Boston Red Sox offseason thread

[SDL]

I read a paper he wrote a couple of years back and thought it was quite interesting. But I have to admit I haven't read anything recent. Any specific reasons for your feelings towards him?

But I am not sure what puts him in the position to judge ownership or Francona.

He wrote a piece for the local paper here saying the Rays need to get a new stadium or move. Like I said..he's an idiot..and I am holding back from REALLY saying something....

[Boston Boxer]

woohoo! I bought my tix to the Red Sox @ Colorado game today for 25 Sep. I say again, woohoo!!!

[Blue387]

I was looking at the Red Sox depth chart today.

http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/team/de...x.jsp?c_id=bos

Do you think Lucas Duda could fit at first base? He can't really play the outfield, is still cheap and has some pop in his bat.

Video clip:
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=25159875

[raysnbran]

OT- Future Sox player? Or just wonder what his parents were thinking??

http://www.fangraphs.com/not/index.p...name-probably/

[dominik]

OT- Future Sox player? Or just wonder what his parents were thinking??

http://www.fangraphs.com/not/index.p...name-probably/

imagine he goes to the yankees

[SwissRedSoxFan]

Maybe we should sign this guy. Homered the first pitch he saw in the Dominican winter leagues...Still love him. Despite all the drugs.

Here the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ANomgJooZ4

[SwissRedSoxFan]

Sometimes I dont get Baseball:

Aviles signs a 2/6 Million contract and Rich Hill with his 1.85 ERA and 9.6 K/9 settles for a minor league contract. Yeah, yeah I know he had TJ surgery in 2011. Still, he really deserved a 1-2 mill. contract at least.

And good luck with Aviles sub .300 obp. for the next two years.

[Therwil Flyer]

Sometimes I dont get Baseball:

Aviles signs a 2/6 Million contract and Rich Hill with his 1.85 ERA and 9.6 K/9 settles for a minor league contract. Yeah, yeah I know he had TJ surgery in 2011. Still, he really deserved a 1-2 mill. contract at least.

And good luck with Aviles sub .300 obp. for the next two years.

Too many people blinded by his power in the first half of 2012? The Mike Aviles sucks, no discussion there. Won't miss him.

[filihok]

1 WAR is worth about $5 million.

Aviles has produced 7.3 WAR in 5 seasons in the major leagues.
That's 1.5 WAR per season.

1.5 WAR times $5 million = $7.5 WAR per season.

Aviles signed for less than half of that.

It's a perfectly reasonable deal.



Hill has pitched 30 innings in the last 3 seasons.

No guarantee you'll get anything from him.
Minor league deal makes perfect sense.

[dominik]

1 WAR is worth about $5 million.

Aviles has produced 7.3 WAR in 5 seasons in the major leagues.
That's 1.5 WAR per season.

1.5 WAR times $5 million = $7.5 WAR per season.

Aviles signed for less than half of that.

It's a perfectly reasonable deal.



Hill has pitched 30 innings in the last 3 seasons.

No guarantee you'll get anything from him.
Minor league deal makes perfect sense.

for the price he is OK but when you want to win 90+ you want more than 1.5 WAR from your starting SS. If all your pos. players produce 1.5 WAR your lineup produces 12 WAR. you said yourself 2 WAR is average.

so 1.5 WAR is OK for your SS if you are the astros but not if you are the red sox and want to win 95.

[filihok]

for the price he is OK but when you want to win 90+ you want more than 1.5 WAR from your starting SS. If all your pos. players produce 1.5 WAR your lineup produces 12 WAR. you said yourself 2 WAR is average.

so 1.5 WAR is OK for your SS if you are the astros but not if you are the red sox and want to win 95.

What are you talking about?

Aviles signed with the Indians.

The Indians have Asdrubal Cabrera as their starting SS

Aviles is a back up infielder for them.

[filihok]

What are you talking about?

Aviles signed with the Indians.

The Indians have Asdrubal Cabrera as their starting SS

Aviles is a back up infielder for them.

FanGraphs, coming through right on time

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index...lands-context/

[Boston Boxer]

Sox going with Salty and Ross at C with Lavarnway on the outside with no roster spot. Could be a trade coming or just Ryan just starting back in AAA. I would keep him around because i truely dont think Papi will be 1) ready for the season opener and 2)going to play a whole lot this season. I think the heel injury is more than anyone is letting on and i also think it will be a continued problem for the season.

[Therwil Flyer]

I know we were all aware of this to some extent, but I was checking something on fangraphs and noticed this again:
In the first half of last season (2012) the Red Sox offense was 7th in OBP and 4th in SLG (6th in wRC+).
In the second half of last season (2012) the Sox offense was 28th in OBP and 21st in SLG (28th in wRC+).

[Dude Paskert]

Is there any buzz about Aaron Kurcz?
Fairly young guy at AA who struck out guys at a pretty amazing rate in 50 IP, but also walked way too many. I'd guess he must have come over for Theo.
He's not real big, wonder if he has good heat or some kind of wicked breaking ball or ???

[Therwil Flyer]

Is there any buzz about Aaron Kurcz?
Fairly young guy at AA who struck out guys at a pretty amazing rate in 50 IP, but also walked way too many. I'd guess he must have come over for Theo.
He's not real big, wonder if he has good heat or some kind of wicked breaking ball or ???

Here's the scouting report from soxprospects:

Right-handed reliever, with small frame and lean build. Loose thrower. 3/4 arm slot. Balanced delivery with easy landing. Fastball sits 92-93 mph and can top out at 95 mph. Average command. Tends to work in the upper tier of strike zone too much. Capable of generating swings-and-misses with fastball. 75-80 mph 3/4 breaking ball. Has curveball look in lower reaches of velocity and slider look in upper reaches. More of a slurve. Average offering. Potential to tighten up to create more consistent power and depth. Also mixes in a developing 82-85 mph changeup. Shows arm-side fade. Tends to float too much presently. Solid-average potential. Coverted to a reliever in 2011. Strong makeup for age. 6th/7th inning reliever potential.

Not sure what he uses as his out pitch though.

[raysnbran]

Carl Crawford resurfaces in the media, calls his stay in Boston as "toxic"...now he's in another huge media market, though the laid back LA fans are certainly not as rabid as in Boston...we in Tampa Bay knew about his sensitivity to any kind of criticism and wondered how he would survive being a big fish in a big pond, and you all saw the result. Last time I will mention his name here on your team page, I promise

http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseba...,7047934.story

[SDL]

Carl Crawford resurfaces in the media, calls his stay in Boston as "toxic"...now he's in another huge media market, though the laid back LA fans are certainly not as rabid as in Boston...we in Tampa Bay knew about his sensitivity to any kind of criticism and wondered how he would survive being a big fish in a big pond, and you all saw the result. Last time I will mention his name here on your team page, I promise

http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseba...,7047934.story

What gets me is he claims he didn't get along with Francona. If you can't play for Tito, you can;t play for anybody. And he got along with Joe Maddon, right?

Crawford is lucky that Clif & Claf are long dead. Those two hacks would've ripped him 24/7 in print and on their daily radio show.

[SwissRedSoxFan]

Heard this: US Postal service to become new main sponsor of the New York Yankees. They want to get the know-how of A-Rod, Pettitte, Montero (ex), Cervelli and Co.

AND: Cervelli will be able to catch fulltime now, since he does not need to fly to Miami three times a week to get some "packages".

Win-win situation. Yeahyeahyeah.

[Evangelion]

Carl Crawford resurfaces in the media, calls his stay in Boston as "toxic"...now he's in another huge media market, though the laid back LA fans are certainly not as rabid as in Boston...we in Tampa Bay knew about his sensitivity to any kind of criticism and wondered how he would survive being a big fish in a big pond, and you all saw the result. Last time I will mention his name here on your team page, I promise

http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseba...,7047934.story

If he perform, this won't be an issue. Just an excuse from Crawford to justify his pathetic performance.

[Yaz]

That's what he gets for playing injured for ungrateful fans. He'll excel in LA once healthy.

[Therwil Flyer]

Is there any buzz about Aaron Kurcz?
Fairly young guy at AA who struck out guys at a pretty amazing rate in 50 IP, but also walked way too many. I'd guess he must have come over for Theo.
He's not real big, wonder if he has good heat or some kind of wicked breaking ball or ???

Chris Mellon has a new write up on Kurcz. From what I understand he doesn't semm to have a "wicked breaking ball" at all. Quite the opposite. He seems to have a good fastball (that can reach as high as 96) with lots of late movement that can generate lots of swing and misses. But he is overdepending on it (due to the lack of quality secondary offerings) and his command apparently is fringy, leading to the high walk rates.

http://news.soxprospects.com/2013/02...kurcz-and.html

[9&10]

That's what he gets for playing injured for ungrateful fans. He'll excel in LA once healthy.

We'll see.

[Dude Paskert]

Chris Mellon has a new write up on Kurcz. From what I understand he doesn't semm to have a "wicked breaking ball" at all. Quite the opposite. He seems to have a good fastball (that can reach as high as 96) with lots of late movement that can generate lots of swing and misses. But he is overdepending on it (due to the lack of quality secondary offerings) and his command apparently is fringy, leading to the high walk rates.

http://news.soxprospects.com/2013/02...kurcz-and.html

Thanks for the update, good stuff!
I've been combing through my BA Yearbook looking for young guys who stand out, Kurcz's K/9 caught my eye (and then the BB/9).

[Phantom Dreamer]

Red Sox acquired 1B Mike Carp from the Mariners. I wonder how much playing time he'll receive and look forward to see if he'll outproduce Smoak, Ibanez, etc.