AL East Player Rankings by Position

[ChongInc.]

Hardy > jeter
Without contract concideration A-rod > Lawrie/machado
The top 3 LF are all interchangeable and about equal IMO.

[Bombtista]

Hardy > jeter
Without contract concideration A-rod > Lawrie/machado
The top 3 LF are all interchangeable and about equal IMO.

wait, what?

[PeterH]

^yes i definitely have the same reaction

[PeterH]

especially with a-rods hip. and either i didnt go to grade 3 and didnt learn this, or that ">" actually means greater than. And in which case i do need to see an argument that hardy is better than jeter. because there is no way im reading that right.

[phillipmike]

Looks like we are adding Napoli to the Red Sox.

[The Analyst]

Looks like we are adding Napoli to the Red Sox.

I don't have a lot of faith in Napoli's health and/or ability to put together a good full season. The season that he played the most games (2010) was the year he posted his lowest career OPS. Also, 3 years $39M seems a little steep for a 31-year old who had one great second half and an otherwise unnoticeable 7-year career. From a Jays perspective, I like this move. It's a serious downgrade from A-Gon.

[nithanyo]

wait, what?

Considering Arod missed almost 2 months and still managed .272 with 18 hrs I Definetly don't think he's the worst third baseman in the AL east.

[Talick]

Considering Arod missed almost 2 months and still managed .272 with 18 hrs I Definetly don't think he's the worst third baseman in the AL east.

You know who else put up his numbers, while missing almost two months of baseball? Brett Lawrie. You know who put up similar power numbers in just over two months of baseball at the age of 23? Will Middlebrooks. Machado is a elite prospect bound for a breakout year eventually.

All these things considered, 18 home runs in 122 games isn't outstanding for a power hitting 3B. And you can't talk about avg. and less play time in the same sentence and expect to make a favourable argument out of it.

The East has 4 other outstanding 3B. Arod is 36 and already on the decline...dude wet the bed at the end of the season, so it is quite possible he will be the worst.

[Bombtista]

Considering Arod missed almost 2 months and still managed .272 with 18 hrs I Definetly don't think he's the worst third baseman in the AL east.

While hitting .272 has absolutely no relevance to the amount of games he played the only thing he has on Machado and Lawrie is more power. And thats going to decline from here on out likely. He might hit more if he stays healthy but hes already uncertain to be ready next season.

I think he is the worst 3B when his competetion is Longoria, Lawrie, Machado, Middlebrooks

[WoodsyRaps]

While hitting .272 has absolutely no relevance to the amount of games he played the only thing he has on Machado and Lawrie is more power. And thats going to decline from here on out likely. He might hit more if he stays healthy but hes already uncertain to be ready next season.

I think he is the worst 3B when his competetion is Longoria, Lawrie, Machado, Middlebrooks

not to mention that A-Rod is gone for half the season at least after undergoig hip surgery. Not expected back til june or July and who knows how he will bounce back from a major surgery at his age...

[Towelie]

I don't have a lot of faith in Napoli's health and/or ability to put together a good full season. The season that he played the most games (2010) was the year he posted his lowest career OPS. Also, 3 years $39M seems a little steep for a 31-year old who had one great second half and an otherwise unnoticeable 7-year career. From a Jays perspective, I like this move. It's a serious downgrade from A-Gon.

Considering Napoli will be a 1B first not a catcher this is why he will be playing more games. In 2010 he played the most games but again full time Catcher. It's pretty rare for a catcher to get 500 AB's. He will playing 1st, other wise the Sox have 3 catchers on the roster right now.

One great second half?!? He's been a 2+ WAR guy every year but one! Career OPS of .863 but with only one good half! Thats a joke. Agon is a career .877 OPS btw, with a much, much larger contract for much longer. 1 year younger only.

[riderfan60]

Considering Napoli will be a 1B first not a catcher this is why he will be playing more games. In 2010 he played the most games but again full time Catcher. It's pretty rare for a catcher to get 500 AB's. He will playing 1st, other wise the Sox have 3 catchers on the roster right now.

One great second half?!? He's been a 2+ WAR guy every year but one! Career OPS of .863 but with only one good half! Thats a joke. Agon is a career .877 OPS btw, with a much, much larger contract for much longer. 1 year younger only.

I gotta agree. I think Napoli will be a great pickup for you guys.

[OptiMized]

not to mention that A-Rod is gone for half the season at least after undergoig hip surgery. Not expected back til june or July and who knows how he will bounce back from a major surgery at his age...

i've seen some reports he could be ready for camp, same reports bobcat just talked about on his show. I hope he misses time though.

[jaysfan4ever]

Considering Napoli will be a 1B first not a catcher this is why he will be playing more games. In 2010 he played the most games but again full time Catcher. It's pretty rare for a catcher to get 500 AB's. He will playing 1st, other wise the Sox have 3 catchers on the roster right now.

One great second half?!? He's been a 2+ WAR guy every year but one! Career OPS of .863 but with only one good half! Thats a joke. Agon is a career .877 OPS btw, with a much, much larger contract for much longer. 1 year younger only.

Yeah, a career OPS of .863, mostly as a catcher is RIDICULOUS, and there's no real home-away split either. By comparison, that's second behind Joe Mauer's career OPS of .873, and much higher than Victor Martinez's .840. Dude's also a right-handed flyball-heavy pull-hitter staring straight at the Green Monster. He's gonna RAKE at Fenway and he'll slot in at catcher some nights too. Interestingly enough, David Ross is a flyball-heavy pull-hitting catcher, so the catching-first base situation is well-set in Boston. Could be huge value for the Red Sox, much better than a Laroche signing imo.

What else do you see the Red Sox doing this offseason? I'm counting $80M saved by chucking Crawford, Gonzalez, Beckett, Youkilis and Dice-K and only $18M spent so far on Napoli and Gomes. So that looks like $62M to spend on Hamilton, Anibal Sanchez, Dempster/Haren and bench players lol. Maybe a Cliff Lee deal? And Saltalamacchia or Lavarnway as trade chips as well?

[Towelie]

Yeah, a career OPS of .863, mostly as a catcher is RIDICULOUS, and there's no real home-away split either. By comparison, that's second behind Joe Mauer's career OPS of .873, and much higher than Victor Martinez's .840. Dude's also a right-handed flyball-heavy pull-hitter staring straight at the Green Monster. He's gonna RAKE at Fenway and he'll slot in at catcher some nights too. Interestingly enough, David Ross is a flyball-heavy pull-hitting catcher, so the catching-first base situation is well-set in Boston. Could be huge value for the Red Sox, much better than a Laroche signing imo.

What else do you see the Red Sox doing this offseason? I'm counting $80M saved by chucking Crawford, Gonzalez, Beckett, Youkilis and Dice-K and only $18M spent so far on Napoli and Gomes. So that looks like $62M to spend on Hamilton, Anibal Sanchez, Dempster/Haren and bench players lol. Maybe a Cliff Lee deal? And Saltalamacchia or Lavarnway as trade chips as well?

Too be honest I have no clue what else the Sox are going to do. I expect this week to be very interesting, but unless we do something with the rotation it won't matter what we do. I personally would love Swisher and I think he would match up well in Fenway.

Rotation is the scary thing for the team now.

1. Lester (WTF happened last year?!)
2. Clay (Stay healthy please)
3. Lackey (FML)
4. Doubront (Got tired last year at the end. Was decent for first half )
5. Morales (I'm very excited with him as a starter)

We still need to get rotation help. So what will they do? I don't know. No massive contracts though. Cherrington has done a great job fixing the mess Theo left so far. I expect Salty to go, and I'm not a fan of him personally (Dingers mean nothing to me really his slash isn't that good) and give the job the Lav.