Rotation

[seabeachfred]

I didn't come back here to get pissed off and get some of my colleages angry but I can't help being a little ticked off that once again Cherington showed his ineptness by being slow on the draw and risk averse in the extreme. The guy belong in Chicago being a gofer for his former master Epstink instead of running our team into the ground by his ineptness. The guy just doesn't seem to be able to act proactively. We need starting pitching, we all know that. We also know that we cannot depend on Lester and Buchholz to be our No. 1 and 2 starters because they have proven unable to rise to the occasion in those positions. I also don't hold out much hope they will rebound enough to fill those two roles this season ever. Come on Cherington, show us you're not as pathetic as some of us think you are.

[SoxFanForsyth]

Dan Haren is now officially a FA. I'm shocked the Angels didn't pull the trigger on him.

I guess teams don't think he's worth $15.5mm, which now makes you wonder what he'll get on the open market. It's going to be very interesting.

[mvp 78]

Why give up Bard when you can get Haren on a longer term deal in FA? Haren would be nice, but I don't see this team competing for a WS for a few years. At the point, Haren will be nothing more than a back of the rotation guy.

[rjortiz]

Dan Haren is now officially a FA. I'm shocked the Angels didn't pull the trigger on him.

I guess teams don't think he's worth $15.5mm, which now makes you wonder what he'll get on the open market. It's going to be very interesting.

Did you even watch him at all last year? He's not the same guy anymore.

[SoxFanForsyth]

Why give up Bard when you can get Haren on a longer term deal in FA? Haren would be nice, but I don't see this team competing for a WS for a few years. At the point, Haren will be nothing more than a back of the rotation guy.

The whole point trading for Haren is so that you don't have to battle in FA when other teams are offering him 2-3 year deals. You only want him for 1 year.

Not sure why this team can't compete for a WS next year. They can easily compete with a couple moves. The biggest thing is that I have faith that Farrell can get Lester and Buchholz straightened out.

Certainly there's a good bit of work to be done on this team, this team needs 2 starters and some high OBP guys.

Haren would have helped that, but he comes with risks. The problem is that the market is incredibly thin. So thin that I'm actually warming up to the idea of getting Grienke. You have to wonder if the Twins would trade Mauer + $30mm (taking his AAV down to $18mm over 5 years, so 5/90, which is very reasonable). I would love to have a .420 OBP hitting 3rd in our lineup myself.

[Palodios]

Did you even watch him at all last year? He's not the same guy anymore.

Look at his stats. The second half of the year, he had a 3.58 ERA with a 1.12 WHIP. If he declined down the stretch, I'd believe you, but the numbers tell me that his back got better midway through the year.

[Palodios]

What really bugs me about the whole situation is that Haren could literally have been had for nothing if they wrapped up the Ortiz situation first.

The Angels declined his option and ended up having to pay 3.5 million for him. The Red Sox could have simply taken him off their hands for 13-14 million on a one-year deal. We're talking about taking a 32 year old, with a career 3.60 ERA on a one year deal, and Cherrington choked.

Very very disappointing. I am worried that this offseason is going to turn into the same situation as last year. Overpaying in trades, losing players at key positions for no return and whiffing on the best free agent deals that could be had.

[User Name?]

What i don't understand is why people automatically assume the GM "failed" here. How do we know the Angels weren't asking for too much or it became apparent that Haren was going to become a FA?

Even worse, how do we know if, upon doing a complete checkup on him, the Sox weren't willing to give up a player like Bard for him.

Too many smart people here making a lot of thoroughly unrealistic assumptions.

[Palodios]

What i don't understand is why people automatically assume the GM "failed" here. How do we know the Angels weren't asking for too much or it became apparent that Haren was going to become a FA?

Even worse, how do we know if, upon doing a complete checkup on him, the Sox weren't willing to give up a player like Bard for him.

Too many smart people here making a lot of thoroughly unrealistic assumptions.

The Angels ended up declining the option, and got nothing for him. The Angels could have saved 3.5 million by simply giving him away. It isn't like he ended the season on the DL either, he ended the season very well.

[Bellhorn04]

We don't know why the Cubs took their trade offer off the table at the last minute.

[mvp 78]

To compete in 2013, they need more than "a couple of moves." They only won 69 games last year...

[Station 13]

To compete in 2013, they need more than "a couple of moves." They only won 69 games last year...

getting Ortiz and Middlebrooks back is a huge upgrade. Lester and Buchholz stepping up is another. Still around 80+ wins if that is the case. Need to add a reliable SP (Sanchez) and the BP need to remain strong. Both closers had ERA around 6 and 7 won't cut it.

Add a bat (Napoli/LaRoche) and OF (Ross) would put them into a WC team. Still long way to go to be a division winner in the East. That happens when they have a so called 'ace' starter.

[mvp 78]

Need 2 SP's, at least 1 top tier RP, C, SS, RF, LF, 1b and a better bench to compete for a WS. Remember, this team has missed the playoffs for a few years now.

[iortiz]

Need 2 SP's, at least 1 top tier RP, C, SS, RF, LF, 1b and a better bench to compete for a WS. Remember, this team has missed the playoffs for a few years now.

Period.

[iortiz]

and here we go...

People still defending the indefensible –FO

Unbelievable!