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Post by Gwell55 on Nov 17, 2013 17:03:28 GMT -5
I've been a big fan of Noe Ramirez for awhile. He showed why in that inning. He has a devestating change up that will get him to the major leagues. I really like his projectibilty as a mid-inning reliever with a swing and miss out pitch Is it possible to get excited about a mid innings reliever? Seems like Taz got tons of support back in 2011-12 when he projected as a 7th inning reliever so Ya Noe can generate some love too.
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Post by Gwell55 on Nov 14, 2013 9:47:04 GMT -5
The sox have an option to extend Lackey another year, I think for 2016 at $500k or whatever the league minimum is. If they do it now, then would it average into his salary and provide flexibility for two years with the roster compared to a low cost and compared to a high luxury tax? Speier cleared this up. Even if they picked up the option now, his AAV wouldn't change. $16.5M the next two seasons, $500k in 2016. Doesn't COTS say through 14 with the minimum 500K+ for 2015 or is that a misprint? www.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/al-east/boston-red-sox/
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Post by Gwell55 on Nov 14, 2013 9:43:52 GMT -5
Bogaerts gets 80 games at SS (the rest at third) , Peralta gets 82 at SS and all the games in LF against LHP. That's not that backuppy. And just where does lefty killer Gomes play in that scenario?
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Post by Gwell55 on Nov 13, 2013 21:12:15 GMT -5
Rumors don't mean a lot, but word is Seattle has no interest in Jacoby. If that is true, and LAD, LAA, SFO, PHI and DET are all out of the mix, then it's not that unlikely that he returns to Boston on a 5 year deal at around 100M. The only ways he's not back in Boston in my opinion are: 1. If he gets 6 + years 2. He takes a long time to sign. (BC will move on fairly quickly and once he does, I don't think they'll sign him even if it's at the terms they wanted to begin with) Ellsbury has already turned down offers larger than that. Who else has offered him more than 5 100+ the sox may have offered prior? Personally, I don't think Seattle is going to get him. I also believe that boras want's more and thus he is inflating for all the writers to print about what he will get. That 148 Crawford like deal is Boras's baby not any GM that we know of yet. From what the rumors out of the GM meetings that is a lot more than they (Gms) see him going for from what I have read so far. My believe is that Boston could still get him for 110 with an option or maybe even without one (note that is more annual value than what Crawford got but less years). If the Yankees want to share in that revenue return deal this year they won't be going strong after him. That leaves a crap shoot with Boston favored to me.
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Post by Gwell55 on Nov 8, 2013 11:41:36 GMT -5
would love to add Beltran to this lineup. look how smaht he is. Problem with the Beltran deal would be the 16M or so it would cost to sign him plus nap at 14.5M now you have only less than 5 for the catcher. Seems to me this would be just the same as offering a contract to Jake at 100M over 5yr or 6yr than going over this year and cutting in 15 when the kids start being added to the lineup/rotation. While Beltran would be nice the loss of draft pick plus base path tangibles from Jake don't seem to make him adding to last years success as the FO wants to add too. If Jake goes we need to find some speed and base path tangibles somewhere to replace his at least.
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Post by Gwell55 on Nov 4, 2013 10:34:35 GMT -5
I believe the idea is the top three bidders will be available for Tanaka to select which team he prefers to sign with. I don't believe the negotiating will take place after the three top bidders are revealed but rather after Tanaka selects the team he wishes to sign with. Therefore he will only be negotiated with one team. Not certain though. Waiting for clarification. This is accurate, I believe. Tanaka needs to choose one of the top three posting bid teams before he can start negotiating a contract with him, which makes guidas' strategy above impossible (well, unless they use backchannels to impermissibly negotiate with him before he chooses a team, which might plausibly occur). Will or do you think the teams placing bids will have a scout or someone in touch with him before they open the bids talking to him or his agent about what their plans are and "range" of deals that they feel will be their offer if successful? Seems to me that there is a lot of this going to happen off the record with the way the new posting looks like.
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Post by Gwell55 on Nov 2, 2013 23:02:52 GMT -5
My wife wants to know ... Did Peavy's Indian make it on the duckboat?
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Post by Gwell55 on Nov 2, 2013 14:58:17 GMT -5
People here keep dogging on Seattle. That team isn't as bad as some think. That team has a decent rotation. Solid 1-3, with more coming. Very good BP made up of bullet throwers that know how to get the job done. Young and control on the cheap kids, like Kyle Seagar and Mike Saunders. Justin Smoak from August on showed why the Mariners got him in the Cliff Lee deal. It looks like Ibanez wants to retire as a Mariner. Add Ells speed as the only outlay of any negligible amount of cash (other than Felix contract) and this team is as good as either Oakland or Texas in the west. Also a GM who needs to win this season after being very publicly spared the axe. Another look though about Jake that nobody seems to talk about is along with his early ties to the Northwest he also was enamored with Griffey Jr growing up and when Griffey dumped Seattle for not putting a TEAM together for him ... Ellsbury was watching. Seattle couldn't win and the fans throughout all the years are really fickle and people with northwest ties all know this even today. (They still leave in the third inning when they are losing by 2 or less). Ellsbury also in 04 decide Boston and it's fans were the way he wanted to go as his bio states. That tells me that Ellsbury isn't all about the money and I see no love for the Mariners by him stated anywhere.
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Post by Gwell55 on Nov 1, 2013 22:47:53 GMT -5
Ellsbury can talk about wanting to stay in Boston all he wants, loving the town, saying he has really enjoyed the place and saying it's the best place for him and his family to be etc.. The only pertinent fact of the matter, is that Ellsbury dumped his original agent Joe Urban during his rookie season and hired Boras for *1* reason, that being for this very day that is here.. Too extract the most money he can get via FA.. This isn't a Varitek who had Boras all along, even before being drafted.. Ells dumped his original agent to get Boras making his goals known to all. This play is going to be for a money grab, put all words spoken on the trash heap and burn them. If he comes back? It's because Boston gave him the most money and NO other reason. Didn't Jake actually dump Joe when Urbon jumped to CAA Sports! Urbon was from the northwest (Seattle actually) and had a nick for signing bonuses. So I don't think dumping Joe was just about Boras and money.
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Post by Gwell55 on Oct 31, 2013 21:14:20 GMT -5
Stephen Drew was the teams everyday shortstop this year, hitting .253 with 13 HRs and 67 RBIs. He played solid defense, but hit only .111 in the playoffs. He had 9.5 million salary. A QO is approximately 14 million this year, and there is a good chance the Drew could take that. The Sox also have Bogaerts and Middlebrooks lined up at SS and 3B next year, respectively. I don't think the Sox need Drew next year and he isn't worth the risk of a 14 million dollar qualifying offer salary. I think that Middlebrooks has figured it out and will only get better, and Bogaerts is a future superstar. I'm comfortable going into spring training with those guys handling the left side of the infield. Another thing you have to remember in evaluating whether Drew will accept or not is that the Yankees offered him 13M to play 3rd and SS during the absence of Jeter and Arod. He turned it down because he wanted to be straight at SS and then the Yankees signed Youks after that to lend credence to what Drew stated.
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Post by Gwell55 on Oct 31, 2013 13:08:09 GMT -5
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Post by Gwell55 on Oct 29, 2013 21:03:46 GMT -5
It's tomorrow night. Bottom of the 8th, Cards up by 4 runs. Sox load the bases, Ortiz up with 2 out. He's 2 for 3 on the night, with a HR for the only Sox run. Do you walk him? Nope, seems every time they do something like that Naps or who ever is next gets a huge hit and takes the lead for the sox!!!
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Post by Gwell55 on Oct 22, 2013 11:40:27 GMT -5
If the Tigers sign Cano, they either won't keep Cabrera or will have about $120 million locked up in 2019 to four players who are older than 35. Even in total win-now mode I'd be surprised to see them making that kind of commitment. Of course the feeling might be that if they win a couple World Series between now and then, then it doesn't really matter how much they stink in 2019, so I suppose we can't rule it out entirely. Illitch is 84, owns the team and wants a championship badly. 2019 doesn't matter to him. He'll be 90, if he's even alive. I doubt a guy like him is thinking that far ahead. Baseball wise, it doesn't make a lot of sense when put into the terms you've done and if it were any other team, I'd agree. However, considering his age and how bad he seems to want to win, I'm not so sure he cares about the distant future. So your saying in order to get a more constant (in the playoff club) we need to age our owner faster? So why don't you call Ms Henry and get her into more action every night in order to tire him out and age him faster so that we can have a playoff appearance every year for the next 6 or so years? LOL Sounds like a new credible SaberSTAT to test out. Please continue... We could call it WPBOLE (win probability by owners life expectancy).
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Post by Gwell55 on Oct 21, 2013 11:03:50 GMT -5
Norm, I'm no so sure I 100% agree with thisor maybe I do and I'm just misreading. Post season performance can affect a teams decision, in so he instances. It would never take a sting yes and turn it into a no, but if they are unsure then the results in the post season would certainly influence. Especially if they feel something got exposed in the post season. Done thing like, if they felt there were too many all or nothing bats (high K guys, etc) to win a tough series, that could sway things. So all I'm suggesting is post season performances can affect things to a degree. In support of your argument (that post season performance does impact future contracts) I present as evidence Mike Lowell's final contract with the Sox. The problem with this action is players in demand for their position such as Lowell was in 08 and others also, lets say Minnesota's Tori Hunter and others had large increases that year too. Avg OBP SLG OPS OPS+ Hunter .283 .335 .498 .832 118 18 Mil contract till 36 yr old contract Lowell .305 .359 .488 .847 114 12.5 Mil contract till 36 A Jones .242 .337 .471 .809 107 14.7 one yr 31 A Ramirez .300 .358 .555 .913 127 15.75 thru 33 Lowell Got market value so where is the overpay? The injury gamble was the only downfall the team took and we know that NOW was a loss. All the Stats guys on here can argue all they want but the 2 yr prior stats were in line with his contract and other free agents with similar stat. Plus ARod that winter and his opt out and talks of going else were brought him what 6-7 mil more a year.
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Post by Gwell55 on Oct 20, 2013 14:27:57 GMT -5
Also, the importance of starting pitching in playoff baseball continues to be vastly overrated. Kershaw, Verlander and Price will all be golfing next week. But very solid starters plus a lights out pen > starting pitching with mediocre pen ... any part of any season.
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Post by Gwell55 on Oct 18, 2013 10:10:51 GMT -5
god drew has been pathetic At the plate Drew is baddddddd... however last night if Drew doesn't catch that airmailed high and behind him throw from Lester that game changer double play is an error and runs scored. In that game just that pick of a dumb pitcher throw saved the game at the time. Drew's value is high in defense and at the moment abysmal at the plate. But we need him at this time in the series!
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Post by Gwell55 on Oct 18, 2013 0:49:29 GMT -5
Is there any reason to think this is the case? He didn't work last night and the Red Sox have a day off tomorrow. Unless he gives up a baserunner, he'll probably throw less than twenty pitches or so. Uehara did pitch a career-high in innings (as a reliever) this season but he's looked just as effective as he was during that hidden perfect game stretch. I understand the theory, but when the Red Sox are two wins from the World Series, I'm going with the demonstratively better pitcher. I get all this and as I type this Koji has been sitting in the dugout for awhile watching the Sox squander a big scoring opportunity. He's 38 years old. I wonder how many 1.2 IP appearances he makes before it catches up with him.
I don't think it's a stupid move. I just think they could have lightened up his load with an effective Breslow and keep him refreshed for Game 6 and/or Game 7 without jeopardizing the lead as there was nobody on at that point. Well Hopefully he has 5 more and he holds em all down!
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Post by Gwell55 on Oct 17, 2013 16:38:51 GMT -5
If you were Mike Napoli and it turns out the Red Sox had just signed Abreu before game 5 of the ALCS, you'd be pretty pissed, right? Not saying that this played into the Red Sox front office's decisionmaking process at all or that it should, but if I were the player, I would be furious. Reports stated he wouldnt sign for another two weeks so there is plenty of time for teams to jump back in. Also if it was down to the astros, us and white sox an it was a matter of us offering a little less then the others id think he would take that. Also as the quote above me states were in the play offs with Mike Napoli being our 1B who is important to this team an keeping him happy only makes sense right now so we could have a deal in place for all we no an want to keep it quite a couple more weeks. 60 mill over 6 years isnt all that bad. I cant imagine him being worse then 250 avg and 20-25 HRS. We need another power bat wether Napoli is coming back or not. We gain tons of draft picks this offseason letting most our FA's walk and get guys to replace them threw the minors, trades and signings like Jose Abreu. Also are the Sox in need of a DH in about two or three years? Seems to me this could be a tryout guy at first than the new DH when Ortiz is gone. He would fit the Papi and Giambi mold (albeit more expensive) with Carp in the mix I would think with his age and the timeline that the Sox are in right now.
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Post by Gwell55 on Oct 12, 2013 9:56:51 GMT -5
Plus, as has been discussed ad naseum in this thread, the scouting reports that have emerged paint him as a player with lots of power but who lacks the hit tool or the defensive ability to be an elite player. I think you're way off if you think 2013 Mike Napoli is his floor, for instance, or if you think he has a Pujols-esque ceiling. He'll probably get a deal in the $50-60m range, but it's an open question whether he'll be worth that deal. Sounds like this is Will Middlebrooks with a belly. As much as I like to believe these international mystery men are the solutions to all that ails us, its sounding like Abreu isn't going to bring us any more than we can get elsewhere for less commitment. If we take a look at what he did in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, you could by rights claim he is just beneath Cespedes and figure from there with a claim of SSS being the downfall. Either way the guy is going to get 3-30M or 4-40M or higher, when looking at what salaries are up from in 2012.
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Post by Gwell55 on Oct 12, 2013 9:49:39 GMT -5
Would guess that the following players get QOs: BOS - Ellsbury, Saltalamacchia, Napoli, Drew CIN - Choo ATL - McCann KC - Santana MFY - Cano, Granderson, Kuroda STL - Beltran SF - Lincecum SEA - Morales TEX - Cruz Did the Yankees give Kuroda a QO last season? If they did not,why would they do it this season? Because they have NO pitching CC is trending down badly ... Pettite is retired ... Pineda was hurt and to green to know what will happen ... Nova and Hughes aren't that great so who would you want to keep on a one year deal. They need at least to starters and most likely three. They paid Kuroda 15M last year why wouldn't they offer him 14.1 this next year when they need another or even two top tier pitcher is the question?
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Post by Gwell55 on Oct 11, 2013 21:13:29 GMT -5
www.soxprospects.com/players/linares-juan.htm gives J.C. Linares' stats his last three years in Cuba, when he was 22, 23, 24. He basically had a 1000 OPS for three years, with OBP 430-460, and was called "a natural center fielder." Pretty sobering. Ya, 750,000 doesn't buy much out of Cuba does it! What did Iglesias get 2 million a year for what 4yrs?
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Post by Gwell55 on Oct 10, 2013 12:00:47 GMT -5
I don't really see how the MLB can "get with the times" without having constant instant replays and slowing the game down even more. Umpires are a human element that has always affected the game and always will. Games were won by blown calls in 1930, they should be in 2030, that's just part of the game. There's not that many plays worthy of instant replay during a game, and such plays usually entail a delay while a manager (or managers) run onto the field to discuss/argue the matter with the umpires. In Game 3 of the Sox/Rays series, Berry got thrown out stealing at 2nd but he was ruled safe. There was no replay, yet the game was still delayed because Maddon ran onto the field and argued for a while. So the call was wrong AND the game was slowed down. Just have a dedicated replay umpire or have a central MLB replay location (like in the NHL). When a play needs replay, the booth looks at the play and tells the umpire the ruling. Any managers who go onto the field to argue are automatically ejected, and if they continue to argue they are suspended extra games, with escalating penalties for repeat offenders. However baseball is not played by robots... If a manager runs out on a field and protects his players and sparks them by such a attitude is NOT bad for baseball and is in fact part of the game. And such the rules and manager going on the field with your review calls such as with Berry the manager could then scream just as loud at the umpire as he feels that the ball wasn't there when the base was blocked causing obstruction by the infielder (not saying what the ruling is according to rule 7) but the manager does have that right to yell and scream and throw his hands up at those calls either way! Now your going to take his rights away too! That ain't baseball that is Roboball or something else not related to our game!
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Post by Gwell55 on Oct 9, 2013 20:08:09 GMT -5
One cannot stop Mookie. One can only hope to contain him. And he doesn't look no 5-9" and 156 in that picture of Law's either... So he is bigger than petey? ![???](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/huh.png) ? don't look it! Mightymouse
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Post by Gwell55 on Oct 9, 2013 16:23:51 GMT -5
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Post by Gwell55 on Oct 2, 2013 19:16:21 GMT -5
I'm not signing Napoli for more than 3 years, and even then, not at more than 12 per. I prefer him on a 1-year, 15 mil contract. I prefer that to a completely unproven guy for 6 years at 12+ per, but the 3-yr vs 6-yr are close IMHO. However we think, the Sox had Napoli at 3-39 last year and he proved his worth this year. I believe they will now do a 3-39 with him and he appears to be worth that. They might even give him a bonus to up the ante a little if need be. I'd be Ok with that too.
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