Please help me Understand something

[jsinger121]

Loretta is an upgrade from graffanino, youkilis can't be any worse than millar who was pathetic last year. If Lowell can hit again the infield is much better offensively. gonzalez won't hit but who cares. hes here for defense.

[god is a redsox FAN]

wait, whats the batting rotation??

[jsinger121]

wait, whats the batting rotation??

 

u mean the batting order

[god is a redsox FAN]

o s***, yea my bad homie

[riverside sluggers]

quite honestly I don't see how you could have improved much better.

 

Edgar Renteria to Alex Gonzalez- How is this not an upgrade?

 

Kevin Millar to Kevin Youkilis- offense and defensive upgrade by far of what Millar did in 2005

 

Bellhorn/Cora/Graff to Loretta- As much as Tony g is my boy, Loretta is going to fit just great in 2nd base. Equaling the offense those 3 together did in 1 season

 

Bill Mueller to Mike Lowell- the defense is about equal, Lowell does have a shot of hitting for more power than Mueller would have. Just not as high of a batting avg Billy would net.

[26 to 6]

I dont think i've ever seen somebody use the word rookie as much as he did.

 

But I do see what he is saying. But I also agree with HHM that there really isnt much more that could have been done.

 

But yes, Lowell had a bad offensive year last year, and very possibly could have another bad year. Gonzalez os a bad offensive player, but his glove is very good. But same was said about Renteria, but look how the Fenway infield treated him. But I still expect him to be the usual Alex Goinzalez with the glove. Lorretta, since becoming a starter a few years ago has proved that he could play the game. But I dont think he is as much a given as you guys think. He still needs to prove himself in a pressure environment. But I think he'll be fine. But as for Youkilis, he is inexperienced, and new to this position. You guys seem like you are positive he will be fine and everything will be ok. I agree that he should do fine, but its not a given, he still needs to get some more experience in the bigs, and at first base under his belt.

 

I understand why you would be concerned, JRS. But I think the Red Sox infield will be fine.

[riverside sluggers]

wait, whats the batting rotation??

 

1. Coco Crisp

2. Mark Loretta

3. David Ortiz

4. Manny Ramirez

5. Trot Nixon (Wily Mo vs lefties)

6. Jason Varitek

7. Mike Lowell

8. Kevin Youkilis/J.T. Snow

9. Alex Gonzalez

[26 to 6]

Edgar Renteria to Alex Gonzalez- How is this not an upgrade?

How is it an upgrade? Renteria is twice the player A-Gone is.

[god is a redsox FAN]

thats what i was thinking, but wasn't sure, thanks, I'm sketchy about Gonzalez though... I understand he's got a glove, but im questioning him on Offense. Like i said i thought Graff really came around towards the end of the season with that bat.

[god is a redsox FAN]

How is it an upgrade? Renteria is twice the player A-Gone is.

thank you, i feel the same exact way

[Beckett95]

How is it an upgrade? Renteria is twice the player A-Gone is.

 

defensively he is a HUGE upgrade to Renteria. Offensively renteria was better but since we have loretta to hit 2nd in the lineup, we dont need a great hitting SS.

 

Gonzalez will be the equivalent of a 2004 Mark Bellhorn offensively, minus the walks

[Sizzlin22]

People have to understand A-Gone isn't here for his bat, he's hititng in the 9 hole for a reason. His Glove is better than the glove of Pokey Reese (which I personally believe with the ammount of runs he has the potential to save could quite possibly make up some of the runs he can't drive in), A-Gone was a fine addition because we have enough offense.

 

Loretta is an upgrade over just about everyone we had playing second last year.

 

Anyone who wants to complain about the Youk / Snow platoon can think of it this way. We could still have the Kentucky Fried Dumbass out there.

 

As for Lowell he had an off season last year at the plate but he could just as easily bounce back, and no one can question his defense.

 

Bottom line here is that our infield this year > our infield last year, no question about it.

[The Monster is my Mom]

I think we need either Lowell or A-Gone to hit this year. I am not sure either is up to the task. Lowell is the more likely of the two however.

[TheRivernator]

what a rookie you are

 

loser

 

how quickly a post about a concern gets turned into a snipe.

 

EITHER SAY THAT EVERYONE ON MY TEAM IS GREAT OR ELSE YOU ARE LABELLED A TRAITOR OR AN IDIOT!!!!!

 

Oh well, the sox infield will be their weak point offensively, no doubt about it, but the infield defense will be stellar. AGon and Loretta up the middle is a solid combo and having Lowell at 3b is another GGer. Youk, a converted 3b, should make a seemless transition to 1st and his platoon partner can play D as well. The infield D, minus E-Rent, should account for a drop in runs allowed, no question. BUT, overall, you must admit that the offense is a dropoff. Even with ERent having an off yr at the plate, AGon has never reached what he did last yr. Millar reached base as does Youk, and neither have power, so that is a wash. Last yr's graf to this yrs Loretta is a wash because of how good Graf was for you guys last yr. And you have to admit that losing a tough out like Mueller (and a clutch Mariano killer) is going to be a downgrade, especially when you get a pricy risk like Lowell to take his place. All 4 positions have a very real chance of disaster, and that has to be scary. BUT, if the sox rotation pans out and if their guys stay healthy, all the IF will need to do is catch grounders and watch Manny and Ortiz drive home the runs and Beckett and Schill win the games....

[redsoxrules]

these guys are unproven you rookie

 

know stuff before you make an ass of yourself

 

its all over the papers that our infield is weak, you rookie

 

really ? where does it say it here

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/powerRankings

 

or here

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5354492

[mtbykr]

What in the world are the RedSox trying to prove with their infield.

 

It just looks terrible to me

 

its so below average its not even funny!

 

I think the main problem with the begining of this thread is that you were so vague in your opening!

 

-Now; as much as i liked Millar, youk will be an upgrade "on the field" (we all know about the majority of Millar's upside being off the field).

 

-Loretta is an upgrade over graff both on O and D if he stays healthy.

 

-A-Gone is an upgrade (huge upgrade) over rent-a-wreck in the field. Ya we will lose some at the plate (which we all wish we could have) but I for one am happy becuase i will go through a lot less remotes. i won't have to throw them accross the room everytime rent-a-wrech makes a critical error!

 

-As far as lowell goes, i still wish we had mueller. However i know we had to take him to get beckett (and beckett looks great). However if lowell sucks the first few months of the season, i can see them dropping him and moving youk back to 3rd. Why else would we be stocking up on 1st basemen!

[a700hitter]

How is it an upgrade? Renteria is twice the player A-Gone is.

Not defensively. A-Gone has a significant edge.

[ORS]

how quickly a post about a concern gets turned into a snipe.

Agreed. He brings up a legitimate concern.

 

Oh well, the sox infield will be their weak point offensively, no doubt about it, but the infield defense will be stellar. AGon and Loretta up the middle is a solid combo and having Lowell at 3b is another GGer. Youk, a converted 3b, should make a seemless transition to 1st and his platoon partner can play D as well. The infield D, minus E-Rent, should account for a drop in runs allowed, no question.....BUT, if the sox rotation pans out and if their guys stay healthy, all the IF will need to do is catch grounders and watch Manny and Ortiz drive home the runs and Beckett and Schill win the games.

Very good points. Here's another thing to consider, and it may help explain the AGon and Snow pickups.

 

Pitcher     '05 G/F     Career G/F

Wake         0.94        0.97
Wells        1.51        1.16
Clement      1.29        1.67
Schilling    0.78        1.17

Beckett      1.25        1.14
Arroyo       0.85        0.98

Replacing Arroyo with Beckett will produce a significant number of more ground balls. A healthy Schilling should too. While I don't expect him to have the dominant stuff he had pre-2005, he'll at least have his command back and be able to keep the ball down, which will produce more grounders. Wells' outperformed his career average, but he did the same thing in SD in '04 (1.51 GB/FB), so I think a ratio of 1.20+ is a reasonable expectation. Clement probably won't have a ratio as high as his career average, but 1.30+ sounds right. In total, I think the Sox rotation in '06 will be lot better than the Sox rotation in '05 at keeping the ball on the ground. Combine that with good gloves all around the IF, and they should hold the opposition to quite a bit fewer runs.

 

BUT, overall, you must admit that the offense is a dropoff. Even with ERent having an off yr at the plate, AGon has never reached what he did last yr. Millar reached base as does Youk, and neither have power, so that is a wash. Last yr's graf to this yrs Loretta is a wash because of how good Graf was for you guys last yr. And you have to admit that losing a tough out like Mueller (and a clutch Mariano killer) is going to be a downgrade, especially when you get a pricy risk like Lowell to take his place. All 4 positions have a very real chance of disaster, and that has to be scary.

Millar did get on base pre-2005, but I don't think his '05 production is a wash when compared to Youk. His '05 OBP was .355. Not horrible, but it's no stretch to think a guy with a career .376 OBP won't exceed that. Yeah, Youk has only had 270+ career ABs, but I think the telling thing is his .100+ IsoOBP. That has been consistent throughout his MLB and MiLB career, so he only needs to hit .260ish to accomplish that. And, historically players start showing more power in their late '20s. Youk is entering his age 27 season, so I think an improvement over his ~.130 IsoP is another reasonable expectation. ST performance seems to be bearing that out as he is slugging north of .500.

 

Something to consider. Graffanino was acquired at the deadline. While his performance for the Sox was very good, they only got 2 months of it. I agree, that Loretta will likely be a wash in terms of the rates that Graffanino gave the club from August on, but they will get it for a whole year (barring injury). That is an upgrade.

 

AGon is likely to be an offensive blackhole. But, he's one with pop in his bat, so some of his infrequent hits will likely be denting the Monster or clearing it. Yes, this is an offensive downgrade.

 

It will be tough for Lowell to provide what Mueller did in terms of stepping up and being a tough out in big spots. But, if he bounces back to career averages, he will produce what Billy Baseball did in a context-free environment.

 

Mueller '05: .295/.369/.430/.799

Lowell Career: .272/.339/.461/.800

 

I'll admit, that is a big assumption based on his '05 and early ST reports, so 3B is likely to be a downgrade offensively. But the potential is there for it to be a wash.

 

That's two upgrades and two downgrades, but it is with a vastly improved defensive environment (in terms of skill and likely more chances). The infield may not produce more runs than last year, but it is very likely that they have a better run differential, which is really the most important thing.

[He Hate Me]

Edgar Renteria to Alex Gonzalez- How is this not an upgrade?

 

Kevin Millar to Kevin Youkilis- offense and defensive upgrade by far of what Millar did in 2005

 

Bellhorn/Cora/Graff to Loretta- As much as Tony g is my boy, Loretta is going to fit just great in 2nd base. Equaling the offense those 3 together did in 1 season

 

Bill Mueller to Mike Lowell- the defense is about equal, Lowell does have a shot of hitting for more power than Mueller would have. Just not as high of a batting avg Billy would net.

 

That was for Johnny Red Sox. I was commenting that I couldn't see how much better you coulda gotten than your current infield.

[Johnny_RedSox]

guys all i said is that i was not happy with our infield and was told to shut up

 

we cant voice our opinions on this forum or something ?

[He Hate Me]

guys all i said is that i was not happy with our infield and was told to shut up

 

we cant voice our opinions on this forum or something ?

 

[mtbykr]

guys all i said is that i was not happy with our infield and was told to shut up

 

we cant voice our opinions on this forum or something ?

 

 

We are all here becuase we have an opinon, and yes you can voice yours! I would advise to just be a little more specific next time in your analysis. and the

 

uuuhhh get a life loser

 

i never once posted in your threads you rookie

 

what a class -less reply

 

rookie

 

 

these guys are unproven you rookie

 

know stuff before you make an ass of yourself

 

its all over the papers that our infield is weak, you rookie

 

 

 

what a rookie you are

 

loser

 

 

didn't help you case at all! (and those were just from the 1st page of the thread) All is good though, and opening day is just around the corner!

[Varitek33]

I think the infield has improved since last year.

[mtbykr]

I think the infield has improved since last year.

 

 

On paper and in theory i agree with you-----we'll see if you are right in about 5 months!