If The Trade Deadline Were Today, What Would The Red Sox Acquire?
by Randy Booth on Jun 21, 2010 12:17 PM EDT
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PrintIf today was July 31 and the Red Sox were in the same position as they are now, what do you think Theo Epstein & Crew would try to acquire?
This is being spurred out of today's post from E about the bullpen. If you read some of the comments, it seems that getting another bullpen arm is key ... or it's not. It's all dependent on who you ask, of course.
With inconsistencies in the rotation, do the Sox look for another starter?
With iffy outfielders that seem to get hurt every other day, do the Sox look for a better outfield replacement?
With just general concerns, do the Sox need another infielder that isn't named Bill Hall that can play shortstop?
With the uncertainty of either Victor Martinez or Jason Varitek staying healthy, do the Sox need to pursue a catcher that could handle some work down the line?
Answer the poll and give us your thoughts in the comments.
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Duh
Of course. Adrian Beltre and Kevin Youkilis just aren’t cutting it.
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by Randy Booth on Jun 21, 2010 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions
No man, we're gonna unload for Fielder
Good things happen when Beltre is on his knees.
"man, this team they just suck so bad"- gizmosandy
Twitter: @BoldandBrash
by BoldandBrash on Jun 21, 2010 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions
Seriosly, who voted catcher? and why?
Tek is fine for this year and so is Vic. Unless we want to sell the farm, who are we gonna get that is an improvement?
Good things happen when Beltre is on his knees.
"man, this team they just suck so bad"- gizmosandy
Twitter: @BoldandBrash
Whenever there is an odd vote, or many
I blame Yankee fans.
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by Randy Booth on Jun 21, 2010 12:35 PM EDT up reply actions
We're gonna need a catcher in the futrue, but now is not the optimal time to get one.
Good things happen when Beltre is on his knees.
"man, this team they just suck so bad"- gizmosandy
Twitter: @BoldandBrash
by BoldandBrash on Jun 21, 2010 1:25 PM EDT up reply actions
Okay, I voted for a 'pen arm.
But I really feel like there’s more than just one need that should be addressed. Cameron needs to be on the DL, and there really should be no reason for Bill Hall to be on the roster. I think that if the Sox could pick up someone like Ankiel to have someone more reliable playing every day while Ells, Cam, and Hemida heal up it would help have a more stable outfield. Also, I haven’t looked at the timeline on Beckett and Dice-K, but I’m not sure I trust Beckett to come back right away, and I get really nervous every time Wakefield starts now. The AL East is too tight to have a weak link in the starting rotation. I’m not asking for Cliff Lee, just someone a little more reliable. This could kill two birds with one stone, pushing Wakefield into the bullpen.
If I was your math homework I'd be really hard and you'd be doing me on your desk.
I'm a 7 WAR player in bed.
Hall is valuable and should be on the roster
As a backup. On the bench. Playing when the Sox need him.
With all the injuries, he has almost been an everyday player and that’s now where he’s strongest. The Sox need to use him every once in awhile to play any sort of position. He fills holes and that’s huge.
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Without Lowell on the roster you can have Ankiel and Lowrie
Two better players who fill the same holes.
If I was your math homework I'd be really hard and you'd be doing me on your desk.
I'm a 7 WAR player in bed.
by TheLoneDavid on Jun 21, 2010 1:06 PM EDT up reply actions
The point is still valid though.
The player may not be Lowrie, but without Lowell, the Sox can afford to go get an infield utility player who is actually competent at the positions he plays.
If I was your math homework I'd be really hard and you'd be doing me on your desk.
I'm a 7 WAR player in bed.
by TheLoneDavid on Jun 21, 2010 1:20 PM EDT up reply actions
I wish it could be too.
Dude needs to get his act together, this is kind of depressing.
If I was your math homework I'd be really hard and you'd be doing me on your desk.
I'm a 7 WAR player in bed.
by TheLoneDavid on Jun 21, 2010 1:44 PM EDT up reply actions
I would imagine...
… rolling around on the ground in agony, clutching one injured appendage or the other.
I mean, odds are, right?
Wait 'til next/this year?
by nuthinboutnuthin on Jun 21, 2010 2:25 PM EDT up reply actions
Seriously
Lowrie’s whole life must have a near negative BABIP at this point.
DFA Beckett
by South Coast Ghost on Jun 21, 2010 3:10 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
Well, his IPPA is nearing .500 right now.
That’s “Injuries Per Plate Appearance”
If I was your math homework I'd be really hard and you'd be doing me on your desk.
I'm a 7 WAR player in bed.
by TheLoneDavid on Jun 21, 2010 3:42 PM EDT up reply actions
I guess he's taking extra ST.
good times: Lowrie Gm 4 08 ALCS walkoff hit
Good things happen when Beltre is on his knees.
"man, this team they just suck so bad"- gizmosandy
Twitter: @BoldandBrash
by BoldandBrash on Jun 21, 2010 3:01 PM EDT up reply actions
SP – I think people are foolish if they think we’re going to go out and get Cliff Lee or Dan Haren. We don’t need another front of the line starter, we’ve got Buch and Lester, and Lackey is slowly pulling it all together while we wait on Dice-K and Beckett to come back. I wouldn’t be shocked though to see us go for a back of the rotation/spot start guy though if Beckett has some sort of set back. And that of course is only if Felix struggles with the role, I think it’s firmly his now and he ran well with it the other night.
RP – Clearly our biggest need, we’d probably be in first already if we had just one more solid arm to use to hold a lead. Bard has been great but probably overworked at this point and if we want to have even a single effective RP by the end of the year that needs to end, and soon. We should have gone out and gotten a RP before we even thought about letting Boof play.
OF – Hard to make a firm decision here. An OF consisting of only one of our starters and two of Hermida/McDonald/Nava/Hall isn’t sexy nor what we had in mind for this deep into the season, but Beltre is mostly to blame for this. As scary as they are sometimes they’ve combined to put up rather good performances. Nava, with a SSS seems to be the best defender of the group and has impressed with his bat since his call up. Hall on the flip side has been scary at just about everything, despite his hot streak earlier this month. I’d like to say we should go out and get another backup if Ellsbury takes a while to come back or if Cameron continues to struggle but the need is mitigated if Nava can continue to play like a major leaguer. Also Lowell plays a large part in this. If Lowell goes, Hall can go and we can have a dedicated OF bench player.
IF – I don’t think we’ll make an addition as much as a swap. If Lowell goes we can DFA Hall and switch him out for someone who will just mind the IF as well as get an OF if necessary. It would have been nice if Lowrie could have avoided the world’s longest lasting case of Mono so we could see if he is the real deal or not.
C – This will wait until the end of the season. Something is going to happen there because Tek clearly isn’t the long term answer and VMart probably won’t be a catcher forever either. I doubt it’ll be addressed during the season unless some sort of blockbuster happens that sees the end of VMart in Boston, doubtful.
I think the bullpen arm is the most appropriate thing that needs to be done like, yesterday, if for no other reason than for Bard’s poor arm.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
"Beltre is mostly to blame for this"
Except that in each case the outfielder was to blame for the collision…
’Concur with most of your points.
I’m not sure I agree on VMart, though. I’m looking around but I’m just not seeing a better available alternative in the MLB to having VMart at C for the next few years.
More to blame as being the constant between each injury, I know it isn’t his fault, he wasn’t planning on assaulting our players, it’s their job to call him off strongly and they failed to do so and ended up with busted ribs. Beltre has a wonder-knee.
I’m not sure what to think of VMart, I think he’s as likely to come back as a catcher as he is to come back as a DH or not come back at all. He’s a great player and I love having him here and would love to have him back I’m just unsure as to what the “plan” is between 1B/3B/C/DH since we have impending departures at three of them.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
Of the three
Catcher is the hardest to replace. Decent hitting Catchers are an extremely rare commodity in baseball right now.
The easiest to replace is DH and after that, 1B.
If we sign VMart, then if we lose Beltre (and we probably will – ’can’t imagine he’ll exercise the option with the season he’s having), we can always move Youk to 3rd and find bats to play 1B & DH.
Which is why I think VMart is going to be really expensive to sign long term, a deal he may not be playing C anymore at the end of, I wouldn’t be surprised to see another team go out and offer him more long term.
I want him back, don’t get me wrong, and he probably wants to come back but if Theo thinks that someone like Chris Iannetta can be had cheap, he may pull the trigger.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
On the bright side of things, we'll definitely offer Beltre arbitration if nothing else.
And this season has actually managed to boost him from type-B to type-A.
USG
by Ben Buchanan on Jun 22, 2010 2:27 PM EDT up reply actions
What are the chances of trading for Montero?
If I was your math homework I'd be really hard and you'd be doing me on your desk.
I'm a 7 WAR player in bed.
by TheLoneDavid on Jun 22, 2010 4:18 PM EDT up reply actions
Montero is getting $2 mil in his first year of arbitration.
Really is no reason for Arizona to trade him. He is their future at C. But it never hurts to ask. Every team has a price for each player were they can’t say no but we need the most help right now in the outfield and bullpen. No sense in giving up the farm for a catcher today. By the way, Chris Snyder is being shopped: (09:$1.5M, 10:$4.75M, 11:$5.75M, 12:$6.75M club option ($0.75M buyout)
I went outfielder,
I was calmed by the post on the ‘pen, although we do need something to stop from destroying Bard. But overall, my biggest concern is that we’re starting an outfield of AAAA guys, even if two of them are performing pretty well. The problem is that they’ve all got guys coming back, in right particularly, which means that you don’t want to sell the farm to get someone too big. Either way, I don’t think we should be trading for big starters in pitching or positions, I’d rather see a solid bench guy, ideally one who plays some outfield.
If we're being realistic
I’d find a way to acquire Eric Hinske from the Braves. If history has taught us anything, it’s that AL east teams do not go to the world series unless they have Eric Hinske.
Bullpen is probably the biggest need
But trading prospects for a middle reliever just is painful. Such little value and such little chance of working out. It has a better chance of turning into a Gagne trade than swinging a world series.
It’s a wash, in terms of how trades end up for us with RP, in recent memory I can pick out the RamRam, Billy Wagner and Eric Gagne trades. RamRam is off and on, Wagner was awesome and Gagne, well we know how that ended. So we’re 1-1-1, it could really go either way.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
Yes
only because that is what is generally avaialable. And all the trades mentioned above were thought to be great trades at the time. The Sox are in this thing to win it all, so they can’t have a “fatal flaw”, as Theo would say. Now he may not beleive the bullpen is a fatal flaw yet; we’ll see. But you have to take risks and make moves in this business.
Kinda angry
Soxs are 3rd best team in MLB too bad the two teams in front of them are the Yanks and Rays. With that said i think pitching is needed either starting with the inconstancy of Beckett or the Bullpen. Also i wouldnt mind seeing A-gone or Fielder haha
Actually we’re second, tied with the Rays now one game back of the Yanks. Don’t mention AGonz or Fielder… our offense is beyond find, it’s amazing.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
Tho third by virtue of one more loss
But we also have one more win. %‘s don’t line up well, my bad.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
The way TB's been playing lately, I think we could actually say that we're alone in 2nd.
I’m sure they’d find a way to lose one of those two extra games they need to play.
If I was your math homework I'd be really hard and you'd be doing me on your desk.
I'm a 7 WAR player in bed.
by TheLoneDavid on Jun 21, 2010 1:46 PM EDT up reply actions
Its all a matter of price, obviously...
but lets not ignore that our shitty OF defense is a pretty big contributing reason many of our flyball relievers are struggling.
Bullpen Banter
www.bullpenbanter.com
twitter: @alskor
Yes
but the OF could improve dramatically in a month once(if?) we get Ellsbury, Cameron, Drew and Hermedia back. Where is bullpen and utility IF/SS help coming from?
I think the Sox should consider taking a hard look at Bowden for the pen, he should be ML ready by now and they have to find out if he is a ML pitcher or not someday very soon, like this season.
I'm pretty scared that Ells and Cameron may not ever be healthy this season
I would hate for that to be the Achilles Heel on a Championship caliber club.
Bullpen Banter
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twitter: @alskor
Ells better be able to get healthy before the year is over
A couple of cracked ribs isn’t THAT bad. Cameron, I’m not so sure.
Well...
Cam has a sports hernia, basically. That’s real bad news.
Ells has four cracked ribs in the front and a couple more fresh cracks in the back.
I wouldn’t put my money on either guy being 100% this year. Cameron has clearly rushed back and Ells tried coming back quick once already and hurt himself further. Even once they heal they won’t be given full time to get their bodies in shape and up to baseball speed. I would wager both can be effective for us… but I’m certainly scared enough of MacDonald and Hermida to go out and get an OF. Oh yeah, Drew is hurt, too. Like I proposed last week, Dejesus or a similar player who can play both CF and a corner would be a great fit on this team if they can be had cheap. I would all but guarantee that happens at the deadline. Somebody will be looking to dump a decent OF with $3-4mm left on his contract and we’ll be able to get him cheap in terms of players b/c of the money.
Bullpen Banter
www.bullpenbanter.com
twitter: @alskor
The question is if the Royals would be inclined to use DeJesus' club option.
If so, we’re not likely to pick him up. If not, he would be a really good target.
USG
by Ben Buchanan on Jun 22, 2010 2:38 PM EDT up reply actions
If we had to start a five game series today,
I’d want an outfielder first, backend of bullpen help second, and a versatile bench player to replace Mike Lowell third.
What’s available today are the salary dump players from the losing teams who are sellers right now. Baltimore, Cleveland, KC, Seattle, in the AL. Pittsburgh, Houston, and Arizona in the NL.
I’d be please to see Austin Kearns ( ‘10, $10 mil) or David DeJesus (’10 $4.7mil ‘11 club option $6 mil). We could get these two today for low level prospects and salary relief.
Other salary dumps are Rick Ankiel (’10 $2.75 mil, ‘11 mutual option $6 mil), Luke Scott (’10 $4.05 mil).
Kearns would be too expensive for a player with a .370 BABIP, much higher than the .275ish he’s averaged the last three years, he’s a great sell high candidate but we shouldn’t be buying as the regression to the mean gods will surely toy with his stats.
DeJesus is interesting, I’d like him but at the moment he will cost more than just low level prospects and salary relief, word on the street is that the Royals are asking a lot, which is why he hasn’t been moved yet.
Rick Ankiel scares the crap out of me, he of .275 OBP following a year he only got on at a .285 clip over 400 PA. He also doesn’t play very good defense. He is, at this point, probably worse than McDonald/Nava/Hall/Hermida for us.
Luke Scott is interesting as well, his hitting is sustainable and over his career has played above average defense. However, he’s primarily a DH in Baltimore right now mostly due to poor defensive ratings the last couple of years, I think it would be a little foolish to take on another DH type just after getting rid of Lowell.
Besides DeJesus none of these guys are really an upgrade over the cheap patchwork that we’ve deployed in the OF so far this year.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
Kearns may be the easiest player to get without giving up the farm.
Today, he has $5.62 mil remaining on this years contract and Cleveland is looking to dump his salary. Any regression to the mean may be overshadowed by a move to Fenway. He has been squaring the ball to all fields (26.7 LD%) and doing it in high leverage situations.
He’s not the cure all but for mostly salary relief, Kearns could help us today without giving up the farm.
DeJesus has a higher upside but will cost more in prospects. His price should be coming down as pressure mounts for KC to cut payroll. If we knew JD Drew was coming back today, I would favor going after bullpen help. At the trade deadline, we may be in need of both outfield depth and a bullpen arm.
If JD Drew is tight today, I wonder if Reddick may be on standby for a fight to Denver as Drew insurance. That is a huge amount of outfield for our current team to cover.
For me it has to be the outfielder.
Coming into the season the Sox had two relief aces and they still have two. Coming into the season the Sox had three everyday, proven major league outfielders and at least for today they have none. I for one don’t think Cameron is capable of making a lasting contribution to this club at this point. Dejesus is possibly the best option I’ve seen commonly discussed.
We may have taken some hits in the OF but between Darnell/Hermida/Hall/Nava/Reddick they’ve actually formed a pretty functional OF this year, with the exception of solid defense, though Nava seems like he plays well out there (SSS noted).
The issue with the bullpen is that our two reliable guys are going to be beat to hell by the end of the season since there isn’t a single reliable option beyond them. Bard has already pitched 36 innings, and leads all AL pitchers in appearances with 33 year old Ohman.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
If you want to call this OF functional,
I won’t protest too much. But the bullpen is much more difficult to address, much riskier anyway. It’s a very tough mandate to come into this division and pitch in high leverage situations. The Sox have guys out there that have done it before and I’d put my chips on them doing it again rather than someone else. That’s not to say the pen couldn’t be upgraded, but I don’t see it as the top priority.
by SendEmHomeKim on Jun 21, 2010 4:53 PM EDT up reply actions
If the trade deadline was today?
Outfielder. As much as I love D-Mac, he’s a 4th OF at very best. Currently, he’s our every other day CF. Don’t even get me started on Bill Hall…
Wait 'til next/this year?
by nuthinboutnuthin on Jun 21, 2010 2:30 PM EDT reply actions
Solid IF/SS help and keep an eye out for bullpen help
Look at it this way, the OF is simply not healthy and should improve as we get players back from injuries. The bullpen could be OK and help may be had from the minors, although I would certainly be looking around for help here.
If I’m Theo right now, I’m looking for a backup SS very hard. If Scutaro goes down for a couple of weeks, the Sox are screwed. Hall cannot play SS and it would likely be a huge embarassment if he had to play SS for an extended (more than 5 games) period.
We do have a little insurance in the minors;
SS: Angel Sanchez
SS: Yamaico Navarro
Inf: Tug Hulett or Gil Velazquez
They could each help take pressure off the use of Hall as an every day guy for the short term.
Dejesus would be nice, but he's expensive.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/06/cafardo-on-oswalt-dejesus-aardsma-laroche.html
Good things happen when Beltre is on his knees.
"man, this team they just suck so bad"- gizmosandy
Twitter: @BoldandBrash
we won't be getting something for nothing,
but that won’t stop an important move from being made. If the trade deadline were today and with the club looking every but like a serious World Series contender I’d have to think the cost of solidifying the outfield would be well worth it.
by SendEmHomeKim on Jun 21, 2010 3:45 PM EDT up reply actions
hence the title
Good things happen when Beltre is on his knees.
"man, this team they just suck so bad"- gizmosandy
Twitter: @BoldandBrash
by BoldandBrash on Jun 21, 2010 3:48 PM EDT up reply actions
Dejesus
If I was running the Royals, I would hold up teams for the best deal also; he is only making $4.5 mil this season, already paid half of that, and has a club option for 2011. He is a part of the team, and they shouldn’t have any urgency to move him unless they really like the prospects coming over.
What about Bloomquist?
Bloomquist was also mentioned in the article. He may fill a couple of needs since he seems to do everything but pitch and catch on the field. has played mostly in OF, but over 150 game at SS also. Seems perfect.
He doesn't seem like he's ever been very good at any spot
At least Bill Hall had upside in the past.
But...
with every play successfully made, we’d get to use the Big Lebowski “Nobody effs with DeJesus” line.
So, we’d get to use it like five times. Nevertheless, that’s tomfoolery upside.
Wait 'til next/this year?
by nuthinboutnuthin on Jun 21, 2010 4:40 PM EDT up reply actions
Header reading fail
Alas
Wait 'til next/this year?
by nuthinboutnuthin on Jun 21, 2010 4:40 PM EDT up reply actions
SS need
Hall can’t play SS. I’m not sure how good Bloomquist is at SS, but he has to be better than Hall. “upside in the past”? Sure, Hall was supposed to be a better player, but he ain’t.
As someone mentioned above,
Tug Hulett and several other internal options are every bit as attractive as a replacement level player such as Bloomquist.
by SendEmHomeKim on Jun 21, 2010 5:07 PM EDT up reply actions
Hulett?
I’m not sure who Tag Hulett is, but the Sox won’t put a minor leage player into a role if they are not absolutley convinced he is ready for the challenge. It is a lot to ask for some prospect to step in and play an important role for the Boston Red Sox in the most intense division in the game. Better to bring in an established utility player for this.
The Red Sox are competing for a pennant here, they do not want to “try someone out” unless they are sure about the move. If Scutaro goes down tonight, I would prefer a replacement that has a 100+ games at SS in the ML.
Tug is best described as a non-prospect AAAA sort of guy. Played OK in Spring Training, we already have him.
Bloomquist would have an acquiring cost (not huge but still a cost) and doesn’t play short very well at all and overall has contributed a -.5 WAR, whereas Hall and for all of his sucking has actually provided (and even I find this hard to believe) +.4 WAR, probably because his bat hasn’t been absolutely atrocious lately. We probably aren’t making any moves until Lowell is gone, and that may never happen.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
Lowell
The Sox cannot keep Lowell on the bench for the entire season and waste a roster spot. If he is not traded by the deadline the Sox will and should release him. Hell, they are on the hook for the money anyway so just move on and try to improve the team.
I don’t know why they can’t revisit the Rangers deal now that Lowell appears healthy. Perhaps they could find a team that needs a 3B that has a similar contract to unload. I dunno, but he can’t just sit there, not because it is “unfair” to Lowell, because he is taking up a valuable roster spot that could be used to fill a need.
When the Rangers got Vlad
They really reduced the need for Lowell, who they wanted to use in a mostly DH type roll. I don’t think they still want him.
The Twinks want him though.
If I was your math homework I'd be really hard and you'd be doing me on your desk.
I'm a 7 WAR player in bed.
by TheLoneDavid on Jun 22, 2010 4:21 PM EDT up reply actions
hey
I’m french-japanese and kinda new to baseball and I was wondering why Matsuzaka is so much hated by a lot of Red Sox fans ? Is he really that bad ? Does he have the potentiel to be a top player, a all-star ? Thank you !
A topic that has been riddled on this board in the past but in short?
He came over for a lot of $$ and with a lot of hype.
When he’s on – he can be top of the line, but he’s rarely on for more than a few starts in a row
He seems to be injured all of the time
Basically he’s very disappointing
I don't hat Daisuke at all
He’s been infuriating at times, not attacking the strike zone. But I don’t really hold the $ against him, the $50 mill went to his club and was more about opening the market. For a $9 million a year pitcher I have high hopes.
A lot of the frustration, as well
…has to do with the fact that he will blame his problems on Red Sox training methods, hide injuries, etc, all of which, to me, smack of pride problems. Too proud to take the full blame himself.
There is also the fact that he was hyped as a $100million+ pitcher, even if it isn’t really accurate. I personally like the guy, I like watching him pitch, even if it is incredibly nerve-wracking.
Also, we were completely built up about some sort of “gyroball”, which made everyone think like it was something out of Sport Goofy or something, but ended up being kinda nothing.
French-Japanese, eh? Where are you living? US…Japan?
Galactus does as he pleases. Because Galactus is drunk.
@#$%ing Twit: @blogtard
To be fair to Dice-K...
He does SEEM to have learned from the mess that was last year. From the reports, he’s been more open and vocal with the team about soreness, potential injuries, etc.
I still like Dice-K, think he’s a good pitcher, and know he’s had some really good starts this year, I hope he can continue then when he gets back.
…But I’d still trade him in for Yu Darvish
DFA Beckett
by South Coast Ghost on Jun 22, 2010 9:05 AM EDT up reply actions
Yu Darvish
Isnt even one of the best in the J-league any more. You chase him and you will overspend on a sub par pitcher who I dont think can mentally take a move to the MLB.
You can quote me on that.
For Japanese players I would say the nastiest stuff has to be Hirokazu Sawamura.
"I think about baseball when I wake up in the morning. I think about it all day. And I dream about it at night. The only time I don't think about it is when I'm playing it."
Carl "Yaz" Yastrzemski
by BerkshireFan on Jun 22, 2010 9:43 AM EDT up reply actions
Curious
I know Darvish has had a bit of injury concerns over the last year or so, but I wonder why you think he’d be completely unable to move to the MLB. You state it’s mental, do you consider him weak mentally?
And isn’t Sawamura pretty much expected to go very early in the draft? I don’t think he’s coming over any time soon, but you never know.
DFA Beckett
by South Coast Ghost on Jun 22, 2010 10:05 AM EDT up reply actions
yeah it's not hate, it's mostly frustration
Which mostly stems from the fact that he was billed as an absolute top of the line ace when he came over and that’s what people expect from him everytime he starts. He’s also had issues communicating and has been injured a lot recently.
Personally, I love watching him pitch more than any of the others, partly because he can be just dominating, and partly because you just don’t know what you’ll get. I do think he can contribute a lot. If he could stay healthy and pitch the way he has for a few starts reliably, he’d be a fantastic pitcher. As it is, if he’s healthy, he’s usually fine.
okay !
thank you guys ! That’s what I figured out. I’m still learning about baseball but it’s difficult ‘cause it’s almost non-existent here in France.
Bloggy > French from japanese parents.
Thornton
Putz
Andruw Jones
Austin Kerns
those are the guys we should be after.
The certified ambassador of all things good and great, here at OTM.
I'll pass on Jones and Kerns
I’d rather have a plus defensive backup OF who can cover center well. And Kearns is an average player whose future team will end up paying more for BABIP than skill.
But yeah, those two would work in the pen very well.
USG
by Ben Buchanan on Jun 21, 2010 10:37 PM EDT up reply actions
Man, Putz was just dominating a few years ago for Seattle.
His 2007 season was one of the most impressive by a closer that I can recall. Unhittable and unyielding. 40 saves, 71.2 inninngs, 1.38 ERA .698 WHIP, 10.3 SO/9, 1.6 BB/9.
He became more ‘human’ in 08-09, but is looking pretty impressive again this year.
Catcher and fielder
We need a catcher to throw out people, bottom line. Prince would be nice too but should we wait till he becomes free agent instead of giving up the farm for him?
When are we ever going to use him?
Victor, Ortiz, and Youk are all hitting too well to warrant replacing them for something as small as throwing out base stealers. And God knows there’s no place for Fielder to hit on this team, nor should we sign someone with his physique to a long-term contract.
USG
by Ben Buchanan on Jun 21, 2010 10:33 PM EDT up reply actions
This...back, twice, and to the moon.
Prince Fielder looks like he’s 3 years away from Brando circa Don Juan DeMarco. And, while I’m not able to catch every game, it seems to me the base-stealing thing isn’t near the problem it was early in the season.
Galactus does as he pleases. Because Galactus is drunk.
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watch out for heart health
Good things happen when Beltre is on his knees.
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by BoldandBrash on Jun 22, 2010 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions
after april, so little damage has been done to us via the stolen base.
And our catchers have just been offensively fantastic. Absolutely no way they could get rid of vmart and get a defensive specialist instead.
This.
Am I the only one watching? Hasn’t anybody else noticed how accurate most of VMart’s throws have been lately? He cut that guy down who tried to run on WAKEFIELD (the easiest guy on our staff to run on)!
I think it is pretty clear VMart has taken the early criticism seriously and put a lot of work into improving his throws. You gotta like a veteran who works hard to improve his craft.
Plus VMart seems to have a very good rapport with Buchholz – don’t mess with it!
Its a complete turnaround
I don’t want to throw around the term “miraculous,” but it sure seems like it. He’s borderline a defensive asset at this point.
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Attribute a lot of that to the pitchers, though.
They’ve been doing work.
USG
by Ben Buchanan on Jun 22, 2010 2:29 PM EDT up reply actions
they have been
and that’s probably reduced his stress, but even apart from the holding runners on, at the beginning of the year, I felt like all his throws were sailing to center field, and now, they’re pretty much all at least very close.
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