2011-2012 Offseason Thread

[jacksonianmarch]

He's a minus defender who's career OPS as a corner OFer is .779 and is coming off 2 straight yrs at .730ish. He's an average OFer overall as evidenced by his WAR of right under 1. He's a body, that's about it

[iortiz]

Red Sox Agree To Sign Cody Ross]

By Mark Polishuk [January 23 at 8:18pm CST]

The Red Sox have reached a deal with outfielder Cody Ross, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.* A team source told Michael Silverman of the Boston Globe that it's a one-year contract, and ESPN Boston's Gordon Edes reports the deal is worth roughly $3MM plus incentives (all Twitter links).* Ross is represented by SFX.*

 

Ross played all three outfield positions for the Giants last season and hit .240/.325/.405 line with 14 home runs in 461 plate appearances.* A right-handed hitter, Ross projects to join the left-handed hitting Ryan Sweeney in a right field platoon, though Ross could also get a few starts in left field for Carl Crawford (also a lefty bat) against tough southpaws.

 

The Mets, Athletics, Reds, Braves and Rockies were all connected to Ross at various points this winter, with Boston seemingly moving into the lead once they freed up some payroll space by trading Marco Scutaro to Colorado.* With Ross in the fold, a source tells Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe that the Sox will still try to add a starting pitcher with the money saved from the Scutaro deal.

 

The two sides seemed to come closer to a deal over the course of the day, with ESPN New York's Adam Rubin saying Ross would "probably" join the Sox and Abraham reporting that the club had "made some progress" with the free agent outfielder (all Twitter links).

[SoxFanForsyth]

He's a minus defender who's career OPS as a corner OFer is .779 and is coming off 2 straight yrs at .730ish. He's an average OFer overall as evidenced by his WAR of right under 1. He's a body' date=' that's about it[/quote']

 

Yup.

 

It's such a shame that park factors don't play at all into stats. Those .730 OPS numbers were not at all a result of the NL West.

 

Oh, wait....

 

I'm not saying he's going to be a Ryan Bruan out there, but he's definitely an improvement over what we had last year, he can mash LHP, he's cheap, and he's got 20-25 HR potential, especially at Fenway.

[SoxFanForsyth]

However' date=' in terms of LH power suppression, Fenway is not very far from Oakland. I wouldn't expect much of an improvement.[/quote']

 

From everything I've read, Sweeney has an inside out swing and takes the ball to the opposite field. Very Gonzo-esque, but not with the same power or seemingly lack of effort.

 

Regardless, he's not a pull heavy hitter, so Fenway should jump his numbers a bit.

[User Name]

He's a minus defender who's career OPS as a corner OFer is .779 and is coming off 2 straight yrs at .730ish. He's an average OFer overall as evidenced by his WAR of right under 1. He's a body' date=' that's about it[/quote']

 

So now WAR is great.

 

105 OPS+, career .912 OPS vs. lefties.

[iortiz]

If this deal was for 3MM, I wonder, do we have enough room to land the SP?

[User Name]

They should. If it's not enough for Oswalt, it would be enough for Floyd, were they able to swing a trade for him.

[SoxFanForsyth]

They should. If it's not enough for Oswalt' date=' it would be enough for Floyd, were they able to swing a trade for him.[/quote']

 

Ugh. Floyd. :thumbdown

 

I think he would get his tits lit on fire in the East. I'd rather find a BP piece and have Aceves start than to get Floyd.

[User Name]

He pitches in a bandbox just like Fenway.

 

Also, here is his ERA against the other AL East teams:

 

Orioles: 3.56

 

Yankees: 5.98

 

Blue Jays: 7.26

 

Tampa: 2.57

 

While he's gotten lit up by Toronto and the Yankees, he could probably pitch to an ERA around 4.20 in the AL East.

[win red sox]

He pitches in a bandbox just like Fenway.

 

Also, here is his ERA against the other AL East teams:

 

Orioles: 3.56

 

Yankees: 5.98

 

Blue Jays: 7.26

 

Tampa: 2.57

 

While he's gotten lit up by Toronto and the Yankees, he could probably pitch to an ERA around 4.20 in the AL East.

 

I would be happy with a 4.50 and 200 ip out of the 4/5 spot.

[jacksonianmarch]

Floyd's peripherals have been solid even though his ERA has fluctuated. He'd be a solid pickup, but IIRC, he is set to make $7.5 mil next yr, which is right around where Oswalt is shooting for

[SoxFanForsyth]

He pitches in a bandbox just like Fenway.

 

Also, here is his ERA against the other AL East teams:

 

Orioles: 3.56

 

Yankees: 5.98

 

Blue Jays: 7.26

 

Tampa: 2.57

 

While he's gotten lit up by Toronto and the Yankees, he could probably pitch to an ERA around 4.20 in the AL East.

 

Those numbers aren't inspiring IMO. If we decide to trade for a SP, I think we need to go after someone like Jurrjens, or someone young that we can tack on to the organization for a few years at cheaper money.

[iortiz]

I'm not Floyd's fan but he is healthy and has put consistently 4.0 ERA over the past 4 years, nothing else to ask for a #4 SP

[seabeachfred]

Ross's numbers were smothered by AT&T and all of the NL West ballparks.

 

A line of around .265/.330/.470/.800, 20 HR, 80 RBI is not a far fetched by any means.

 

Now don't get carried away Forsyth. Well what do expect impatient SBF to say anyway? I will give you this.....Ross is a good pickup and he will do well playing a lot of his games at Fenway Park. AT@T has turned the Giants from a hitting team into a pitching team so Ross will be better served playing in our balliwick. Come to think of it, if he bears down your stats don't seem so far fetched after all. OK, get carried away. I like this move.

 

Now my question to anyone out there....IS THIS NOW OFFICIAL????????:dunno::dunno::dunno::dunno::dunno:

[User Name]

Those numbers aren't inspiring IMO. If we decide to trade for a SP' date=' I think we need to go after someone like Jurrjens, or someone young that we can tack on to the organization for a few years at cheaper money.[/quote']

 

You're thinking Floyd is going to get killed in the AL East then advocate for Jair Jurrjens?

 

You can't be serious.

[iortiz]

Now don't get carried away Forsyth. Well what do expect impatient SBF to say anyway? I will give you this.....Ross is a good pickup and he will do well playing a lot of his games at Fenway Park. AT@T has turned the Giants from a hitting team into a pitching team so Ross will be better served playing in our balliwick. Come to think of it, if he bears down your stats don't seem so far fetched after all. OK, get carried away. I like this move.

 

Now my question to anyone out there....IS THIS NOW OFFICIAL????????:dunno::dunno::dunno::dunno::dunno:

 

All the signs say, Yes

[iortiz]

Oswalt, Jackson intriguing options for Red Sox

Veterans have big league pedigrees, but also bring question marks

By*Evan Drellich*/*MLB.com*|*01/23/12 3:20 PM EST

 

BOSTON -- Even if Daniel Bard's transition to the rotation goes smoothly, another reliable starting pitcher could make a world of difference for the Red Sox as they enter Spring Training.

 

Speculation and logic explain Saturday's trade of starting shortstop Marco Scutaro to the Rockies as a way to free up some cash for starting pitching. Maybe that addition could be one of the two big free agents -- Roy Oswalt and Edwin Jackson -- still out there, or maybe it could be another low-key move, similar to what the Red Sox have done previously this offseason.

 

Clay Hensley, who can spot start, is available, as are Chris Young and Jon Garland and a slew of other pitchers with history of arm trouble. Rich Harden might be best served in the bullpen at this point in his career. Whomever the Sox have their eye on, even if it's via trade, the $6 million that they freed up by trading Scutaro should be enough to help facilitate an addition.

 

"If Spring Training were to start tomorrow, we'd feel good about where we are and [we'd be] ready to put the team together," general manager Ben Cherington said last week, before the Scutaro trade. "We think we have a lot of options to fill our pitching staff. There will be competition in camp, obviously, both in the rotation and in the bullpen. We think we have some options. We had some internal options; we've added to those."

 

The goal isn't only to find a fifth starter. "Pitching depth" is a baseball aphorism, but it was also a huge part of the problem for Boston in September. While it's hoped that Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Clay Buchholz and Bard will be available all season, there are always sore arms and disabled list stints here and there. That goes for every team.

 

Alfredo Aceves, Aaron Cook, Felix Doubront, Justin Germano, Clay Mortensen, Vicente Padilla and Carlos Silva could all be part of the in-house competition in Florida for the unclaimed starting job. If the Sox can bring in another pitcher who eliminates the question mark at No. 5, then Boston's front office can focus on constructing the bullpen.

 

"Well, we've done a lot of math on that, trying to add it up," Cherington said. "It'd be nice, I suppose, to have five perfectly healthy guys that you knew for sure would give you 200 innings every year. I'm not sure we've ever had that, and this year's no different. As I said, we feel really good about the front of the rotation. We feel like we have a collection of guys that can win jobs and help us and fill spots.

 

"We feel confident that both Bard and Aceves are capable of doing it. That's not to say they'll both definitely be in the rotation, but they're both capable and they'll be coming to Spring Training as starters. We've got other options, and we'll keep our eyes open as we get closer to Spring Training or even into Spring Training if there are ways to strengthen the rotation."

 

Jackson could bring the best guarantee of innings. He threw 199 2/3 in 2011 between the White Sox and Cardinals, then 17 2/3 frames more in the postseason. He cracked the 200-innings mark in the previous two seasons as well. Oswalt had been a virtual lock for 200 as well until last season, when a back injury kept him to 139 with Philadelphia.

 

If career accomplishment means anything, and it might on a veteran and contending Red Sox team, Oswalt probably brings the most to the table. He doesn't have a World Series ring like Jackson, who won with St. Louis last season, but he does have almost double the number of big league innings lifetime.

 

Both pitchers have big strikeout capabilities. Oswalt's velocity was down in 2011, but that could have been health-related. It follows, then, that the worry with Oswalt is his ability to stay off the DL, while Jackson's is inconsistency, particularly with his control. Jackson has walked 3.7 batters per nine innings lifetime, 1.6 more than Oswalt.

 

Oswalt has also never pitched in the American League.

 

Aside from financial considerations, the Sox would be stretching to bring many more arms into camp. There's a finite number of innings to be shared on the big league side, and it's counterproductive to spread them around too thinly. That makes a "sure thing" signing all the more attractive.

[Palodios]

Floyd's peripherals have been solid even though his ERA has fluctuated. He'd be a solid pickup' date=' but IIRC, he is set to make $7.5 mil next yr, which is right around where Oswalt is shooting for[/quote']

 

Last I heard, he's only 5.5 on the luxury tax. I think he is the best option on the market, but not worth a top 5 prospect.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

He's a minus defender who's career OPS as a corner OFer is .779 and is coming off 2 straight yrs at .730ish. He's an average OFer overall as evidenced by his WAR of right under 1. He's a body' date=' that's about it[/quote']

 

But if he was on the Yankees

 

......

[iortiz]

Scutaro will earn $6 million in 2012. However, in calculating the Red Sox payroll against the competitive balance tax (CBT) threshold of $178 million, he actually represented a $7.67 million salary for the coming season. That relates to the structure of Scutaro's deal.

 

[Station 13]

If the Sox exercised Lackey 6th year option for minimum, the results is counted as 6/82M on the contract. Giving the Sox $4.4M break, which with Scooter piggy bank account smash, should allow them to get Oswalt.

 

Want to game the system further? give Oswalt a $4M player option to reduce the AAV of his contract.

[RedSoxNC84]

If the Sox exercised Lackey 6th year option for minimum, the results is counted as 6/82M on the contract. Giving the Sox $4.4M break, which with Scooter piggy bank account smash, should allow them to get Oswalt.

 

Want to game the system further? give Oswalt a $4M player option to reduce the AAV of his contract.

 

There is a major downside to exercising the Lackey option though: More Lackey.

[Station 13]

There is a major downside to exercising the Lackey option though: More Lackey.

 

They could release him in his 6th year.

[RedSoxNC84]

True. Which would hopefully happen if they did option him.

[iortiz]

Well, I re-read the last pages of this thread and I found out jung's theory very interesting. It's not about what or how they are negotiating with Oswalt (of course nobody knows), but the signs that jung has seen in this matter (business environment + timing + business scenarios etc). On the other hand, I won't be surpriesed if even Jackson or Wandy arrive to Boston.

 

Either way, this is becoming very interesting. We'll see how it ends, hopefully with the SP.

[redsoxfan3]

At this point, I want to trade for Rodriguez or Floyd or sign Oswalt or Jackson. We need to get one of the four. We still have 3 million left over from Scutaro's contract to spend. Does anyone know what the asking price for Wandy is? Would it take some prospects or would it take a Major League player as well. Youkilis better stay with us trading Scutaro.

[User Name]

The Astros want minor league players and they are willing to eat most of Wandy's salary.

[User Name]

Well, I re-read the last pages of this thread and I found out jung's theory very interesting. It's not about what or how they are negotiating with Oswalt (of course nobody knows), but the signs that jung has seen in this matter (business environment + timing + business scenarios etc). On the other hand, I won't be surpriesed if even Jackson or Wandy arrive to Boston.

 

Either way, this is becoming very interesting. We'll see how it ends, hopefully with the SP.

 

I don't quite understand what you mean by this. Could you expand on it?

[Station 13]

The Astros want minor league players and they are willing to eat most of Wandy's salary.

 

So they willing to eat 20+M? I find it hard to believe.

[SoxSport]

There is a major downside to exercising the Lackey option though: More Lackey.

 

I don't know. If his elbow was his problem, he could come back to his Angels' level, which would make him pretty good at a good price. Plus they get a break on the cap. I would give him the benefit of the doubt, considering his elbow problem. The mistake was in allowing him to pitch with it. Red Sox medical judgements haven't been perfect lately, in case you haven't noticed.