Varitek, Lugo & Pitching

by MatthewRI on Jul 6, 2008 12:39 PM EDT

As the Red Sox struggle to emerge from their toughest losing stretch of the season, Red Sox Nation is tackling a number of key questions:

1. How and when can we get rid of Julio Lugo?

2. What is the plan to replace Jason Varitek (in the short term or the long term)?

3. What changes need to happen in a bullpen that has seen meltdowns from Manny Del Carmen, Hideki Okajima, Craig Hansen and Mike Timlin?

What are your predictions for the trade deadline and/or additions that will be forthcoming from the PawSox?

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Lugo needs to be traded. Not sure where or how yet.

Varitek will be back next year. I don’t see him getting Posada money though.

Relief pitching is crazy. One year a staff is great the next sub par to average. They need to do something. To make a run in the playoffs you can not have this type of inconsistency. They need to pick up another reliever.

by SULLY172 on Jul 6, 2008 1:16 PM EDT reply actions

eric gagne kindly asks you to not trade jeff bagwell.

1. AL Shortstops, ranked by OPS: Young, Peralta, Jeter, Crosby, Lugo. And he would be higher if he could hit anything besides a single. His OBP is a respectable .351.

The defense obviously needs help, and the sox are doing what they can to help him. From what i’ve seen he’s looked much improved over the past few weeks. Still below average, but not “i’m going ot mess up every routine grounder” bad.

2. they won’t this season, although perhaps they should. i don’t think varitek is going to be rebounding the way he has in the past. i think the sox should try for salty from texas. texas is world famous for accepting terrible pitching deals (although they fleeced us for kason gabbard), so perhaps he could be had cheap. if not, we may end up with laird or one of their younger prospects, which wouldn’t be such a bad deal. the only way we’re going to get ahold of a top tier catcher is drafting and development, and you can bet the sox know that. i would look for a mid-term replacement (3-4 years tops), such as laird, while developing our own catcher that will be around for the next decade.

3. please don’t trade masterson for fuentes.

by jjbooth74 on Jul 6, 2008 1:54 PM EDT reply actions

I agree for the most part with jjbooth

… although I wouldn’t say Texas "fleeced" the Sox in getting Gabbard. I like Stifler when he pitched for the Sox. But he clearly wasn’t in the FO’s long-term plans, and he already had four arm operations. Gabbard has been awful for the Rangers, averaging under 5 innings a start with a 4.82 ERA and 1.84 WHIP.

I’m also not a huge Saltalamacchia fan. I think he is too much of a project player, who should probably spend an entire year in the minors to learn his craft. More often than not, catchers develop slowly-and the defensive aspect of their game is far more important than their offense. Salty’s defense isn’t up to par right now, and he may end up as a 1B or DH. If the Sox can get him cheaply-which is unlikely—I’d do it. Otherwise, I’d pass. Incidentally, the Sox passed on Salty twice in the 2003 draft, picking David Murphy and Matt Murton instead.

I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.

by Drugs Delaney on Jul 6, 2008 2:19 PM EDT up reply actions

interesting draft data...

i was very glad to hear when the rangers sent him to AAA after spring training to give him a chance to catch every day. i wish they’ll just stick to that plan though, because you’re right… he does need more work.

gabbard hasn’t been great… but he will be a solid mid/back-rotation starter, which maybe we don’t need, but is worth more than 3 months of gagne’s 6+ era. and david murphy being thrown in as well? we don’t NEED him either (considering we have crisp + the man with the most perfect batting average in world series history as backup OF)... but again, worth more than what we got (imo).

by jjbooth74 on Jul 8, 2008 11:28 PM EDT up reply actions

1. Lugo has got to go. He is a better everyday player than Alex Cora, and is faster (he would have beat that Robinson Cano GO), but we had better hurry and get Jed Lowrie ready. I have a feeling he and Pedroia will be a force in the years to come.

2. See my post in The Varitek Conversation.

3. The relief pitching will be better after the All-Star Break. That is my prediction.

If the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only lefties are in the right mind. Bill "Spaceman" Lee

by BoSox415 on Jul 6, 2008 2:07 PM EDT reply actions

most of hte scouting i've seen...

says lowrie won’t be an everyday SS.

sadly, that makes either him or DP trade bait.

by jjbooth74 on Jul 8, 2008 11:30 PM EDT up reply actions

Dustin is going to be a great player

and then we will be through the 2nd base-shortstop juggling game again.

If the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only lefties are in the right mind. Bill "Spaceman" Lee

by BoSox415 on Jul 9, 2008 11:40 AM EDT up reply actions

Pedroia at SS?

We could always slot Pedroia in at SS if push came to shove. He couldn’t be worse than Jeter.

"You know you're having a bad day when the fifth inning rolls around and they drag the warning track." - Mike Flanagan, Baltimore Orioles pitcher, 1992.

by SoxDevil on Jul 9, 2008 12:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Yes he could

Jeter is 6’3”, which helps on those high line drives hit right at him.

I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.

by Drugs Delaney on Jul 9, 2008 5:46 PM EDT up reply actions

agreed....

DP is easily my favorite player in all of baseball right now. nobody plays harder or has more fun out there. he understands baseball as a game, and that makes him fun to watch.

unfortunately, his future doesn’t “look” all that bright – once he gets upper 20’s, he’ll start to slow down a bit… which means: * less defense, since half of hte plays he makes right now are through force of will alone, and his body won’t always allow him to do that. * less bat speed. he won’t be able to maintain that HUGE swing forever, and although he’s an incredibly patient hitter, he’s not hte kind of guy that can slap the ball the other way (a la ichiro). * more injuries. the guy clearly has no regard for his body—which makes him a very ample replacement for trot nixon in the “FUCK YOU I CAN CATCH THAT BALL” category, but will likely come with some time on the DL.

so… that may lead the sox to say lowrie is the long-term solution, and deal pedroia out while he still has huge value. of course lowrie will need to see a lot more ML innings before that happens… but hte potential for it scares me, because i love seeing DP ina sox uniform.

by jjbooth74 on Jul 10, 2008 5:18 PM EDT up reply actions

(agreed with bosox that is)

by jjbooth74 on Jul 10, 2008 5:18 PM EDT up reply actions

My two cents

1 – Lugo = loser. . If Epstein, Francona, et al haven’t got that message by now, there is little hope you’ll see a change this year. ‘Nuff said

2 – Do you cringe when a Bosox starter is taken out? I do, except to see Pap. The worst might be Okajima because he doesn’t appear to have any stuff. Timlin is ready for pasture and Hansen is just not ready, period. Delcarmen has to pick it up but I still have confidence in him, for some reason. We do need a southpaw stopper. Not having Oki to rely on as a setup man is killing this team. If we don’t make the playoffs it will be because the ‘pen ruined us too many times. Now you know why Theo took a (ill-advised) shot at Gagne last year. We need help here!

3 – “The most feared twosome in baseball: Oritz & Ramarez.” How often did you hear that the past four years? Don’t kid yourself: Not having it – for psychological reasons alone, putting fear into our opponents – has started to take a toll. I have a bad feeling about Oritz’s injury, and hope I’m wrong. We another bat; a strong righthanded hitter.

4 – There is nothing we can do about Veritek, at this point. He and Kevin Cash are probably the two worst hitting catching combos in MLB, Two years from now, we better have a new catcher. I’m sure Epstein knows this. Just pray that ‘Tek turns it around, at least to the tune of .250.

by ccthemovieman on Jul 6, 2008 5:51 PM EDT reply actions