2012 Red Sox Season Thread

[Mike D.]

nobody talks to anyone anymore...in the day and age of technology, its all electronics. You guys probaby still write letters to people hahahahaha Serously, Ben needs to work on his communication skills. Maybe he is not ready to be a big time GM.

Ha ha...I actually DO still write the occasional letter...mostly to ballplayers to collect autographs.

In the past I've actually gotten Bard and Valentine that way, to keep things on topic!

[Mike D.]

It speaks volumes about communication between manager and front office!

Not to mention the general voice-mail leaving skills of the manager.

How about leaving a message that doesn't spill the beans, then actually talking to him?

"Hey Daniel, it's Bobby V. Wanted to touch base and talk about a few things. Give me a call back when you get a minute."

Guess that's not enough words for Bobby V.

[Boston Boxer]

Ha ha...I actually DO still write the occasional letter...mostly to ballplayers to collect autographs.

In the past I've actually gotten Bard and Valentine that way, to keep things on topic!

good for you, because it is really a lost art.

[Therwil Flyer]

Not to mention the general voice-mail leaving skills of the manager.

How about leaving a message that doesn't spill the beans, then actually talking to him?

"Hey Daniel, it's Bobby V. Wanted to touch base and talk about a few things. Give me a call back when you get a minute."

Guess that's not enough words for Bobby V.

Well, to be fair to Bobby, leaving Bard a message is a big step forward for someone who usually communicates with his players through the media.

[Mike D.]

Well, to be fair to Bobby, leaving Bard a message is a big step forward for someone who usually communicates with his players through the media.

Ha ha....good point! Usually, when he wants to tell a player something he picks up the phone...and calls WEEI!

[Blue387]

The Boston Red Sox have traded Kevin Youkilis to the Chicago White Sox for pitcher Zach Stewart and Brent Lillibridge.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/0...white-sox.html

[Zoltan]

Dang. Youk has always been one of my favorites. Ill miss him, but i think we all knew this was coming for a while.

[Therwil Flyer]

Always have been a big fan of Kevin. Sad to see him go. Hope he puts up huge numbers in Chicago.

As for the return: yieks!

[SDL]

We got screwed in the deal...

[dominik]

We got screwed in the deal...

I think it was more of a dump than a deal...

[Dogdaze]

We got screwed in the deal...

Agreed.

The Red Sox are paying 5.5 million of Youk’s salary and received the following two players;

Zach Stewart, a RHP has a career ERA of 5.92 in 97.1 innings, and this year has an ERA of 6.00 in 30 innings.

and

Brent Lillibridge a utlities player hit .215/.283/.358 for his career and this year is hitting .175/.232/.190.

I was hoping we’d receive at least a low level prospect with potential but these two players imo really won’t help the team much if at all.

If this was the best offer we got, I can only imagine how bad any other offers were.

Farewell Youk and thanks for all you did for the Red Sox.

[Boston Boxer]

so we give away Youk AND pay most of his salary...and get absolutely nothing in return? Ben Cherrington is an idiot. I understand that Youk had to go, but damn, what we got in return is totally useless. Oh well, best of luck to Youk and thanks for everything.

[Blue387]

I first learned about Brent Lillibridge from his performance in one game against the Yankees last season.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=14199891
(Warning: Hawk Harrelson)

[Mike D.]

I'm kinda surprised they got this little in return, especially with several teams supposedly in the mix and the Sox being willing to pick up salary.

I'm not sure if the White Sox were the team willing to kick in the most money, or if the Sox actually think this is a good return.

I feel like they've been enamored with Lillibridge for a while, for no real good reason. They've also shown a love of 25+ year old flamed out former pitching prospects of late.

If the Sox took this deal over one of a prospect...even a B level one, they left value on the table.

Also, has been great watching Youk all these years....always a favorite. The time had come, though.

Here's hoping removing a stalwart of the clubhouse does something to shake this team and up and improve team chemistry.

[SwissRedSoxFan]

What I heard today around the park, is, that Youkilis pressured the Red Sox front office to trade him after Bobby Valentine publicly said, that Middlebrooks is too hot to be benched. Youkilis being such a great Red Sock, was granted his departure. The Red Sox had not a strong position in trade talks: Youkilis has a bad season so far, is expensive and wanted to leave.

I would have diminished his plate appearances and waited if a guy of the trio Gonzalez/Ortiz/Middlebrooks gets hurt. Because the return we got is just bad. I think Youkilis will rock in Chicago again.

[SDL]

If Lillibridge hits .400 and Stewart wins 20+ per season, then I'll think it's a good deal.

I think this is as good a deal as when we got Larry Andersen for that AA 3B prospect...now what was his name again?

[Dogdaze]

I'm not sure if the White Sox were the team willing to kick in the most money, or if the Sox actually think this is a good return.

Here’s what Ben Cherington said about him;

“Stewart was a guy that we’ve liked for a while and we’re focused on. Ultimately, when they agreed to include him in the deal, that kind of pushed them to the forefront,” said Sox GM Ben Cherington. “We like the upside and the chance for him to be a controllable big league starter and we’ll get to know him better too just felt like this one was the right one for us.

“He’s a young pitcher who we believe can be a starter. We have scouted him since college, Texas Tech and through the Minor Leagues and he was a big part of the deal, their deal last summer. He’s been in the big leagues in the bullpen and we’re going to send him to Triple-A and let him pitch in the rotation there. We believe he can develop into a good Major League starter we want to get him back in to that role. He’s a big physical strong kid with three solid pitches, throws strikes, he’s had a good Minor League track record. He’s a guy that looks like a Major League starter and just needs a little bit more time at Triple-A to fine tune things. We’re excited and he’ll be a big part of our pitching depth moving forward.”

http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/bos...t-lillibridge/

Though I’m not hugely optimistic about him, I think it’s possible Zach Stewart has some potential to maybe help the team perhaps next year or 2014.

He was a top rated prospect a few years ago and is still fairly young, turning 26 in Sept. and still has options.Though he apparently lost a little velocity on his fastball since last season which lately is around 90 and has given up 21 HR’s, he also doesn’t walk too many hitters giving up 22 in 97.1 innings or averaging about 2 per 9 innings. Stewart has a good ground ball rate of 51.8% in 2012 and he also had decent minor league stats, 2.53 ERA in 32 innings at AAA. So I think there is some potential with him. Hopefully he can improve his skills playing in for the Pawsox and hopefully contribute to the big club down the road.

[Dogdaze]

What I heard today around the park, is, that Youkilis pressured the Red Sox front office to trade him after Bobby Valentine publicly said, that Middlebrooks is too hot to be benched. Youkilis being such a great Red Sock, was granted his departure. The Red Sox had not a strong position in trade talks: Youkilis has a bad season so far, is expensive and wanted to leave.

I would have diminished his plate appearances and waited if a guy of the trio Gonzalez/Ortiz/Middlebrooks gets hurt. Because the return we got is just bad. I think Youkilis will rock in Chicago again.

If Youk requested a trade then maybe this was the best BC could get via trade.

Another possible bad issue in this trade is that we might be competing with the Chisox for a WC slot and if Youk catches fire and starting hitting like he has in the past it may give them enough extra wins and end up possibly hurting us.

[Blackout]

he's washed up

[SwissRedSoxFan]

If Youk requested a trade then maybe this was the best BC could get via trade.

Another possible bad issue in this trade is that we might be competing with the Chisox for a WC slot and if Youk catches fire and starting hitting like he has in the past it may give them enough extra wins and end up possibly hurting us.

Yeah. I think he will. I go to the Yankees -White Sox series next week and I hope Youkilis will drop some bombs!

On other notes: If you follow Scott Youkilis on Twitter, Kevin's brother, that's what he had to say: "Bobby V is a joke. This is the ugly side of sports in Boston."

[Therwil Flyer]

Yeah. I think he will. I go to the Yankees -White Sox series next week and I hope Youkilis will drop some bombs!

On other notes: If you follow Scott Youkilis on Twitter, Kevin's brother, that's what he had to say: "Bobby V is a joke. This is the ugly side of sports in Boston."

Well, if somebody essentially calls your brother a lazy slob in public, how would you react? Then again, you bring a polarizing manager with no apparent social skills into a clubhouse that's already somewhat in turmoil...what do you expect? It's not like all of this should come as a surprise.

Thank you for all the great memories, Kevin!

btw: Am I correct in assuming that the backup corner infielders are named Punto, Lilibridge and Anderson? Good lord, lets' just hope WMB's .380 BAbip is sustainable and Gonzalez doesn't get hurt...

[Therwil Flyer]

Daniel Nava?

We have a winner! Nava has been unbelievably good. He might be my next man crush, now that Lowrie isn't here anymore. Why isn't he getting more love from the media?

Nava: .339 .452 .517 (wOBA: .423, fWAR: 2.0, BAbip: .404)
WMB: .326 .365 .583 (wOBA: .402, fWAR: 1.3, Babip: .380)

The Babip numbers are downright scary! But otherwise...

[SwissRedSoxFan]

Well, if somebody essentially calls your brother a lazy slob in public, how would you react? Then again, you bring a polarizing manager with no apparent social skills into a clubhouse that's already somewhat in turmoil...what do you expect? It's not like all of this should come as a surprise.

Thank you for all the great memories, Kevin!

btw: Am I correct in assuming that the backup corner infielders are named Punto, Lilibridge and Anderson? Good lord, lets' just hope WMB's .380 BAbip is sustainable and Gonzalez doesn't get hurt...

I think Scott is referring to something different, that we don't know of. But Valentine obvious dislike for Youkilis and his clownesque act when Youk got his curtain call, that was total hypocrisy.

[dominik]

I don't know what to think of the youk thing.

on the one hand he didn't produce and you can't carry such a player. so trading him was a good option.

however dumping a long time hero for nothing in return and even pay his salary is lacking a little respect I think. the message of this is "just go away". I know he was starting to be really pissed about the situation and starting to rant publically so he probably had to go but still they could have done it a little more gracefully.

Valentine is an idiot of course but I think that there is a problem with the whole "red sox nation". the front office, the media, the fans (they are great but also have a very high standard thus making it though there) and the clubhouse all play a role here.

I'm not a yankee fan but despite the high pressure you have to admit that there is never whistleblowing from the club house, never managers, players and front office people washing dirty laundry in public.

It is not the big scandals but more the small things. there are always situations where you just shake your head whether it is talking bad about ex-exployees, making club house arguements public and whatever.

red sox nation is great but it is also an atmosphere which makes it awfully tough to play in. the media pressure plays a role but in NY the pressure is even higher and they deal with this better.

bobby V obviously is the icing on the cake but this stuff is in the whole organisation to some extend.

[Therwil Flyer]

however dumping a long time hero for nothing in return and even pay his salary is lacking a little respect I think. the message of this is "just go away". I know he was starting to be really pissed about the situation and starting to rant publically so he probably had to go but still they could have done it a little more gracefully.

I think Youkilis really wanted that trade. He would probably have prefered to stay in Boston, but I think he wanted a starting job (which for now he wasn't getting in Boston), and that forced the trade more than anything.