2011 --- Your 40 Man Roster

[Plumpamania]

Essentially brain storm and do some research into plausible free agent or trade additions and make up your potential roster for 2011. Seems as though 2010 is set in stone, but we will be making some major changes for 2011. I can't wait to see people including Pujols and Mauer into their 2011 roster, which is folly in itself, but this should be interesting nonetheless for quality posters.

[jacksonianmarch]

It's impossible to come up with any sort of post since the sox have so much turnover.

[italstallianion]

It's impossible to come up with any sort of post since the sox have so much turnover.

 

 

 

Wrong. It's impossible to be 100% accurate with the roster since nobody here can fully predict all of the Sox moves, but it's not impossible to brainstorm and come up with ideas on how to handle roster moves. You're confusing "brainstorming what realistic moves the Sox can make" with "accurately predicting every move the Sox will make "

[rician blast]

It's impossible to come up with any sort of post since the sox have so much turnover.

 

Awww, c'mon Riv, that's a cop out....certainly you can pull something out of yer ass, no?

[Palodios]

Well, I don't have a clue. But since you're looking for all 40, might as well fill in some gaps.

 

 

1st - Youk

2nd - Pedey

3rd - Beltre?

Catcher- ??

SS- Scutaro

LF-Ellsbury

CF- Cameron

RF- Drew

DH- Lars Anderson

 

 

 

Eight there

 

Ace- Lester

2nd- Buchholz

3rd- Lackey

4th- Dice-K

etc Tazawa/Bowden/Wakefield

 

That's seven

 

 

Bullpen

Manny Delcarmen

Papelbon

Bard

Okajima

Dustin Richardson

Ramon Ramirez (maybe a couple of them)

 

6+

 

 

Bench

Kalish/Reddick/Iglesias/Hermida/Dusty Brown/Lowrie

Max Ramirez-- its going to happen eventually.

Eight more

 

 

So, 29 right there before they add anyone or make any trades.

 

There's not really a lot of stuff to fill. Catcher/3rd Base/1 more strong starter

And maybe a little help on the bench/pen. the 40 man roster always has quite a few minor-leaguers too, so those are players that will be definitely be TBD.

 

On my roster, Mauer or Martinez is a must. If Beltre's gone, Derek Lee/Pujols/A Gon are my first choices, but those guys are unlikely. So, I'll probably check out Carlos Pena, if his average doesn't pick up a little bit, or Konerko.

 

Beckett is going to go the way of Jason Bay-- He'll want more money than he's worth, the sox will find a better replacement, and he'll be stuck with a mediocre team for the same money the sox would have given him. Cliff Lee would be nice, but I doubt they'd be willing to pay the money for him, and go smaller with someone like Millwood.

 

Depending on his year, I'd resign Ortiz to a very club-friendly incentive-laden contract.

 

Well, its a start-- probably should see how this season goes first though, eh?

[Dojji]

OK I'm going to go out on some limbs here.

 

Limb #1: Ortiz is not renewed. It's actually possible we will take him back at reduced cost if he produces at an above average rate.

 

Limb #2: The Sox are going to be in a position to spend. There's going to be some money coming off the books and we'll be looking for quality replacements

 

Limb #3: One of Lars Anderson and Anthony Rizzo becomes our presumptive starting 1Bman of the future over the course of 2010.

 

Limb #4: Beltre has a great year and heads back to the market to cash in.

 

So with that in mind:

 

CATCHER:

 

Starter: Victor Martinez: Will be re-signed if possible. The drop-off to either Luis Exposito or Mark Wagner, or any free agent catcher not named Mauer, is significant so the Sox have every incentive to make VMart happy for a couple years.

 

Backup: Mark Wagner. He's got all the hallmarks of a fairly decent backup and he's not getting any younger. After 2010 it'll be big leagues or bust for him.

 

In AAA:

 

Luis Exposito (starter)

Dusty Brown (backup, here mostly because he's already on the 40-man and Lavarnway won't be ready yet, and to make sure Exposito isn't the victim of an emergency rush job)

 

FIRST BASE:

 

Starter: Derrek Lee. I think Lee is going to be available, and would be a good fit for 2 years and an option. He's a 3 time gold glover with a good approach at the plate and a Fenway friendly spray chart. If he's a FA i prefer him instantly over re-upping Beltre. I'd go for Pena, but Lee's skillset is more likely to age well.

 

Backup: Jeff Natale, Aaron Bates, or Ross Gload, depending on what the team feels they need out of a backup 1B. Natale would provide patience and work the count, but without much power, Bates would field well but probably not hit, and Gload would probide LHH matchup possibilities.

 

AAA: Lars Anderson. If he hits at all he'll be placed on the 40-man at the end of 2010 -- he might even earn a September callup

 

Backup: ONE of Natale and Bates. The other gets cut if he doesn't crack the roster. Given their ages and Natale's injury history he's probably the odd man out.

 

INFIELD:

 

Second Base: Pedroia

Third Base: Youkilis

Shortstop: Scutaro*

 

Backup: Jed Lowrie

 

In AAA:

Travis Denker

Tug Hulett

Ryan Khoury

 

Too danged little else. Any real depth problems we run into at second, third or short, we'll have to deal with from outside the system, especially since the Astros took Jimenez. this is particularly a problem at SS and 3B, neither of which we have even a replacement level backup for right now -- although maybe Hulett or Denker could serve in an emergency.

 

OUTFIELD:

 

RF: Drew*

CF: Cameron*

LF: Ellsbury

 

Backup: Reddick. I think Reddick starts to prove himself next year and cracks the roster officially as a backup the year after. There should be plenty of opportunities for him to get playing time with an aging Drew and an aging Cameron both pencilled in as regulars.

 

In AAA

 

Ryan Kalish: This might actually be reversed with Reddick -- Kalish could be better 4th OF material with his skillset vs. Reddick's, since Kalish adds an element of speed Reddick really doesn't.

 

Daniel Nava: There is literally no point in keeping this man around unless he gets a chance to crack the bench, and frankly he's earned at least a look IMHO. He's done everything that was asked of him well, destroyed the minors at every level, and has a good bench skillset, especially if the switch-hitting pans out at the big league level. He'd have to really clunk at the AAA level in 2010 for me to think he isn't at minimum very strong bench candidate.

 

Pitchers:

 

Rotation:

 

Lester

Beckett (will be renewed, there's no real reason we can't keep him around)

Lackey

Matsuzaka

Buchholz

 

Minors:

 

Bowden

Tazawa

 

One of the joys of this rotation is how simple it will be to keep it together over multiple seasons -- just re-sign Beckett and you're done.

 

Bullpen:

 

Papelbon

Delcarmen

Bard

RamRam

Richardson (LH)

Okajima (LH, we still hold arb control over him IMHO)

Doubront (Long)

 

Minors:

Bowden

Tazawa

Mills

Weiland

(Possibly Kelly, if he beats the door down, which he could)

Ryne Miller (underrated bullpen prospect with IMHO more potential than he gets credit for)

Fernando Cabrera (mostly cuz, iunno, he's already there)

 

* last year of his deal

[jacksonianmarch]

Its amazing what a little bit of information, a lot of hope and no sense can get from someone. Putting Tug Hulett in the conversation for anything but a great first name and a pun about beating off is stupid.

[Dojji]

I put Hulett on the 40 man roster not because I expect a ton out of him, but more because he's going to be on it anyway, this year -- and because our infield depth is so bad that we're going to wind up relying on him if something goes wrong with Scutaro anyway.

[Dipre]

I put Hulett on the 40 man roster not because I expect a ton out of him' date=' but more because he's going to be on it anyway, this year -- and because our infield depth is so bad that we're going to wind up relying on him if something goes wrong with Scutaro anyway.[/quote']

 

Bill Hall.

[Dojji]

This is the 2011 roster, I didn't think we had Hall after the coming season. Am I mistaken?

 

EDIT: Ahh, there's a club option. I'm pretty sure we can count on Theo not to pick it up though. l don't think he'd be willing to pay $9.25 million for what Hall brings to the table -- or even take that kind of cap hit -- when the buyout is only $500K

[Dipre]

This is the 2011 roster, I didn't think we had Hall after the coming season. Am I mistaken?

 

EDIT: Ahh, there's a club option. I'm pretty sure we can count on Theo not to pick it up though. l don't think he'd be willing to pay $9.25 million for what Hall brings to the table -- or even take that kind of cap hit -- when the buyout is only $500K

 

If he does well, he'll probably re-sign. Why wouldn't he?

[Dojji]

I wouldn't count on the Sox to be iin the market for a utility man at that point. For one thing as you know I haven't given up on Lowrie, and for another it really depends on what Hall does for us in 2010. It's entirely possible that all he'll provide is a bit of IF/OF versatility and not much stick, and if that's the case we can likely to better. Or he could, I suppose, recapture his 2006 form, take off and never look back, but I think the aliens will have landed before that happens.

 

Anywho, Hulett's on the 40-man roster projection mostly because Hulett IS, indeed, on our 40 man roster right now and with our light infield depth and his offensive abilities as a 3 position infielder I think it quite likely he'll still be around at the end of the year.

[Dipre]

I wouldn't count on the Sox to be iin the market for a utility man at that point. For one thing as you know I haven't given up on Lowrie, and for another it really depends on what Hall does for us in 2010. It's entirely possible that all he'll provide is a bit of IF/OF versatility and not much stick, and if that's the case we can likely to better. Or he could, I suppose, recapture his 2006 form, take off and never look back, but I think the aliens will have landed before that happens.

 

Anywho, Hulett's on the 40-man roster projection mostly because Hulett IS, indeed, on our 40 man roster right now and with our light infield depth and his offensive abilities as a 3 position infielder I think it quite likely he'll still be around at the end of the year.

 

I'd pencil in Both Hall and Lowrie (who are both on the 40-man) as the likely candidates to still be on the 40-man come '11. Just my opinion though.

[Dojji]

One of Hall and Lowrie will probably be the big league utility man -- my guess is Lowrie, since he'll probably burn his last option at some point this season -- as bad as Lowrie's been, the SS market has been so weak I STILL don't think he'd clear waivers. Anyway he'll be cheaper to bring back than Hall will. Either way though, you kind of need 2 infielders in the minors who are on the 40-man roster so it'd be Lowrie and someone, or Hulett and someone, or Hulett and Lowrie. I just voted "Hulett any someone," and for want of a better idea picked Khoury as "someone."

 

Hulett will stick around as the emergency callup guy, which probably means he gets a place on the 40-man going forward until someone like Navarro or Tejeda proves they deserve it more.

 

I'd add Iglesias to that list, but he's probably the guy who takes over Hall's spot on the roster when he moves on.

[jacksonianmarch]

If he does well' date=' he'll probably re-sign. Why wouldn't he?[/quote']

 

If he does well, I bet he'll look for a starting spot. Hall has always been one of those enigmas. He played well for a couple seasons, parlayed it into big money, then sucked donkey dick ever since. He's got power, he's got speed and he can play multiple positions. He just needs to get turned back around. He'll either thrive in Boston or this will be the end of the road. Either way, unless the sox are beseiged by injury and need to rely on Hall for something more than a UT guy, I think he'll be gone for 2011

[jacksonianmarch]

One of Hall and Lowrie will probably be the big league utility man -- my guess is Lowrie, since he'll probably burn his last option at some point this season -- as bad as Lowrie's been, the SS market has been so weak I STILL don't think he'd clear waivers. Anyway he'll be cheaper to bring back than Hall will. Either way though, you kind of need 2 infielders in the minors who are on the 40-man roster so it'd be Lowrie and someone, or Hulett and someone, or Hulett and Lowrie. I just voted "Hulett any someone," and for want of a better idea picked Khoury as "someone."

 

Hulett will stick around as the emergency callup guy, which probably means he gets a place on the 40-man going forward until someone like Navarro or Tejeda proves they deserve it more.

 

I'd add Iglesias to that list, but he's probably the guy who takes over Hall's spot on the roster when he moves on.

 

He might take Hall's spot on the roster, but he is being groomed as a starter. He doesnt see the 25 man until 2012 when Scutaro is gone

[Dojji]

This is a thread about the 40-man roster. Try to keep up.