Official Red Sox offseason thread

[TedWilliams101]

I'm going to have to agree with Dipre on this one. At this point in his career, Young is a corner infielder. If it were '07, then I'd love to have him. He just isn't the fit now.

[CrespoBlows]

I'm going to have to agree with Dipre on this one. At this point in his career' date=' Young is a corner infielder. If it were '07, then I'd love to have him. He just isn't the fit now.[/quote']

 

If it were '07, we'd get the absolute worse of Michael Young.

[Dojji]

If you're gonna get a SS who has his share of flaws, let the least of said flaws be defensive.

 

He's had a UZR no better than -5.2 as a SS.

 

Fine by me -- but be aware that if the standard is that the least of his flaws be defense, you've described Nick Green.

[Dipre]

Fine by me -- but be aware that if the standard is that the least of his flaws be defense' date=' you've described Nick Green.[/quote']

 

Nick Green is an awful defender, sir.

 

Stop it.

[BSN07]

Hanley I honestly don't see available. I would really like him. But there just too close to the new stadium to move him IMO. He honestly doesn't get too expensive for a couple years. By then they will be in there new stadium and might be able to afford him.

 

Saying that I believe everyone has a price. If Theo walked in and said here take my top 10 prospects, Florida or any other team involved(Felix,AG, whomever) would most likely deal player X. But I doubt Theo or anyone else would actually do such a thing. But non the less it is possible.

 

AG would also be nice but he doesn't really fit after the V-Mart deal. V-Mart needs time at 1B to save his legs. But I guess if you look beyond 2010(assuming they keep V-Mart) I suppose he could see time at DH once Papi has left.

 

Felix seems like the one that fits the most. If such a thing is possible in all this speculation. He's not a FA for a couple years. If Seattle feels they won't be able to re-sign him they could be more willing to part with him. It will be a high cost obviously.

 

 

 

ORS, bit early for you to be in a thread such as this isn't it? Thought this type of discussion drove you crazy or something?

 

As far as what your interpretation of what's in my mind, it would help if you new my perspective on the subject. I never said acquiring Hanley wouldn't be problematic. Just not insurmountable.

 

You may not like or agree with some of the s*** I shovel. But at least it brings you around to post every now and then. Even if it is just to take the piss out of me:D

[Gosawks]

This offseason I there will need to be some turnover on this team. Right now you have Jason Varitek, David Ortiz, Mike Lowell who is an injury risk all of who are hurting this team. These are the 4 guys that I look like that need to go. Here are the locks for the team next season:

 

 

CF Ellsbury

2B Pedroia

C Martinez

1B Youklis

RF Drew

LF ?

SS ?

DH ?

3B Mike Lowell has lost a lot of range and his defense is cumbling and has a lot of injury corcerns.

 

These are major holes that we need to fill to be able to compete next season... Here are my ideas to fill each of these holes:

 

 

SS: Decline Alex Gonzalez's option and resign him to a lighter deal. The free agent market is very thin and there are no better option on the trade market.. You resign him to a 2 year deal and put him at the bottom of the order. This is what I see as our best option.

 

DH: We need to eat Ortiz contract. The time has come when he is hurting this offense to the point where its getting to be too much. Looking at the free agent market, there are a couple of options I really like there. Bobby Abreu is a guy who I would really like in that role. A guy who has some pop. who gets on base, hits for AVG and has 78 RBI'S this season and yet is flying very much under the radar. Bobby Abreu at DH.

 

3B: Mike Lowell has lost a lot of range at 3rd and has had chronic injury problems throughout the past couple seasons. I would try to trade him too another AL team who needs a DH and a veteran leader. I would fix this problem in house. You move Youk to third and put Casey Kotchman who is a great defensive 1st baseman at 1st. That solves two holes at once in an effective way.

 

LF: The only two attractive, run producing options on the free agent market are Jason Bay and Matt Holliday. Matt Holliday is a more attractive option too me because he has a higer AVG,OBP, and similar power and RBIS throughtout his career and is a much better Left Fielder. I would let By Walk and Pursue Matt Holiday. So Matt Holliday is your answer in LF.

 

So the lineup here looks like:

 

CF Ellsbury

2B Pedroia

C Martinez

3rd Youkilis

LF Holliday

DH Abreu

RF Drew

1B Kotchman

SS Gonzalez

 

 

Rotation:

 

Beckett

Lester

Dice K

Buchholz

Wake

[Dipre]

 

 

 

So the lineup here looks like:

 

CF Ellsbury

2B Pedroia

C Martinez

3rd Youkilis

LF Holliday

DH Abreu

RF Drew

1B Kotchman

SS Gonzalez

 

 

Kotchman as our regular 1B?

 

That's an awful idea.

[Gosawks]

Kotchman as our regular 1B?

 

That's an awful idea.

 

 

Its far from an awful idea. He is a great defensive 1st baseman and will hit around .280 10 RBI 70 RBI with that gold glove caliber defense. At the bottom of the order I think that would be a great idea.

[The_Destroyah]

Its far from an awful idea. He is a great defensive 1st baseman and will hit around .280 10 RBI 70 RBI with that gold glove caliber defense. At the bottom of the order I think that would be a great idea.

 

That is awful for a 1B a good first baseman should be atleast pushing 30 HR and 100 RBI, its expected from a 1B and its not that hard to fine 1B who defend decently and hit better.

[Gosawks]

That is awful for a 1B a good first baseman should be atleast pushing 30 HR and 100 RBI' date=' its expected from a 1B and its not that hard to fine 1B who defend decently and hit better.[/quote']

 

How many first baseman produce that though? Pujlos,,Adrain Gonzalez,Miguel Carbera,Prince Fielder,Derrick Lee when healthy,Tex and Youkilis who will be at 3rd next season, Justin Morneau, Pena and Berkman. So I just names 10 first baseman which are all elite players in baseball, there are 20 first baseman out there that dont come close to 30HR 100 RBI. If we have the lineup that I just pointed out would we really need him to put up 30 100? No I hate how people precieve these positions as being power positions. If you have the guys around them in the lineup producing at that level it does not matter if a "power position" is not a profilic power guy.

[ORS]

Ryan Howard, Carlos Delgado (when healthy), Kendry Morales, Justin Morneau, Carlos Pena?

 

Looks like the list is a little longer than you are saying.

 

EDIT: Oh, and another "when healthy" guy, Lance Berkman.

[Dojji]

We would not be satisfied with Kotchman at 1B no matter how good the D was.

 

I wonder if Lowell could play 1B.

[BoSox21]

How many first baseman produce that though? Pujlos' date=',Adrain Gonzalez,Miguel Carbera,Prince Fielder,Derrick Lee when healthy,Tex and Youkilis who will be at 3rd next season, Justin Morneau, Pena and Berkman. So I just names 10 first baseman which are all elite players in baseball, there are 20 first baseman out there that dont come close to 30HR 100 RBI. If we have the lineup that I just pointed out would we really need him to put up 30 100? No I hate how people precieve these positions as being power positions. If you have the guys around them in the lineup producing at that level it does not matter if a "power position" is not a profilic power guy.[/quote']

 

I looked it up, there are 16 first basemen who did or came extremely close to 30/100 last season so he makes a point

 

I wonder if Lowell could play 1B.

 

I heard somewhere that's something they'll look into in the off-season although I'm not sure that wasn't just someone pushing his own agenda

[The_Destroyah]

I looked it up, there are 16 first basemen who did or came extremely close to 30/100 last season so he makes a point

 

 

 

I heard somewhere that's something they'll look into in the off-season although I'm not sure that wasn't just someone pushing his own agenda

 

How many are working on 25/90 because I think that number is alot larger.

[BoSox21]

How many are working on 25/90 because I think that number is alot larger.

 

I was just looking at last season

[The_Destroyah]

there are 14 1B with above 20 HRs so far this year you figure that most of those should reach 30 by the end of the season, most of the 1B below that are splitting time with someone, have injury issues or are young. there are only 6 1B currently with less than 65 RBIs most of those with 65+ RBIs this year should reach 100. Kotchman is below average by far for a 1B, he is however a great backup and does have very solid Defense.

[Gosawks]

there are 14 1B with above 20 HRs so far this year you figure that most of those should reach 30 by the end of the season' date=' most of the 1B below that are splitting time with someone, have injury issues or are young. there are only 6 1B currently with less than 65 RBIs most of those with 65+ RBIs this year should reach 100. Kotchman is below average by far for a 1B, he is however a great backup and does have very solid Defense.[/quote']

 

 

Tell what is the difference between a 1st baseman hitting .280 10 HR 70 RBI and a Left Fielderhitting .320 30 HR 100 RBI? You are still getting the same production out of your lineup, even though it is a left fielder. Does it make any sense to the arguement that a guy is not a first baseman? We won the World Series with Kevin Millar and Doug Mientkiewicz who were not profilic power guys. I do not agree with this notion that a first baseman has to be a power and RBI man.

[The_Destroyah]

Tell what is the difference between a 1st baseman hitting .280 10 HR 70 RBI and a Left Fielderhitting .320 30 HR 100 RBI? You are still getting the same production out of your lineup' date=' even though it is a left fielder. Does it make any sense to the arguement that a guy is not a first baseman? We won the World Series with Kevin Millar and Doug Mientkiewicz who were not profilic power guys. I do not agree with this notion that a first baseman has to be a power and RBI man.[/quote']

 

I suppose it doesnt have to but if you get a guy who can hit 20-30 HRs and 85-100 RBIs (not that RBIs are really relavent) for cheap, and believe me you can get a 1B with 20 HRs a year pretty damn cheap, then why not use that to better your lineup further, plus you expect at least one of your outfielders to be somewhat of a power hitter too so that isnt a great argument. not to mention you can find people to man 1B and play D well im not saying that at 1B defense isnt important but damn near anyone can do it, in the outfield or MIF you put defense into the equation, to me 1B is the second DH spot, there is no need to have a light hitting 1B.

 

there are differences in the way different positions hit, you expect at least a little speed at the CF position for defense and offense, at SS you dont expect much if you have a guy with a hi OBP and plays good D then you are doing pretty well, at 3B you expect a little power maybe not as much as you do a 1B but its a power position, of all of the positions the OF is the most sporadic as far as offensive types, you have hi avg. quick guys (Ichiro, ellsbury) guys with alot of power numbers (holliday, bay, ibanez, drew, hamilton, etc.) guys with bits of both (shane victorino, johnny damon, bobby abreu, torri hunter, etc.)

[Gosawks]

I suppose it doesnt have to but if you get a guy who can hit 20-30 HRs and 85-100 RBIs (not that RBIs are really relavent) for cheap' date=' and believe me you can get a 1B with 20 HRs a year pretty damn cheap, then why not use that to better your lineup further, plus you expect at least one of your outfielders to be somewhat of a power hitter too so that isnt a great argument. not to mention you can find people to man 1B and play D well im not saying that at 1B defense isnt important but damn near anyone can do it, in the outfield or MIF you put defense into the equation, to me 1B is the second DH spot, there is no need to have a light hitting 1B.[/quote']

 

We have Lars Anderson one of our prized prospect going to be ready as early as 2011. You could use Kotchman as a stopgab without overpaying for a guy who is going to do close to what Kotchaman is going to do. There is no reason to sign one of those guys and block the young kids.

[TheKilo]

I don't think having Kotchman as the everyday first baseman is such a bad thing, not a "ridiculous" idea many have said it was.

 

Remember, a run saved counts just as much as a run earned.

[The_Destroyah]

We have Lars Anderson one of our prized prospect going to be ready as early as 2011. You could use Kotchman as a stopgab without overpaying for a guy who is going to do close to what Kotchaman is going to do. There is no reason to sign one of those guys and block the young kids.

 

imho there is no reason not to try to get someone better for cheap, either through FA or as part of a trade, for cheap to a 1 or 2 year deal, i will say that 1B is not anywhere close to our primary concern but its something that can be easily fixed for relatively little and it can really help the lineup. dont get me wrong Kotchman is exactly what we need...warming the bench.

[Gosawks]

imho there is no reason not to try to get someone better for cheap' date=' either through FA or as part of a trade, for cheap to a 1 or 2 year deal, i will say that 1B is not anywhere close to our primary concern but its something that can be easily fixed for relatively little and it can really help the lineup. dont get me wrong Kotchman is exactly what we need...warming the bench.[/quote']

 

You look at that free agent market, there is no one out there that im attracted too. All of these guys are either old and bad defensively or are simply backups.

 

Rich Aurilia (38)

Russell Branyan (34)

Miguel Cairo (36)

Frank Catalanotto (36) - $5MM club option with a $2MM buyout

Tony Clark (38)

Carlos Delgado (38)

Nomar Garciaparra (36)

Ross Gload (34) - $2.6MM club option

Eric Hinske (32)

Nick Johnson (31)

Adam LaRoche (30)

Doug Mientkiewicz (36)

Kevin Millar (38)

Chad Tracy (30) - $7MM option with a $1MM buyout

Daryle Ward (35)

Dmitri Young (36) -$6MM option vests with 500 PAs in '09

 

 

Do you see any names on this list that would be more attractive then Kotchman? So why invest in one of these guys when you can get similar production for Kotchman? Makes no sense.

[The_Destroyah]

Russel Branyan wouldnt be bad on a 1 year deal, I honestly didnt mind LaRoche I realize its weak there but we could pick up an adequate 1B from another team for relatively little, we dont need to I just think we could do it pretty easily.

[lesterkett]

red sox rotation for next year 1 Beckett 2 Lester 3 matsuzaka 4 Rich harden ( Theo should go after this young pitcher ) 5 Clay bu

 

GO after adrian gonzales, move youk to third .. vmart catching ... Bring a platoon for nancy drew

[example1]

red sox rotation for next year 1 Beckett 2 Lester 3 matsuzaka 4 Rich harden ( Theo should go after this young pitcher ) 5 Clay bu

 

GO after adrian gonzales, move youk to third .. vmart catching ... Bring a platoon for nancy drew

 

Harden is too injury prone for the Sox to go after him, and he's too good to be available on a cheap 'reclaimation project' type short term deal that Theo overpays for. Some team will buy the lottery ticket and sign him to a 4-5 year deal.

[Gosawks]

red sox rotation for next year 1 Beckett 2 Lester 3 matsuzaka 4 Rich harden ( Theo should go after this young pitcher ) 5 Clay buchholz

 

GO after adrian gonzales, move youk to third .. vmart catching ... Bring a platoon for nancy drew

 

You could not get Adrain Gonzalez without giving up Clay Buchholz in the deal. I think it is very unlikely the Pardes deal Gonzalez, He is a local kid who is very cheap for years and years to come. I find it very hard that the fans of the Padres would accept that trade and is the only thing putting people in the seats.

 

I like the idea of Rich Harden depending on if Wakefield comes back or not. If he does come back then and we dont trade Buchholz then I find this signing very unlikely but if one of those two dont happen, I can see Harden as an attractive option.

 

`

[Gosawks]

Russel Branyan wouldnt be bad on a 1 year deal' date=' I honestly didnt mind LaRoche I realize its weak there but we could pick up an adequate 1B from another team for relatively little, we dont need to I just think we could do it pretty easily.[/quote']

 

I would sign him as a backup but certainly not a starter. He is having a career and has been a strikeout machine throughout his entire career with an extremely low average ans not too mention is a horrendous first baseman. No reason to pick someone that is worst then Kotchman.

[Dipre]

I don't think having Kotchman as the everyday first baseman is such a bad thing, not a "ridiculous" idea many have said it was.

 

Remember, a run saved counts just as much as a run earned.

 

You do know that we already have a 1B who is better both offensively and defensively than Casey Kotchman.

 

His name is Kevin Youkilis.

 

It'd be better if we kept Youk at and got a good glove/better than Kotchman bat 3B.

[Cocos Disciples]

Since we're operating under the assumption that Lowell isn't playing 3rd next year, do you guys think he's traded or Ortiz is traded and Lowell moved to DH?

[Gosawks]

You do know that we already have a 1B who is better both offensively and defensively than Casey Kotchman.

 

His name is Kevin Youkilis.

 

It'd be better if we kept Youk at and got a good glove/better than Kotchman bat 3B.

 

Okay what options at 3rd you could bring in? We people are not looking at is Lars Anderson who is one of our top prospects and is prjected to be our starting first baseman in 2011. You sign a guy like Chone Figgins it would stunt his development and block him from coming up. Beyond him, there are no good options on the market. There is no reason why we cant deal with this in house and have Kotchamn be our first baseman? I dont see what the huge up roar about this idea is.