'Tek, 'Belli, Huckaby, and the current situation at catcher!

[riverside sluggers]

Nail on the head there. Say what you will about Wakefield, but he really f***ed you guys over by forcing a trade of Bard. He'd be the perfect fit.

 

-- How was anyone to know that Bard would have a career year batting wise?? Before this season he was known as an automatic out

 

-- Yea I will say what I will about Wake. In his case with the knuckleball, not all catchers can catch it & call the games so crafty as Doug has the past 5 seasons. Counter also that most of Bard's passed balls camen when there was a man on 3rd base.

 

-- How do you know that it was Wakefield alone that forced a trade? Maybe Theo was going "ah crap he cant catch the knuckle for the life of him, we need to get Doug back over here"

[schillingouttheks]

I remember that Wake felt the worst of everyone on the team when he was traded. I doubt Wake forced a trade.

[RoyNHSox]

-- How was anyone to know that Bard would have a career year batting wise?? Before this season he was known as an automatic out

 

-- Yea I will say what I will about Wake. In his case with the knuckleball, not all catchers can catch it & call the games so crafty as Doug has the past 5 seasons. Counter also that most of Bard's passed balls camen when there was a man on 3rd base.

 

-- How do you know that it was Wakefield alone that forced a trade? Maybe Theo was going "ah crap he cant catch the knuckle for the life of him, we need to get Doug back over here"

 

It does bring up a good point: Are the Sox expected to carry Mirabelli on the roster for the rest of Wake’s career with the team? If that’s the case then I think it’s safe to expect more and more of an offensive drop-off as this season is proving. I think at some point the Sox will need to look for another “Bard” and give him an entire spring training to work on catching Wake’s knuckler.

[ORS]

.... and the team's ERA when he catches is 4.72. So, he doesn't have a good arm and can't call games.

That's a reach. The Angels ERA was good last year, but that wasn't due to him any more than Toronto's is. Good pitchers have low ERAs, bad ones don't. Toronto has sent quite a few bad, or at least inconsistent, pitchers out to the mound this year.

 

They've tried to nail down a way of statistically showing how well a catcher handles a staff. The problem is, the data is just too limited, and there are too many variables that can affect the study to reach a reliable conclusion.

 

EDIT: The Bard situation was an unfortunate turn of events. That is the baggage of having a knuckleball catcher.

[Beckett95]

anyone think we could possibly trade for Bard? MLB.com has him listed as the Padres third string catcher behind Piazza and Bowen. Maybe Seanez and Alvarez for him??

[RoyNHSox]

anyone think we could possibly trade for Bard? MLB.com has him listed as the Padres third string catcher behind Piazza and Bowen. Maybe Seanez and Alvarez for him??

 

The chances of him clearing waivers and making it back to the Sox are slim to none.

[Rdsxmbnt]

is this Lopez's last year of his contract?

[riverside sluggers]

is this Lopez's last year of his contract?

 

yes it is

[a700hitter]

i would be fine with larue or lopez, the sox need a catcher who can start. no freakin kelly stinnett and josh bard, ha that was kinda funny. he's got a nice avg.

What about Lieberthal? He's on waivers.

[SoxFan25]

isnt he hitting like 230.

[a700hitter]

He's hitting .248, but he only has 125 ABs. He is a .272 lifetime hitter with 143 Homers.

[jacksonianmarch]

tek is the captain, irregardelss of his numbers, his worth is more than just his measurable prodcution...

[a700hitter]

tek is the captain, irregardelss of his numbers, his worth is more than just his measurable prodcution...

But he's on the DL and they need a catcher.

[jacksonianmarch]

Leeberthal is a good D catcher, rigt? The sox need d more than anything else from cathcer

[Papelbon58]

well, it isn't necessarily about the D. It is about knowing the pitchers and being a maticulous game planner. Guys can call good games, but they do not know our young pitchers. Screwing up Lester, Hansen, MDC and Paps is the problem spot.

 

I'd even be worried about messing up Beckett

[jacksonianmarch]

Beckett doesnt trust his stuff enough. He has ace stuff, but anyone with patience seems to get his number...

[RoyNHSox]

It looks like the Sox are seriously looking into getting Javy Lopez from the O’s. The upside it doesn’t appear that it will be more than absorbing his contract from this year.

 

The Red Sox have targeted Baltimore's Javy Lopez as their top target to help replace starting catcher Jason Varitek, industry sources indicated yesterday.

 

The Sox spoke to the Orioles yesterday, who confirmed that they would be willing to move Lopez, on the final year of a multi-year deal. Lopez is scheduled to make $8.5 million this year but has lost playing time to Ramon Hernandez and has asked to be dealt.

 

Lopez, who can become a free agent after this season, was disappointed that he wasn't traded before Monday's non-waiver trade deadline. According to a source, Lopez, like many players in the game, was placed on waivers Monday and is expected to clear this afternoon.

 

The Orioles aren't expected to ask for much in return for the 36-year-old Lopez. The catcher has approximately $2.7 million left on his 2006 salary, though the Orioles have indicated a willingness to absorb at least some of the remaining money in order to facilitate a deal. The more money the Red Sox pay, the less they'll have to surrender in terms of a prospect.

[SCM33]

The waiver wire is so tricky though.....I bet the Yankees try to claim him, not with the intention of signing him, but to block him from coming to Boston.

 

Anyone remember what happened with Randy Myers a few years back?

 

"The same withdrawal guidelines are in effect now, with one big difference in the sequence: Teams waive players with the explicit intent of shedding them and their contracts. In other words, if Team A puts in a claim just to prevent Team B from making a deal, Team A might find itself with an unwanted drain on its payroll.

 

The best example of this came in 1998 with the San Diego Padres, who put in a claim for lefty closer Randy Myers to keep Toronto from dealing the left-handed closer to Atlanta."

 

The Yankees could put in a claim to block him and end up taking the hit. The Yankees have actually done this to other teams if you remember back to when the claimed Canseco off the wire and Torre had zero intention of ever playing him.

[RoyNHSox]

The waiver wire is so tricky though.....I bet the Yankees try to claim him, not with the intention of signing him, but to block him from coming to Boston.

 

Anyone remember what happened with Randy Myers a few years back?

 

"The same withdrawal guidelines are in effect now, with one big difference in the sequence: Teams waive players with the explicit intent of shedding them and their contracts. In other words, if Team A puts in a claim just to prevent Team B from making a deal, Team A might find itself with an unwanted drain on its payroll.

 

The best example of this came in 1998 with the San Diego Padres, who put in a claim for lefty closer Randy Myers to keep Toronto from dealing the left-handed closer to Atlanta."

 

The Yankees could put in a claim to block him and end up taking the hit. The Yankees have actually done this to other teams if you remember back to when the claimed Canseco off the wire and Torre had zero intention of ever playing him.

 

The Yankees are percentage points ahead of the Sox in the AL standings as of now. Therefore the Sox would be ahead of them in their ability to put in a claim if they did this later today (Thursday).

[riverside sluggers]

yess thanks for the heads up Roy NH. Since the Sox are technically behind the Yanks, Sox have the advantage. Its just $2.7 million that is owed, I see Sox taking the whole salary. Great news today if Theo is able to claim him

[NateGrey]

Red Sox inquire about J. Lopez

 

With catcher Jason Varitek expected to miss four to six weeks because of knee surgery, the Boston Red Sox have contacted the Orioles about disgruntled catcher¸designated hitter Javy Lopez, an industry source said.

 

Lopez, who is hitting .265 with eight home runs and 31 RBIs, has been put on waivers by the Orioles, who are expecting to hear whether he has been claimed before the end of the week. If Lopez, 35, clears waivers, the Orioles could trade him.

 

Frustrated about his lack of playing time with Ramon Hernandez entrenched at catcher and Jay Gibbons getting most of the at-bats at designated hitter, Lopez said on Monday that he thinks it would make sense if the club put him on waivers so he could play somewhere else.

 

The Orioles tried to trade him before Monday's non-waiver deadline, but found no takers. Lopez has about $3 million remaining on a three-year, $22.5 million contract, which expires after this season. If a team claims him off waivers, it would be on the hook for the full amount.

 

Millar is sitting, too

 

Kevin Millar is another veteran who may see less time with Gibbons taking at-bats at designated hitter.

 

He has started only one of the past four games (he went 0-for-4 Tuesday).

 

Millar didn't have much to say when asked if he was frustrated Wednesday. Asked if anyone has talked to him about his role, he replied, "Crickets," meaning he hadn't heard a thing. Millar is batting .243.

 

Lopez Monday criticized the Orioles for poor communication. But Perlozzo seemed irked at the notion that he should talk to players who might see fewer at-bats because of Gibbons. "I don't know what the big deal is all of a sudden about running and talking to people," he said.

 

Perlozzo said he's back to the policy he espoused early in the season--the hottest bats will play. "Nobody's putting him on the shelf," he said of Millar.

 

 

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/bal-osnotes0802,0,3297581.story?coll=bal-sports-headlines

[elsrbueno]

yess thanks for the heads up Roy NH. Since the Sox are technically behind the Yanks, Sox have the advantage. Its just $2.7 million that is owed, I see Sox taking the whole salary. Great news today if Theo is able to claim him

 

Roy is right.

 

When a player goes on waivers priority is given in REVERSE order of the standings. So if the Royals and Red Sox (by way of examply ONLY) both claim him, the Royals would have priority.

 

$2.5 million for the Sox is nothing. Lopez is a stronger bat than Craig Wilson (recently picked up by the Yankees.

 

He could catch full time until Varitek comes back, and then play PLENTY as catcher/1B/DH for the final 2 weeks of the season.

[riverside sluggers]

mlbtraderumors.com is discussing this. A souce of theirs told them that Abe Alvarez is being mentioned. Get the deal done Theo

[Rdsxmbnt]

we really need Lopez right now, and if were only giving up Alvarez than that would be a good move

[inkman]

I think this deal needs to get done. Lopez, leiberthal , whoever...we are behind the Yanks and it will only be a matter of time before we can find a catcher that no one else will claim.

 

 

BTW, how does it work with players going the other way, in this case, minor leaguers? Do they need to clear waivers as well?

[RoyNHSox]

McAdam on EEI today confirmed that as of 2PM today the Sox could claim Lopez. The only roadblock might be a team like the Twins or CWS who are behind the Sox in the AL standings.

[DirtDog]

I have been thinking about Javy Lopez since Tek went down as well. I'm glad to see Red Sox are thinking about it. Only qualm is may not be a good clubhouse guy.

[DirtDog]

McAdam on EEI today confirmed that as of 2PM today the Sox could claim Lopez. The only roadblock might be a team like the Twins or CWS who are behind the Sox in the AL standings.

 

Twins have Mauer, Chisox have AJ, none of those teams will overpay for a backup catcher.

[RoyNHSox]

Twins have Mauer, Chisox have AJ, none of those teams will overpay for a backup catcher.

 

The CWS could go after Lopez as their backup catcher is Sandy Alomar who I think is pushing 40 years old.

 

Another point to consider about acquiring Lopez is that in September, when Tek will likely return, the rosters will be expanding. Lopez could also serve as backup at 1B as the Sox have little depth in that position.

[Beckett95]

Sounds like the Sox will only have to give up Abe Alvarez for Lopez.