Kotsay to Sox, says Edes

by Randy Booth on Aug 27, 2008 12:04 AM EDT Comment 17 comments

Gordon Edes, now of Yahoo!, wrote tonight the Mark Kotsay to the Red Sox deal is complete ... but it hasn't been confirmed:

The Boston Red Sox acquired outfielder Mark Kotsay from the Atlanta BravesT on Tuesday night pending a physical, according to a baseball source with knowledge of the deal. The Braves will receive a minor-league pitcher in return.

The Red Sox acquired Kotsay, who had cleared waivers, as outfield insurance. Earlier Tuesday they placed right-fielder J.D. Drew on the 15-day disabled list with a herniated disk in his back.

Kotsay, 32, is batting .289 with six home runs and 37 RBIs in 318 at-bats this season. The Red Sox will be his fifth team in his 12-year career.

Officials from both teams would not confirm that the deal was complete.

I don't really see this trade as anything special. It hurts that JD Drew is out, but bringing in Kotsay won't make a huge impact. He's just a body. Why can't we get someone that can maybe hit for a little power? We already have Coco Crisp and Jacoby Ellsbury in the lineup, why not an older slugger?

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Kotsay's better than Coco and Ells.

At least this year.
Kotsay: .289 / .338 / .418, 318 AB
Crisp: .257 / .319 / .392, 288 AB
Ellsbury: .264 / .327 / .361, 432 AB

He seems like a good option for RF. That means we have a backup CF in whichever of Coco and Ells are not playing. It’s also some injury protection. Acquiring Kotsay seems like one of the best moves the Sox could have made in this situation.

by 0157H7 on Aug 27, 2008 12:18 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Agreed.

Slight upgrade offensively, and it doesn’t seem like we gave up too much to get him.

Manny ain't the only bad man.

by tommy.otm on Aug 27, 2008 12:20 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

We don't really know that yet

I’ve made my peace with it, but the Sox did give up two prospects and a Hall of Famer for Jason Bay. How do we know they didn’t give up a top prospect for Kotsay? We know every team they’ve tried to deal with has tried to gouge them, and everyone knows they tried to get Brian Giles first. Maybe the Braves held out for something a hell of a lot more valuable than Kotsay, just like everyone else.

by RSNexile on Aug 27, 2008 10:17 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I figured where it was “a minor league pitcher” and not a name that it meant it wasn’t one of our better prospects.

Manny ain't the only bad man.

by tommy.otm on Aug 27, 2008 6:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Kotsay

is what was available, unless you wanted to lock us into Aubrey Huff for next season as well. All Kotsay has to do to prove valuable is to throw up better avg/obp/slg than Coco and play a good RF, both of which he is quite capable of doing. Depending on who we send back (anyone not named Lowrie, Bowden, Buchholz, Anderson, Kalish, Lin, etc…), this is a good deal.

"Are you a real doctor, or a doctor like Dr. Pepper is a doctor?"

by Allen Chace on Aug 27, 2008 12:19 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Am I the only one who's just not sold on Kalish?

Not that I wanna send him for Kotsay, but I just don’t think he has a potential anywhere near the one Lars have.

It's the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl, girls dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day.

by MerryGoByeBye on Aug 27, 2008 12:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Apples and Oranges

That is like saying I don’t think Jacoby will live up to the potential of Evan Longoria.

by drabidea on Aug 27, 2008 12:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, I know

Kalish is not the kind of player Lars is, I didn’t mean it that way. I meant that for the things Kalish is supposed to do, I don’t think he’ll be special. I hope I’m wrong.

It's the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl, girls dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day.

by MerryGoByeBye on Aug 27, 2008 1:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

His tools make the SoxProspects comp (Nick Markakis)

quite reasonable. Are you saying you don’t want a Nick Markakis potentially taking over RF duties from Drew in a few years?

"Are you a real doctor, or a doctor like Dr. Pepper is a doctor?"

by Allen Chace on Aug 27, 2008 1:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He had good numbers last season, but missed a lot of time with injury

I don’t buy the Nick Markakis comparison. Kalish just doesn’t have the power, he’ll be a singles hitter at most. I could be wrong about this, and I sure hope I am. If he starts hitting more doubles, I’ll start believing.

You know who I’d like taking over at RF in a couple of years or so? Josh Reddick. That dude seems like the real deal. If he starts walking a bit more, he’ll be even better than Markakis himself.

It's the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl, girls dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day.

by MerryGoByeBye on Aug 27, 2008 4:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

But, as I said

I really hope I’m wrong about Kalish.

It's the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl, girls dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day.

by MerryGoByeBye on Aug 27, 2008 4:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Huff

Having to pay for Huff next year would have been bad with our current OF situation, but don’t forget that he’s hitting .303/.364/.557 this season. If we could have gotten him for these last two months and traded him in the off-season it would have been a great move.

by Gnick on Aug 27, 2008 9:41 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Scooped

You’re on the ball with the news today, Randy.

"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 Aug 27, 2008 9:42 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Deal semi-official.

Braves rumored to be getting Luis Sumoza in return.

"Are you a real doctor, or a doctor like Dr. Pepper is a doctor?"

by Allen Chace on Aug 27, 2008 1:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Never heard of him.

But decent power for a 20 year old in Lowell.

Manny ain't the only bad man.

by tommy.otm on Aug 27, 2008 6:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I remember his signing

But didn’t follow his career. Didn’t even know his good numbers in Lowell.

It's the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl, girls dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day.

by MerryGoByeBye on Aug 27, 2008 9:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs