The Boston Redsox Thread - Page 2

Lastplaneout · 10-26-2006, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joshv02

Choi also elected to be a FA, iirc.

That's unfortunate. I would have liked to see that experiment pan out.

Joshv02 · 10-26-2006, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lastplaneout

Some sportswriter (I can't remember who it was) speculated that they might try converting a starter to closer. Clement and Lilly were mentioned as possibilities. I actually don't think that it's a horrible idea.

I don't think we'll ever seen Clement pitch in a RS uniform again, unfortunately. I don't know if he'll pitch for anyone.

A pen by committee approach may shape up. Signing someone like Justin Speir could help. Perhaps trading Lowell for something in addition to a good MR. Perhaps SD - isn't Walker a FA? Theo loves his old playmates there.

Perhaps we can get someone good, like Cla Meredith

1998 Yankees · 10-26-2006, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lastplaneout

Are you sure that you don't have this reversed. Gonzalez generally looked GG caliber last year (or maybe second to Jeter

).

He hit better than expected, but I wouldn't count on it happening again.

I just put up Jeter's career fielding stats against Gonzalez. You're right, after some bad years in Florida that drag down his career fielding pct, Gonzalez does look like he's turned into a good glove man in recent years, at least on a par percentage-wise with Jeter.

So I will reverse the comments, although I still hesitate to mention him and Jeter in the same post otherwise.

BigBambino · 10-26-2006, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joshv02

I'd be surprised if he is on the 40 man roster, let alone the 25 man.

He played well when he was up in the Boston MLB team last season. With the lackage of 1B who can play above average defense i dont know why he wouldnt be. He's still young and has tremendous gap power.

Lastplaneout · 10-26-2006, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joshv02

Perhaps we can get someone good, like Cla Meredith

I don't think that he can catch the knuckleball.

andjbock · 10-26-2006, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1998 Yankees

I'm looking at your team, position by position (and I'm assuming no FA departures this offseason):

C - Varitek had a down year with the bat in an otherwise great career (wasn't he injured this year?). Plus, he brings a lot to the table in intangibles, so C is not a problem for you.
1B - Is that Youkilis? I can't recall who else plays 1B for the Sox. OK, not bad with the bat and seems pretty fair with the glove. Could be improved but not a priority.
2B - Loretta, I would love this guy if I were a BoSox fan. Getting a bit old, however, but not showing signs of it yet.
SS - Gonzalez, decent bat for a SS makes up for his less than spectacular fielding. Still, this position could be improved.
3B - We used to have Lowell, did you know that? The way I'm feeling about A-Rod just now, I would trade him straight up for Lowell and throw in some of Steinbrenner's cash to cover the difference in contracts.
LF - You'd better stand on your head if you have to in order to keep Ramirez in Boston.
CF - Ah, Coco Crisp. Yes, he had a couple of decent years in Cleveland, but basically you have a utility outfielder starting in CF. What a come down from Johnny Damon. Definitely an upgrade possibility.
RF - Nixon here, I think, not Kapler? Either way, you could do with a better RF in terms of power and RBI's.
CF/RF - Hmmm. Forgot about Wily Mo. This guy takes Crisp's or Nixon's job next year if he has not already.
DH - Steinbrenner still is steaming about not getting Ortiz when we had the chance.

OK, so we have 1B, SS, CF and/or RF as positions you need to look at. Now let's look at your pitching staff.

Schilling is about to turn 40, but let's say he has another great year or two left. Let's also say that Beckett turns around in 2007, and Papelbon becomes a good #3 starter. Who is #4 and #5? You mention Lester; isn't he the guy with lymphoma? Clement never was very good anyway and he's coming back from shoulder surgery; he had a couple of decent years ERA-wise with the Cubs but his W/L record those years was nothing to get excited about. Take a look at Tavarez's career stats - he's always been much better as a relief pitcher than a starter. Who's left, Wakefield, 40 and surviving on his knuckleball, inconsistent and mediocre?

Now, let's say at least one of my assumptions in the first three sentences of the last paragraph turn out to be bad. Now you have only two or three dependable starters in your rotation. IMO, it's your pitching staff that needs attention. Your starting rotation is short and your bullpen, in which only the names of middle-of-the-road Foulke and Timlin (who is your closer?) stand out, is as big a problem.

Your priority should be pitching. If you come across an upgrade at 1B, SS, and either of CF or RF, fine, but go for better pitchers in 2007.

Now, feel free to ignore my advice. Make no changes! As TheCartel says, your team is good enough to win by a landslide (hee, hee).

Kind of need to assume FA departures since Gonzalez, Loretta, and Nixon are all FAs. Gonzalez is the only one who could be back.

BigBambino · 10-26-2006, 12:03 PM

and gonzalez is probally the only one id want back..

Lastplaneout · 10-26-2006, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1998 Yankees

I just put up Jeter's career fielding stats against Gonzalez. You're right, after some bad years in Florida that drag down his career fielding pct, Gonzalez does look like he's turned into a good glove man in recent years, at least on a par percentage-wise with Jeter.

Fielding percentage is not the whole story though. Baseballthinkfactory has Gonzalez at 14 runs saved per 150 games (second in the AL) and Jeter at -6 (third from the bottom).

http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/...s_as_i_see_it/

Joshv02 · 10-26-2006, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lastplaneout

I don't think that he can catch the knuckleball.

TheCartel · 10-26-2006, 03:13 PM

They need someone at the top of that lineup that can do what Damon did, great contact and OBP, and some speed. Manny will be Manny, and Ortiz will be Ortiz, but they need to get the guys on for them. There isnt much else needed as far as the offense goes, the Giants have got by with Bonds and not much else for years, the Red Sox are fine offensively. They need Beckett to pitch like he did at the beginning of last year, and stay consistent and injury free. Schilling will be Schilling, but they need to fix that beleaguered bullpen, maybe Foulke can turn back into Mr. Auto?

Lastplaneout · 10-26-2006, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheCartel

They need someone at the top of that lineup that can do what Damon did, great contact and OBP, and some speed.

I'd be perfectly happy with any combination of Youkilis and healthy Coco Crisp at the top of the order. There's no reason to think that Youkilis will tank next season (hopefully they'll give him a few days off once in a while) and Coco should be much better when fully healthy.

QuestGAV · 10-26-2006, 03:54 PM

Yeah, I think Crisp has one more year to straighten things out as the Sox CF. I was optimistic about the acquisition and last year was disappointing, but there's no reason to think he can't bounce back.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RBLWebguy

Tek brings more to the team than hitting. He is a great leader and is a big reason why the pitching staff does well. When he went down, the staff didn't do as well. He calls a good game.

I like Varitek. Unfortunately, he's aging quickly and it wasn't just the injuries last year. He's a hell of a game caller and a great locker room presence but he was horrible offensively. If he wants to take his $10M per and be the Sox bench coach to share those intangibles that's great, otherwise they need to start thinking about the next permanent piece there.

BigBambino · 10-26-2006, 05:44 PM

Crisp is a great player. He was plauged by injury all season and wasnt 100% at any point after his premature return. He is suppose to be 100% for next season and i think we will see the coco that we all thought we was going to see last season.

Lastplaneout · 10-27-2006, 08:36 AM

Speaking of players who weren't 100% last season, it appears that the sox have decided to retain Timlin for next season at 2.8 million.

http://www.boston.com/sports/basebal...p1=MEWell_Pos5

Should be okay as long as they aren't expecting to slot him right back into the setup role.

BigBambino · 10-27-2006, 04:59 PM

Mike Timlin is a stud at getting players out when theyre isnt anyone on base.

Lastplaneout · 10-27-2006, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigBambino

Mike Timlin is a stud at getting players out when theyre isnt anyone on base.

Good for his ERA, sucks for the guy who came before him.

Lastplaneout · 10-28-2006, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joshv02

A pen by committee approach may shape up. Signing someone like Justin Speir could help.

I wouldn't be surprised if Speier ended up with an abnormally bloated contract during this offseason. The Yankees and Sox both need bullpen help and the market is pretty thin on sure bets (not that relief pitching is ever a sure bet).

Lastplaneout · 10-30-2006, 05:42 PM

Looks like the Sox have (not surprisingly) picked up Wakefield's option for next year.

http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/NASApp/...=.jsp&c_id=bos

Hopefully that time on the DL this past season wasn't a harbinger of things to come. Anyone know if this ribcage stress fracture thing is an injury that is likely to recurr or present ongoing problems?

Here's hoping for a .500 record and a low-to-mid 4.00 ERA (which is fine for a back of the rotation guy).

thehatfield · 10-30-2006, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by QuestGAV

I like Varitek. Unfortunately, he's aging quickly and it wasn't just the injuries last year. He's a hell of a game caller and a great locker room presence but he was horrible offensively. If he wants to take his $10M per and be the Sox bench coach to share those intangibles that's great, otherwise they need to start thinking about the next permanent piece there.

Thank you for this. This was one of the biggest con-jobs on "Red Sox Nation" in recent history in my humble opinion. They justified letting Pedro Martinez & Derek Lowe go by re-signing an aging catcher with no bat. Imagine if Manny had left after 2004 too? Would the problem with not making the playoffs still be Tek's hamstring?

He was a much better game-caller with a hall of famer and extremely effective sinkerballer in his rotation, no doubt. I have caught so much flack from Sox fans because I have been killing the club over the Josh Bard for Mirabelli trade since day 1. Do you know that Wakefield's ERA was about 1 and a half runs per game lower when Bard was his catcher in the first month and a half of the season than "comfortable old chum" Mirabelli for the rest before injury? And the run-and-a-half-per-game higher ERA Wake sported with Mirabelli more than made up for Bard's early passed balls (of which, btw, he had 0 the rest of the year as Piazza's backup in San Diego), the first time the young catcher had caught a knuckleballer.

This captain intangible thing has always bothered me and I don't buy it. I sure as heck don't buy it with Jeter (if he was in Milwaukee we'd know him like we know O's legend Al Bumbry, for the catchy name) so I don't buy it with Varitek either.

QuestGAV · 10-31-2006, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purple Cowboy

This captain intangible thing has always bothered me and I don't buy it. I sure as heck don't buy it with Jeter (if he was in Milwaukee we'd know him like we know O's legend Al Bumbry, for the catchy name) so I don't buy it with Varitek either.

I think you're being too harsh on both guys here. Regardless of where he played, Jeter is HOF bound. I think it's way too easy to underestimate how good he's actually been, comparing him to Bumbry is a serious disservice to what he's done on the field. If he weren't a Yankee we'd probably think of him like Andruw Jones or Scott Rolen.

Varitek had 3 very good years, especially for a catcher, from 2003-2005. Other than that, he's been fairly mediocre production-wise and the contract was a mistake. That being said, I still like the guy and don't think his numbers tell the whole story. But if they tell as much as they did last year then I hope by the trading deadline they've identified and acquired his replacement for '08.

10-26-2006, 12:03 PM	#27
BigBambino All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: Auburn, ME Posts: 1,315	and gonzalez is probally the only one id want back..

10-26-2006, 03:13 PM	#30
TheCartel Minors (Single A) Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 59	They need someone at the top of that lineup that can do what Damon did, great contact and OBP, and some speed. Manny will be Manny, and Ortiz will be Ortiz, but they need to get the guys on for them. There isnt much else needed as far as the offense goes, the Giants have got by with Bonds and not much else for years, the Red Sox are fine offensively. They need Beckett to pitch like he did at the beginning of last year, and stay consistent and injury free. Schilling will be Schilling, but they need to fix that beleaguered bullpen, maybe Foulke can turn back into Mr. Auto?

10-26-2006, 05:44 PM	#33
BigBambino All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: Auburn, ME Posts: 1,315	Crisp is a great player. He was plauged by injury all season and wasnt 100% at any point after his premature return. He is suppose to be 100% for next season and i think we will see the coco that we all thought we was going to see last season.

10-27-2006, 04:59 PM	#35
BigBambino All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: Auburn, ME Posts: 1,315	Mike Timlin is a stud at getting players out when theyre isnt anyone on base.