Red Sox Sign Julian Tavarez

[yankeessuck013]

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5239404

 

Good pickup. Of course the guy is f***ing nuts, but is another good late inning arm

[gosox613]

oh my goodness i thought we would never sign someone. i was dying of boredom.....an alirght pickup i guess...his 4+ career era isnt stellar but watever

[Plumpamania]

Very good pickup. Should give Hansen a full AAA year. However if Hansen rapes in AAA, look for Seanez and Tavarez to be traded.

[Plumpamania]

oh my goodness i thought we would never sign someone. i was dying of boredom.....an alirght pickup i guess...his 4+ career era isnt stellar but watever

 

His last two seasons were solid. If not there are plenty of teams in need of MR help;.

[ORS]

Ok, as long as the $$ and time aren't big. One of these pitchers (Mota, Saenz, Tavarez) are likely to suck, one of these pitchers (Hansen, Delcarmen, Meredith) are likely to be pitching well enough for a call up. As long as the flexibility to place on waivers remains, then this is not a bad pick up.

[Beckett95]

i wouldnt be suprised to see mota get moved in a deal for a CF. Tavarez is a good signing to help support the bullpen. Tavarez was one of the 10 best free agent relievers available. If you can have, Mota, Seanez, Timlin, Foulke and Tavarez all pitch up to their potential, it would make the best bullpen in baseball.

[elsrbueno]

Ok, as long as the $$ and time aren't big. One of these pitchers (Mota, Saenz, Tavarez) are likely to suck, one of these pitchers (Hansen, Delcarmen, Meredith) are likely to be pitching well enough for a call up. As long as the flexibility to place on waivers remains, then this is not a bad pick up.

 

Depth is NEVER a bad thing. I just hope they didn't put a ton of money into him. He's had attitude problems in the past (Hurting his hand punching things Kevin Brown style) but he's had 3 decent years in a row since he was converted from a starter to a reliever.

 

Like you said-- You mention 3 guys who could suck-- Keith Foulke is also a huge question mark in my opinion. That really leaves the Sox with 4 guys in the bullpen who COULD suck... if 3 of them are steady and Timlin does what he's done since he started here... the bullpen should be OK.

[ORS]

Depth is NEVER a bad thing. I just hope they didn't put a ton of money into him. He's had attitude problems in the past (Hurting his hand punching things Kevin Brown style) but he's had 3 decent years in a row since he was converted from a starter to a reliever.

 

Like you said-- You mention 3 guys who could suck-- Keith Foulke is also a huge question mark in my opinion. That really leaves the Sox with 4 guys in the bullpen who COULD suck... if 3 of them are steady and Timlin does what he's done since he started here... the bullpen should be OK.

Yeah, I forgot Foulke. My point wasn't arguing against the value of depth. It was hoping that his contract is reasonable enough that if he does suck, then when he's waived, there is a possibilty that someone with BP trouble takes a flyer on him, so the Sox don't eat the salary. That is all.

[26 to 6]

WOW, i DIDNT EXPECT THIS ONE. tHE sOX' NAME HASNT BEEN MENTIONED AT ALL IN THE JULIAN TAVAREZ TALKS

 

 

sorry, didnt realize it was all caps until I was half done and I didnt really want to go back and type it over

[26 to 6]

but wow, the Sox bullpen, if healthy is going to be one of the best this year. All it takes to go from a weak bullpen to a dominant one is 2 or 3 new pitchers. (ex: Yankees 2003=Yankees 2004 after we added Gordon and Quantrill and later Sturtze, we were considered to have one of the top 2 bullpens). This will definately help the Sox out.

[eZ_d0eS_iT]

i was actually impressed with his performance in the playoffs two years ago and thought he's had a pretty good couple of years with the Cardinals. I was suprised there wasn't a higher demand for his services considering you can never have enough pitching (starting & relief)...so yeah, I'm psyched about this signing...(plus we keep him from going to ny!)

[riverside sluggers]

total frigging shock, sox were said to not have a shot at all. This improves the depth of our bullpen.

 

last year's opening day bullpen

 

John Halamma

Blaine Neal

Matt Mantei

Alan Embree

Mike Timlin

Keith Foulke

 

only one of those, our boy Timlin, actually had a productive season.

[KeepTheFaith1229]

The bullpen is going to be completely lights out. They've improved it so much this offseason...if Foulke can be Foulke, we're definitely in business. The only bad thing about the bullpen this offseason is losing Myers.

[riverside sluggers]

Rotoworld is reporting that this might beckon Mota being involved in a trade to help acquire a shortstop or center fielder.

[yankeessuck013]

Yeah, Tavarez didn't throw a lot of innings last year with an impressive ERA and is not over the hill. Finally a respectable bullpen and if Foulke is healthy lookout.

 

Watching this guy pitch for the Cardinals with a broken hand, I really felt like he wanted to win.

[yankeessuck013]

Rotoworld is reporting that this might beckon Mota being involved in a trade to help acquire a shortstop or center fielder.

 

hmmm mota, prospect for crisp or reed?

[example1]

hmmm mota, prospect for crisp or reed?

 

I think the original rumor was Mota + Marte to get Crisp. If the sox could get a decent prospect (or player) in return that may be worth it. I really hate the idea of parting with Marte, I really do. I also really like the idea of Coco Crisp in the OF for the next few years. The guy is young, he can lead off, he's a good fielder and has speed (not to mention a pretty good bat). I would rather we were able to trade just about anyone but Marte (Lester, Papelbon, Ellsbury, Pedroia and Hansen not withstanding).

 

Signing Tavarez though is a pretty good move. He's a late inning veteran with enough pride to not go out and walk the bases loaded. Sometimes that's all ya' need.

[guapo34]

oh my goodness i thought we would never sign someone. i was dying of boredom.....an alirght pickup i guess...his 4+ career era isnt stellar but watever

 

 

Better than alright. His career ERA isn't a very good stat to look at. He was a pretty bad starting pitcher thats been a pretty good relief pitcher for 3 years now.

 

I don't think we have an incredible bullpen, but certainly very deep. We may have 7 guys that can pitch better than our 2nd best guy most of the year last year.

[jsinger121]

Solid pickup by the Red Sox who will help this team. The best part is he was a Type A free agent but the Cardinals did not offer arbitration to him thus the Red Sox do not have to fork over a draft pick because had they offered it to Tavarez the Sox likely would not have signed him.

[Soxfan1]

When I hear his name, I think Cardinals for some reason.

[schillingouttheks]

You think Cardinals when you hear Julian Tavarez? That's because that's the team he was with last

[Soxfan1]

I know, but when I thought of his name it's like he is a Card's rep. all red, pitching.

[Redguitar985]

I think the original rumor was Mota + Marte to get Crisp. If the sox could get a decent prospect (or player) in return that may be worth it. I really hate the idea of parting with Marte, I really do. I also really like the idea of Coco Crisp in the OF for the next few years. The guy is young, he can lead off, he's a good fielder and has speed (not to mention a pretty good bat). I would rather we were able to trade just about anyone but Marte (Lester, Papelbon, Ellsbury, Pedroia and Hansen not withstanding).

 

Signing Tavarez though is a pretty good move. He's a late inning veteran with enough pride to not go out and walk the bases loaded. Sometimes that's all ya' need.

 

Giving up a good reliever and an awesome prospect for CoCo Crisp? Aaaahhh! I'd rather have Reed, and even then I wouldn't want to give up both Mota and Marte.

[guapo34]

I wouldn't trade Marte for Crisp, and if its Marte and Mota there would have to be something else coming our way. That said, I love the idea of Crisp in center next year. he hit better than Damon last year, and his defense has to be comparable. Not as much range but a better arm. With Crisp in center, our offense would be better than last year. Our starting pitching is already better than last year, and our bullpen is much better. Our infield defense is better. The one downgrade would be outfield defense. I think we could handle that.

 

Now if there were only a way to pick up crisp without trading marte, lester, pappelbon, and pedroia.

[riverside sluggers]

There havent been really any demands that we know of for pedroia, so no worries there.

[example1]

Giving up a good reliever and an awesome prospect for CoCo Crisp? Aaaahhh! I'd rather have Reed, and even then I wouldn't want to give up both Mota and Marte.

 

I wouldn't rather have Reed than Crisp (although I'm open to an attempt to change my mind), and I wouldn't want to give up Marte and Mota for Crisp OR Reed. I'd rather give them up for Crisp though, if it is in the cards.

 

Crisp had the 4th best VORP for AL LFs last year (39.3), Reed had a 4.9 in CF. While its not entirely relavent, Crisp's 39.3 would have placed him 3rd as CF, behind Sizemore and Damon, and ahead of Vernon Wells, Dejesus, Hunter, Kotsay and Rowand. Again, its not completely translatable like that, but it should give an idea of Crisp's potential. he's young (26) and has lots of tools.

[Beckett95]

the globes reporting 2 years at 6.7 mil

He's not a shortstop, he's not a center fielder... but it looks like more help for the Red Sox bullpen will be arriving in Fort Myers in February.

 

The Boston Globe's Gordon Edes is reporting that the Red Sox reached terms with free-agent righthander Julian Tavarez on a two-year contract with a vesting option. Normally, vesting options are based on a number of appearances or innings for a pitcher. CBS4's Bob Lobel reports the the two year deal is worth $6.7 million.

 

The deal is contingent on Tavarez passing a physical.

 

The 32-year-old Tavarez will provide depth to a late-inning relief squad that features Guillermo Mota, Mike Timlin, and Rudy Seanez along with closer Keith Foulke, who is recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery.

 

Tavarez had a 3.43 ERA with the Cardinals last season with 47 strikeouts and 19 walks. The righthander was 19-for-26 in save opportunities over the past three seasons.

 

The Mets, who are in need of bullpen help, had reportedly been interested in signing Tavarez. "This guy pitches four days in a row," Tavarez's agent Scott Boras told the New York Daily News in December. "He provides a very strong, durable arm. He can protect a closer like Wagner or Mariano Rivera. They don't need to get every save. This guy has been a save guy, and he does it at a ratio that's almost 80 percent. That ratio for a setup guy is very, very high. That may be very helpful to guys you want rested for the postseason."

 

Tavarez went 2-1 for the Cardinals in the 2004 NLCS vs. Houston and also broke his left hand in a dugout tantrum after giving up a home run to Carlos Beltran.

 

Despite the injury, Tavarez had pitched two perfect innings for the win in Game 6 of the NLCS and a scoreless eighth in Game 7.

 

Tavarez lost Game 1 of the 2004 World Series to the Red Sox at Fenway Park when he gave up a two-run home run to Mark Bellhorn in the eighth inning that broke a 9-9 tie.

 

Tavarez started the bottom of the eighth by retiring Bill Mueller on a groundout before Varitek reached first on shortstop Edgar Renteria's error. Then on a 1-2 pitch Tavarez's slider found too much of the plate and Bellhorn's homer hit the screen on Pesky Pole down the right field foul line.

 

"I've been up and down, up and down all postseason. You've got to keep fighting," Tavarez said after the game. "That's what happens when you make one bad pitch. You get hurt. It was a mistake. I left it over the middle of the plate. I watched it over and over again so I have it in my head not to do it again."

 

[riverside sluggers]

eh, its better contract signing that other teams have had to sign relievers to. All more surprising, Taveraz being a Boras client.

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

I'm starting to believe the Red Sox are set at SS. After signing Tony Graffanino plus having Alex Cora and Dustin Pedroia they may just let the best of the three play. Cora and Graffanino can platoon in the beginning leaving some time for Pedroia to get called up in the season. I'm ok with that but CF is a different story.

 

I agree that this move of signing Tavares is setting up a deal to come. I'm curious to know if David Wells had an objection going to Seattle? He wants east coast and that would be a good place for him. Moving David Wells and a reliever (Mota?) for Jeremy Reed would be a decent deal for us. In the end I think Reed's strongest role will be on defense. I'm not sure he will be anything amazing with a bat but playing at Fenway can only help. I would be excited to see Dustin Pedroia and Jeremy Reed...young speedy players batting at the end of our lineup. However, if we traded for Jeremy Reed or Coco Crisp what would happen to Jacoby Ellsbury?? I think its very possible he could be the best of the three. Overall he could turn out to be a great leadoff hitter, come up through the Red Sox system, and play solid defense at CF for years. He is also the youngest out of the three.

[guapo34]

I wouldn't mind seeing Ellsbury in Right when hes ready if we're set in center. Nixon is a free agent at the end of the year. Right field is pretty big in fenway and it would be nice to have a player with center fielder range out there.