Who Will Be the Sox Opening Day Catcher?

[Dojji]

Good luck collecting on that, meanwhile baseball is a poor place for grudgesso I think the rest of us still grit our teeth and deal with the Rangers.

[italstallianion]

Good luck collecting on that' date=' meanwhile baseball is a poor place for grudgesso I think the rest of us still grit our teeth and deal with the Rangers.[/quote']

 

 

I just don't want to have to bend over in front of Texas (again) with that deal. I'd consider doing it if I thought we weren't going to get mauled in the deal. If anything we should at least hold onto Clay and raise his market value.

[Dipre]

Saltalamacchia is not enough of a finished product defensively to be worth Bucholz IMO.......

[TheKilo]

quite honestly I'd think about it. Clay is good but he didn't impress me much last year' date=' they monkeyed with his delivery, and Catcher is a position of need. If we can deal him to fill that need with a top-notch replacement we do have 3 other prospects who could at least [i']potentially[/i] become staples of the rotation if needed next year -- Bowden, Masterson, and Kris Johnson. If you're going to deal prospects there's worse times to do it.

 

This is a joke, right? Buchholz has the best MiLB numbers out of all of these guys and there's absolutely no reason to trade for an inferior player just to fill "a position of need".

 

Scenario A - Sox go into 2009 with Varitek/Kottaras/Brown/Bard and all of their pitching prospects with the hope that Wagner/Exposito/etc. blossom into the "catcher of the future"

 

Scenario B - Sox deal Buchholz/Masterson/Bowden for their supposed "catcher of the future" knowing full well that individual may not even be a catcher in three years, and have a hole in their pitching staff for not just 2009, but 2010 and beyond.

 

Which has the better chance to be successful? Last time the Sox traded their stud prospect everyone was down on he became the best offensive player in baseball (when taking position into account). I'd prefer to not do that again.

 

I'm just fine with a Kottaras/Bard combo this season.

[BSN07]

This is a joke, right? Buchholz has the best MiLB numbers out of all of these guys and there's absolutely no reason to trade for an inferior player just to fill "a position of need".

 

Scenario A - Sox go into 2009 with Varitek/Kottaras/Brown/Bard and all of their pitching prospects with the hope that Wagner/Exposito/etc. blossom into the "catcher of the future"

 

Scenario B - Sox deal Buchholz/Masterson/Bowden for their supposed "catcher of the future" knowing full well that individual may not even be a catcher in three years, and have a hole in their pitching staff for not just 2009, but 2010 and beyond.

 

Which has the better chance to be successful? Last time the Sox traded their stud prospect everyone was down on he became the best offensive player in baseball (when taking position into account). I'd prefer to not do that again.

 

I'm just fine with a Kottaras/Bard combo this season.

 

I'm fine with that combo as well.

 

Would you deal Bowden for Salty? Or Buchholz for Teagarden?

[italstallianion]

I'm fine with that combo as well.

 

Would you deal Bowden for Salty? Or Buchholz for Teagarden?

 

 

Yes. Most definitely.

[Dojji]

This is a joke' date=' right? Buchholz has the best MiLB numbers out of all of these guys and there's absolutely no reason to trade for an inferior player just to fill "a position of need".[/quote']

 

Salty is a more standout talent as a catcher than Buchholz is as a pitcher.

 

Scenario A - Sox go into 2009 with Varitek/Kottaras/Brown/Bard and all of their pitching prospects with the hope that Wagner/Exposito/etc. blossom into the "catcher of the future"

 

Scenario B - Sox deal Buchholz/Masterson/Bowden for their supposed "catcher of the future" knowing full well that individual may not even be a catcher in three years, and have a hole in their pitching staff for not just 2009, but 2010 and beyond.

 

Which has the better chance to be successful? Last time the Sox traded their stud prospect everyone was down on he became the best offensive player in baseball (when taking position into account). I'd prefer to not do that again.

 

I'm just fine with a Kottaras/Bard combo this season.

 

Why do I feel like I'm having a conversation with an earlier version of myself?

 

We can fill a lineup and rotation without Buchholz, that's not the question I have in my mind.

 

Wagner hit a brick wall this year in AA, ahs Expo will be starting this year at single-A Salem, so counting on either of them to be the catcher of the future at this point is categorically absurd. As for Kottaras, he has the ability to develop into an average to above average catcher but I certainly wouldn't object to a surer thing.

 

As for the concerns about his D, Varitek wasn't the best defensive catcher in the world when he first started either, but with work he improved. I have little difficulty believing Saltalamacchia can make the same improvements. Bearing in mind of course that Buchholz isn't exactly a perfect complete package of awesome right now either.

 

BTW -- considering that both the pieces we got back in the Hanley trade turned into huge contributors to the 2007 World Series win I consider us well compensated for Hanley.

[diony]

Scenario B - Sox deal Buchholz/Masterson/Bowden for their supposed "catcher of the future" knowing full well that individual may not even be a catcher in three years, and have a hole in their pitching staff for not just 2009, but 2010 and beyond.

 

Well there's always the FA market.

[Dipre]

Well there's always the FA market.

 

And there's always the yankees to sign every top-tier FA, so............

[CrespoBlows]

Mauer is available in 2011.

[Dojji]

Mauer is available for anyone in 2011. Let's not make the mistake of assuming that we're the only one who would wany a premiere catcher.

 

Besides with Polahd gone I wouldn't lay too long odds that the new owners mightn't open their wallets to KEEP Mauer.

[diony]

And there's always the yankees to sign every top-tier FA' date=' so............[/quote']

 

Hey bosoxnation07 #2

[Dipre]

Hey bosoxnation07 #2

 

I wonder where you got the extra chromosome from........

[italstallianion]

Wow, I'm just figuring out that diony is a yankee fan....damn...what a waste of a good avatar...

[BSN07]

Hey bosoxnation07 #2

 

But is there honestly any reason for me not to think that?

 

A team with no budget(no fiscal sense)- a team with a high budget(fiscally minded)......No, High, No, High ummm I'm pretty sure that means the No budget team can out spend the high budget team:lol:(which is well within the rules, so I'm not too bothered by it, just over dramatizing:D)

 

But this is why the Sox have put so much into their farm system, it allows them to not over spend for veteran FA players. Ya they may want some of these guys. But they are going to place a value upon such players. As they have shown, they typically aren't willing to break it for any player. While NYY have typically shown they'll add 10M or another year to the deal just to get them to come to NY.

 

The only time I see Boston beating out NY for a FA is if they go in fast hard and leave with a deal in place. . But how manyplayers are going to accept that? Knowing that the Yanks can always drive up their price for them, I don't see many FA's leaving them out. Or that NY is not in on the player

 

 

 

Jorge will be coming off the books, so the Yanks will be in on Mauer. If they want him, they will probably have to trade and sign an extension.

 

Too bad baseball didn't work like football as far as FA go. Most typically go visit 1 or 2 teams sometimes even being signed before they leave the to go to the airport. Baseball is a long drawn out, dead horse beating process.

[riverside sluggers]

Jorge is signed through the 2011 season. Mauer will be a free agent in the 2010 offseason, but that wont negate the Yanks locking Mauer up as Posada will already be Dh-ing as his catching skills decline

[Dojji]

The. Twins. May.. Very. Well. Lock. Up. Mauer.

[BSN07]

The. Twins. May.. Very. Well. Lock. Up. Mauer.

 

We. Where. Saying. If. He. Became. A. FA. Please. Keep. Up.

[italstallianion]

Girls, you're both pretty...stop fighting...j/k

[Papelbon58]

Having Jorge with one last (dying from old age) season will not keep them from signing Mauer. Jorge may not even be their everyday catcher at that point. I'd be surprised if he makes it thru this year as an everyday catcher.

 

I don't think the Sox are likely to go for a Mauer. I think they would rather have a catcher who established himself within the last two seasons.

 

I'm back, by the way.

[TheKilo]

Why WOULDN'T Mauer test the FA market when he's available?

[Cocos Disciples]

Yeah, considering he's on the Twins right now, he's a good bet to test the waters.

[italstallianion]

Why WOULDN'T Mauer test the FA market when he's available?

 

 

He probably will, but he seems like a player that the Twins may make an exception for, especially with Pohlad no longer in office (RIP). I'm not saying that the Twins will be able to beat out the Yankees in terms of spending, but with the help of Pohlad the Twins certainly have the resources available to make themselves known.

 

I know this is just speculation, but Mauer also doesn't seem to be as money-hungry as other players. I mean he has to know that he's a one of a kind player, but he doesn't seem as likely to screw his own team over for money. Obviously that's just speculation, as there are no facts to prove/disprove it, but I just don't see Mauer being a Yankee for the rest of his career.

[BSN07]

Girls' date=' you're both pretty...stop fighting...j/k[/quote']

 

This is how Dojji and I joke around. He's one of the few that are on when I get up. We just taking jabs at the ribs, all in good fun:lol:

[italstallianion]

I know...and I share the same time zone quandary. Being 5 hr's ahead really stinks.

[Keeper]

I could actually see Mauer being a lifer for the Twins. He grew up in St. Paul, he's a fan favorite, and based purely on a seminar where I saw him speak he seems like a class act who isn't all about instant gratification. But I suppose for the right price you can get just about anybody.