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Post by ryantoworkman on Jan 25, 2016 13:46:07 GMT -5
That's nice that it looks better than the giants or royals. How does it stack up versus the division? I don't see how losing draft picks (assuming that's the compensation) is a good idea in order to spend big bucks to sign players who have already seen their best days. That's a recipe for trouble. The Sox are going to go on without Ortiz and I think they've done a good job planning for his absence. I can see the Sox lacking some power in 2017, but I don't think it's a major long-term issue. If Sam Travis rakes then you're essentially replacing Ortiz's bat with Sam Travis' bat as Hanley shifts to DH. Eventually Benintendi, Moncada, and down the road Devers become part of the core of the Red Sox. I think eventually Bogaerts becomes a power hitter, possibly as soon as this year. I think Benintendi will be able to top 20 homers per year, and there's a reasonable chance Devers becomes a middle-of-the order threat, and I'll be really interested to see what becomes of Moncada this year. He's a strong kid. I'm not convinced at all that he doesn't hit more than 12 - 15 homers per year. There's also Shaw's power if Travis isn't ready for prime time next year. I just don't see why the Sox have to play Bautista out of position for big bucks and a draft pick or a sign a veteran Teixeira on his downside and surrender that draft pick. If I'm the Red Sox and I have money to spend, I spend it on front line pitching. Of course if the Sox are going for the home run, then get ready to spend at least $300 million on Bryce Harper after the 2018 season. I'm largely in agreement with this thinking. I see Swihart needing a spot once Vazquez shows ready to be the #1 guy again. I see that spot as one of the corner IF positions, and that would preclude a name signing. I'm also of the opinion they don't need to replace Ortiz 1 for 1. The maturing roster will provide the power lost by his retirement. Betts, Bogaerts, Shaw, Swihart, Bradley, and Castillo could all be expected to see their power numbers rise by 2017. The kids listed above, along with Vazquez, Holt, ERod and Kelly are going to get expensive by 2018/19. It's not in their best interest to tie up $25M for a bat that likely will never achieve their historic norms again.
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Sam Travis
Jan 25, 2016 15:39:38 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by telson13 on Jan 25, 2016 15:39:38 GMT -5
I hope I'm wrong, but Sam Travis seems like a Dave Stapleton type player. Hopefully that's his floor. Not sure who would compare to his ceiling. Gee I hope not. I remember Stapleton having a fluky good rookie year hitting .321 and then declining every year afterward until he became utterly useless. He had a very strange career. I'd like to think that Travis has a better hit tool, one that should help him put up better numbers more consistently. I think he'll be a .280ish hitter with good doubles power, a guy who can hit 40 doubles per year and hit 15 homers per year, which isn't bad in this era of offense. Yeah, that's almost exactly how I envision him: .280, maybe with a few Lowell/Youk fluky years where he's in the .310-.320 range with 25 HR. But usually closer to 15-20 HR, 30-40 2b (especially if he stays with the Sox and gets to pelt the Monster), nice BB rate that keeps his OBPs up in the .340-.350 range. Kind of a Carlos Quintana only with more power. I think Travis should be able to keep his OPS north of .800 more often than not. Not great, but certainly serviceable as a low-cost option. I'm pretty confident that Betts can put up a fair number of .320/.400/.500 seasons, and Bogaerts some .300/.360/.500 or so seasons...having that sort of offensive output from SS especially, but a defensively-talented CF/RF means they can "sacrifice" it elsewhere, even at 1b, and especially when the sacrifice should be fairly small. In two years, Benintendi and Moncada should be up and Devers knocking. That's three more AS-upside (if not elite-upside) hitters with solid-to-better expected defense. I just don't see room for a guy like Bautista unless Hanley HAS to DH and they can get a two-year deal. Tough to say, but with Betts, Bogaerts, JBJ, Ramirez, Sandoval, Swihart, and Benintendi/Moncada/Devers, I can see a lineup chock full of, as mentioned, 15-25 HR hitters, a number of who hit close to, or over, .300, with speed and defense. An offense like that doesn't "need" more power, especially if their pitching is where they spend their "extra" $. I'm also doubtful that they pursue Strasburg (the performance/$ ratio there doesn't look great, particularly with his injury history), but at some point they're going to need more pitching. Buchholz has two option years left, and Kelly has three years of control. Owens and Johnson may (hopefully) get their shots, and I think Rodriguez becomes a bona-fide 1a or at least a 2, but Price is likely to start a slow decline and Espinoza will probably just be debuting. And, the bullpen is going to thin out, losing Koji after this year in all likelihood, and Kimbrel after 3. Given the exhorbitant price of pitching these days, it's going to take $25M to fill the Buchholz/Koji holes. That leaves a lot less wiggle room, with the young guys entering arb/looking for extensions. I'd prefer to see them develop from within, spread the 15HR/40 RBI difference (from Ortiz to Travis) around the lineup as their younger players mature and improve, and maintain some financial flexibility to plug holes as they work in the next wave and try to keep the current young core intact.
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jimoh
Veteran
Posts: 4,123
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Post by jimoh on Jan 25, 2016 16:19:55 GMT -5
[...] I'm pretty confident that Betts can put up a fair number of .320/.400/.500 seasons, and Bogaerts some .300/.360/.500 or so seasons...having that sort of offensive output from SS especially, but a defensively-talented CF/RF means they can "sacrifice" it elsewhere, even at 1b, and especially when the sacrifice should be fairly small. [...] Another way of looking at that is to say that if your 1b is below average, you give away some of the advantage you might have gained from your above-average SS and CF, like when the 2000 Sox had a 1.033 OPS SS and a 764 OPS 1b.
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Post by jimed14 on Jan 25, 2016 16:37:46 GMT -5
I hope I'm wrong, but Sam Travis seems like a Dave Stapleton type player. Hopefully that's his floor. Not sure who would compare to his ceiling. He seems like a prospect who is doing well with a potential 60 hit tool or way more than Dave Stapleton.
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Jan 25, 2016 16:53:14 GMT -5
Gee I hope not. I remember Stapleton having a fluky good rookie year hitting .321 and then declining every year afterward until he became utterly useless. He had a very strange career. I'd like to think that Travis has a better hit tool, one that should help him put up better numbers more consistently. I think he'll be a .280ish hitter with good doubles power, a guy who can hit 40 doubles per year and hit 15 homers per year, which isn't bad in this era of offense. Yeah, that's almost exactly how I envision him: .280, maybe with a few Lowell/Youk fluky years where he's in the .310-.320 range with 25 HR. But usually closer to 15-20 HR, 30-40 2b (especially if he stays with the Sox and gets to pelt the Monster), nice BB rate that keeps his OBPs up in the .340-.350 range. Kind of a Carlos Quintana only with more power. I think Travis should be able to keep his OPS north of .800 more often than not. Not great, but certainly serviceable as a low-cost option. I'm pretty confident that Betts can put up a fair number of .320/.400/.500 seasons, and Bogaerts some .300/.360/.500 or so seasons...having that sort of offensive output from SS especially, but a defensively-talented CF/RF means they can "sacrifice" it elsewhere, even at 1b, and especially when the sacrifice should be fairly small. In two years, Benintendi and Moncada should be up and Devers knocking. That's three more AS-upside (if not elite-upside) hitters with solid-to-better expected defense. I just don't see room for a guy like Bautista unless Hanley HAS to DH and they can get a two-year deal. Tough to say, but with Betts, Bogaerts, JBJ, Ramirez, Sandoval, Swihart, and Benintendi/Moncada/Devers, I can see a lineup chock full of, as mentioned, 15-25 HR hitters, a number of who hit close to, or over, .300, with speed and defense. An offense like that doesn't "need" more power, especially if their pitching is where they spend their "extra" $. I'm also doubtful that they pursue Strasburg (the performance/$ ratio there doesn't look great, particularly with his injury history), but at some point they're going to need more pitching. Buchholz has two option years left, and Kelly has three years of control. Owens and Johnson may (hopefully) get their shots, and I think Rodriguez becomes a bona-fide 1a or at least a 2, but Price is likely to start a slow decline and Espinoza will probably just be debuting. And, the bullpen is going to thin out, losing Koji after this year in all likelihood, and Kimbrel after 3. Given the exhorbitant price of pitching these days, it's going to take $25M to fill the Buchholz/Koji holes. That leaves a lot less wiggle room, with the young guys entering arb/looking for extensions. I'd prefer to see them develop from within, spread the 15HR/40 RBI difference (from Ortiz to Travis) around the lineup as their younger players mature and improve, and maintain some financial flexibility to plug holes as they work in the next wave and try to keep the current young core intact. Funny you mentioned Carlos Quintana. I was thinking more of him circa 1990 and 1991 than Dave Stapleton. Quintana, before he had his accident, was a .290ish hitter with about 10 home run power. I can see Travis doing that with more power than that and a lot of doubles. I don't know that he's an OBP machine - and I'd be pleasantly surprised if he had some fluky .310 years, but I like him and think he's better than he's getting credit for. He's a downgrade from Big Papi but I don't think he'll necessarily be below league average as a 1b if he hits the way I think he can hit. If he does what you think, he'd be in the top third of the league. I do agree that the Sox have some very intriguing hitters coming up in the next few years, and they will pick up a lot of the slack at some point.
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Post by James Dunne on Jan 25, 2016 17:50:54 GMT -5
Quintana was a legit MLB starter in 1990-91. B-Ref has him at 3.3 WAR per 650 plate appearances during that stretch. That's roughly how valuable Kevin Millar was in 2004 and Mike Napoli is in 2013. So, not a star or a player you can build a team around, but as a low-cost option to complement a core with a few stars? That would certainly be the sort of player you could win with. And that's about the player I think Travis will be.
And again, it's worth noting that he will only be 22 for almost the entirety of the 2016 campaign. I know he doesn't have a profile that screams projectability, but he's been pretty age advanced.
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Post by jmei on Jan 25, 2016 19:08:45 GMT -5
I don't think he'll ever be much more than a 1B-only averagish starter, but, as has been mentioned, those guys are useful. If we're throwing around comps, the optimistic high-end projection I'd throw on him is Billy Butler with better defense-- career .290/.355/.442 hitter (115 wRC+) with a 8.9% walk rate, 14.7% strikeout rate and a .152 ISO (18 home runs, 38 doubles per 600 PAs). Travis has middling power for a first baseman, but I think he is likely to have more power than Quintana (career .086 ISO, no season higher than .117) and a different profile than Stapleton (who was a low-strikeout utility player).
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Sam Travis
Jan 25, 2016 19:31:57 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by telson13 on Jan 25, 2016 19:31:57 GMT -5
I don't think he'll ever be much more than a 1B-only averagish starter, but, as has been mentioned, those guys are useful. If we're throwing around comps, the optimistic high-end projection I'd throw on him is Billy Butler with better defense-- career .290/.355/.442 hitter (115 wRC+) with a 8.9% walk rate, 14.7% strikeout rate and a .152 ISO (18 home runs, 38 doubles per 600 PAs). Travis has middling power for a first baseman, but I think he is likely to have more power than Quintana (career .086 ISO, no season higher than .117) and a different profile than Stapleton (who was a low-strikeout utility player). I like the Butler comp, too...although I think Travis (based on his performance so far) will be able to produce a slightly higher BB rate. He probably won't be what Quintana was defensively. But Butler is almost exactly who I envisioned as Quintana with more power (15 HR/35BB vs 10/25). Regardless, at only 22, I think Travis has some improvement ahead of him, and I think his high-A to AA and AFL transition suggests that he has a chance to be a nice complementary piece. Those guys are highly underrated...Marrero is another. He may never hit much, but his glove is outstanding. Young cost-controlled players like that save $2M here and $5M there...that adds up.
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Post by James Dunne on Jan 25, 2016 19:47:46 GMT -5
Butler with better defense might be optimistic. From age 23 to 26, Butler hit .306/.371/.483 and averaged 64 extra-base hits a year. That's a first-division starter - basically Brandon Belt's healthy seasons.
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Post by jmei on Jan 25, 2016 20:18:22 GMT -5
Yeah, I definitely don't mean peak Butler, who was a very underrated offensive player.
It's hard to walk a lot without plus power. Of the 30 players with a 10%+ walk rate over the last three years (min. 1500 PAs), only four had a sub-.150 ISO (Dexter Fowler, Joe Mauer, Ben Zobrist, Jason Heyward). I think that will limit his walk rate somewhat.
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jimoh
Veteran
Posts: 4,123
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Post by jimoh on Jan 25, 2016 20:33:34 GMT -5
Butler with better defense might be optimistic. From age 23 to 26, Butler hit .306/.371/.483 and averaged 64 extra-base hits a year. That's a first-division starter - basically Brandon Belt's healthy seasons. Butler was a #14 pick who spent his age 19 season in A (mostly) and AA and hit 30 hrs. When he was the age Sam Travis was last year (when Sam was in A and AA), he hit 21 hrs, 8 of them in Kansas City.
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Post by James Dunne on Jan 25, 2016 22:04:30 GMT -5
So the difference (in terms of age advancement) is that Butler signed out of high school. If Travis has a big year he could easily be in the majors. He went from his original signing to Double-A in a calendar year.
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Post by telson13 on Jan 26, 2016 0:04:24 GMT -5
[...] I'm pretty confident that Betts can put up a fair number of .320/.400/.500 seasons, and Bogaerts some .300/.360/.500 or so seasons...having that sort of offensive output from SS especially, but a defensively-talented CF/RF means they can "sacrifice" it elsewhere, even at 1b, and especially when the sacrifice should be fairly small. [...] Another way of looking at that is to say that if your 1b is below average, you give away some of the advantage you might have gained from your above-average SS and CF, like when the 2000 Sox had a 1.033 OPS SS and a 764 OPS 1b. Absolutely true. But it's probably more important to eliminate any glaring holes than it is, necessarily, to have elite players at a couple of positions and lack of depth elsewhere. Having two well-above-average players at SS and RF/CF makes an average to slightly below-avg even 1b palatable *if* it creates value elsewhere, eg saving money that's used for long-term extensions or improving more significant holes elsewhere. There is a financial limit, even for the Red Sox. If they can save $15-20M per year at 1b by playing Travis instead of Bautista, it makes sense provided that money is used wisely elsewhere (not to mention saving the draft pick). That includes future considerations, such as possibly having $35M a year to throw at Bryce Harper once Ramirez's contract is running out, IF they deemed that a reasonable risk. A team of 2-WAR starters, 2-WAR SPs, and a 2-WAR closer is at 30 wins before adding in the bench and rest of the bullpen. Add a 5-WAR #1, and 5-WAR SS and RF, and you're at 39. A solid bench puts you around 45-48 at least. Signing a big bopper like Bautista makes sense as long as that money isn't needed to keep your 5-WAR players or maintain the depth of your 5 WAR remaining bullpen or 5-WAR bench. Getting the marginal value of 2-3 wins at $20M and a draft pick is a tough sell already...it's even tougher if that $20M loses you quality at another/several other positions. I still contend that most great teams are great not because of their superstars, but because they have depth and few glaring holes. Huge salaries to aging players create holes (see: Panda and Ramirez, 2015) due to the impetus to recoup value.
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Post by dirtywater43 on Jan 26, 2016 6:40:37 GMT -5
That's nice that it looks better than the giants or royals. How does it stack up versus the division? I don't see how losing draft picks (assuming that's the compensation) is a good idea in order to spend big bucks to sign players who have already seen their best days. That's a recipe for trouble. The Sox are going to go on without Ortiz and I think they've done a good job planning for his absence. I can see the Sox lacking some power in 2017, but I don't think it's a major long-term issue. If Sam Travis rakes then you're essentially replacing Ortiz's bat with Sam Travis' bat as Hanley shifts to DH. Eventually Benintendi, Moncada, and down the road Devers become part of the core of the Red Sox. I think eventually Bogaerts becomes a power hitter, possibly as soon as this year. I think Benintendi will be able to top 20 homers per year, and there's a reasonable chance Devers becomes a middle-of-the order threat, and I'll be really interested to see what becomes of Moncada this year. He's a strong kid. I'm not convinced at all that he doesn't hit more than 12 - 15 homers per year. There's also Shaw's power if Travis isn't ready for prime time next year. I just don't see why the Sox have to play Bautista out of position for big bucks and a draft pick or a sign a veteran Teixeira on his downside and surrender that draft pick. If I'm the Red Sox and I have money to spend, I spend it on front line pitching. Of course if the Sox are going for the home run, then get ready to spend at least $300 million on Bryce Harper after the 2018 season. You can almost book Bryce Harper in a yankees uniform in three years. If there is a power shortage then that is a major problem. Players like Tulo, Donaldson, Machado, Chris Davis, and Adam Jones are all in the division the next 3 years. Who knows who the yankees start signing once their payroll starts clearing out with Sabathia, Texaira, Arod, and Beltran all retire or leave. The Sox have done nothing yet to plan for Ortiz's absence in the lineup. The Sox best hope if they don't sign anyone is that Benintendi is another left handed version of Mookie and he flies through the system and provides some instant power and speed in the 2017 team. Maybe Moncada can do the same. Sam Travis is not a replacement by any standards. He'll be a number 6 or 7 hitter in a good lineup. Xander doesn't have any present game power at the moment. Maybe it comes soon, but you can't bank on it yet. Hoping for all those things to come true is a dream. The Sox should be competitive in 2016, so losing a number 20+ pick for a guy like Bautista isn't a big deal. Texeira might not even be offered the qualifying offer because the yankees might not want to even offer it to him because they might be afraid he accepts it. The Sox plan to replace Ortiz in the lineup will come next off-season. Hopefully they go after the right guy like a Bautista. His swing is built for Fenway, his versatility is an asset. That's the first guy I'm going after if I'm the Sox next off-season.
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Post by dirtywater43 on Jan 26, 2016 6:58:19 GMT -5
Hopefully Pablo and Castillo can retain some value this year so the Sox can trade them. If the Sox trade one of those two guys next year (if not both), their payroll can be in even better shape.
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Post by dirtywater43 on Jan 26, 2016 7:08:06 GMT -5
I don't even want the Sox to target Bryce Harper in 3 years.
Give me one of Jose Fernandez or Manny Machado.
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Post by jimed14 on Jan 26, 2016 7:45:24 GMT -5
Yeah, I definitely don't mean peak Butler, who was a very underrated offensive player. It's hard to walk a lot without plus power. Of the 30 players with a 10%+ walk rate over the last three years (min. 1500 PAs), only four had a sub-.150 ISO (Dexter Fowler, Joe Mauer, Ben Zobrist, Jason Heyward). I think that will limit his walk rate somewhat. Well his K-rate is heading in the right direction. As long as he doesn't sell out his contact for power and not find power (like Cecchini did), I think he'll walk enough. With a good contact rate, you can foul off a lot of pitches like Pedroia does. I agree that it's much more difficult without the power.
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Post by James Dunne on Jan 26, 2016 9:58:58 GMT -5
Yeah, I definitely don't mean peak Butler, who was a very underrated offensive player. It's hard to walk a lot without plus power. Of the 30 players with a 10%+ walk rate over the last three years (min. 1500 PAs), only four had a sub-.150 ISO (Dexter Fowler, Joe Mauer, Ben Zobrist, Jason Heyward). I think that will limit his walk rate somewhat. You're saying he's a... Zobrist type!!! But yeah I agree with this fully. He'll probably need a bit more power or he'll walk a bit less. It's not impossible to do it but it's hard to count on. If he had that power, though, he'd be a Top-100 prospect and a more realistic projection as a first division starter. He's in the next tier of prospects because there are both a lot of reasons to like him and a lot to be skeptical.
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Jan 26, 2016 14:09:44 GMT -5
I don't see how losing draft picks (assuming that's the compensation) is a good idea in order to spend big bucks to sign players who have already seen their best days. That's a recipe for trouble. The Sox are going to go on without Ortiz and I think they've done a good job planning for his absence. I can see the Sox lacking some power in 2017, but I don't think it's a major long-term issue. If Sam Travis rakes then you're essentially replacing Ortiz's bat with Sam Travis' bat as Hanley shifts to DH. Eventually Benintendi, Moncada, and down the road Devers become part of the core of the Red Sox. I think eventually Bogaerts becomes a power hitter, possibly as soon as this year. I think Benintendi will be able to top 20 homers per year, and there's a reasonable chance Devers becomes a middle-of-the order threat, and I'll be really interested to see what becomes of Moncada this year. He's a strong kid. I'm not convinced at all that he doesn't hit more than 12 - 15 homers per year. There's also Shaw's power if Travis isn't ready for prime time next year. I just don't see why the Sox have to play Bautista out of position for big bucks and a draft pick or a sign a veteran Teixeira on his downside and surrender that draft pick. If I'm the Red Sox and I have money to spend, I spend it on front line pitching. Of course if the Sox are going for the home run, then get ready to spend at least $300 million on Bryce Harper after the 2018 season. You can almost book Bryce Harper in a yankees uniform in three years. If there is a power shortage then that is a major problem. Players like Tulo, Donaldson, Machado, Chris Davis, and Adam Jones are all in the division the next 3 years. Who knows who the yankees start signing once their payroll starts clearing out with Sabathia, Texaira, Arod, and Beltran all retire or leave. The Sox have done nothing yet to plan for Ortiz's absence in the lineup. The Sox best hope if they don't sign anyone is that Benintendi is another left handed version of Mookie and he flies through the system and provides some instant power and speed in the 2017 team. Maybe Moncada can do the same. Sam Travis is not a replacement by any standards. He'll be a number 6 or 7 hitter in a good lineup. Xander doesn't have any present game power at the moment. Maybe it comes soon, but you can't bank on it yet. Hoping for all those things to come true is a dream. The Sox should be competitive in 2016, so losing a number 20+ pick for a guy like Bautista isn't a big deal. Texeira might not even be offered the qualifying offer because the yankees might not want to even offer it to him because they might be afraid he accepts it. The Sox plan to replace Ortiz in the lineup will come next off-season. Hopefully they go after the right guy like a Bautista. His swing is built for Fenway, his versatility is an asset. That's the first guy I'm going after if I'm the Sox next off-season. I do agree that you can "book" Bryce Harper in a Yankees uniform in 3 years, although if it's not the Yankees, it could be the Dodgers. While like just about everybody else I'd like to see the Sox chase Harper, I wouldn't count on them landing Harper. I do think some of the moves they make for then will depend upon if Price exercises his option or not. But whether they get Harper or not, he's hardly the only big free agent on that market. If the Sox need a bat by then, I'm sure they'll get one. They might decide they need a big-time pitcher to either partner up with Price or replace Price with. You still haven't addressed where Bautista plays. He's not a 1b. If the Sox get somebody from Toronto it will be the lefthanded Encarnacion, but that would force Hanley back to 1b which could be detrimental or perhaps not even an option come 2017. As far as Teixeira goes, he's been pretty injury riddled in the past few years, is advancing in age, and at this point, probably is not a huge fan of the Red Sox organization. I wouldn't count on him being the answer either. I don't know that Teixeira is a lot better than Sam Travis in 2017 and I doubt he'd be better in 2018 and beyond. I feel pretty good projecting that between Bogaerts, Benintendi, and Moncada, that the Sox should be able to make up a good chunk of those home runs. The fact of the matter is that while power is a good thing, the Sox should have plenty of speed in the lineup and should be able to hit and get on-base and should be able to score runs rather than sitting back and waiting for the home run. The Sox could get caught a little short in the power dept in 2017, but in the long run, at some point, you play the kids and let them develop. It's not a guarantee, but clogging up your payroll with veterans who have seen their best days isn't the best way to go about things, and if the Sox are going to punt a 1st round pick, they better get a good deal of value for it - I just don't think messing up the defense by signing a vet on the downside of his career makes a lot of sense. I'm also of the opinion that the Sox, if they believe in these kids, need to commit to them and give them a chance, and that includes potential struggles, too. I know rookies don't always play up to their potential, but there are plenty of cases where rookies hit the ground running and can be at least league average.
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Post by sox fan in nc on Jan 26, 2016 14:13:36 GMT -5
Hopefully Pablo and Castillo can retain some value this year so the Sox can trade them. If the Sox trade one of those two guys next year (if not both), their payroll can be in even better shape. Pablo has a LONG way to go to be worth his salary. If he does improve, we'll still need probably another year until Moncada or Devers is ready maybe by summer of 2017 (unless Shaw can duplicate 2015). I can see moving Castillo if he becomes worth his salary as AB (or Moncada) should be ready by 2017. Chris Young is signed thru 2017 so we may as well keep Rusney as our 4th OF after next year. All that said, if Pablo improves to be even close to his salary & we could move him after 2016, I'd do it.
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Sam Travis
Jan 26, 2016 15:09:06 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by dirtywater43 on Jan 26, 2016 15:09:06 GMT -5
"You still haven't addressed where Bautista plays. He's not a 1b. If the Sox get somebody from Toronto it will be the lefthanded Encarnacion, but that would force Hanley back to 1b which could be detrimental or perhaps not even an option come 2017."
Well I doubt that the Sox get Encanarcion because of Hanley and Edwin is a right handed batter.
As for punting the pick, Dave Dombrowski was willing to do that to sign Zach Greinke if the Sox didn't land Price. He'll definitely do it to land a Bautista, especially if it's a number 20+ pick. As for which position he'll play. He'll probably be the RF for a year or half a year until one of Benintendi or Moncada is ready in the outfield, then he probably transitions to 1B. He has been transitioning their in the past year, I think the blue jays are trying to save his legs.
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Post by sox fan in nc on Jan 26, 2016 15:33:29 GMT -5
"You still haven't addressed where Bautista plays. He's not a 1b. If the Sox get somebody from Toronto it will be the lefthanded Encarnacion, but that would force Hanley back to 1b which could be detrimental or perhaps not even an option come 2017." Well I doubt that the Sox get Encanarcion because of Hanley and Edwin is a right handed batter. As for punting the pick, Dave Dombrowski was willing to do that to sign Zach Greinke if the Sox didn't land Price. He'll definitely do it to land a Bautista, especially if it's a number 20+ pick. As for which position he'll play. He'll probably be the RF for a year or half a year until one of Benintendi or Moncada is ready in the outfield, then he probably transitions to 1B. He has been transitioning their in the past year, I think the blue jays are trying to save his legs. I don't see them "saving" his legs this year as they know he'll walk after the year. Bautista would hit 55 hr's playing 81 games in Fenway. That would be like Ortiz (when he was 36) in Yankee Stadium.
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Post by jimed14 on Jan 26, 2016 15:34:18 GMT -5
"You still haven't addressed where Bautista plays. He's not a 1b. If the Sox get somebody from Toronto it will be the lefthanded Encarnacion, but that would force Hanley back to 1b which could be detrimental or perhaps not even an option come 2017." Well I doubt that the Sox get Encanarcion because of Hanley and Edwin is a right handed batter. As for punting the pick, Dave Dombrowski was willing to do that to sign Zach Greinke if the Sox didn't land Price. He'll definitely do it to land a Bautista, especially if it's a number 20+ pick. As for which position he'll play. He'll probably be the RF for a year or half a year until one of Benintendi or Moncada is ready in the outfield, then he probably transitions to 1B. He has been transitioning their in the past year, I think the blue jays are trying to save his legs. I don't see them "saving" his legs this year as they know he'll walk after the year. Bautista would hit 55 hr's playing 81 games in Fenway. That would be like Ortiz (when he was 36) in Yankee Stadium. Or like Ortiz playing in Toronto.
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Sam Travis
Jan 26, 2016 16:08:01 GMT -5
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Post by dirtywater43 on Jan 26, 2016 16:08:01 GMT -5
Hopefully Pablo and Castillo can retain some value this year so the Sox can trade them. If the Sox trade one of those two guys next year (if not both), their payroll can be in even better shape. Pablo has a LONG way to go to be worth his salary. If he does improve, we'll still need probably another year until Moncada or Devers is ready maybe by summer of 2017 (unless Shaw can duplicate 2015). I can see moving Castillo if he becomes worth his salary as AB (or Moncada) should be ready by 2017. Chris Young is signed thru 2017 so we may as well keep Rusney as our 4th OF after next year. All that said, if Pablo improves to be even close to his salary & we could move him after 2016, I'd do it. Well Pablo will be at 3 for 19 million a year. For a team desperate at third base, that isn't terrible. The Sox might have to throw 6 million maybe but that's not terrible.
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Sam Travis
Jan 26, 2016 17:28:47 GMT -5
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Post by dirtywater43 on Jan 26, 2016 17:28:47 GMT -5
"You still haven't addressed where Bautista plays. He's not a 1b. If the Sox get somebody from Toronto it will be the lefthanded Encarnacion, but that would force Hanley back to 1b which could be detrimental or perhaps not even an option come 2017." Well I doubt that the Sox get Encanarcion because of Hanley and Edwin is a right handed batter. As for punting the pick, Dave Dombrowski was willing to do that to sign Zach Greinke if the Sox didn't land Price. He'll definitely do it to land a Bautista, especially if it's a number 20+ pick. As for which position he'll play. He'll probably be the RF for a year or half a year until one of Benintendi or Moncada is ready in the outfield, then he probably transitions to 1B. He has been transitioning their in the past year, I think the blue jays are trying to save his legs. I don't see them "saving" his legs this year as they know he'll walk after the year. Bautista would hit 55 hr's playing 81 games in Fenway. That would be like Ortiz (when he was 36) in Yankee Stadium. Depends if Bautista gets "dinked" up down the stretch. If he pulls a quad or a hamstring in the middle of the year, I could see the jays putting him at first down the stretch when they are desperate to win and they need his bat in the lineup.
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