Of course they’re “comparable.”  Any two things can be compared.  Even apples and oranges.

Of course they’re “comparable.” Any two things can be compared.  Even apples and oranges.

Just as what I meant and what you decided to hear are “comparable,” even if not the same thing.

Good call on McGowan IE, he’s a monster and if he stays healthy, he’s going to put it together. The Jays have a very nasty front three. I would be worried if I were Andy Sonnastine, I think the Yanks are going to take it out on him tonight.

The Jays have a much better lineup than the Triple A’s.

SG predicted 779 vs 757 runs, so I’d say the Jays have a slightly better lineup, and they both suck.

SSF…I’m not trying to diss on Lester.  He’s definitely solid and has great upside.  It’s just that as a prospect, Hughes is on a higher tier.  How it all plays out only time will tell.  Lester might well have the better career.

No doubt about the value differential.  Not only are both as much cheaper as one can be, both stand a good chance of providing more value than Santana within the next few years.

Dave, I hear ya. I won’t argue with Hughes’ better projections; I never intended to start a Lester vs. Hughes argument to begin with, since I don’t really follow minor league peripherals. They both look like they’re coming along nicely to me.