2014 Roster Projections

[RedSoxNC84]

When we look at Roster Projections for 2014 I have this feeling that 2 players that will see some MLB action next year are Brentz and Vasquez. Only a feeling ... no fact UN no fact. Anyone else think this way.

 

It's really hard to say, considering these guys may not be ready for it. I honestly doubt that we will see them until maybe september. If the sox do not sign anyone or make trades at all, I think we'll be seeing JBJ and Lavarnway instead of Brentz and Vasquez.

[mvp 78]

Brentz is ready, Vasquez is not.

[marklmw]

Brentz is ready, Vasquez is not.

The scouting report on Vasquez is that he has superior defensive tools. He also gives a good average and OBP. I think it is a big reason why the Sox reportedly only offered 2 years to Salty.

[Bellhorn04]

I couldn't resist copying this post from our friend seabeachfred that he put up on the Globe forum. The last 3 words of it will explain why.

 

I'm getting very irritated thinking that we are not going to resign even one of our free agents and to me that spells trouble. There is no reason to low-ball Napoli and not sign him. It further irritates me that we may instead sign players to take their places who are inferior to the ones we lose. We've done this before in the past......Damon gone for Crisp, an inferior replacement; Bay for Cameron, a total inferior replacement and now this. If the front office thinks we are satisfied now they are right; we are. However, if they replace these fine ballplayers with ones that don't fit into the Red Sox mold or have trouble competing in the tension ridden Boston atmosphere there will be a lot of us who will be thoroughly pissed off.

 

Cherington must resign Napoli and give protection to Papi in the lineup; the idea of Nava on first is ridiculous. He is part of a platoon with Gomes in LF, a solid platoon. Wake up Ben.

[Dojji]

Brentz is ready, Vasquez is not.

 

I feel the exact opposite. With his elite defensive tools and patient approach, Vazquez is probably ready to play as a backup catcher right now, the question is can he give enough offense to start. Brentz on the other hand has to answer a lot of questions about consistency, more so than even other toolsy power hitters of recent years like Reddick or Middlebrooks.

[Dojji]

Damon gone for Crisp, an inferior replacement;

 

that inferior replacement turned in one of the best defensive years we've ever seen in a centerfielder in 2007 and the only reason he's not still here is that Ellsbury beat him out for his job.

 

Bay for Cameron, a total inferior replacement

 

Take a look at what Bay has done since he left the Red Sox. you would not want to have kept him. the call to bring in Cameron was wrong, but the call to keep bay would have also been wrong. The correct move at the time was to bring in Matt Holliday.

 

and now this.

 

"this" being an unsubstantiated rumor that the Sox are hedging their bets rather than going balls deep to bring back guys we like.

 

Cherington must resign Napoli and give protection to Papi in the lineup; the idea of Nava on first is ridiculous. He is part of a platoon with Gomes in LF, a solid platoon. Wake up Ben.[/b]

 

There's a man on this team named Mike Carp, who if we sign no one, probably slots in as our starting 1B and is talented enouggh that it wouldn't be the worst idea in the universe to give him that chance. Since we're losing the lefthanded Drew and replacing him with the righthanded Bogaerts, losing the righthanded Napoli and replacing him with the lefthanded Carp wouldn't do much do our balance.

 

The only downside to a move like that is that if it fails, we have no one waiting in the wings in the minors to serve as Plan B.

[redsoxrules]

I couldn't resist copying this post from our friend seabeachfred that he put up on the Globe forum. The last 3 words of it will explain why.

 

I'm getting very irritated thinking that we are not going to resign even one of our free agents and to me that spells trouble. There is no reason to low-ball Napoli and not sign him. It further irritates me that we may instead sign players to take their places who are inferior to the ones we lose. We've done this before in the past......Damon gone for Crisp, an inferior replacement; Bay for Cameron, a total inferior replacement and now this. If the front office thinks we are satisfied now they are right; we are. However, if they replace these fine ballplayers with ones that don't fit into the Red Sox mold or have trouble competing in the tension ridden Boston atmosphere there will be a lot of us who will be thoroughly pissed off.

 

Cherington must resign Napoli and give protection to Papi in the lineup; the idea of Nava on first is ridiculous. He is part of a platoon with Gomes in LF, a solid platoon. Wake up Ben.

 

The non signing of Bay was the best thing to do, he fell off a cliff right after that year.

I can see them being cautious with Naps. There's no sense to blow the bank on Ellsbury to repeat a Crawford fiasco.

I'm sure if they don't get Naps, he'll have plan B

[redsoxrules]

Cherrington Also says he would like to keep Drew and is trying to re-sign him

 

•Cherington denied a report from ESPN's Gordon Edes saying that Stephen Drew will be playing elsewhere next season. “That’s not something I’ve been told,” Cherington told reporters, including the Boston Globe's Peter Abraham. “We’re still talking with him and we’d like to have him back. We’ll see what happens.”

[User Name]

that inferior replacement turned in one of the best defensive years we've ever seen in a centerfielder in 2007 and the only reason he's not still here is that Ellsbury beat him out for his job.

 

 

 

Take a look at what Bay has done since he left the Red Sox. you would not want to have kept him. the call to bring in Cameron was wrong, but the call to keep bay would have also been wrong. The correct move at the time was to bring in Matt Holliday.

 

 

 

"this" being an unsubstantiated rumor that the Sox are hedging their bets rather than going balls deep to bring back guys we like.

 

 

 

There's a man on this team named Mike Carp, who if we sign no one, probably slots in as our starting 1B and is talented enouggh that it wouldn't be the worst idea in the universe to give him that chance. Since we're losing the lefthanded Drew and replacing him with the righthanded Bogaerts, losing the righthanded Napoli and replacing him with the lefthanded Carp wouldn't do much do our balance.

 

The only downside to a move like that is that if it fails, we have no one waiting in the wings in the minors to serve as Plan B.

 

This is spot on (can't believe i'm saying this). And the Carp issue would be solved simply by getting a RHH who can play 1B/OF and mashes lefties.

[sk7326]

If Napoli leaves - the Red Sox have plenty of options as others have noted, starting with gettiing a guy to platoon with Carp.

 

My own wish would be to sign Corey Hart for something with a lot of incentive built in. We know that at his best he is a better player than Mike Carp, but he clearly has a lot to prove to the market. And if he is not healthy you can always do something else, including just letting Lavarnway take the 1B starts against lefties. (since I doubt the Red Sox see him as a starting catcher, though I think his bat has shown the ability to play if he is focused on it)

[Dojji]

This is spot on (can't believe i'm saying this). And the Carp issue would be solved simply by getting a RHH who can play 1B/OF and mashes lefties.

 

Has anyone ever tried Gomes at first base?

 

For that matter, Garrin Cecchini might well force his way onto the roster sooner rather than later. He's gone through the minors looking like Wade Boggs, there's got to be a place for that on the roster. I wouldn't be too surprised if the team decided to go with a stopgap at 1B (Hart might work really well for this) and sees what they can get between Cecchini, Carp, Middlebrooks, Bogaerts, the stopgap, and whoever they bring in as a middle infield backup at the infield positions.

Edited November 15, 2013 by Dojji

[marklmw]

This is spot on (can't believe i'm saying this). And the Carp issue would be solved simply by getting a RHH who can play 1B/OF and mashes lefties.

 

There are always moving parts. I think a platoon system at 1B would work and for less money. I think the platoon system in left will work for 2014 as well. No matter what happens with 1B the Sox will be alright. It seems to me that ownership is showing great restraint which is a good thing. The Sox will still be playoff contenders in 2014 without Napoli or Beltran or Drew or Ellsbury or Salty. That is all a club can ask for ... to be playoff contenders. We have seen first hand what happens to teams that overreach and fall short.

[marklmw]

If Napoli leaves - the Red Sox have plenty of options as others have noted, starting with gettiing a guy to platoon with Carp.

 

My own wish would be to sign Corey Hart for something with a lot of incentive built in. We know that at his best he is a better player than Mike Carp, but he clearly has a lot to prove to the market. And if he is not healthy you can always do something else, including just letting Lavarnway take the 1B starts against lefties. (since I doubt the Red Sox see him as a starting catcher, though I think his bat has shown the ability to play if he is focused on it)

 

I had not considered Lavarnway sharing 1B with Carp. That could work out extremely well. We can have 2 platoon situations at LF and 1B at a very attractive cost. Both can also pitch hit for one another late in a game when the situation calls for it.

[marklmw]

Has anyone ever tried Gomes at first base?

 

For that matter, Garrin Cecchini might well force his way onto the roster sooner rather than later. He's gone through the minors looking like Wade Boggs, there's got to be a place for that on the roster. I wouldn't be too surprised if the team decided to go with a stopgap at 1B (Hart might work really well for this) and sees what they can get between Cecchini, Carp, Middlebrooks, Bogaerts, the stopgap, and whoever they bring in as a middle infield backup at the infield positions.

 

Depending how well WMB and Cecchini do I can see Cecchini as a possible replacement for WMB if he does not perform.

[jung]

All this money floating around baseball did not convince the Sox that they should resist the temptation to raise ticket prices. They have announced an average 4.5% increase in ticket prices for the 2014 season.

[iortiz]

I couldn't resist copying this post from our friend seabeachfred that he put up on the Globe forum. The last 3 words of it will explain why.

 

I'm getting very irritated thinking that we are not going to resign even one of our free agents and to me that spells trouble. There is no reason to low-ball Napoli and not sign him. It further irritates me that we may instead sign players to take their places who are inferior to the ones we lose. We've done this before in the past......Damon gone for Crisp, an inferior replacement; Bay for Cameron, a total inferior replacement and now this. If the front office thinks we are satisfied now they are right; we are. However, if they replace these fine ballplayers with ones that don't fit into the Red Sox mold or have trouble competing in the tension ridden Boston atmosphere there will be a lot of us who will be thoroughly pissed off.

 

Cherington must resign Napoli and give protection to Papi in the lineup; the idea of Nava on first is ridiculous. He is part of a platoon with Gomes in LF, a solid platoon. Wake up Ben.

 

Totally agree. You just can't go on cheap all the way.

 

Great post, Fred.

[User Name]

Can't say i'm surprised. Please stop.

[Palodios]

Minus the "wake-up Ben" part (Don't you dare get me started fred ) I agree completely. Is it really the end of the world to offer a strong bat, playoff hero, and top-tier defenseman two years with an option based on games played? His hips are bad, and he may break down, but his bat will be good enough at DH if Papi gets hurt/ retires.

 

He played a career high in games last year, and came out healthier than he started the season. I also want to reiterate the fact that he has missed 0 games in 2012 and 0 games in 2013 for the hip condition.

[User Name]

It's November 15th. The free agency period has barely begun.

[Bellhorn04]

It'll be a disappointment to me as well if they don't re-sign Napoli.

[User Name]

But would they be going "on the cheap" if they let Napoli go, and re-signed Ellsbury and Drew instead? Because that's my problem with the whole issue. The Red Sox keep fielding near--or-over luxury tax teams, yet some people have the balls to say they're going "on the cheap".

 

Please stop saying stupid things.

[marklmw]

Totally agree. You just can't go on cheap all the way.

 

Great post, Fred.

 

Cheap does not mean not good. In 2007 Ellsbury was cheap. In 2012 and 2013 Mike Trout was cheap. In 2013 Koji and Salty were cheap. In 2014 JBJ, Bogaerts, Middlebrooks, Carp, Nava, Lavarnway, Ross, will all be cheap. Does not mean that they all cannot be good.

[iortiz]

It'll be a disappointment to me as well if they don't re-sign Napoli.

 

Yup. I would go for McCann as well and call it offseason. If they can resign Drew, Salty or Ells fine, if not I don't give a s***.

[iortiz]

Cheap does not mean not good. In 2007 Ellsbury was cheap. In 2012 and 2013 Mike Trout was cheap. In 2013 Koji and Salty were cheap. In 2014 JBJ, Bogaerts, Middlebrooks, Carp, Nava, Lavarnway, Ross, will all be cheap. Does not mean that they all cannot be good.

 

That is not the context of my post.

[marklmw]

Yup. I would go for McCann as well and call it offseason. If they can resign Drew, Salty or Ells fine, if not I don't give a s***.

 

I hope that they are able to come to reasonable terms will all 4 of our free agents. This is not very likely and probably does not make a lot of sense with Bogaerts and JBJ ready or near ready to go. Even if they get a discount on Ellsbury ... lets say 18M per and Drew at 10M per does it really make sense? The number of years matter as well. Ells will want 6+ and Drew 4.

Edited November 15, 2013 by marklmw

[iortiz]

I hope that they are able to come to reasonable terms will all 4 of our free agents. This is not very likely and probably does not make a lot of sense with Bogaerts and JBJ ready or near ready to go.

 

Even if they overpay a bit Napoli and McCann I'll be fine. Regarding the CF, 3B and SS, we'll be fine even if we go all the way with our former players/cheap (WM, JBJ, XB).

[marklmw]

Even if they overpay a bit Napoli and McCann I'll be fine. Regarding the CF, 3B and SS, we'll be fine even if we go all the way with our former players/cheap (WM, JBJ, XB).

 

I agree ... I Like Naps ... McCann will want too many years and we have Vasquez coming up. We can dump some payrool if we can deal Dempster. 2014 should be another exciting season.

[rjortiz]

But would they be going "on the cheap" if they let Napoli go, and re-signed Ellsbury and Drew instead? Because that's my problem with the whole issue. The Red Sox keep fielding near--or-over luxury tax teams, yet some people have the balls to say they're going "on the cheap".

 

Please stop saying stupid things.

 

Stop being an *******. Typical internet bully.

[mvp 78]

It's November 15th. The free agency period has barely begun.

 

That's what you said last year when Toronto was stealing our shorts! Where did that get the Sox, huh??? It's not like they won anything...

[iortiz]

I agree ... I Like Naps ... McCann will want too many years and we have Vasquez coming up. We can dump some payrool if we can deal Dempster. 2014 should be another exciting season.

 

How many Y and $ would you pay to McCann? How many years is Vasquez away to be a reality?, haven't followed the kid.