Red Sox to send Scutaro to the Rockies

[Muggah]

Cherington is slowly beginning to show even his biggest supporters that he may be a few smokes short of a pack. Giving Ortiz arbitration was a ridiculous move except for the Ben Cherry worshippers on the board. But what's done is done; we can only hope that the arbiter will decide the Red Sox offer was the fairest an best.

 

What's like pouring salt on an open wound is how ownership and the FO talk about brining Big Diva back as their biggest and most important "FA signing" of the winter. Where the hell do they think he was going to go? Do they really think there was somebody else stupid enough to pay him even close to what he's going to get from the Sox via arbitration? If there was we certainly never heard about it, and I've got some news for you---neither did Big Diva.

[Elktonnick]

What's like pouring salt on an open wound is how ownership and the FO talk about brining Big Diva back as their biggest and most important "FA signing" of the winter. Where the hell do they think he was going to go? Do they really think there was somebody else stupid enough to pay him even close to what he's going to get from the Sox via arbitration? If there was we certainly never heard about it' date=' and I've got some news for you---neither did Big Diva.[/quote']

 

I will be very curious to see Ortiz's reaction if he doesn't win his arbitration hearing. Will he pout or will he shrug it off and play!

[iortiz]

Half our opening day roster might be bench players. I'm really feeling like we are playing for 3rd in the division right now which may as well be not playing at all as far as I'm concerned...

 

Unfourtunatly this is our reality right now. Hopefully we will sign Ross and Oswalt and our reality could change dramatically, regardless Crawford and Kalish will be available early in the season.

 

BTW where in the hell have you been TED101, you should post more often my friend. I hope everything is going alright with you and your family.

[Muggah]

I will be very curious to see Ortiz's reaction if he doesn't win his arbitration hearing. Will he pout or will he shrug it off and play!

 

 

Better still I'd love to have been a fly on the wall when the Sox appealed to Diva's sense of 'team' and asked if he'd consider taking less so they could sign better talent.

[Elktonnick]

Better still I'd love to have been a fly on the wall when the Sox appealed to Diva's sense of 'team' and asked if he'd consider taking less so they could sign better talent.

 

LOL! YGTBSM!

[Palodios]

Cherington is slowly beginning to show even his biggest supporters that he may be a few smokes short of a pack. Giving Ortiz arbitration was a ridiculous move except for the Ben Cherry worshippers on the board. But what's done is done; we can only hope that the arbiter will decide the Red Sox offer was the fairest an best.

 

I'm officially denouncing the Ortiz move. If it cost Scutaro, I hate hate hate the move. But I just don't know how you could blame BC for much else. He had 25-30 million to fill DH, SS, 2 SP spots, closer, and maybe setup. You can't fill six significant positions at 4 million a piece, you just can't, but I honestly thinking he's doing the best job he can without even touching the farm system. It impresses me a lot that he's kept the team's prospects and filled some key holes. I think we're close, he just needs to make some finishing touches.

[redsoxbeatz]

As soon as I start to get frustrated w/the Sox and what that opening day lineup might look like and the first weeks pitching rotations look like... I remind myself: this season is 162 games long. Plenty of time for plenty to happen.

 

I'm hoping for C.Ross, I like that guy.

[User Name]

The way i see it ( i could be wrong) it would be much more difficult to replace Ortiz' .950 OPS bat, than Scutaro's fielding and offense.

 

If Ortiz loses in arb, then they made the right move. If he wins, well then they f***ed themselves.

[SoxFanForsyth]

The way i see it ( i could be wrong) it would be much more difficult to replace Ortiz' .950 OPS bat, than Scutaro's fielding and offense.

 

If Ortiz loses in arb, then they made the right move. If he wins, well then they f***ed themselves.

 

And he won't win arbitration, that's a near certainty. $16mm is entirely too much for a DH.

 

In terms of Cody Ross, I think it's a fantastic move. A career .912 OPS vs LHP? That's exactly what we need. Makes this team much better vs LHP. And he'll come fairly cheap. Cheap enough that we can afford another SP.

[seabeachfred]

I'm officially denouncing the Ortiz move. If it cost Scutaro' date=' I hate hate hate the move. But I just don't know how you could blame BC for much else. He had 25-30 million to fill DH, SS, 2 SP spots, closer, and maybe setup. You can't fill six significant positions at 4 million a piece, you just can't, but I honestly thinking he's doing the best job he can without even touching the farm system. It impresses me a lot that he's kept the team's prospects and filled some key holes. I think we're close, he just needs to make some finishing touches.[/quote']

 

Palodios, thanks for your update in reaction to my post. You said we had $30 million to spend. OK, I'll go along with that, no problem. If, however, you take away the $14 million we are going to have to pay Ortiz ( or is it $12 or $16--I split the difference), that would have netted a starting pitcher, a RH hitting outfielder, a set-up man and still have a few million left over. At least that is my opinion. Ortiz' arbitration crippled us as you now agree with.

 

Now we may still recover from that if we can sign Oswalt or trade for Floyd; I hear we could get Ross, though I'll believe it when I see it being somewhat cynical of what I've seen so far. We have our closer now via trade and the starter we hope to get could move one of our potential starters into a bullpen role where we may already have our set-up man in Melacon. Maybe Aceves will be our No. 5 starter and Bard can then get back into a pen that might look pretty good after all. It all depends what Cherington does in the next week or two or three. I still have some doubts about him, though.

[User Name]

Ross has been signed by the Red Sox.

[RedSoxNC84]

I will be very curious to see Ortiz's reaction if he doesn't win his arbitration hearing. Will he pout or will he shrug it off and play!

 

My guess: pout.

[mvp 78]

The Ortiz contract is a red herring. The problem is Lackey and CC's contracts. Unlike other sports, putting Lackey on IR and saving a cap hit isn't possible in MLB.

[Palodios]

Palodios' date=' thanks for your update in reaction to my post. You said we had $30 million to spend. OK, I'll go along with that, no problem. If, however, you take away the $14 million we are going to have to pay Ortiz ( or is it $12 or $16--I split the difference), that would have netted a starting pitcher, a RH hitting outfielder, a set-up man and still have a few million left over. At least that is my opinion. Ortiz' arbitration crippled us as you now agree with.[/quote']

 

14 million would not have netted that much. Setup goes for 4-6 million. The starting pitching we've targeted is 8-10. And to replace Ortiz's value, it would have taken one of the expensive OF bats, who all went for 9-14 million a year.

[redsoxfan3]

Offering Ortiz arbitration was BC's worst move so far as a GM. It cannot be changed now. We still have upgraded in RF, we have found some decent trades to make some replacements in our pen. We did downgrade a little bit at SS, but I feel like with Aviles and Punto that we will be fine at SS. Overall, I think this team is right on track. If we sign Oswalt, I think that this makes for a decent offseason, especially with what BC was given to work with.

 

C- Salty/Shoppach/Lavarnway

1B- Gonzalez

2B- Pedroia

SS- Aviles/Punto/Iglesias

3B- Youkilis/Aviles

LF- Crawford/Ross/McDonald

CF- Ellsbury/McDonald

RF- Sweeney/Ross/Kalish/McDonald

DH- Ortiz/Lavarnway

 

SP

Lester

Beckett

Buchholz

Oswalt?/Rodriguez?/Jackson?/Floyd?

Bard/Aceves/Silva/Germano/Cook/Carlson/Mortenson/Padilla/Miller/etc.

 

Bullpen

Bailey (CL)

Melancon/Bard (SU)

Aceves/Melancon (7th)

Morales

Jenks

Albers

Padilla?

Miller?

Mortenson?

 

If we do one of the four to the 4th spot in the rotation, then I will be comfortable with this team. Bard would be a decent 5th starter, it would only be an added bonus if we could keep Bard and Aceves in the pen if one of our low risk starting pitcher signings can step up and fill the 5th spot in the rotation. I think we have options. When it is all said and done, this team will be fine.

[iortiz]

Offering Ortiz arbitration was BC's worst move so far as a GM. It cannot be changed now. We still have upgraded in RF, we have found some decent trades to make some replacements in our pen. We did downgrade a little bit at SS, but I feel like with Aviles and Punto that we will be fine at SS. Overall, I think this team is right on track. If we sign Oswalt, I think that this makes for a decent offseason, especially with what BC was given to work with.

 

C- Salty/Shoppach/Lavarnway

1B- Gonzalez

2B- Pedroia

SS- Aviles/Punto/Iglesias

3B- Youkilis/Aviles

LF- Crawford/Ross/McDonald

CF- Ellsbury/McDonald

RF- Sweeney/Ross/Kalish/McDonald

DH- Ortiz/Lavarnway

 

SP

Lester

Beckett

Buchholz

Oswalt?/Rodriguez?/Jackson?/Floyd?

Bard/Aceves/Silva/Germano/Cook/Carlson/Mortenson/Padilla/Miller/etc.

 

Bullpen

Bailey (CL)

Melancon/Bard (SU)

Aceves/Melancon (7th)

Morales

Jenks

Albers

Padilla?

Miller?

Mortenson?

 

If we do one of the four to the 4th spot in the rotation, then I will be comfortable with this team. Bard would be a decent 5th starter, it would only be an added bonus if we could keep Bard and Aceves in the pen if one of our low risk starting pitcher signings can step up and fill the 5th spot in the rotation. I think we have options. When it is all said and done, this team will be fine.

I've been waiting for this move... This week might be.

[Spudboy]

Or they were waiting for Oswalt's price to drop to this range all along, and figured that Scutaro would be an easier way to shed payroll than Youkilis, their only RH power threat.

 

It makes sense.

 

Exactly.

[Spudboy]

I see I have a fan' date=' interesting[/quote']

 

And who would that be other than me?

 

I've almost always supported you here. Now go back to washing bedpans. (j/k).

[BSN07]

And who would that be other than me?

 

I've almost always supported you here. Now go back to washing bedpans. (j/k).

 

Did you miss the whole Rivernator2004 resurrection of sorts recently? The guy made some decent posts then he flamed out in an epic blaze of glory.

[RedSoxNC84]

Did you miss the whole Rivernator2004 resurrection of sorts recently? The guy made some decent posts then he flamed out in an epic blaze of glory.

 

He did have some good posts, then kept posting those weird pictures of the asian girl missing half her face.

[SoxSport]

Exactly.

 

Scutaro was basically a one year rental. At his age, he was not coming back. They figured they had a one year replacement for him on the roster--with Punto and Aviles around.

[RedSoxNC84]

That doesn't explain why they are "looking for an everyday SS" now though

[SoxSport]

That doesn't explain why they are "looking for an everyday SS" now though

 

Yeah--I was going to mention that in my post. Hanley R. maybe?

 

But wait, maybe Miggy gets traded to Miami for Hanley...

[RedSoxNC84]

No telling what moves are coming. We may even pick up Ryan Theriot or someone like that. He said he'd rather stay in the NL, unless he gets a starting job.

[Muggah]

Offering Ortiz arbitration was BC's worst move so far as a GM. It cannot be changed now. We still have upgraded in RF, we have found some decent trades to make some replacements in our pen. We did downgrade a little bit at SS, but I feel like with Aviles and Punto that we will be fine at SS. Overall, I think this team is right on track. If we sign Oswalt, I think that this makes for a decent offseason, especially with what BC was given to work with.

 

C- Salty/Shoppach/Lavarnway

1B- Gonzalez

2B- Pedroia

SS- Aviles/Punto/Iglesias

3B- Youkilis/Aviles

LF- Crawford/Ross/McDonald

CF- Ellsbury/McDonald

RF- Sweeney/Ross/Kalish/McDonald

DH- Ortiz/Lavarnway

 

SP

Lester

Beckett

Buchholz

Oswalt?/Rodriguez?/Jackson?/Floyd?

Bard/Aceves/Silva/Germano/Cook/Carlson/Mortenson/Padilla/Miller/etc.

 

Bullpen

Bailey (CL)

Melancon/Bard (SU)

Aceves/Melancon (7th)

Morales

Jenks

Albers

Padilla?

Miller?

Mortenson?

 

If we do one of the four to the 4th spot in the rotation, then I will be comfortable with this team. Bard would be a decent 5th starter, it would only be an added bonus if we could keep Bard and Aceves in the pen if one of our low risk starting pitcher signings can step up and fill the 5th spot in the rotation. I think we have options. When it is all said and done, this team will be fine.

 

Let's be careful. I'm seeing too many people just assuming "Bard would be a decent 5th starter." How do we know this? He hasn't even thrown a pitch as starter yet. And there are plenty of other concerns too that are still hanging out there. I'm not ready to anoint this team as anything but a team that should once again finish 3rd in the division. People are jumping the gun, IMO.

[RedSoxNC84]

Let's be careful. I'm seeing too many people just assuming "Bard would be a decent 5th starter." How do we know this? He hasn't even thrown a pitch as starter yet. And there are plenty of other concerns too that are still hanging out there. I'm not ready to anoint this team as anything but a team that should once again finish 3rd in the division. People are jumping the gun' date=' IMO.[/quote']

 

He is a dominant reliever, who has a terrible record as a starter in the minors. I'm inclined to agree with you, but I don't necessarily think everyone is jumping the gun, they are just trying to be optimistic about Bard possibly starting. He may be a great starter, he may have to go back to the pen. It remains to be seen. Either way at least we'll see him start in spring training, and hope for the best.

[User Name]

The glass can be half-full.

[RedSoxNC84]

The glass can be half-full.

 

Basically the point I'm trying to make. No one is really saying with 100% certainty that Bard is going to be an effective starter. Given his track record as a starter he may not. The fact remains that he is a different pitcher now, and he could really surprise everyone.

[User Name]

Basically the point I'm trying to make. No one is really saying with 100% certainty that Bard is going to be an effective starter. Given his track record as a starter he may not. The fact remains that he is a different pitcher now' date=' and he could really surprise everyone.[/quote']

 

That wasn't directed at you, it was directed at Muggah.

 

Who's to say he won't suck, but who's to say he won't be excellent? (Bard)

 

The answer, as usual, probably lies somewhere in the middle.

[RedSoxNC84]

That wasn't directed at you, it was directed at Muggah.

 

Who's to say he won't suck, but who's to say he won't be excellent? (Bard)

 

The answer, as usual, probably lies somewhere in the middle.

 

I know it wasn't directed towards me, I was just throwing my two cents in really.