Red Sox sign Punto

[BSN07]

The Red Sox have agreed to sign Nick Punto, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (Twitter links). Punto will earn approximately $3.5MM for two years, Heyman reports.

 

Good utility guy. I like it.

[SoxFanForsyth]

Good utility guy. I like it.

 

I'd rather have kept Lowrie, and put Weiland in the bullpen.

[Meh]

My thread is just better. I was delayed in making it cause I got a phone call.

 

http://www.talksox.com/forum/talk-sox-forum/16061-little-nicky-punt-0h-thread.html

[redsoxrules]

Good utility guy. I like it.

 

Career 652 OPS

poor OBP and has no power .

 

poor utility guy

[Spitball]

He is a pretty good defender, but I would rather they had looked into someone with more offense like a Ryan Theriot.

[MNSoxChief102]

Career 652 OPS

poor OBP and has no power .

 

poor utility guy

 

Meh.. Punto always reminded me of Millar a little bit. Scrappy little SOB that doesn't blow you away in anything, but always seems to be in the right place at the right time defensively, and comes up clutch late in games when you need a key hit.

 

In other words, he's exactly the kind of player we didn't have when we needed one in a bad way last year.

[redsoxrules]

Clutch and Nick punto dont belong in the same sentence

[MNSoxChief102]

Clutch and Nick punto dont belong in the same sentence

 

Whatever...

 

Jesus you'd think the Sox haven't won a Series in 86 years the way some people around here bitch and moan about every f***ing move. Can't have an all-star at every position and guys like Punto are the ones that hold everything together down the stretch. s*** he played just fine for the Cards last year and I'd say their season ended pretty well.

[redsoxrules]

you're right , my mistake. He's the reason the cards won the WS.

 

in the entire playoffs, he score 0 runs, 0 RBI's and had an an OPS of about 500

[MNSoxChief102]

you're right , my mistake. He's the reason the cards won the WS.

 

in the entire playoffs, he score 0 runs, 0 RBI's and had an an OPS of about 500

 

Never said he was THE reason the Cards won.

 

Stats aren't everything. He plays well when it matters. Unlike our uber-talented team last year. That's all I can ask for.

[iortiz]

I'm not against the guy; my only concern is the money, 3.55 M? I don't know.

 

Anyway, As I said earlier, I don't see this team staying under the LT threshold after these kind of moves.

 

We'll see.

[a700hitter]

I stepped away for a while. While I was gone, I started to like think more positively about Melancon. I never like Weiland, and I never understood why they thought they could take a guy that was a closer in college and make him into a ML starter. I projected him as a bullpen guy, but it would have taken a couple of years to get Weiland where Melancon is. I'll miss Lowrie's bat as a utility guy. I always thought he would be a good hitter from the first time I saw him in ST 2006. However, the guy can't stay healthy and I have no reason to think it will change. I get back to my desk after feeling better about the trade, but then I see this stupid Punto acquisition. This guy stinks. He's versatile. He sucks at 4 positions, just like Willie Harris. I hated that experiment with versatility too. Please Ben!! WTF!!

[redsoxrules]

Never said he was THE reason the Cards won.

 

Stats aren't everything. He plays well when it matters. Unlike our uber-talented team last year. That's all I can ask for.

 

every game matters .

If we had a team with 9 Nick punto , the team would go 0-162

[Station 13]

Steve at Fangraphs has a write up on this. He's replacing Lowrie since Lowrie cannot play defense, we frown a lot on Lowrie defense here. Ok pick up for a bench guy.

 

Lowrie was making around that too with arbitration.

[seabeachfred]

Please 700, don't compare him to Willie Harris or I'll break out in hives. Punto is a scrapper but he is of limited ability. Perhaps he's more than the sum of his parts; there are players like that you know. Seems our problem was just the opposite; we had guys who were less than the sum of their parts and it all came crashing down in September. As for Melancon I know he did well for Houston with 20 saves in 25 chances but that was Houston. He didn't seem to do all that well when exposed to the pressure of Ne York so I'll wait and see what he does under the equally pressurized atmospher in Boston. I hope we got something good here. We'll see.

[Soxfan1]

If Punto is coming in to wrap up and make clutch defensive plays at the end of the game (a la Mientkiewicz or Pokey), than I won't mind this move.

[BigPapiEnFuego]

If we had a team with 9 Nick punto , the team would go 0-162

 

...But we don't

 

This is a late inning defensive replacement. Good. Lowrie stunk and I'm glad he's gone.

 

At least Punto can field his position and doesn't end up in Intensive Care every time he rips a fart

[redsoxrules]

...But we don't

 

This is a late inning defensive replacement. Good. Lowrie stunk and I'm glad he's gone.

 

At least Punto can field his position and doesn't end up in Intensive Care every time he rips a fart

 

 

I'm glad Lowrie's gone too but would of preferred someone else

[SoxSport]

Punto is good defensively, and gives them some infield depth. They have Aviles to backup Youks at 3B.

[Spitball]

 

I'm glad Lowrie's gone too but would of preferred someone else

 

Unfortunately, the Sox traded Lowrie when his value was low. He really was never in the Sox long range plans so he should have been traded last winter.

[Northern Star]

Career 652 OPS

poor OBP and has no power .

 

poor utility guy

 

This. Punto blows. I absolutely hate this signing.

[Jasonbay44]

Yesssss!! Nick Punto! leggo! I knew the Red Sox had big plans for this off-season and I'm glad they finally pulled off a big move! Welcome to Boston Nick Punto!

[mvp 78]

Lowrie sucked. Weiland sucked.

 

Punto should be an adequate and healthy backup.

 

The Sox aren't going to sell tickets with these moves, but definitely improves the team.

[jung]

As for staying under or going over the cap, if they keep up this cheap skate stuff and still go over the cap they will not go over by much which is about the dumbest thing they could do. Going over by just a little bit dooms them to three straight years over the cap and would keep them from making any major moves in 2013 when they rate would be 50%. The only way to not pay out big money if you keep going over is to go over by very little. They don't have enough money coming off the books next year to matter in that regard.

 

I am worried that we might see several years in a row of this sort of personnel activity. Feels weird not seeing the Sox vie for more significant talent.

 

I still think any major move they make will be via trade...giving salary to take salary.

[mvp 78]

I don't see why people are worried about the Sox picking up a bench player. The team won't be filled with 25 AllStars.

[Cask N Flagon 76]

Yesssss!! Nick Punto! leggo! I knew the Red Sox had big plans for this off-season and I'm glad they finally pulled off a big move! Welcome to Boston Nick Punto!

 

 

Really? Wow i wouldn't say welcome i would say ok don't let the door hit you on the

way out ole nicky boy.

[a700hitter]

I don't think that I am going out on a limb here. If Nick Punto had been on the 2011 Red Sox, there would have been no September collapse.

 

:lol::lol:

[Dojji]

you're right , my mistake. He's the reason the cards won the WS.

 

in the entire playoffs, he score 0 runs, 0 RBI's and had an an OPS of about 500

 

You can stop being a whiny little bitch at any time.

 

No seriously, you have my permission.

 

Since when did anyone bring in utility infielders for the sake of their hitting?

[Dojji]

Steve at Fangraphs has a write up on this. He's replacing Lowrie since Lowrie cannot play defense, we frown a lot on Lowrie defense here. Ok pick up for a bench guy.

 

Lowrie was making around that too with arbitration.

 

Lowrie is a second baseman trying to play a role that requires a SS/3B. He always did his best work at second base. If we hadn't had Pedroia, or if Pedroia could play SS or 3B, Lowrie would have been healthier and more effective here.

 

I held out hope that Lowrie could at least be Michael Young bad at shortstop, but I guess it isn't to be. He can play up to that level for awhile but his body can't sustain it and it gets him hurt. The best thing for Lowrie is to get him to a team that allows him to play second base. I like Melancon, IIRC he's succeeded in the AL East too so that's a plus. Good trade IMHO..

 

In a word, Punto is Alex Cora, with the ability to switch hit. That isn't a terrible thing to have on your bench. Punto has some nice bench speed as well, not worldbreaking, but useful. I can see why the Sox went after him, especially considering his OBP over the last few seasons is very steady and respectable for an MI.

 

In short, not a superstar, but we aren't paying superstar dollars, and what he does do he does pretty well. The big thing is the combination of a decent OBP, speed, and good defense down the middle. Punto is kind of a prototypical bench MI who can get his job done, no one needs to scoff at the signing. Just don't bat him 4th.

[jacksonianmarch]

He didnt succeed in the AL East. He was awful in his first taste of the bigs, but he was a rookie and the Yanks gave up on him too soon. Lowrie has the range of a 3b and the arm of a 2b. He was always a tweener that didnt fit with the sox as long as 2b was occupied. And Weiland was some pitching depth, but not much.