Sox front office...umm not gettin' it done

[riverside sluggers]

I agree, but I hope they remember to put a little bit towards a SS and CF.

 

as for center field, it will most likely be done in a trade.

 

The shortstop situation can easily be fixed as Loretta or Graffanino shifting over to that position. Personally Id take that over Alex Gonzalez or Julio Lugo any day of the week.

[a700hitter]

The shortstop situation can easily be fixed as Loretta or Graffanino shifting over to that position. Personally Id take that over Alex Gonzalez or Julio Lugo any day of the week.

 

How are they defensively at SS? Has Graffanino played any OF? He could be a good all-purpose utility player.

[jsinger121]

defensively graff at short is not that good.....having him at short and loretta at second will hurt the red sox range up the middle

[riverside sluggers]

defensively graff at short is not that good.....having him at short and loretta at second will hurt the red sox range up the middle

 

notice how i said graffanino or loretta. I dont know why right away you would be suggesting this would harpen the infield defense. Heres a quote from Boston.com

 

Defense: Graffanino and Loretta have made a combined 421 appearances at shortstop, with Loretta owning the lion’s share with 328. Graffanino made 13 errors in 339 chances (.962 fielding percentage, which is eight points better than Renteria’s 2005 percentage), and Loretta had 21 errors in 1,213 chances. Only two shortstops in major league baseball last season had a better fielding percentage than Loretta’s career .983 mark at short. Let that sink in for a minute.

 

What about zone rating and range factor? Both Graffanino and Loretta have similar numbers in those categories (at the shortstop position) as Gonzalez, who is considered one of the best defensive shortstops in the National League.

[Cityofchampions33]

Yeah, the holes we have are quickly fixable and I have no problem filling them wiht the players we're thinking of filling them with (Graffy, Reed). This off-seasonwe have improved all-around offensively minus Damon, have gotten younger, and have improved our pitching a ton. All in all it's not a disasterous season.

[riverside sluggers]

ok Lucchino has said even though Damon is gone, the Sox are still exploring trade options for Manny... yea that makes sense

[ksushi]

Lucchino has certain things he is supposed to say. He isn't supposed to say "Yeah, we're in trouble now so we have to keep manny" That would make you even more unhappy then you are. The sox are in a bad spot, but not a bad spot that they were unprepared for. I think Reed is a good option, the sox are now in on Millwood, they still have wells to deal and the short stop situation will get resolved by either a move of Loretta, or an Alex Gonzalez signing. Gonzalez would be a great option, he fits the type we are going for. He isn't a lugo so don't group him there, lugo is a short stop in the mold of edgar in that he is supposed to be good offensivley and hes supposed to be a good base runner, but defensively he is flashy at times but makes a lot of errors. He is not worth giving up talent for, but you only have to give up money for gonzalez, I say do it.

 

The sox front office would be umm.... not getting it done if they traded away marte and lester and signed damon to a huge contract. We'd be sitting here in four years talking about how we can get back into the playoffs. I'd rather be talking about a world series repeat. They're ummmm, doin' ok.

[26 Reasons to Hate Us]

I belive wakefield was like 16-7 with a 3.00 Era with Dougy catching.

 

Doug must have called a better game then:lol:

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

I didn't read this whole post but I'll throw in my 2 cents with the title...

 

Its very early to say these guys aren't getting it done. I'm a big fan of the Beckett trade and I like what Andy Marte will be able to bring to the table in the end. I had to sit back and think about the Johnny Damon signing and came to this conclusion: this was good for the Red Sox. They saved a bunch of money and should now make the transition from a power offense team to a defense and pitching team. They lost one of there top offensive weapons and from the press conference it sounds like they are still trying to move Manny. Damon, Wells, and Manny don't want to be here so I say move them and get more pitching and better defense. Jeremy Reed would be good but if not him then someone else with a great glove. You cannot beat that Yankee lineup so you MUST out pitch them which is very possible.

 

The other thing I thought about was the makeup of the team so far.....so far a team of gritty hard nosed players like Mike Lowell, Jason Varitek, Tony Graff, Trot Nixon, Mark Loretta....these guys all play the game hard and they play it right....maybe not the most athletically gifted but as we say (Renteria) that doesn't mean anything. The defense already looks better to me from last season (despite the holes) and the pitching looks better...I say the Red Sox need to keep in that direction and learn a thing or two from the Angels, White Sox, and Astros. Johnny Damon is 33, overrated, and overpayed....that billion dollar lineup can't hurt us if they can't hit us.

[riverside sluggers]

Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports talked about a trade possibility, that mind you is as he reported a longshot. A 3 team trade involving the Sox, Cubs, and Orioles

 

Cubs get Miguel Tejada

 

Orioles get Manny Ramirez

 

Red Sox get Mark Prior, shortstop Cedeno, and center fielder Corey Patterson

[mosox]

I don't like that deal. Paterson didn't cut it with the Cubs, and Prior will just take up space on the DL.

[jimmycarter05]

I don't like that deal. Paterson didn't cut it with the Cubs, and Prior will just take up space on the DL.

 

 

I'm going to give Mark Prior the benefit of the doubt here, most of his injuries are freak injuries. Think about that one game against the Rockies where he had that ball hit off his arm, how many times is that actually going to happen? Plus in this trade, I'd rather take out Prior and Patterson and replace them with the Z.

[jimmycarter05]

I didn't read this whole post but I'll throw in my 2 cents with the title...

 

Its very early to say these guys aren't getting it done. I'm a big fan of the Beckett trade and I like what Andy Marte will be able to bring to the table in the end. I had to sit back and think about the Johnny Damon signing and came to this conclusion: this was good for the Red Sox. They saved a bunch of money and should now make the transition from a power offense team to a defense and pitching team. They lost one of there top offensive weapons and from the press conference it sounds like they are still trying to move Manny. Damon, Wells, and Manny don't want to be here so I say move them and get more pitching and better defense. Jeremy Reed would be good but if not him then someone else with a great glove. You cannot beat that Yankee lineup so you MUST out pitch them which is very possible.

 

The other thing I thought about was the makeup of the team so far.....so far a team of gritty hard nosed players like Mike Lowell, Jason Varitek, Tony Graff, Trot Nixon, Mark Loretta....these guys all play the game hard and they play it right....maybe not the most athletically gifted but as we say (Renteria) that doesn't mean anything. The defense already looks better to me from last season (despite the holes) and the pitching looks better...I say the Red Sox need to keep in that direction and learn a thing or two from the Angels, White Sox, and Astros. Johnny Damon is 33, overrated, and overpayed....that billion dollar lineup can't hurt us if they can't hit us.

 

 

 

Except the Astros didn't have enough of an offense.

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

Except the Astros didn't have enough of an offense.

 

They still went pretty damn far two years in a row.

 

Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports talked about a trade possibility, that mind you is as he reported a longshot. A 3 team trade involving the Sox, Cubs, and Orioles

 

Cubs get Miguel Tejada

 

Orioles get Manny Ramirez

 

Red Sox get Mark Prior, shortstop Cedeno, and center fielder Corey Patterson

 

Thats real interesting. I like Corey Patterson and still feel he can be a force in baseball. He is in his mid 20s which means his best years are about to come. He was supposed to be like Carlos Beltran where he played awesome defense, hit 25-30 HRs and steal 25-30 bases. He still could.

 

I would deffinitly take Mark Prior. The guy has great mechanics and nasty stuff. If we had a healthy Mark Prior and a healthy Josh Beckett....good lord. The Cubs would probably be interested in having Tejada, A. Ramirez, and Lee in that batting lineup. My only question would be do they feel there pitching would be greatly limited...they would probably want a pitcher in return.

[riverside sluggers]

they would probably want a pitcher in return.

 

Id glady give them back Clement

[jimmycarter05]

Yeah, I'm in agreement(if he agree, I think he did) with Riverside Sluggers about killing two birds with one stone by letting Loretta play SS and having Tony G resigned to play 2b. Then I think we should move Perioda back to SS.

[mosox]

THEY BLEW IT UP! World Series champs two years ago and now this. This FO team wrote the book on building a champ and then they kick out the GM and drop a bomb on a team that won 95 games and only needed some pitching help and a first basemen. Now they act like it's Kansas City with this "small market, shedding salary" philosophy. And here we are at the start of 2006, with more holes than when the season ended. This has to be one of the worst offseason's ever for this team.

I do not want to wait for the 2009 Red Sox while NY wins titles. With the highest ticket prices in baseball, this FO should be reloading, not rebuilding. They're so inexperienced and delusional, they thought they had Damon where they wanted him, and now there's a big friggin' crater in centerfield, and we're talking about Corey Paterson or Jeremy Reed taking his place? If this keeps up seats at Fenway will be fairly easy to get by July.

[jsinger121]

NY won't be winning titles with the pitching staff they have right now. Damon is not a 13 million dollar a yr player either. i didnt see other teams banging down damons door to sign him either.

[AlexanderTheGreat13]

NY won't be winning titles with the pitching staff they have right now. Damon is not a 13 million dollar a yr player either. i didnt see other teams banging down damons door to sign him either.

Furcal isnt worth 13 mill either. The market changes every year. Watch next year you see pitchers like Barry Zito get 13-15 mill a year for 5 years. We are getting back to where we started(The A-Rod, Jeter, Manny days of contracts).

[jsinger121]

its getting pretty ridiculous for contracts but that is all due to the extra money going around in baseball from satellite radio and the television contract with espn.

[ORS]

THEY BLEW IT UP! World Series champs two years ago and now this. This FO team wrote the book on building a champ and then they kick out the GM and drop a bomb on a team that won 95 games and only needed some pitching help and a first basemen.

Interesting you say this. The folks over at Baseball Prospectus did indeed write a book about this called "Mind Game". They pretty clearly state that the 2004 Red Sox were perfectly engineered to win one championship, but that the team wasn't composed of the right combination of young, veteran, and superstar talent necessary to go on an extended run. The problem lay in the fact that all the major contributors were close to free-agency and that it would be close to impossible for the Sox to match every offer they got on the market. I'm of the opinion that they probably know more about the subject than a star-gazer on a rant.

[mosox]

If not for Grady Little, the Sox should have won two world titles. Admittedly the 2004 Sox had a run and some changes needed to be made. But except for Varitek, this FO has let everyone go.

I admit, it was a bit of a rant, but I think Tony Massarotti nailed it in today's Herald:

 

"...the Sox generally seem inclined to let the market dictate the price, then decide they do not want to pay it."

[jsinger121]

that and the fact had giambi not been on juice he would not have hit two home runs in that game 7

[a700hitter]

that and the fact had giambi not been on juice he would not have hit two home runs in that game 7

Also, let's not forget that Damon missed games 1 and 2 of the ALCS. In his place Kapler batted leadoff, that's right leadoff, in game 2. We had Pettite on the ropes early but Kapler ran into a strike em ot throw em out DP in the first inning. He got thrown out by 10 feet. In the second inning, he hit into a 6-4-3 rally killing DP. Damon just might have made the difference to bring a WS Championship in 2003.

[jsinger121]

ya but we got an all important split in the first 2 games after flying cross country from oakland. the yankees were rested and we were fortunate to split with them after having hardly any rest.

[a700hitter]

ya but we got an all important split in the first 2 games after flying cross country from oakland. the yankees were rested and we were fortunate to split with them after having hardly any rest.

2 games to none at the stadium would have been a stranglehold. I was at the Stadium that night, and when I saw the posted lineup, I was livid. No way, no how Forest Gump should have had Kapler batting leadoff. In that lineup, he clearly should have been the #9 batter.

[ARod2212]

that and the fact had giambi not been on juice he would not have hit two home runs in that game 7

Giambi was off steroids by then, the reason he was hitting 7th in the lineup that game. (but let's quit beating that dead horse)

 

I think its very contradictory what the Red Sox Front Office has done this year, based upon their one key move. If they are building around youth, why trade your two of your very best prospects for Beckett and Lowell? Especially if you are making the Renteria for Marte move. If you want to win now- trade for Beckett and Lowell, keep Damon and Renteria. If you want to build your team from the ground up, keep Hanley and Sanchez, let Damon and Renteria go for Marte and whatever cheap replacement you want for centerfield. This mismatching of moves makes no sense.

[jsinger121]

worry about your own franchise and the fact of the age on it. marte is a lot better prospect than hanley ramirez. hanley has never put up the stats to back up his talent. marte is a huge upgrade from hanley. the only prospect i really was mad about giving up was anabal sanchez. the red sox stuck to their guns and didn't want to overpay for damon. they got a 25 yr old beckett as the frontline starter of the future. and since they had to take lowell to get the deal done the red sox can do that.

[Sox Fan on Cape]

Giambi was off steroids by then, the reason he was hitting 7th in the lineup that game. (but let's quit beating that dead horse)

 

I think its very contradictory what the Red Sox Front Office has done this year, based upon their one key move. If they are building around youth, why trade your two of your very best prospects for Beckett and Lowell? Especially if you are making the Renteria for Marte move. If you want to win now- trade for Beckett and Lowell, keep Damon and Renteria. If you want to build your team from the ground up, keep Hanley and Sanchez, let Damon and Renteria go for Marte and whatever cheap replacement you want for centerfield. This mismatching of moves makes no sense.

Right on the mark. I feal like the Sox are now run by the Three Stooges, with Larry now the head Stooge. We went into the off season needing pictching ( quality starters 1 or 2 ), bullpen help, center fielder, corner outfielder, and a power hitting quality first baseman. As of now, we have solved little if any of these needs. Yet, we now need a short stop as well ( the most critical infield position ). We have two players that have demanded to be traded ( for which we will not get comprable value, ie. not being able to deal from a position of strength ) and we'll probably need to include Major leauge players and prospects to fill the void of starters. It just doesn't make any sense.

[ORS]

worry about your own franchise and the fact of the age on it. marte is a lot better prospect than hanley ramirez. hanley has never put up the stats to back up his talent. marte is a huge upgrade from hanley. the only prospect i really was mad about giving up was anabal sanchez. the red sox stuck to their guns and didn't want to overpay for damon. they got a 25 yr old beckett as the frontline starter of the future. and since they had to take lowell to get the deal done the red sox can do that.

Nail meet hammer, hammer meet nail. This is spot on. Marte is a definite upgrade over Hanley, and Beckett is a definite upgrade over Sanchez.