With "Mr.Yankee" now off the books it seems as the Red Sox are midway through Plan B.
After acquiring Brad Penny, the Sox have as I mentioned now struck deals with Rocco Baldelli, John Smoltz and as of yesterday former Dodger closer Takashi Saito and a one year deal with Mark Kotsay, giving the roster plenty of quality depth in the rotation, bull pen, situational relief and on defense.
Kotsay gives the Red Sox insurance in the OF if Baldelli, as suspected, will not be playing on an everyday basis should one of the starting outfielders go down with injury, and his versatility will also give the Sox adequate backup at 1B.
Smoltz should be back by May/June, and gives the Red Sox the option to keep Masterson in the bullpen and possibly trade one of their prospects for a catcher and/or a bigger bat.
The latest rumour involves yet another Scott Boras client (he must be the Yankees of the agent world), Milwuakee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder. Although substantially weaker in defense at 1B, he does rake a big bat, and would allow the Red Sox to move Youk to third and trade Lowell.
I admire and respect Mike Lowell, and part of me would be annoyed after yet another player accepting a deal with a "home town discount" and then being traded (see: Arroyo, Bronson), but sadly it is indeed a business nowadays, and it is risky to rely upon the performance of a 35 year old 3B coming of hip surgery.
Still, my hat's off to Lowell for the way he played through pain during the ALDS in 2008. If the Red Sox somehow can keep him, it would warm the cockles of my heart.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Smoke clearing
As we all know what happened with Mr. Angels/Rangers/Braves, it's time to take another look at the line-up:
As it stands now, after last nights pleasing news, Red Sox would open in April with this:
1. CF Jacoby Ellsbury
2. 2B Dustin Pedroia
3. DH David Ortiz
4. LF Jason Bay
5. 1B Kevin Youkilis
6. 3B Mike Lowell
7. RF JD Drew
8. SS Jed Lowrie
9. C Josh Bard
RH Josh Beckett
LH Jon Lester
RH Daisuke Matsusaka
RH Brad Penny
RH Tim Wakefield
(RH John Smoltz)
CL Jonathan Papelbon
SU Hideki Okajima
SU Ramon Ramirez
MR Manny Delcarmen
MR Javier Lopez
MR Justin Masterson
LR David Aardsma
Bench:
OF Rocco Baldelli
IF Julio Lugo
1B Jeff Bailey
With the signing of Baldelli, the Red Sox have found their 4th outfielder and potentially a power bat if the doctors can indeed improve his rediagnosed medical condition to allow him to get 350-400 AB per season.
John Smoltz also gives the front office a lot more flexibility with their prospects, and Buchholz seems to be trade bait for a new bat (potentially a C). Apart from he-who-shall-not-be-mentioned-but-we're-all-laughing-our-asses-of-at-his-non-existant-market, there are no top tier big bats on the free market, which means that if the Red Sox will add one, then they will have to trade.
Some rumours (or perhaps wishful thinking) have mentioned Joe Mauer, but I suspect that he is untouchable, even if we throw Buchholz and other top line prospect. I get the impression that the front office rates Michael Bowden higher, thus making Clay tradeable. However, with Epstein and co thinking long term, they know that most likely there is a power bat available from the minors towards the end of 09 or early 2010 in the shape of Lars Anderson, 1B extraordinaire, who has been tearing up A and AA, and will probably start 2009 in Portland before moving up to Pawtucket in the late spring/early summer.
Obviously a blockbuster deal with the Rangers for Josh Hamilton and Jarrod Saltalamacchia/Teagarden/Ramirez for Ellsbury, Buchholz and perhaps Daniel Bard might be difficult, as neither of the Rangers players have any large contracts the Red Sox could take on. Still, it would make the Red Sox lineup a feared one, with better back end rotation, defense and bullpen than the Yankees:
1. 2B Dustin Pedroia
2. RF JD Drew
3. DH David Ortiz
4. CF Josh Hamilton
5. 1B Kevin Youkilis
6. 3B Mike Lowell
7. LF Jason Bay
8. C Jarrod Saltalamacchia
9. SS Jed Lowrie
Looks good to me :)
As it stands now, after last nights pleasing news, Red Sox would open in April with this:
1. CF Jacoby Ellsbury
2. 2B Dustin Pedroia
3. DH David Ortiz
4. LF Jason Bay
5. 1B Kevin Youkilis
6. 3B Mike Lowell
7. RF JD Drew
8. SS Jed Lowrie
9. C Josh Bard
RH Josh Beckett
LH Jon Lester
RH Daisuke Matsusaka
RH Brad Penny
RH Tim Wakefield
(RH John Smoltz)
CL Jonathan Papelbon
SU Hideki Okajima
SU Ramon Ramirez
MR Manny Delcarmen
MR Javier Lopez
MR Justin Masterson
LR David Aardsma
Bench:
OF Rocco Baldelli
IF Julio Lugo
1B Jeff Bailey
With the signing of Baldelli, the Red Sox have found their 4th outfielder and potentially a power bat if the doctors can indeed improve his rediagnosed medical condition to allow him to get 350-400 AB per season.
John Smoltz also gives the front office a lot more flexibility with their prospects, and Buchholz seems to be trade bait for a new bat (potentially a C). Apart from he-who-shall-not-be-mentioned-but-we're-all-laughing-our-asses-of-at-his-non-existant-market, there are no top tier big bats on the free market, which means that if the Red Sox will add one, then they will have to trade.
Some rumours (or perhaps wishful thinking) have mentioned Joe Mauer, but I suspect that he is untouchable, even if we throw Buchholz and other top line prospect. I get the impression that the front office rates Michael Bowden higher, thus making Clay tradeable. However, with Epstein and co thinking long term, they know that most likely there is a power bat available from the minors towards the end of 09 or early 2010 in the shape of Lars Anderson, 1B extraordinaire, who has been tearing up A and AA, and will probably start 2009 in Portland before moving up to Pawtucket in the late spring/early summer.
Obviously a blockbuster deal with the Rangers for Josh Hamilton and Jarrod Saltalamacchia/Teagarden/Ramirez for Ellsbury, Buchholz and perhaps Daniel Bard might be difficult, as neither of the Rangers players have any large contracts the Red Sox could take on. Still, it would make the Red Sox lineup a feared one, with better back end rotation, defense and bullpen than the Yankees:
1. 2B Dustin Pedroia
2. RF JD Drew
3. DH David Ortiz
4. CF Josh Hamilton
5. 1B Kevin Youkilis
6. 3B Mike Lowell
7. LF Jason Bay
8. C Jarrod Saltalamacchia
9. SS Jed Lowrie
Looks good to me :)
New Year, New Hope
A new year always brings a sense of a clean slate and a brighter and more focused, albeit sometimes short-lived, outlook on life and its possibilities. Many of us enter each new year with new personal goals and/or milestones ahead of us:
We exercise more, we tighten our purse strings, we search for that next wonderful career opportunity, and if we don’t have someone, that special person to have in our lives. Whilst January is often a cold and dark month, it also allows us to look at the year as a fresh new canvas to paint the next chapter in our lives…of course hopefully a better one than Isaac did…
A new year also brings new hope to many sports fans.
Glorious are the days of the ignorance and hope. As Thomas Grey wrote many years ago:
Most fans (possibly excluding Royals fans) can spend the early winter months (and longer if you’re an NFL fan) dreaming that this is the year. The MLB and the NFL , with its salary cap (NFL) and revenue sharing (both), means that even small market teams are able to go on extended chases for the title if everything falls into place.
Since the introduction of the Free Agency in the NFL in 1992, the Super Bowl has seen 11 different champions, with only Dallas, Denver and New England winning more than once during the 16 Super Bowls of that era. The MLB is a little bit more skewed due to the salary luxury tax and not a fixed cap, but even the World Series has seen 9 different winners since the 1994 strike year, with only the Yankees, Marlins and the Red Sox winning more than once during that period.
Still, despite the Yankees fielding an infield earning more ($80.5m) per year than half of teams paid their entire roster in 2008 (1B: Teixera, $22m/year, 2B: Cano, $9m, SS: Jeter, $22m, 3B: Rodriguez, $27.5m), baseball is one of the sports where money isn’t the sole determining factor. Witness Tampa Bay’s total payroll of $43m in 2008 not preventing them from winning the AL East, beating the Yankees $201m and the Red Sox $138m rosters.
So, despite the unusually cold start to 2009 here in the UK, and the Yankees single-handedly trying to solve the credit crunch by purchasing every single player, winter will eventually lead to spring, and with that we all have hope for a better year than the last one, regardless of the challenges we face. We face the new year looking forward to a long overdue reform in world leadership, and a better future. 2009 can be the year we achieve that next great career jump, it can be the year we greet our svelte mirror-image in the morning, and 2009 can be the year.
To steal the catch phrase of 2008:
This is the year I will take charge of my fitness/finances/career/personal life (fill in your own noun), etc.It’s no coincidence that January is the month with by far the most new membership applications to UK fitness clubs, as people look to the New Year as a year with limitless possibilities. Once past the Winter Solstice, every day is just that fraction little bit brighter and longer, and we take charge of our lives to avoid yet another Van Wilder year (although without the glorious parties), stuck in Punxatawney in an eternal winter.
We exercise more, we tighten our purse strings, we search for that next wonderful career opportunity, and if we don’t have someone, that special person to have in our lives. Whilst January is often a cold and dark month, it also allows us to look at the year as a fresh new canvas to paint the next chapter in our lives…of course hopefully a better one than Isaac did…
A new year also brings new hope to many sports fans.
This is the year that my team will finally win the championship.
Glorious are the days of the ignorance and hope. As Thomas Grey wrote many years ago:
Where ignorance is bliss, / ‘Tis folly to be wise.
Most fans (possibly excluding Royals fans) can spend the early winter months (and longer if you’re an NFL fan) dreaming that this is the year. The MLB and the NFL , with its salary cap (NFL) and revenue sharing (both), means that even small market teams are able to go on extended chases for the title if everything falls into place.
Since the introduction of the Free Agency in the NFL in 1992, the Super Bowl has seen 11 different champions, with only Dallas, Denver and New England winning more than once during the 16 Super Bowls of that era. The MLB is a little bit more skewed due to the salary luxury tax and not a fixed cap, but even the World Series has seen 9 different winners since the 1994 strike year, with only the Yankees, Marlins and the Red Sox winning more than once during that period.
Still, despite the Yankees fielding an infield earning more ($80.5m) per year than half of teams paid their entire roster in 2008 (1B: Teixera, $22m/year, 2B: Cano, $9m, SS: Jeter, $22m, 3B: Rodriguez, $27.5m), baseball is one of the sports where money isn’t the sole determining factor. Witness Tampa Bay’s total payroll of $43m in 2008 not preventing them from winning the AL East, beating the Yankees $201m and the Red Sox $138m rosters.
So, despite the unusually cold start to 2009 here in the UK, and the Yankees single-handedly trying to solve the credit crunch by purchasing every single player, winter will eventually lead to spring, and with that we all have hope for a better year than the last one, regardless of the challenges we face. We face the new year looking forward to a long overdue reform in world leadership, and a better future. 2009 can be the year we achieve that next great career jump, it can be the year we greet our svelte mirror-image in the morning, and 2009 can be the year.
To steal the catch phrase of 2008:
This is the year.
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