First year back went better than expected, as team record appears to have improved over last year. We made some trades and continue to look ahead for more trades. The first player we were considering trading for a nice blockbuster trade is uber stud Clay Buchholz. Not a fire sale. I might not be as eager to trade since he will get a relief rating as he is heading to bullpen upon his return, probably next week. Our starting pitching for next year looks pretty good without Buchholz. Big game James Shields takes over as our #1 SP in 2012 followed by Chacin, Lohse, and Stauffer. At this time, we plan to plug in Derek Holland as number #5 SP and obtain #6 guy in the draft or through trade. 4 of our top 5 SPs were obtained in trade or draft in 2011. Chen could end up #6 (also from 2011 draft). On the bubble is Dempster, Carmona, and Mazzaro. I do not expect those three guys will be returning next year. Our bullpen looks better starting in 2012 than what we had starting in 2011. Valverde remains our big time closer. Byrdak takes over as our LT RP and we will be shopping in the draft for a second one. We believe Chen will not go to the bullpen this year. SPs without a RP rating are too ineffective for my likes. Webb and Wood will be throwing from the right side. We plan to get some RP relief in draft again, as I notice an adequate supply is already available. Buchholz might make a great reliever for 2012 if he gets the rating. C- Very happy with Carlos Ruiz and Jonathon Lucroy. We usually like to have three catchers, but at this time Max Ramirez has no playing time, so he will probably NOT be making the trip north next year from spring training. 1B- Very happy with Gabby Sanchez. At this time we do NOT expect Russell Braynan to be on our team next year. (5) 2B- a big hole. We are happy, though, with Sean Rodriguez. Our experiment and gamble with Bill Hall failed so he is gone (6). Schumacker stays and Hill is on the bubble (7). Since we have an extra pick already, we need 11 drops. 3B- Very happy with Kevin Youkilis. Inge is on the bubble (8). SS- We like Carroll and Rollins. OF- Very happy with Morrison in LF. Swisher keeps RF warm for Bryce. Happy with Bourjos in CF. Willingham is doing nice as is Adam Jones. On the bubble- Patterson (9), and Diaz(10). At this time I see no playing time for Kalish and I need 11 drops. His minor league stats are yawners. NCR- All six are keepers, we hope Montero gets called up in September and ends up with catcher rating so we have our third catcher for 2012. This would open up a spot for an NCR. Otherwise, we are staying pat, giving Purke one more year to prove himself. On the trading block= Buchholz, Carmona, Dempster, Mazzaro, Ramirez, Branyan, Hall, Hill, Inge, Patterson, Diaz, and Kalish. We could be happier at 2B and SS. Later, Ray-BKN
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