It's official, Renteria gone

[ACL BoSox]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2252297

 

"The Braves and Red Sox have agreed on a deal that would ship shortstop Edgar Renteria to Atlanta in exchange for Braves third-base prospect Andy Marte, ESPN's Peter Gammons has learned.

 

An official announcement is expected in an hour."

 

Ok... now we need a short-stop... and still a 1B...

 

Aside from Lugo... who's out there?

[BoSox84]

Where does Lowell go? or does this kid stay in the minors for a season or two?

[CalvnHobs6]

I'm not sure I understand this trade...unless they're moving Marte for a shortstop? Are we still pursuing Cabrera? The FA SS market is hugely weak, and we don't exactly have Hanley anymore. Is this making room for Nomar? Lugo still in the picture? We have a backlog of 3b now in Youkilis, Lowell, and Marte. What's going on here?

[RedSoxRooter]

Are the Sox picking up any of the contract?

[RedSoxRooter]

"The Red Sox are now expected to sign a free-agent shortstop to replace Renteria rather than pursue a trade with the Devil Rays for Julio Lugo, as had been rumored the last couple of days here at the winter meetings."

 

Nomar!! Nomar!! Nomar!!

4 Million baby!

[riverside sluggers]

Id really like to see a platoon of Tony G and Alex Cora for shortstop. Dont get me wrong I love Nomahh, I just dont think its in the cards for him to return here.

[riverside sluggers]

Where does Lowell go? or does this kid stay in the minors for a season or two?

 

Lowell is a two-time gold glove 3rd baseman, so I dont think they would move him for a rookie.

 

He could either start the season in Pawtucket or on the opening day roster as part of a Youk/Marte 1st base platoon. He could still be dealt to the D-Rays along with Shoppach and Arroyo. That would see sox get Aubrey Huff and Danyz Baez, big no on Julio Lugo part of that deal.

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

Now that we have Marte I would say keep him. He has more upside than Lowell and is a better player than Youkilis. So where to put them....my first thought is to have Lowell at 3rd BUT....Marte is supposed to be great defensively. If this kid is supposed to be real good and a potential all star I would say throw him to the position he knows best. I'm sure Mike Lowell would do an excellent job at 1st base for us. It is kinda nice that we have two power hitting corner infielders.

[MC Hammer]

We will definatly regret trading Edgar when he has his comeback year this year. Moronic move considering we have Lowell and Youk to play 3B and still no CF, SS, or 1B. First bad move we've made this offseason and this is a HORRIBLE move. I'm really disapointed in Sox management.

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

We will definatly regret trading Edgar when he has his comeback year this year. Moronic move considering we have Lowell and Youk to play 3B and still no CF, SS, or 1B. First bad move we've made this offseason and this is a HORRIBLE move. I'm really disapointed in Sox management.

 

I thought so at first but....we can't answer that until we see Andy Marte develop....he deffinitly has a good chance to be better than Renteria....but probably not right away.

[riverside sluggers]

EDIT: The Sox have told the Braves they intend to keep the prized prospect and will not trade him to the Devil Rays. Possible candidates include Alex Gonzalez, Royce Clayton, and former sox Pokey Reese

[RedSoxRooter]

We will definatly regret trading Edgar when he has his comeback year this year. Moronic move considering we have Lowell and Youk to play 3B and still no CF, SS, or 1B. First bad move we've made this offseason and this is a HORRIBLE move. I'm really disapointed in Sox management.

 

Have you seen Marte's minor league numbers? As of August he was the #6 prospect in the nation.

 

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/milb/news/top50/

 

1 Delmon Young

2 Felix Hernandez

3 Rickie Weeks

4 Jeff Francoeur

5 Jeremy Hermida

6 Andy Marte

 

He's only 22

[yeszir]

Id really like to see a platoon of Tony G and Alex Cora for shortstop. Dont get me wrong I love Nomahh, I just dont think its in the cards for him to return here.

Unless it's referring to the movie, I hate the word platoon.

[MC Hammer]

Have you seen Marte's minor league numbers? As of August he was the #6 prospect in the nation.

 

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/milb/news/top50/

 

1 Delmon Young

2 Felix Hernandez

3 Rickie Weeks

4 Jeff Francoeur

5 Jeremy Hermida

6 Andy Marte

 

He's only 22

 

Yeah I've seen them but did you see what I said? We have absolutely no use for him right now. There is no where for him to play in the bigs. If you look at his ETA it's 2006, and I think having him in AAA is a waste and may even hurt his progression. Instead of making a move to reduce our needs to 1 ... we increased our needs to 3 positions.

 

None of the FA SS are better than Edgar on their best day and his worst ... another reason this is a horrible move. The sentimental pick is obviously Pokey.

 

For a team that looked like it was trying to win now (trading for Josh Beckett) it doesn't make sense to make a move like this because it's a move you make when your building for a future. We are clearly not in the business of fore fitting seasons to win in the future.

[riverside sluggers]

Red Sox executive Bill Lajoie said the team is more likely to address its need at shortstop through free agency than a trade. The leading free-agent option probably is Alex Gonzalez, who previously with the Marlins, a team previously owned by Red Sox owner John Henry.

 

Lajoie also said that while the team envisions Marte as a third baseman, he could move to the outfield in his first season with the team or even first base. The Red Sox are totally overhauling their infield, with Mike Lowell taking over at third, Mark Loretta at second and Kevin Youkilis currently the leading option at first.

[MC Hammer]

Alex Gonzalez Career Stats:

 Year Ag Tm  Lg  G   AB    R    H   2B 3B  HR  RBI  SB CS  BB  SO   BA   OBP   SLG   TB   SH  SF IBB HBP GDP 
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
1998 21 FLA NL  25   86   11   13   2  0   3    7   0  0   9  30  .151  .240  .279   24   2   0   0   1   2
1999 22 FLA NL 136  560   81  155  28  8  14   59   3  5  15 113  .277  .308  .430  241   1   3   0  12  13
2000 23 FLA NL 109  385   35   77  17  4   7   42   7  1  13  77  .200  .229  .319  123   5   2   0   2   7
2001 24 FLA NL 145  515   57  129  36  1   9   48   2  2  30 107  .250  .303  .377  194   3   3   6  10  13
2002 25 FLA NL  42  151   15   34   7  1   2   18   3  1  12  32  .225  .296  .325   49   3   2   1   4   2
2003 26 FLA NL 150  528   52  135  33  6  18   77   0  4  33 106  .256  .313  .443  234   3   5  13  13   8
2004 27 FLA NL 159  561   67  130  30  3  23   79   3  1  27 126  .232  .270  .419  235   3   4   9   4  17
2005 28 FLA NL 130  435   45  115  30  0   5   45   5  3  31  81  .264  .319  .368  160   4   3  10   5  11
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
8 Seasons      896 3221  363  788 183 23  81  375  23 17 170 672  .245  .291  .391 1260  24  22  39  51  73
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
162 Game Avg        582   66  142  33  4  15   68   4  3  31 122  .245  .291  .391  228   4   4   7   9  13
Career High    159  561   81  155  36  8  23   79   7  5  33 126  .277  .319  .443  241   5   5  13  13  17

He has made 16 errors in each of the last 3 seasons. He'll be 29 in a few months.

 

I think this would be much better than trading for Lugo. Eventhough his power is down from recent years.

[riverside sluggers]

I agree, Gonzalez is the most viable option among those 3 possible candidates.

 

-------------------------------------

 

Rotoworld: Red Sox acquired third baseman Andy Marte from the Braves for shortstop Edgar Renteria and cash. 10 or 15 years from now, this offseason could be remembered in Boston for the Marte acquisition, not the Josh Beckett pickup. The Braves were frustrated with the 22-year-old's unwillingness to move off third base, but the Red Sox won't have a problem keeping him there.

 

He's not going to be a Gold Glover, but he should be able to remain at the position for at least the first half of his career, and he'll hit enough to be an All-Star in his prime. The Red Sox will probably send him to Triple-A for one more year and give him a starting job in 2007. Moving Mike Lowell and letting Marte and Kevin Youkilis compete would be another possibility. Dec

[youkilis rules]

you guys are way off. this is a great trade. marte is arguably the no. 1 prospect in the game!!! i'd like to see us now move Lowell for a package of players (possibly including Romero?). Would be thrilled to see 3B platooned by Youky and Marte and SS platooned by Cora and Pedroia. Then we need to make some sort of move for a nice hitting 1B.

[MANNYHOF24]

You cant have the left side of the Infield platooned, you need stability, thats why you sign Nomar to a 1 year deal

[youkilis rules]

nomar is basically a guaranteed injury. so much for stability...

[MANNYHOF24]

I can dream cant I?

[MC Hammer]

You cant have the left side of the Infield platooned, you need stability, thats why you sign Nomar to a 1 year deal

I'd rather have instability than Nomar back.

[eZ_d0eS_iT]

We will definatly regret trading Edgar when he has his comeback year this year. Moronic move considering we have Lowell and Youk to play 3B and still no CF, SS, or 1B. First bad move we've made this offseason and this is a HORRIBLE move. I'm really disapointed in Sox management.

 

 

I agree completely. I don't care that publicly sox management will not move him to another team. This better be the beginning stage of another move because you do not give away Renteria for a PROSPECT. Marte can have all the unreal minor league stats he wants, but so what....that is not a valid indicator of how he'll play at the mlb level. s***, if thats the case, then you're gonna tell me its ok to move Manny for a couple of promising prospects?

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

According to that list of top prospects there are many who think Marte is better than Francoeur who is ranked #4...in any case I'm starting to like this deal...one thing to keep in mind is the kid can really hit for power so lets recap what we look like compared to last season....

 

1st: Kevin Millar to Mike Lowell (big upgrade now that Lowell can hit against the green monster...something Millar wasn't doing too often last year)

 

3rd: Bill Mueller to Andy Marte (I love Bill Mueller but the power is on Marte's side. The upside is on Marte's side. Believe it or not Marte is supposed to be awesome defensively from what I was reading)

 

SS: Edgar Renteria to Doesn't Matter (Yes its a downgrade but if our new SS can have less than 30 errors, steal more than 9 bases, and possibly have a batting average over .280...I'm fine with that)

 

2B: Bellhorn/Cora/Graff to Mark Loretta (I'll take Mark Loretta every day of the week on this one...although I like Graffanino and would like to see him back I'd still take the all star 2nd baseman)

 

.....things are looking good...we have more power and potential on the offensive side this season...not to mention our defense will be much more improved helping out our pitching to a great extent.

[eZ_d0eS_iT]

you guys are way off. this is a great trade. marte is arguably the no. 1 prospect in the game!!! i'd like to see us now move Lowell for a package of players (possibly including Romero?). Would be thrilled to see 3B platooned by Youky and Marte and SS platooned by Cora and Pedroia. Then we need to make some sort of move for a nice hitting 1B.

 

 

Look, not to be harsh, but I'll forgive your obvious enthusiasm for our kids and supposed other can't miss prospects by making a completely asinine comment. Which team do you honestly think we have? Last time I checked this is THE BOSTON RED SOX, not the KANSAS CITY ROYALS, since when is it acceptable to ditch proven MLB GOLD GLOVE ALL-STARS for kids? And to answer your question...NO, I wouldn't be thrilled, I'd be disgusted.

 

Somehow Marte, (whatever we'd get for Lowell), Youk, Cora and Pedroia doesn't = Yankee infield or even playoff spot for that matter. Let me qualify my pessimism coming from the Dodger organization, where after supposedly having the best or one of the best, deepest amount of talented kids we still have s*** to show for. I'll believe it after they are productive for at least a year, and not at the expense of going to the WS just to break some kids in.

[RedSoxRooter]

nomar is basically a guaranteed injury. so much for stability...

 

So bringing him back for 4 million is bad because the worst case scenario is that he may get injured again? And so what if he did? The upside (in light of losing Manny) is greater than the downside, if you ask me. We need a SS. Nomar wants to stay a SS. It actually makes sense if it's cheap enough.

 

We payed Kim like 10 million over 2 years to suck and be injured. Schilling and Foulke got 20 million last year alone for being sucky and injured. A 4 million flyer on Nomar ain't a bad idea.

[Ray10]

So now the Sox have no more SS who exactly can they sign to fill the spot. I know it cant be Nomar he hasnt even played a full season in like 3 years. Yet another position to try and fill. Horrible move by the Red Sox.

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

Look, not to be harsh, but I'll forgive your obvious enthusiasm for our kids and supposed other can't miss prospects by making a completely asinine comment. Which team do you honestly think we have? Last time I checked this is THE BOSTON RED SOX, not the KANSAS CITY ROYALS, since when is it acceptable to ditch proven MLB GOLD GLOVE ALL-STARS for kids? And to answer your question...NO, I wouldn't be thrilled, I'd be disgusted.

 

Somehow Marte, (whatever we'd get for Lowell), Youk, Cora and Pedroia doesn't = Yankee infield or even playoff spot for that matter. Let me qualify my pessimism coming from the Dodger organization, where after supposedly having the best or one of the best, deepest amount of talented kids we still have s*** to show for. I'll believe it after they are productive for at least a year, and not at the expense of going to the WS just to break some kids in.

 

The kids like Marte and Pedroia won't make the difference on the Red Sox being a playoff team or not.

 

The kids who will make the difference are Jonathan Papelbon, Craig Hansen, Josh Beckett, and Manny Delcarmen

 

...pitching wins....the guys we have are all good enough to get the job done and we will throw up big run numbers again. No matter what moves we make the Yanks have more power....the players aren't out on the market to compete with that...but we can pitch better than them.

 

By the way for all you know Andy Marte could be the next David Ortiz with a bat

[riverside sluggers]

So now the Sox have no more SS who exactly can they sign to fill the spot.

 

Candidates to be the opening day shortstop are Alex Cora, Alex Gonzalez, Pokey Reese, and Royce Clayton.

 

Tony G's name can also be tossed in the ring for consideration.

 

----------------------

 

I'm high on this kid Marte. Many see him as an all-star caliber player

[ACL BoSox]

Ummm... this is just a thought, but what if we dealt Manny & cash to the reds for Adam Dunn and Felipe Lopez. That kills three birds with one stone... I know the Reds haven't expressed interest in Manny, but its always worth offering if they're trying to win this year.