Rumor Mill: Going Hard for Crawford; V-Mart Closing Shop?

I think they get their news from sportscenter, same as the rest of us in the offseason. I remember hearing about I think it was Wakefield showing up to spring training and saying to somebody else “what’re those guys doing here?” when the sox brought in some free agents. I think he’s just preparing for the year. I’m sure the Sox would like him to prepare to be a 3B just in case, but I don’t think that’s necessarily indicative of their plan.

just keeping my fingers crossed.

back when damion went FA, the sox strategy was 3 years.

obviously that has increased, but 4 may be where it is now.

  I am just completely speculating, but I have followed Theo’s moves since he has been GM, besides his pissing matches with Larry Lucchino. The Sox’s front office pretty much has a policy of not bidding against themselves for a player, so the prices and years are not inflated. (Like the signing of Mikey Lowe)

As much they worked with Scott Boras to get JD Drew to the Sox, (and rumors of collusion to get him opt out of contract with the Dodgers) I think the Sox as many GMs are pretty leery in dealing with Boras, mainly how Boras artificially inflates contracts, whether it is Zito’s and A-Rod’s or the two year disaster deal of Andruw Jones. Let alone that Manny’s antics in 2008 had Boras’s fingerprints all over them, so Manny could force a trade and Boras can get a commission for a brand new Manny contract.

 The Sox also have a formula in the maximum in contract durations for each player, which is why they are sticklers of for multi year contracts. Sometimes it hurts them, Julio Lugo is an example of bad metrics, sometimes they miss a bullet, like the Pedro Martinez signing, ditto with Jason Bay. They obviously are practicing some serious risk management.

Cliff Lee is probably going to the Yankees, for the main reason that the MFY can offer him the highest amount for the longest duration. If Lee signs with Texas or another club, he will probably leave alot of money on the table, however, I think a big selling point for Lee right now is the length of the contract, given he has been on four team in less than two years..

  I don’t know how the Sox will spend their money in the off season., but how they approach the Teixiera sweepstakes, they did go the extra mile, but they folded a bit before the MFYs offered much more for Teixiera’s services. They tend to stick their plan, and do have a take or leave it attitude, like how they dealt with Nomar, who basically shot himself in the foot, along with his agent, Arn Tellem back in 2002/2003 They offered lucrative contracts but they are pretty tough on length, with showing some leeway to pitchers.

  The Sox also liked to go hard right before the season or during the season for people they want to retain, like Lester, Beckett, Pedroia and Youklis. They tend to go through the motions for players like Bay and what they offered Victor Martinez during the season

    The Sox will go after Lee, because they have to, but I think it is more to drive up his price if the MFY are going to sign him. The Sox have some issues, but they have five starting pitchers under contract. Starting pitching isn’t a priority compare to other clubs.

I think the main reason why Beltre and Martinez won’t sign with the Sox is they can get longer deals elsewhere. I really think if the Sox wanted Martinez, they would try to give him a serious offer before 2010 spring training, and offer him the years he probably wants.

 I think the biggest move in the offseason for the Sox will be shopping Daisuke around for the best return in prospects. They will move Youk to third and look for a short term 1b replacement. I have no idea what they will do for catching.

Maybe not on Lee, I think Lee is maybe the FA that makes the most sense for us but will end up in Texas as the cornerstone of that team and outside the pressures of NY but that’s my opinion and has been beaten to death in another post.

I don’t think we sign VMart because of the inherent risks of signing a catcher long term. He’s elite now but we may end up with a Lugo deal before long when we’re paying him tier 1 catcher money for a tier 3 1B/DH which is totally different whereas another team will be more desperate and sign him to a deal where he can make top catcher money the entire way through.

I don’t think we sign Beltre mostly because he’s shown no indication of wanting to stay and will really cost a lot to retain, especially at a position that we already have a suitable replacement for with Lowrie. Scoot plays a solid short and we’d have been singing his praises at the end of the year if he had remained healthy. I really wouldn’t be surprised to see if they experiment with Rizzo at 3B this next season, just in case they’d prefer not to move Youk away from first.

I know we’ve got this money but the two guys we stand to lose are lose-able because of our ability to replace them from within or because of the concern of their long term stability at a specific position.