Hey Beckett had horrible seasons too, right? I fully expect that the Red Sox will fix Lackey. Lackey has also a lot of proud and talent. He will get there.Originally Posted by Mike D.
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Hey Beckett had horrible seasons too, right? I fully expect that the Red Sox will fix Lackey. Lackey has also a lot of proud and talent. He will get there.
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Danks from the White Sox should be available...Maybe they will try to win first and trade him away only during the season.
2004 & 2007
Good points, yeah, I'd consider trading him if we got a good pitcher in return.
2004 & 2007
I agree, sometimes a change can bring out the best in a player.
But most likely we are stuck with Lackey, so lets hope he does as you suggest by changing his attitude gets in shape.
2004 & 2007
I hope you're right. My guess is the Sox will try, since they really can't trade him, but I'm speculating that if he's as bad as he was this year, by being more of a liability then a help, that by mid season, they will dump him and just eat the contract.
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Report: Red Sox let 1B coach Ron Johnson go
Johnson is a nice guy and a baseball lifer. I hate seeing him go, but the next manager will obviously be bringing in his own guys.
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So will Buehrle from what I gather.
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HE is a free agent and NL-bound, he said once personally.
#firelarrylucchino
I mentioned that in the Manager thread. But how is it that Ron Johnson was fired and Tim Bogar is, as of this moment, still a coach in the Red Sox organization? Is Johnson just the first to go in a house cleaning?
Watching Derek Jeter make 40 defensive plays and then watching Adam Everett make 40 defensive plays at the same position is sort of like watching video of Barbara Bush dancing at the White House, and then watching Demi Moore dancing in Striptease. (Bill James)
Dustin Pedroia doesn't have the strength or bat speed to hit major-league pitching consistently, and he has no power. If he can continue to hit .260 or so, he'll be useful, and he probably has a future as a backup infielder. (Keith Law)
#firelarrylucchino
While speculations about potential new managers and the coaching staff and the Theo to Cubs rumors continue, there are still plenty of question about how to improve the club on the field. Given the state of this year's FA market and the recent track record with FA signings, I doubt that the Red Sox will sign a major FA. The possibility for big trade deals is also somewhat limited. So here are three somewhat random ideas, that might or might not be completely unrealistic.
- Trade Lowrie + Prospect to the Dodgers for Keneley Jansen. Pickup Scutaro's option. Let Papelbon walk.
The Dodgers have a lot of RP-depth but big time holes at 3B and 2B. Most of their top prospects are pitchers as well, so they might be interested in acquiring a relatively cheap infielder with potential power.
- Trade Kevin Youkilis for pitching. Maybe to the Brewers. They do need a middle of the order type 1B. Maybe SF or the Braves. Both have tons of young pitching and could use an offensive upgrade.
- Sign a stopgap 3B for a year or two untill Middlebrooks is ready, preferably a good defender. Mike Aviles becomes the utility infielder. Resign David Ortiz as DH.
- If you wanna go crazy and a market for him develops, sell high on Beckett. Might the Rangers be interested (Would they trade Perez and Olt/Profar) or the Royals?
- Other ideas: Resign Bedard. Get Ted Lilly from the Dodgers if they are trying to dump payroll. Would the Orioles trade Guthrie within the AL East?
The loss of Youk's offense should not hurt too much, given this team was first in almost every offensive category and (knock on wood) a resurgence of Carl Crawford's bat. If we can get a good SP for Youk, it should help the team get better.
Last edited by Therwil Flyer; 10-06-2011 at 08:27 AM.
Watching Derek Jeter make 40 defensive plays and then watching Adam Everett make 40 defensive plays at the same position is sort of like watching video of Barbara Bush dancing at the White House, and then watching Demi Moore dancing in Striptease. (Bill James)
Dustin Pedroia doesn't have the strength or bat speed to hit major-league pitching consistently, and he has no power. If he can continue to hit .260 or so, he'll be useful, and he probably has a future as a backup infielder. (Keith Law)
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why give up youkilis? he basically was their best hitter over the last years even if this year was a down year with a lot of injuries.
You would still need a 3B or later a DH if ortiz goes or falls apart. I would keep youk.
Also why are you guys all so sure that middlebrooks will ever be "ready"? He has shown some promising signs but it was very mixed he didn't dominate the minors like lavarnway. I would see him as a bonus if he works out but I wouldn't count on him.
prospects are always a gamble.
I think walks are overrated unless you can run. If you get a walk and put the pitcher in a stretch, that helps, but the guy who walks and can’t run, most of the time he’s clogging up the bases for somebody who can run. – Dusty Baker.
#firelarrylucchino
Because his value is still high right now, so that you can get something of equally high value in return. He's signed through 2012 for 12m with a club option (13m) for 2013. He'll turn 33 next March. He's a Gold Glove 1B but not really a Gold Glove 3B anymore. What I'm saying is he might be more valuable to another team (such as the Brewers or Braves) than he is for the Red Sox. At the same time these teams might have pitchers that are more valuable to the Red Sox than to them.
I'm by no means sure that Middlebrooks will turn into the player he has the potential to be. As you say, always a gamble with prospects. But I'm willing to take the top prospect into account when planning for the future.
Watching Derek Jeter make 40 defensive plays and then watching Adam Everett make 40 defensive plays at the same position is sort of like watching video of Barbara Bush dancing at the White House, and then watching Demi Moore dancing in Striptease. (Bill James)
Dustin Pedroia doesn't have the strength or bat speed to hit major-league pitching consistently, and he has no power. If he can continue to hit .260 or so, he'll be useful, and he probably has a future as a backup infielder. (Keith Law)
There isn't much for sure at the ML level, but Middlebrook has All Star potential and along side with Iglesias would give the Red Sox best side of the infield in a lots of years.
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how is his defense?
I think walks are overrated unless you can run. If you get a walk and put the pitcher in a stretch, that helps, but the guy who walks and can’t run, most of the time he’s clogging up the bases for somebody who can run. – Dusty Baker.
Actually i was talking defense wise. Middlebrook has + defense, very good hands and range, very strong arm.
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ignore post
Last edited by Therwil Flyer; 10-07-2011 at 04:08 AM.
Watching Derek Jeter make 40 defensive plays and then watching Adam Everett make 40 defensive plays at the same position is sort of like watching video of Barbara Bush dancing at the White House, and then watching Demi Moore dancing in Striptease. (Bill James)
Dustin Pedroia doesn't have the strength or bat speed to hit major-league pitching consistently, and he has no power. If he can continue to hit .260 or so, he'll be useful, and he probably has a future as a backup infielder. (Keith Law)
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I think the FO will make those thoughts, but thats waaaay too many changes. I wouldn't overreact right now. Remember: that team was like 82-42 before September. Thats a team capable of winning the WS in 2012. There are some older guys who want to win now and everything in Boston is win now at the moment. So on the field, they should make some minor changes in the rotation, bullpen and they'll be fine.
Willingham would just be an idea, if Reddick is traded for pitching. Otherwise go cheap and intern in RF. You could also put Crawford in RF to maximise his good defense (on paper). Because you cannot do much in front of that wall.
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For me, Middlebrooks is a Joe Crede guy. Very good defense. Power bat, but a low OBP. He will never be the offensive force Youkilis is (look at the BB-K-ratios in his career!). On the other side, he is probably better at 3B than Youk.
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Also they led the league in runs. this season even scored more then the yanks. the offense was just fine this year.
I think walks are overrated unless you can run. If you get a walk and put the pitcher in a stretch, that helps, but the guy who walks and can’t run, most of the time he’s clogging up the bases for somebody who can run. – Dusty Baker.
#firelarrylucchino
How is that waaaaay to many changes, when all I proposed was trading Lowrie+Prospect for Jansen (to replace Papelbon) and Youk for SP? That's a grand total of 2 (two) changes. I even advocate resigning Scutaro/Ortiz/Bedard, so no changes there.
Watching Derek Jeter make 40 defensive plays and then watching Adam Everett make 40 defensive plays at the same position is sort of like watching video of Barbara Bush dancing at the White House, and then watching Demi Moore dancing in Striptease. (Bill James)
Dustin Pedroia doesn't have the strength or bat speed to hit major-league pitching consistently, and he has no power. If he can continue to hit .260 or so, he'll be useful, and he probably has a future as a backup infielder. (Keith Law)
#firelarrylucchino
Yes the offense has been fantastic despite a terrible year for Crawford and injuries to Youkilis. That's exactly why I'm proposing to trade away some of that offense for pitching! I'd rather have them score 6 runs a game with their pitching allowing no more than 5 runs rather than them scoring 9 runs and their pitchers allowing 12!
Watching Derek Jeter make 40 defensive plays and then watching Adam Everett make 40 defensive plays at the same position is sort of like watching video of Barbara Bush dancing at the White House, and then watching Demi Moore dancing in Striptease. (Bill James)
Dustin Pedroia doesn't have the strength or bat speed to hit major-league pitching consistently, and he has no power. If he can continue to hit .260 or so, he'll be useful, and he probably has a future as a backup infielder. (Keith Law)
#firelarrylucchino
Right, his .345 OBP he had in his first season at AA this season is just outright embarrassing. Come on now! Will he need to learn to be more selective at the plate, sure, but the kid had .865 OPS in his first season at AA.
Watching Derek Jeter make 40 defensive plays and then watching Adam Everett make 40 defensive plays at the same position is sort of like watching video of Barbara Bush dancing at the White House, and then watching Demi Moore dancing in Striptease. (Bill James)
Dustin Pedroia doesn't have the strength or bat speed to hit major-league pitching consistently, and he has no power. If he can continue to hit .260 or so, he'll be useful, and he probably has a future as a backup infielder. (Keith Law)
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I think that crawford and youk can do better next year. but on the other hand ellsbury had a career year and ortiz is not getting any younger. So it won't surprise me if both couldn't repeat this years performance.
It is possible to repeat this years run production but it won't be easy when ellsbury, pedroia, ortiz and gonzalez all were red hot. A slight drop of by them is not easily compensated by a better CC and youk.
That's why I think that the Red sox should keep themselves a safety net and don't trade away too much offense. injuries and slumps can happen.
but generally I agree with you, SP is the main need for next year.
I think walks are overrated unless you can run. If you get a walk and put the pitcher in a stretch, that helps, but the guy who walks and can’t run, most of the time he’s clogging up the bases for somebody who can run. – Dusty Baker.
Middlebrook potential is a lot better player than Youkilis, a better athlete, better defender at the hot corner, a better arm, a lot more power, potentially a better all around hitter with Youkilis having a better plate discipline, but again Middlebrook is a power hitter and power hitter OBP is not as important as non power hitters are. Youkilis has never been considered as a power hitter and thats why OBP is more important with Youkilis.
#firelarrylucchino
Of course getting on base is more important for a hitter with less power than it is for someone with lots of power. But the perception of Youkilis as a non-power hitter strikes me as wrong. Youkilis has transformed ca. 2007 from a pure OBP-machine into more aggressive hitter with quite a bit of power. He hit 29 HRs in 2008 for a .569 slg. At the same time his k's have gone up a tick and his pitches per PA have gone down a tick. He's essentially become a power hitter. It's just that everyone continues to think of him as the Greek god of walks rather than a Jewish power hitter. But that's just a skewed perception.
Watching Derek Jeter make 40 defensive plays and then watching Adam Everett make 40 defensive plays at the same position is sort of like watching video of Barbara Bush dancing at the White House, and then watching Demi Moore dancing in Striptease. (Bill James)
Dustin Pedroia doesn't have the strength or bat speed to hit major-league pitching consistently, and he has no power. If he can continue to hit .260 or so, he'll be useful, and he probably has a future as a backup infielder. (Keith Law)
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