Boston RedSox 2010 performance/post game reaction thread.

[jacksonianmarch]

i think it's fair to say that the sox are finally playing like theo drew it up. their pitching and defense has been some of the best in baseball since the all-star break

 

Your pitching looks really good when you get to play Oakland, Seattle, and the toothless halos. Only Texas is a good offense.

[Yaz Sideburn]

Your pitching looks really good when you get to play Oakland' date=' Seattle, and the toothless halos. Only Texas is a good offense.[/quote']

 

 

would it be physically painful for you to acknowledge anything positive about the sox?

[Yaz Sideburn]

i have to believe that hermida will be dfa'd as soon as ellsbury comes off the dl. he is just useless and his fielding is horrendous. i'd rather have eric patterson out there, at least he doesn't suck on both sides of the ball

[jacksonianmarch]

 

would it be physically painful for you to acknowledge anything positive about the sox?

 

They're a good team. I predicted 90-95 wins. I stick by that. But they did just run train through 3 pathetic offenses

[Rdsxmbnt]

brb playing Cleveland Guardians

[jacksonianmarch]

The Guardians suck too, no doubt.

[suns]

Rebuilding.

[TheMino007]

Getting beat down by a team that the Rays swept with your so called ace on the mound has to make you wonder if this team really does have it, oh look, the Sox are losing again

[jacksonianmarch]

Getting beat down by a team that the Rays swept with your so called ace on the mound has to make you wonder if this team really does have it' date=' oh look, the Sox are losing again[/quote']

 

The sox certainly have no quit in them. They're a good club cursed by division this yr. The sox are 2 games back of the 3rd best record in the AL behind Tampa and NYY. I know they were talking about a realignment of sorts where the top 4 from the AL and the top 4 from the NL make the playoffs and essentially destroy the divisions. But I doubt that happens. For this yr, the sox are just in a rough spot. Next yr, though, the Rays will be much less apparent without Pena or Crawford, so the sox should recover well

[example1]

They're a good team. I predicted 90-95 wins. I stick by that. But they did just run train through 3 pathetic offenses

 

I don't know how I miss these gems. You are quick to downplay the quality of the offenses the Sox do well against, but then talk about AJ Burnett having turned it around after he has some good starts against Oakland, KC and CLE? I don't need to find the quote, you know you did, and yet here we are, passing through Double Standardville. Next stop, Hipocracy Junction.

[jacksonianmarch]

KC is second in the MLB in BA, Burnett held them to 4 hits.

Toronto is 10th in the MLB in runs scored and first in homers, and he shut them out.

 

Cleveland and Oakland are jokes offensively.

 

The sox went through Oakland and Seattle, the 24th and 30th in runs scored in the bigs. Then they ran through the Angels, who are without Morales and sat Hunter for one of their games.

[Yaz Sideburn]

KC is second in the MLB in BA, Burnett held them to 4 hits.

Toronto is 10th in the MLB in runs scored and first in homers, and he shut them out.

 

Cleveland and Oakland are jokes offensively.

 

The sox went through Oakland and Seattle, the 24th and 30th in runs scored in the bigs. Then they ran through the Angels, who are without Morales and sat Hunter for one of their games.

 

their team era was 3.88 in july and they faced a team in the top 11 of runs scored in the majors in half of their games

[Dojji]

Jedster's continuing the clutch ways he showed back in '08.

 

Keep an eye on how many times this guy extends the rally in a critical situation, because he already has at least 3 since he was called up.

[Yaz Sideburn]

lowrie's a really solid player. people forget that he was one of our best prospects before his wrist injury. he hit .282/.378/.442 in the minors

[Yaz Sideburn]

now's the time to make a run at a playoff spot. we get the Guardians for four games, then we face the yankees for 4 games with our 4 best starters. i didn't realize this, but we play the yankees 10 more times this year

[example1]

now's the time to make a run at a playoff spot. we get the Guardians for four games' date=' then we face the yankees for 4 games with our 4 best starters. i didn't realize this, but we play the yankees 10 more times this year[/quote']

 

There is definitely an impending "make or break" period here for the Sox. I remember in 2004 when they had a really tough run against some hard-charging AL West teams in the second half of the season and virtually swept the whole thing. I think we all hope that this club can put together that kind of run this year when Ellsbury and Pedroia are back and the pitching is doing its thing. It's going to take an impressive comeback though.

 

Whatever happens. this feels like a transitional year in terms of the players who are aging out and the players who are starting to break through from the bottom ranks. I think we will see this FO's best attempt to not get into a similar situation again with anyone like they did with Mike Lowell. I'm hopeful that they've looked at his situation and said "how can we prevent getting stuck with accomplished early-mid 30's players for huge FA money and longer than we want?" and doing everything they can to avoid it by doubling-down on their strategy of avoiding big FA money on anyone other than truly prime-years players.

 

Interestingly the Sox have three such contracts coming up at the end of the season in Victor Martinez, Adrian Beltre and David Ortiz. All three will want big money and many years. I think they are of value to the Red Sox in the order listed above, with Martinez having the most utility in terms of being able to hit while playing catcher and also having the most consistency of the three. Both Beltre and Ortiz scare the s*** out of me longterm.

 

The consequence of a few of those contracts is that the team doesn't match its payroll. This club is very good, but they aren't as good as a $170m Red Sox team should be with their player development and established longterm deals. This offseason will be a good opportunity to do some long needed house cleaning.

[BSN07]

There is definitely an impending "make or break" period here for the Sox. I remember in 2004 when they had a really tough run against some hard-charging AL West teams in the second half of the season and virtually swept the whole thing. I think we all hope that this club can put together that kind of run this year when Ellsbury and Pedroia are back and the pitching is doing its thing. It's going to take an impressive comeback though.

 

Whatever happens. this feels like a transitional year in terms of the players who are aging out and the players who are starting to break through from the bottom ranks. I think we will see this FO's best attempt to not get into a similar situation again with anyone like they did with Mike Lowell. I'm hopeful that they've looked at his situation and said "how can we prevent getting stuck with accomplished early-mid 30's players for huge FA money and longer than we want?" and doing everything they can to avoid it by doubling-down on their strategy of avoiding big FA money on anyone other than truly prime-years players.

 

Interestingly the Sox have three such contracts coming up at the end of the season in Victor Martinez, Adrian Beltre and David Ortiz. All three will want big money and many years. I think they are of value to the Red Sox in the order listed above, with Martinez having the most utility in terms of being able to hit while playing catcher and also having the most consistency of the three. Both Beltre and Ortiz scare the s*** out of me longterm.

 

The consequence of a few of those contracts is that the team doesn't match its payroll. This club is very good, but they aren't as good as a $170m Red Sox team should be with their player development and established longterm deals. This offseason will be a good opportunity to do some long needed house cleaning.

 

Well said.

[Dojji]

I will always appreciate Mike Lowell for what he did for us. He's a professional, and he's a gamer, and he's exactly the kind of veteran you want on your roster -- at least he was before he played a moth with a hip labrum tear and was never the same since. He still has most of those skills and abilities, he just can't stay on the field long enough to make use of them. I still can't help but wonder if the guy couldn't get his form back at least to an extent and have a couple more decent seasons, but the odds are against it.

 

I think though that we ran into more bad luck with Lowell than you should reasonably expect. As hard as it is to find a decent third basemen, in the same situation I'd extend the same contract again. A Lowell who didn't run into some pretty epic bad luck only a couple months into his deal would have largely justified his salary over the last 3 years.

[Palodios]

Big market teams like the Red Sox know the risks of signing guys long term. They expect regression, and the last year of the contract is supposed to be paid for by the performance of the player in earlier years.

 

Does anyone else see a lot of similarities between Lowell and Beltre? In a contract year, they have exceptionally good seasons. They're both gold glovers. Lowell hits a bit better for average over his career, but Beltre has a bit more power. Beltre is two years younger and healthier than Lowell was in 2007, but he's also coming off a crummy 2009. I'm wondering if he wants to stay here, maybe 3/40 will get it done.

[jacksonianmarch]

Big market teams like the Red Sox know the risks of signing guys long term. They expect regression, and the last year of the contract is supposed to be paid for by the performance of the player in earlier years.

 

Does anyone else see a lot of similarities between Lowell and Beltre? In a contract year, they have exceptionally good seasons. They're both gold glovers. Lowell hits a bit better for average over his career, but Beltre has a bit more power. Beltre is two years younger and healthier than Lowell was in 2007, but he's also coming off a crummy 2009. I'm wondering if he wants to stay here, maybe 3/40 will get it done.

 

His feelings wont matter. His agent is Boras. He's gonna get a huge contract

[Dojji]

Not from us. I'm not touching Beltre longterm. He's just here to build his contract value and then he's gone to points west again. Let someone else take on the risk signing this guy to a multiyear deal. Philly's looking like possibly the best candidate there.

[jacksonianmarch]

He'll probably get a 4 yr deal at big money. The sox would be wise to offer arb and let him ride

[BSN07]

He'll probably get a 4 yr deal at big money. The sox would be wise to offer arb and let him ride

 

They will Beltre is one and done.

 

And Dojji, I don't know if Philly will have the $ to sign him.

[Dojji]

They didn't bring in Oswalt and sign Howard because ownership's concerned about running out of money, I suspect that if they think it'll put them back in the playoffs there's a number of moves they'll look at.

[Palodios]

They already have a gold glover at 3B in Polanco. Why would they want Beltre?

[ORS]

They already have a gold glover at 3B in Polanco. Why would they want Beltre?

To save on helmet costs.

[jacksonianmarch]

Wouldnt be surprised at all if LAD or SF would go for him. Both those teams need offense and Kung Fu Panda will move to 1b with Huff gone and the Dodgers could upgrade from Blake

[Yaz Sideburn]

i have a feeling beltre will sign a big contract somewhere else and then go back to a mediocre hitter who plays good defense. given the lack of quality 1b/3b options, and the depth of the red sox farm system, i would expect them to explore a trade for a corner infielder

[Dojji]

Adam LaRoche is still out there, or we could take a flier on an older prospect like Gaby Sanchez or Kila Ka'aihue.

 

or we could sign Carlos Pena.

 

I'm curious if Fenway could help Brandon Inge's bat too. Maicer Izturis has intrigued me for years too if we'd rather go for a stopgap and wait for Lars.

[Yaz Sideburn]

i'm sure the red sox will kick the tires on adrian gonzalez again and i wouldn't be surprised to see them go after aubrey huff in free agency. they've always liked him and he can play multiple positions