2012-2013 Off-season thread part II

[AI4]

Ben's made 3 solid moves so far (Ross, Gomes, Napoli), 4 if you count Ortiz.

[GrkGawdofWalkz]

Doesn't matter, we are not a good match for Dickey, seriously. Only true contenders should go after him. What if we have another mediocre season and Dickey walks? Doesn't make sense for us.

Oh, and Lauber is stating the obvious. Of course Lavarnway is way more valuable than Mr. K. Just depends on if teams view him as a long-term catcher.
If Salty for Floyd gets done, our rotation would be set and not looking great on paper.

People forget that this team was attempting to compete for the playoffs. Due to injuries and ineffectiveness of starting pitching it failed. The team gutted the system in August. There is a still a competitive team on paper here that could make noise. Now, they have mentioned that they will build for the future. But, if the right deals come along it is not unbelievable to assume that they could compete for the second wild card. For everything Baltimore did last year they had a lot of help with the Yankees injuries, with the Blue Jays and Red Sox falling apart. Baltimore is very unlikely to be as good next year.

[GrkGawdofWalkz]

Ben's made 3 solid moves so far (Ross, Gomes, Napoli), 4 if you count Ortiz.

Getting rid of the teams unnecessary money contributions to Carl Crawford, Nick Punto and Josh Beckett. (5!)

[bagwell368]

For whatever reason I see Ross going to Atlanta.

As far as Josh Hamilton - I'm glad I'm not the only one that's on board.

I'd love to see 4 years, $100MM. It wouldn't be absolutely crippling. There's a lot of talent coming that'll play out the major league minimum for their salary for a while. I'd go for it. He's an elite hitter.

How quickly we forget the ASG HR Derby at Yankee Stadium, or the fact that the dude was putting up Godlike numbers in the 1st half of last year. He was on pace, at once time, to realistically challenge Bonds' HR record.

How quickly we forget he was banned from MLB for four years for being a heroin addict, and how quickly we forget that Boston is one of, if not the nastiest fan base in NA.

From a Rangers writer on 10/09/12:

The Rangers’ season ended on a disappointing note in Friday’s 5-1, one-game Wild Card playoff loss against the Baltimore Orioles, but uncertainty about Josh Hamilton’s contract is the big unknown heading into the offseason.

Hamilton is a free agent and is going to be offered a big contract. Considering the way Hamilton ended his season with the Rangers, it seems many fans aren’t too concerned whether he re-signs with the team, and they shouldn’t be.

Look at what happened last season with Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals as an example. Pujols was 31 in his final contract year, had a batting average of .299, hit 37 home runs and played 147 games.

Hamilton, 31 in the last year of his deal, had a .285 batting average, hit 43 home runs and played 148 games for the Rangers.

Those numbers are very similar, and look at the 10-year, $240 million mega-contract the Los Angeles Angels offered Albert Pujols. Also, consider how the Cardinals did without Pujols after they lost one of their all-time greats.

They made the playoffs again. Life continues, and I think the Rangers’ front office should take a look at that situation, which I’m sure they already have.

Rangers fans aren’t happy with Hamilton and haven’t been all season. It’s evident after the boos that occurred after his final at-bat, which was a three-pitch strikeout against the Orioles last weekend. Hamilton was also responsible for an error that occurred in the outfield against the Oakland Athletics that sent them to the Wild Card playoff.

In 2012 the center fielder made more than $15 million and finished second in the American League in home runs, RBIs and slugging percentage.

The Rangers organization, Rangers fans and Josh Hamilton have been through a lot together, which includes a lot of ups and, unfortunately, a lot of downs as well.

If Hamilton hadn’t relapsed by drinking alcohol at an Arlington bar in February, he may have been offered a new contract before the start of the season, but his mistake cost himself and the organization a chance of that happening.

The left-handed batter also missed five games near the end of the season because of drinking too much caffeine. He cited blurred vision as the reason he couldn’t play.

Now is the time for the Rangers to rid themselves of a difficult situation and move on.

Keep this addictive person away from my team.

[gustofer1]

ScottLauber In trading a catcher, #RedSox may get more value for Lavarnway (under control thru '18) than Salty (eligible for free agency next winter)

Lavarnway, Ranaudo/Workman, Iglesias, Brentz, one other pitching prospect for Tulo

[xnick5757]

Here's the current redsox lineup with their bill james projections (i put it together just for fun)

1. Jacoby Ellsbury
152 G | 15 HR | 67 RBI | 37 SB | .294 AVG | .346 OBP | .436 SLG | .340 wOBA
2. Daniel Nava
87 G | 6 HR | 35 RBI | 3 SB | .266 AVG | .367 OBP | .414 SLG | .339 wOBA
3. Dustin Pedroia
156 G | 17 HR | 76 RBI | 19 SB | .296 AVG | .367 OBP | .459 SLG | .357 wOBA
4. David Ortiz
147 G | 32 HR | 103 RBI | 0 SB | .283 AVG | .386 OBP | .533 SLG | .385 wOBA
5. Mike Napoli
127 G | 29 HR | 75 RBI | 3 SB | .248 AVG | .350 OBP | .498 SLG | .359 wOBA
6. Will Middlebrooks
153 G | 29 HR | 99 RBI | 11 SB | .277 AVG | .316 OBP | .490 SLG | .345 wOBA
7. Jarrod Saltalamacchia
110 G | 19 HR | 54 RBI | 0 SB | .239 AVG | .309 OBP | .454 SLG | .329 wOBA
8. Jonny Gomes
113 G | 16 HR | 49 RBI | 4 SB | .236 AVG | .337 OBP | .441 SLG | .331 wOBA
9. Jose Iglesias
139 G | 2 HR | 32 RBI | 16 SB | .240 AVG | .286 OBP | .283 SLG | .254 wOBA

This lineup has some great power in the 3-8 spots. Now imagine if Josh Hamilton was in this lineup instead of Nava?

1. Jacoby Ellsbury
152 G | 15 HR | 67 RBI | 37 SB | .294 AVG | .346 OBP | .436 SLG | .340 wOBA
2. Dustin Pedroia
156 G | 17 HR | 76 RBI | 19 SB | .296 AVG | .367 OBP | .459 SLG | .357 wOBA
3. Josh Hamilton
147 G | 35 HR | 114 RBI | 7 SB | .289 AVG | .356 OBP | .540 SLG | .376 wOBA
4. David Ortiz
147 G | 32 HR | 103 RBI | 0 SB | .283 AVG | .386 OBP | .533 SLG | .385 wOBA
5. Mike Napoli
127 G | 29 HR | 75 RBI | 3 SB | .248 AVG | .350 OBP | .498 SLG | .359 wOBA
6. Will Middlebrooks
153 G | 29 HR | 99 RBI | 11 SB | .277 AVG | .316 OBP | .490 SLG | .345 wOBA
7. Jarrod Saltalamacchia
110 G | 19 HR | 54 RBI | 0 SB | .239 AVG | .309 OBP | .454 SLG | .329 wOBA
8. Jonny Gomes
113 G | 16 HR | 49 RBI | 4 SB | .236 AVG | .337 OBP | .441 SLG | .331 wOBA
9. Jose Iglesias
139 G | 2 HR | 32 RBI | 16 SB | .240 AVG | .286 OBP | .283 SLG | .254 wOBA

with a pitcher or two this team could get right back in the thick of it (some 1 year, incentive laden deals perhaps?)

[ruckus16969]

We should consider going hard after Dee Gordon. He's be a huge upgrade and he is young and would be under team control for a long time. He's not the greatest SS of all time but he would be a huge up-grade

[xnick5757]

We should consider going hard after Dee Gordon. He's be a huge upgrade and he is young and would be under team control for a long time. He's not the greatest SS of all time but he would be a huge up-grade

he's nearly as bad as iglesias with the bat and a much worse fielder

[AI4]

he's nearly as bad as iglesias with the bat and a much worse fielder

This.

[Soxfan85]

ScottLauber What are #RedSox looking for in RF? Power? Speed? Defense? "Dwight Evans," said Ben Cherington

[AI4]

Anibal Sanchez seeking 6 years/$90MM per Heyman.

[Soxfan85]

Anibal Sanchez seeking 6 years/$90MM per Heyman.

we don't do 6 but we can do 5 years 90M

[athlete9393]

@Bagwell

And you understand that there are fiscal limits given what's on the market, and the competitive teams, right?

And you understand that you already have plenty of valuable assets in house that weren't there to produce for you last year, whether it be injuries or simply an off season. Not everybody's gonna produce up to par each year as mush as people want them too. Last year was a down year for everybody... especially being that there was no good atmosphere surrounding this team.

Contend for what? A WC slot? How does a team win the WS without at least two shut down pitchers. Do we have any of those? Hitting can be shut down in the playoffs, in particular non elite hitting. Who do we have that's an elite hitter? And will be healthy for the playoffs? Ortiz?

********! 2011 Cardinals... not one pitcher won over 15 games. You don't need 2 shutdown pitchers. Obviously it helps, but the Cardinals arguably didn't even have one. And don't give me Carpenter, overated as far as I'm concerned. He wasn't a "shutdown pitcher," he was just a good one.

I'll give you about 9.

9? How about 20. If you look at Ortiz, Pedroia, and ellsbury's WAR from the previous season (2011), so not far off of what they could have done in 2012 is playing, their WAR would add up to 19. Add in all the other injuries and everything, you get at least 25, but all right, I'll give you 20.

Sorry, Buccholz was himself. 2010 was the outlier, not 2012.

That's fair, but the point before was that we still need to add another pitcher, and you have a lot of young guys who could make an impact this year. It adds up to about 1 additional move, maybe 2.

Lester 4 wins + Buchholz 1 win. Take 14 (5+9) away form 93, and you get 79 losses. 83 wins isn't close to the playoffs in the AL.

Take away 20+5+5 (5 for the 2 to 3 additional players you add this year), and you get 30. That's 63 losses and that is likely a first place team and a very good one. Remember too that I underestimated as well.

1998 Clemens, 1967 Yaz, 1998 Nomar - yup those are the sorts of names that would do it. So, make with the names.

[/QUOTE]

This a lost cause. Why don't we throw in Pujols and Jeter and Manny and Pedro... No ****! Obviously you're gonna be great, but I didn't see any of those guys playing for the Giants... I saw a group of guys who meshed together and produced... same goes for the 2011 Cardinals.

Again, stop trying to downplay this team just because last year was a hopeless cause.

[poprocksncoke]

he's nearly as bad as iglesias with the bat and a much worse fielder

This is the truth, if were going to get a ss we need an upgrade and although that shouldnt be hard this isnt it.

[ruckus16969]

HELL NO!

GordonEdes RT @ESPNJoeyMac: Red Sox met with Mets on knuckler R.A. Dickey, according to a baseball source. Mets want Bogaerts and Bradley, Jr.

Thats Unbelievable. I wish I could have heard Ben telling them to Pack it

we don't do 6 but we can do 5 years 90M

If its the 5 for 90 or 6 for 90 I'd take 6 all day long LOL. No brainer