Red Sox Offseason - Sum-up and opinions

[jsinger121]

we will see a ton of balls hitting off the monster and over the monster. he is a big upgrade talent wise than millar in the 5 hole. should give manny or ortiz solid protection.

[riverside sluggers]

This guy is our RF in 2007. Go 4 years 40 million. This guy would rake at Fenway.

 

Myself I see if one of the outfielders moving up our ranks has a great year, probably would then be Theo's prime candidate to take over for Trot.

[ORS]

None of the guys coming through our system have power anywhere near what Carlos Lee has. I agree with Crespo, they should seriously consider him for RF.

[riverside sluggers]

Of course they dont have his type of power since they are still prospects. Anyways I recently read that Lee could be traded during the season for pitching if needs be. Yes he would be an asset to have, I would hope his transition would be quick considering he's never played right field before

[jsinger121]

If the brewers are in contention and that is possible I doubt they would trade him.

[riverside sluggers]

i think i realize that.

 

EDIT One thing to take notice is that if Lee were traded to another team, there could be a chance of that team wanting to lock him down on an extension. We'll see what happens.

[Americal Man]

we will see a ton of balls hitting off the monster and over the monster. he is a big upgrade talent wise than millar in the 5 hole. should give manny or ortiz solid protection.

 

 

we'll probably be calling him the "Tin Man" in August

[Beckett95]

season preview

 

MLB.com's predicting the Blue Jays to finish first in the AL East, followed by the Yankees 2nd, Red Sox 3rd, Orioles 4th and D-rays 5th.

[KeepTheFaith1229]

MLB.com's predicting the Blue Jays to finish first in the AL East, followed by the Yankees 2nd, Red Sox 3rd, Orioles 4th and D-rays 5th.

 

 

What bull.

 

Blue Jays in first?

[riverside sluggers]

i did get a kick out of this yankee writer, who wrote the predictions, on the lighter side of things

 

You read it here first ...

 

1) Manny Ramirez, his trade requests having fallen on deaf ears, will lock himself in a Rogers Centre toilet on April 23 following the finale of a Boston series against the Blue Jays, and seek political asylum in Canada.

 

2) With his average in the low .200s at the end of May, Samson Damon will get the go-ahead to let it grow, and other Yankees will be allowed to follow hirsute. The Bombers will adopt a new slogan: Going, growing, long.

[KeepTheFaith1229]

Ahahahah.

[TheRivernator]

Ahahahah.

 

 

Sum up the red sox offseason. Well easy enough, just judge by positions (I know these werent the transactions, just bear with me)

 

Out/In

 

Wake's Catcher- Mirabelli for Flash DOWNGRADE

1b- Millar for Youkilis- jury is out until youk plays a whole season, but likely an UPGRADE

2b- Loretta for Graf- DOWNGRADE if you look at graf's production in 2005, but he is unlikely to repeat that anyway, but still a downgrade from the 2005 Graf to the 2005 Loretta

3b- Mueller for Lowell. Mueller is just as good defensively and is a better hitter. DOWNGRADE

SS- Renteria for Gonzalez- Gonzalez couldnt hit his way out of a wet paper bag, and he K's a ton- DOWNGRADE

CF- Damon for Crisp- DOWNGRADE until Crisp proves he can play in Boston. Damon is a proven big stage performer, he is not easily replaced

SP2- Beckett for Wells (likely as wells will likely be dealt)- UPGRADE in potential and in stuff, DOWNGRADE in consistency. You know wells will give you a good outing day after day, with Beckett, who the fug knows if he'll be able to play.

Relief- nothing but upgrades, it is a no-brainer, BUT, where is the lefty reliever???

 

Overall, the lineup dropped in this offseason, but the staff as a whole improved on paper....

[riverside sluggers]

Relief- nothing but upgrades, it is a no-brainer, BUT, where is the lefty reliever???

 

Lenny DiNardo is primed to be the primary lefty reliever in the pen, whose duties will mainly be long relief/spot starter. As for who to get lefties out, Tito will be calling on Riske and Seanez to man that duty.

[KeepTheFaith1229]

Sum up the red sox offseason. Well easy enough, just judge by positions (I know these werent the transactions, just bear with me)

 

Out/In

 

Wake's Catcher- Mirabelli for Flash DOWNGRADE

1b- Millar for Youkilis- jury is out until youk plays a whole season, but likely an UPGRADE

2b- Loretta for Graf- DOWNGRADE if you look at graf's production in 2005, but he is unlikely to repeat that anyway, but still a downgrade from the 2005 Graf to the 2005 Loretta

3b- Mueller for Lowell. Mueller is just as good defensively and is a better hitter. DOWNGRADE

SS- Renteria for Gonzalez- Gonzalez couldnt hit his way out of a wet paper bag, and he K's a ton- DOWNGRADE

CF- Damon for Crisp- DOWNGRADE until Crisp proves he can play in Boston. Damon is a proven big stage performer, he is not easily replaced

SP2- Beckett for Wells (likely as wells will likely be dealt)- UPGRADE in potential and in stuff, DOWNGRADE in consistency. You know wells will give you a good outing day after day, with Beckett, who the fug knows if he'll be able to play.

Relief- nothing but upgrades, it is a no-brainer, BUT, where is the lefty reliever???

 

Overall, the lineup dropped in this offseason, but the staff as a whole improved on paper....

 

I'm pretty sure if that were a Yankee team, we'd be looking at upgrades at 2nd, 3rd and short.

 

 

Just my opinion...

[TheRivernator]

Lenny DiNardo is primed to be the primary lefty reliever in the pen, whose duties will mainly be long relief/spot starter. As for who to get lefties out, Tito will be calling on Riske and Seanez to man that duty.

 

He has pitched a whopping 42 innings in his career. He should be the 2 guy as the lefty reliever as he sure has the promise. BUT, having the full brunt of the lefty relief role on his shoulders coming into the season is a burden that will be interesting to see. As far as having Riske and Seanez throw against lefties, well Seanez has a lefty opp OPS of .723 the last 3 yrs which isnt that great while Riske has actually dominated lefties to a below .200 BAA over the last 3 yrs. One thing though, if you need the K against a tough lefty, it is always good to have a good lefty waiting there. Don't get me wrong, DiNardo looked great last yr, but I am not sure if he is ready for the 70-80 game workload that will be thrust upon him if he is the only lefty in that pen....

[TheRivernator]

I'm pretty sure if that were a Yankee team, we'd be looking at upgrades at 2nd, 3rd and short.

 

 

Just my opinion...

 

Nope. For the yankees, they upgraded CF and the middle relief. That's about it. Not as much turnover. For once they will be the team that stays together while the sox team is turned over....

[KeepTheFaith1229]

Nope. For the yankees, they upgraded CF and the middle relief. That's about it. Not as much turnover. For once they will be the team that stays together while the sox team is turned over....

 

 

Nonono...I meant, if those guys were Yankees and not Sox, you'd be saying Lowell is going to bounce back, and you'd say 2nd, short, and third were upgrades.

[YAZMAN]

Nonono...I meant, if those guys were Yankees and not Sox, you'd be saying Lowell is going to bounce back, and you'd say 2nd, short, and third were upgrades.

 

KTF, you have him nailed in what, a couple of days he's been posting? Bravo!

[a700hitter]

It can be summed up as:

 

Renteria, Shoppach, Hanley Ramirez, Sanchez, DelGado, Garcia, and $11 million for

 

Beckett, Lowell, Crisp, Riske and Bard

 

This looks pretty good to me.

[riverside sluggers]

For once they will be the team that stays together while the sox team is turned over....

 

So Sox fans are wrong, and you are the know-it-all. Give me a break dude.

 

I can do it to

 

As far as the bullpen, the only givens will be Mo, and Mike Myers who will be a horse to get out lefties. Small will be solid as long innings guy/spot starter. Only if 2005 wasnt a fluke career year for him

 

BUT.. Farnsworth tightens up under the pressure of big games, Hello New York. Villone I see as another Embree on your hands. Dotel will be good once he comes back around the All Star Break coming off of shoulder surgery. Sturtze, enough said right there with the same 5+ ERA. Not-so-Wright in middle relief is still a risk since he's erratic at best and his shoulder is basically a painted target sign.

[TheRivernator]

when we retooled our pitching staff in 2004, I was right there in saying that we downgraded globally. I had no idea to what degree the downgrade would eventually become, but I admitted it readily. I do have a yankee slant, but I am not as much of a homer as you think. I just think that the sox moves weakened their greatest asset, their offense.....

[jsinger121]

you don't need offense to win a championship.....the whitesox won with pitching and defense and they had some timely hitting

[TheRivernator]

to be frank, the sox offense was their reason for winning last yr. They had the best offense in baseball, the worst pen in baseball and a middle of the pack starting rotation. Their offense carried them in August when the team era was above 5.5. If you weaken that area, then you must strengthen the others. I do think your offense is still good, and it should help you win, but I dont think the offense can be relied on as heavily as it had been. On the flipside, the staff was likely upgraded provided Beckett could stay healthy, but either way. With all the offensive turnover, it will come down to Foulke and Schilling when describing how good the sox will be in 2005. Last yr they didnt even need to play pretty much cause that offense was golden, this yr they HAVE to play well because the O cannot sustain as pathetic a staff as they had last yr....

[TheRivernator]

they won with hot pitching from guys who could go the distance. It is very rare that your 4 top starters get that hot. I wouldnt be surprised if they are a 1 and done this yr. I know there is a common misconception that pitching and defense is the only thing that wins championships, but there was an article around playoff time that showed a breakdown of offensive, efensive and pitching rankings for each team that won the WS. Overall, the offense was ranked in the top 5-8 in the bigs and the pitching was ranked in the same spot, so actually, pitching and offense are equally important in winning the WS. It just seems the other way around because one pitcher can shut down a whole lineup on any given day....

[YAZMAN]

I do have a yankee slant, but I am not as much of a homer as you think....

 

Not deliberately.

 

Just genetically!:harhar:

[guapo34]

to be frank, the sox offense was their reason for winning last yr. They had the best offense in baseball, the worst pen in baseball and a middle of the pack starting rotation. Their offense carried them in August when the team era was above 5.5. If you weaken that area, then you must strengthen the others. I do think your offense is still good, and it should help you win, but I dont think the offense can be relied on as heavily as it had been. On the flipside, the staff was likely upgraded provided Beckett could stay healthy, but either way. With all the offensive turnover, it will come down to Foulke and Schilling when describing how good the sox will be in 2005. Last yr they didnt even need to play pretty much cause that offense was golden, this yr they HAVE to play well because the O cannot sustain as pathetic a staff as they had last yr....

 

To be fair, I don't think any offense in baseball will be good enough to carry a pitching staff with the ERA ths Red Sox had last year. Although I'm still not willing to concede the Red Sox are going to score less runs than last year. Its no gurantee that they'll be as good, but they've certainly got a shot.

[riverside sluggers]

I would only agree with the Sox's offense were to take a big hit if by some chance Manny is traded. That would be a shot to the stomach.

[jsinger121]

the red sox will still have a solid offense along with a much improved defense and a better bullpen. this should lead to success in 2006.

[jimmycarter05]

the red sox will still have a solid offense along with a much improved defense and a better bullpen. this should lead to success in 2006.

 

 

Atta boy Captain Obvious!

[ksushi]

nice double post, nice new name too, don't I know you?

 

to be frank, the sox offense was their reason for winning last yr. They had the best offense in baseball, the worst pen in baseball and a middle of the pack starting rotation. Their offense carried them in August when the team era was above 5.5. If you weaken that area, then you must strengthen the others. I do think your offense is still good, and it should help you win, but I dont think the offense can be relied on as heavily as it had been. On the flipside, the staff was likely upgraded provided Beckett could stay healthy, but either way. With all the offensive turnover, it will come down to Foulke and Schilling when describing how good the sox will be in 2005. Last yr they didnt even need to play pretty much cause that offense was golden, this yr they HAVE to play well because the O cannot sustain as pathetic a staff as they had last yr....

 

Why do you think offensive turnover means the offense won't perform like it did? I think you happen to be either a really pessimistic person who might be trying to hard to be real about things, or you just don't see what I see in Mark Loretta who could be the key to a Sox offense that will be just as effecient as last years. An offense starts with setting the table with your 1-2 hitters. Read this and let it sink in, the Jake is a pitchers park and Coco hit .270 in it last year with a .320 BA on the road. Fenway is not a pitchers park, if he can manage those same road numbers you might be looking at a guy who is realstically capapble of putting up a steady .315 this year maybe higher. I'd think .315 is on the consevative side.

 

Loretta hits .280 in a bad year. With any success at all and if he keeps out of injury's path, he will easily hit .290 - .310 he is that good a hitter. I can't speak to what kind of power he will hit for since I've not seen him hit since 04 since he was out so much last year and I don't know where his bat speed is at and I don't know his spray chart off hand. The guy won't be hurt, or at least I think it will be unrelated to his last years ailments if he does happen to go down. That being said I'm optimistic Loretta will put up numbers similar to what his career line looks like right now.

 

Last i checked Damon hit .280 in the second half, August is in the 2nd half and you're dead on when you say that the Red Sox offense carried the team while the pitching really took a #2. They carried the team even while dragging Damon's .250/.330/.320 in august. Without 2nd half Damon hitting like 1st half Damon they more than managed a capable offense so this myth that without Johnny there is no hitting is bunk. I'm not telling you Crisp will never slump, but I am telling you he is capapble of steady numbers comparable to Damon's line and Loretta will absolutey lap Renteria's production at the plate. You're table setters are an improvement at this point. Granted this is all on paper and they hitters have to do the hitting still, there is no reason not to be optimistic right now. With the depth the team has in the bullpen and up the middle with Cora Graff and Loretta in a log jam of sorts, should anyone struggle in a key role, a deadline deal is certainly not out of the question. Smile.

 

Ortiz and Manny are still here and they're down right filthy. I shouldn't have to rally on their behalf. That 1-4 will score runs and if Lowell has any kind of a rebound the back half of the order is a big improvement too. If you don't think Youkilis is an upgrade on Millar in all aspects of his game you need to follow a different team. The glaring holes of last season have been filled - the bullpen is fixed, Millar isn't a sox, and our shortstop likely won't show up to camp out of shape and afraid to not ground out.

 

Smile. Please.