Rival Hot Stoves: Red Sox
by jscape2000 on Dec 2, 2009 11:00 AM EST
in Analysis
18 comments
The Red Sox are chasing the Yankees again, and once again both front offices are looking at the same assets.
1. The Lineup Right Now:
| C | Martinez |
1B | Youkilis | 2B | Pedroia |
3B | Lowell |
SS | Lowrie |
LF | Anderson |
CF | Ellsbury |
RF | Drew |
DH | Ortiz |
| SP | Beckett | SP | Lester | SP | Matsuzaka | SP | Wakefield | SP | Buchholz | RP | Bard | RP | Okajima | RP | Ramirez | CP | Papelbon |
2. Prospects to Watch:
Josh Reddick- an outfielder with the speed to play all 3 spots, Reddick's bat didn't perform well in his September call up. HIs high batting average has carried him quickly through the minors (only 18 games at AAA and less than 90 games at AA). He's a see it- hit it type, and I wonder if his defense is strong enough to make Jacoby Ellsbury a trade chip in the quest for a certain high profile pitcher from North of the Border.
Michael Bowden- the 23 year old compares to IPK- high 80s to low 90s fastball, plus command of fastball and curve. He saw 16 innings of work in Boston (8G, 1 start), be he pitched very well in AAA Pawtucket (24 starts, average 5.1IP, 106H, 44BB, 88K). As a trade chip or as the first replacement starter, Bowden is a part of the Red Sox future.
Lars Anderson- the big first baseman had a terrible season in 2009, hitting a Jose Molina-esque .233/.328/.345 in 119 games in his second year at AA. He'll need a big bounce back to put his career back on track.
Matchup with the Yankees:
Victor Martinez's defense as a full time catcher will make Posada look like Bill DIckey. The right side of the infield will stand up with anybody in the league, but the Sox suffered through a season of near replacement level on the left side, so it's no surprise that the front office has wondered if their Gold Glove 2B might not play a good enough SS to sign or trade for a strong second baseman.
At the moment the Red Sox have the stronger rotation. Adding Halladay, or adding Lackey and seeing Halladay go anywhere but New York, would make the Red Sox the AL favorites.
The Quick ReLoad:
The Red Sox took $12M off the books before the start of the 2009 season. Another $40M came off at the end of season. If Boston has only $30M to spend, that's enough to make the second best team in the AL even more imposing.
A left fielder is a must-have, but there are a slew of available left fielders, and all of them could handle the small patch of grass in the shadow of the Green Monster.
Either the Red Sox have to acquire a shortstop, or they have move Pedroia and choose from the relatively stronger crop of second basemen.
Wrap-up:
The Sox got basically nothing from Matsuzaka, and replaced his quality with Brad Penny and John Smoltz. Even if a trade for Halladay weakened the Red Sox for a decade, it would make them a frightening team to face in 2010, both over the regular season and in a playoff series.
My sincerest hope is that Theo learned nothing from his lightning in a bottle 2009 approach. Another season of Nick Green at short and Tim Wakefield as the #3 pitcher would make me a happy Yankee. My fear is that the $50M that have come off the books in the last 2 seasons is on its way back into the payroll.
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Pedroia to short?
I read where the Red Sox approached Dustin Pedroia about playing short, which would free them up to sign Orlando Hudson to play 2nd base, who’s better than any of the shortstops available. Pedroia did play short in college and in the minors. It would be similar to Michael Young moving to short to accomodate Soriano in 2004 which worked out well for Texas.
I also can’t believe Atlanta gave up their 1st round pick to sign Billy Wagner. It’s good news for Boston because now they can sign a type-A free agent like Holliday or Lackey and still select in the 1st round.
by Let's Talk About Tex Baby on Dec 2, 2009 11:15 AM EST reply actions
Personally I'd leave him at 2b.
In the field he’s a great 2b but would be stretched pretty thin at SS.
Strikeouts are boring- Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.
by CasanovaWong on Dec 2, 2009 12:06 PM EST up reply actions
As the Yankees have seen, a brilliant bat can make up for mediocre defense. It’s just about getting the most production from the SS/2B combo.
Another option they have is to put Youk in LF and sign/trade for a 1B.
"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."
If they can sign a +2B, I don’t disagree with the possible shift of Pedroia to SS while not having your protypical arm for the position.
by Scooby Snacks on Dec 2, 2009 2:30 PM EST up reply actions
I'd love to see it.
Cuz as good a glove man that Pedroia is, that place seems to be a death bed for SS.
Nomar did it…but he had a cannon for an arm, tho he realyl wasn’t very accurate with the throws.
It could work…but why would you mess with something that works?
"It ain't over till its over"---
Youk OF
Although he looked horrible out there last year he’s probably a good enough athlete to get better. I think the Red Sox first choice would be to trade for Adrian Gonzalez, get rid of Lowell and move Youk to 3rd, but it doesn’t sound like Adrian’s available.
My guess for the Red Sox offseason is that they’ll sign Matt Holliday, Marco Scutaro and either Ben Sheets or Rich Harden. I don’t think they’ll pay the price for Halladay, I think they like Holliday over Bay, and I think Scutaro will come to them pretty cheaply since he’s not going to have many other suitors.
by Let's Talk About Tex Baby on Dec 2, 2009 1:35 PM EST reply actions
They’re stuck with Lowell and his $12m salary since he isn’t even worth half that on the open market. There’s plenty of DH-type players available right now.
by Scooby Snacks on Dec 2, 2009 2:34 PM EST up reply actions
Yeah
But I think they’re prepared to either eat most of Lowell’s money to trade him or just bench him if they can get a bigtime 1b.
by Let's Talk About Tex Baby on Dec 2, 2009 4:28 PM EST up reply actions
The Red Sox are not the Yankees.
Those of you fearing big moves (signing Holliday / Lackey, trading for Halladay or Adrian Gonzalez) have almost nothing to be worried about. At the end of this offseason, New York will have signed Lackey and possibly Holliday, and be the presumptive favorites once again.
"It's just a tiny little nick, but it hurts when I get champagne in there."
- Jason Bay, on getting spiked scoring the winning run in ALDS Game Four.
really.....
interesting stuff.
Cuz if not for the Yankees…they’d have Texiera wouldn’t they?
Red Sox are signing one of Holliday/Bay (cuz the Yankees aren’t signing both..probably neither.
I doubt they don’t make a trade either. Too much pressure to compete with the Yankees.
"It ain't over till its over"---
by FreeBradshaw on Dec 3, 2009 10:47 PM EST up reply actions
Oh woe is me...
Our hard fightin’ lovable crew who only play for the love of the game just can’t compete with them evil money grubbin’ Yankees.
Aren’t you tired of this excuse yet?
This sticker is dangerous and inconvenient, but I do love Fig Newtons.
Aren't you tired of seeing $200 million teams?
Gonna guess not.
I’ll make you a deal – I will abandon any self-righteous pretext if Cashman spends $70 million less on payroll this year. I’d say the Sox scrappy underdoggedness is easily worth that much.
"It's just a tiny little nick, but it hurts when I get champagne in there."
- Jason Bay, on getting spiked scoring the winning run in ALDS Game Four.
Why should we spend less?
There is no rule against spending and as I’m sure you would agree, there tends to be a correlation between spending and succeeding.
So if you make money, the end goal is to succeed, why wouldn’t you spend that money? Simply because other teams can’t spend that much? Management should just pocket the money instead of reinvesting in the team?
An argument against what the Yankees do is an argument against capitalism, and there was a reason we won the Cold War, capitalism works. Maybe instead of complaining about what the Yankees do, you should ask yourself, is the commitment of my teams front office to winning equal to that of the Yankees?
You guys were ready to print some money to get yourself a Teixeira. Maybe a Holliday here or a Halladay there and you get a better team on the field.
This sticker is dangerous and inconvenient, but I do love Fig Newtons.
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