2014 Roster Projections

[Palodios]

Juan Pierre is still available. I wonder if he would accept a minor league assignment as well. Sometimes it is good to have a spare guy like him on the roster. Quintin Berry certainly had his value.

[reYoukilis]

Juan Pierre is still available. I wonder if he would accept a minor league assignment as well. Sometimes it is good to have a spare guy like him on the roster. Quintin Berry certainly had his value.

If the price is right. He could be insurance in case the Sizemore thing doesnt pan out. I wonder though if he's fast enough still to be for just a pinch runner.

[SoxSport]

The Red Sox could well be a better team this year than last, if their core players continue to contribute, and their pitching holds up.

Last year, they lost 2 closers in the 1st half, and Buchholz disappeared after the first two months. Now they look pretty strong in SP, and they have maybe the best closer in baseball in Uehara--plus the guy they got from the Cardinals, Mujica, who was also a top closer.

 

Down the stretch, they were the best team in baseball--even with Ellsbury out of the lineup for 2-3 weeks. They would have won 100 games if Farrell hadn't put on the brakes the last week or so to get ready for the playoffs.

 

Pedey played the entire year with a bad thumb, and should show more power this year. They have a better defensive catcher in AJP, and a full year of Ross. You figure their pitching gets improved there just from the catching.

 

Bogaerts gives every indication of being an upgrade at SS--Drew sucked the first half last year--and could well be an all-star. MBrooks could bounce back. Bradley hit as well as X in AAA, so he could blossom. All these guys have upside. That is a key.

 

Now we know the media is having wet dreams about the Yankees as usual--they always follow the money. But the Yankees have holes, Cano-size holes, and the Red Sox could well be better than last year, even without Ellsbury, who was not an indispensable player. My guess is they win 90+ games, and will make the playoffs.

[seabeachfred]

The Red Sox could well be a better team this year than last, if their core players continue to contribute, and their pitching holds up.

Last year, they lost 2 closers in the 1st half, and Buchholz disappeared after the first two months. Now they look pretty strong in SP, and they have maybe the best closer in baseball in Uehara--plus the guy they got from the Cardinals, Mujica, who was also a top closer.

 

Down the stretch, they were the best team in baseball--even with Ellsbury out of the lineup for 2-3 weeks. They would have won 100 games if Farrell hadn't put on the brakes the last week or so to get ready for the playoffs.

 

Pedey played the entire year with a bad thumb, and should show more power this year. They have a better defensive catcher in AJP, and a full year of Ross. You figure their pitching gets improved there just from the catching.

 

Bogaerts gives every indication of being an upgrade at SS--Drew sucked the first half last year--and could well be an all-star. MBrooks could bounce back. Bradley hit as well as X in AAA, so he could blossom. All these guys have upside. That is a key.

 

Now we know the media is having wet dreams about the Yankees as usual--they always follow the money. But the Yankees have holes, Cano-size holes, and the Red Sox could well be better than last year, even without Ellsbury, who was not an indispensable player. My guess is they win 90+ games, and will make the playoffs.

 

You're taking the "glass is half full and not half empty" and go even farther and say the glass is three-fourths full. Nothing wrong with that, and as I said to Palodios, if the Red Sox could rally themselves and have another World Series victory celebration this year the Yankees would be ready to turn on the gas and commit hari kari. The outline you gave is very possible and with good health and good seasons from most of our players it can be done. I really would love to see the Yankees reacting if we could win two in a row. It would be suicide watch in the Bronx.

[a700hitter]

Remy to return to NESN this season

Posted by Peter Abraham, Globe Staff January 27, 2014 04:08 PM

 

Jerry Remy will return to the NESN broadcast booth this season. The announcement came today.

Good news.

[seabeachfred]

Good news.

 

I'll second that with extreme favorable bias Ted. I know full well that Vin Scully is the headmaster of all baseball announcers so this isn't a knock on him because he works solo, but for my money Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy are as good a duo on the TV broadcasts as any I've heard over the years. They interact very well and they both know the game. Great to have Jerry back.

[msubulldogs21]

Remy coming back is great news. I wasn't sure he was going to return (and who could blame him if he didn't) but I sure am happy to hear that.

[jacksonianmarch]

Soxsport, you're funny. You had the perfect season. Everything broke right. Yes, you lost two closers, and out of the blue a 39 yr old injury prone reliever posted an incredibly durable season that likely is one of the top 3 seasons by a reliever in history. You had role players have unsustainable all star seasons. You had aging veterans return to their prime in both production and durability. Even when you had a serious injury (Pedroia), he shrugged it off like superman and posted akin to career norms. And, you've lost Salty, Ellsbury, and likely Drew. It ain't happening Edited January 28, 2014 by jacksonianmarch

[User Name]

Jacko, your post is as dumb as SoxSport's, albeit on the other end of the spectrum.

[jacksonianmarch]

Of course it is UN. Why don't you tell me why.

[User Name]

I'll tell you why: What role players had unsustainable all-star seasons? That is retarded. If you say Nava, you know that's a load of s*** What aging veterans "returned to their prime"? If you're talking about Ortiz, the production hadn't tailed off at all and he missed a chunk of time at the beginning of the season. Where's the unheralded durability? Oh, and what about half the f***ing roster being injured at one time or the other? The "lucky" season had a lot more to do with depth than with luck. The loss of Ellsbury will hurt, but Salty was still terrible defensively and Drew ain't gone yet. Even if he is, well, there's a pretty good chance XB outproduces him next year anyway.

 

I know it really pisses you off, but it's clear that the Red Sox are still the better team, and luck ain't why. Obviously, the assertion SoxSport is making that "they may have a better team" is dumb beyond words, but your doomsday device crap is just as dumb. The truth lies somewhere in the middle.

[Bellhorn04]

The Yankees have a lot of question marks, but so did we going into last season. Everything went right for us. I'm not writing off the Yankees this year. If Sabathia comes back, if Pineda comes back, if they sign Drew etc....

[User Name]

The difference is that a lot of the Sox' question marks had to do with identifiable flukes/strange occurrences. Age/marked decline are a whole different ballgame.

[Bellhorn04]

What I'm suggesting is that there are a lot of X factors in play. For the Yankees we can start with Sabathia and Tanaka. Pretty hard to predict. But if those two have strong seasons, etc. etc.

[User Name]

If Tanaka adjusts immediately, Sabathia reverts to ace form, Kuroda staves off father time, Robertson can adequately fill Rivera's shoes, they can find adequate setup pieces, Jeter is not a statue at SS/lets go of his pride and moves to 3rd, Teixeira can stave off his decline, and they can get something out of 2B/3B, they should make the playoffs at least if not win the East outright. Those are a lot of ifs though.

[a700hitter]

It will be a little ridiculous if the Yankees start the season with the Starting centerfielder and shortstop from our championship team before we can even give them their rings.

[Bellhorn04]

It will be a little ridiculous if the Yankees start the season with the Starting centerfielder and shortstop from our championship team before we can even give them their rings.

 

I have to say the one thing that will sour this offseason for me is if the Yanks sign Drew.

[sk7326]

Keith Law farm system rankings up via insider (http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10354393/houston-astros-top-farm-system-rankings-mlb)

 

5. Boston Red Sox

 

They rival Houston for the best top 10 of any team, with as many prospects on the top 100 as the Astros have, and while they don't have Houston's depth, Boston's system is pretty deep, with at least a half-dozen pitching prospects who reasonably project (that is, not just pie-in-the-sky forecasting) as No. 4 starters or better.

 

And that ignores the part about their best prospects being position players who hit and most of whom play very good defense. When a defensive whiz like Christian Vazquez, a catcher who can hit a little, can't crack your top 10, you're doing a lot of things right.

[sk7326]

Keith Law Top 100 up ... http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10166140/byron-buxton-tops-2014-ranking-top-100-prospects-mlb

 

Red Sox highlights ... (eligibility = not used up rookie eligibility yet, no Japan/Korea major experience, and no Abreu who is 27)

 

#2. Xander Bogaerts

For all of Bogaerts' tools -- and he has many -- it was his patient approach at the plate that stood out in the Aruban's brief major league stint in 2013. Bogaerts has explosive potential as a hitter, as the ball comes off his bat exceptionally well, and the fact he sees the ball so well and makes good decisions as a hitter bodes well for his ability to adjust to major league pitching if he's handed an everyday job in 2014.

 

He has quick and very strong hands at the plate, with moderate hip rotation that still projects to plus power because of the speed and force of his swing. He's a natural shortstop, with soft hands and very good actions as well as plenty of arm for the left side of the infield. Although his frame could allow him to get too big for the position, he's maintained his conditioning well enough to stay at short for the near future, and the possibility of a 25- to 30-homer bat with strong on-base skills at that position gives Boston strong incentive to leave him there.

 

He could be Troy Tulowitzki with a little less arm, and that's an MVP-caliber player.

 

#42. Henry Owens

Owens was prospect No. 101 on last year's rankings, first in the column of guys who just missed the main list, but he showed across-the-board improvement in 2013 and now projects as a No. 3 starter with a chance to be a good No. 2.

 

He has always been a strike-thrower, but was working in the upper 80s as a starter in high school and right after signing, showing 90-92 in short stints. In 2013, he was working at that higher range as a starter and his curveball got sharper and harder as well, now more 72-74 as opposed to the upper 60s he showed the year before. The curve will settle in as an average to slightly above-average pitch, but he already has the swing-and-miss weapon in his plus-plus changeup, made even more effective because hitters do not pick up the ball out of his hand.

 

Owens has always had feel and control, but now the stuff is catching up to his polish and he's not far away from contributing in Fenway.

 

#51 Jackie Bradley Jr

While Bradley Jr.'s Jackpot Wad took over Fort Myers last spring, with a .419/.507/.613 line in 62 at-bats, the push for his Hall of Fame induction might have been a touch premature, as Bradley wasn't the same guy when the bell rang in April as he was when the games didn't count.

 

Major league pitchers were able to beat him in the zone with plus velocity and down and away with off-speed stuff, but Bradley managed to perform as well as expected after a demotion to Pawtucket. His ideal game is plus-plus defense in center with a high OBP at the plate and fringy power, maybe 10 to 15 homers a year; when he tries to over-rotate to hit the ball out to right, he expands his zone and makes less contact as a result.

 

Staying short to the ball and focusing on going line-to-line rather than trying to hit for power should make him an above-average regular, with OBPs in the .360 to .380 range. He could also save 10 or more runs a year on defense, enough to make Red Sox fans say "Jacoby who?"

 

#53 Garin Cecchini

Cecchini had a minor hamstring issue that slowed him down in 2013, but he showed he could really hit, projecting as a consistent .300-plus hitter whose future hit grade is a 65 or a 70. Now he just has to show he can stay at third base.

 

As a hitter, Cecchini has an extremely advanced approach at the plate, actually walking more than he struck out this year despite moving up a level midseason. He has some raw power but rarely shows it in games, preferring to use the middle of the field, although with no stride and a tendency to stay more linear and short to the ball, he'll have a hard time getting past 15 homers. His defense at third will never be pretty, but I believe he can stay there based on his instincts and game awareness, which will make up for a lack of first-step quickness.

 

His downside is a Bill Mueller-type of career, but I see Cecchini hitting for higher averages and OBPs while providing comparable defense at third base.

 

#56. Blake Swihart

Swihart, the No. 100 prospect on my list before the 2012 season, had a slow start that year but finished strong, and then carried it over with a breakout season in 2013 that saw him improve on offense and defense.

 

He is a tremendous athlete who played all over the field in high school, but last year the athleticism started to translate into very good defensive skills, with a plus arm that's quite accurate to go with better actions and receiving behind the plate. As a hitter, Swihart started to control the zone more effectively in 2013, with a 20 percent drop in his strikeout rate and a 33 percent hike in his walk rate even with the move up to high-A. He's a switch-hitter who lacked reps from the left side before entering pro ball but made substantial progress in his approach from that side last year, taking more than 80 percent of his plate appearances from that side.

 

Right now, Swihart is more of a line-drive hitter with doubles power but still projects to have average to above-average power when he peaks, 15 to 20 bombs a year, along with a strong OBP and plus defense behind the plate. He wasn't young for his level in either of the past two years, as he graduated high school at 19, but he's ready for Double-A now. With defensive wizard Christian Vazquez ahead of him, Swihart should get plenty of time in the high minors to continue to work on hitting left-handed and keeping his arm stroke short and simple behind the plate

.

 

#61. Mookie Betts

Betts was one of the year's biggest breakout prospects, a 2011 fifth-round pick who had an unremarkable pro debut in short-season Class A Lowell in 2012, but ripped through both full-season A-ball levels last year and established himself as one of the best middle infield prospects in the game.

 

He has some early hand movement before he loads his swing, but it's window-dressing and doesn't prevent him from being short and direct to the ball, with good hip rotation and some loft in his finish that could eventually produce 20-homer power. He's a plus runner and at least a 55-grade defender at second, with good range to his right and the athleticism to end up plus there; I know some scouts see him as a potential shortstop if the opportunity were to arise. His best attribute might be his feel for the strike zone; he's very balanced at the plate, even when he sees off-speed stuff, and makes quick adjustments within each at bat like a player with more pro experience would.

 

He could be an All-Star at second, maybe close to that at short, and despite his short stature there's still upside here because he's such a good athlete that he has untapped potential on both sides of the ball.

 

#89. Matt Barnes

Barnes had a very strong season in Double-A, missing a ton of bats and continuing to develop his curveball and changeup. He's still not at the point at which he's likely to have all three offerings working on the same day.

 

He shows a low-90s fastball and can add a little more when needed; hitters don't see the ball well out of his hand at all, so he gets a ton of swings and misses on his fastball, even within the zone. His curveball was much better in the second half of the season, a downer breaking ball that he didn't command early but was more effective with later in the season, while his changeup was probably better in the spring and might be a little too hard to be more than an average pitch. He continues to command his fastball better than his off-speed stuff and will probably spend most of 2014 in Triple-A working on the latter.

 

I see at least a mid-rotation starter here, with a chance to play above that if the secondary pitches come along. Guys who miss bats with fastball strikes like this are pretty uncommon, so I could be easily selling him short.

[iortiz]

Wonder why Vasquez is not making the top 100. Thought he was better than Swihart or at least better upside. Edited January 29, 2014 by iortiz

[mvp 78]

Wonder why Vasquez is not making the top 100. Thought he was better than Swihart or at least better upside.

 

He can't hit.

[sk7326]

Wonder why Vasquez is not making the top 100. Thought he was better than Swihart or at least better upside.

 

I think the offensive and athletic upsides of Swihart are higher. That said, Vasquez is ahead of him right now and could very well be a starting solution as the bat improves. Vasquez' floor is higher (since he probably could be defensive specialist/personal catcher level backup right now if one wanted that). Law noted yesterday in Boston's #5 org ranking that Vasquez not being one of the Red Sox Top 10 prospects is a sincere compliment to what the Sox have been doing on that front. His rankings I've found tend to skew towards athletic ability and offensive approach. Defense matters as you go up the development chain, but defense is generally a skill that gets taught at the professional level - college and amateur just do not provide much grounding there.

[iortiz]

He can't hit.

 

He can't hit but he's supposed to be the future? i do not get it.

[sk7326]

He can't hit but he's supposed to be the future? i do not get it.

 

Well "the future" is a loaded question. He is some modest hitting ability away from being an everyday starter. Swihart has more upside across more areas than Vasquez. That the Red Sox have two potential everyday catchers in their system after letting one walk is pretty impressive considering the deplorable state of catching around the sport.

 

The 2nd half of Law's list has a number of catching prospects too - though the state of big league catching is awful, the industry clearly is trying to fix it.

[sk7326]

He can't hit but he's supposed to be the future? i do not get it.

 

Well "the future" is a loaded question. He is some modest hitting ability away from being an everyday starter. Swihart has more upside across more areas than Vasquez. Vasquez has a lead right now being in AAA as opposed to AA (but he's also 2 years older), and the Sox can afford to be patient with Swihart because of Vasquez' presence. That the Red Sox have two potential everyday catchers in their system after letting one walk is pretty impressive considering the deplorable state of catching around the sport.

[iortiz]

I think the offensive and athletic upsides of Swihart are higher. That said, Vasquez is ahead of him right now and could very well be a starting solution as the bat improves. Vasquez' floor is higher (since he probably could be defensive specialist/personal catcher level backup right now if one wanted that). Law noted yesterday in Boston's #5 org ranking that Vasquez not being one of the Red Sox Top 10 prospects is a sincere compliment to what the Sox have been doing on that front. His rankings I've found tend to skew towards athletic ability and offensive approach. Defense matters as you go up the development chain, but defense is generally a skill that gets taught at the professional level - college and amateur just do not provide much grounding there.

Hopefully he doesn't turn into another Iglesias 2.0.

[sk7326]

Hopefully he doesn't turn into another Iglesias 2.0.

 

Well Iglesias proved he could hit JUST enough for his glove to play ... and the Red Sox were able to transform him into a proven mid-rotation starter. If you ask me, that'd be a pretty good result for the org.

[mvp 78]

Swihart is good enough and athletic enough that he could transition to another position (i.e. Biggio). Vasquez is what he is, a good defensive catcher that isn't hitting at the moment.

[iortiz]

Well Iglesias proved he could hit JUST enough for his glove to play ... and the Red Sox were able to transform him into a proven mid-rotation starter. If you ask me, that'd be a pretty good result for the org.

 

well I'm not sure about that, let's give him a full season first and we'll see.

 

if what you are saying turns into a reality, IMO his departure will be called as a mistake even with XB around.

[mvp 78]

well I'm not sure about that, let's give him a full season and we'll see.

 

if what you are saying turns into a reality, IMO his departure will be called as a mistake even with XB around.

 

It's not a mistake when you acquire a piece that helps you win a World Series. They didn't need Iggy once Drew was healthy. It was better to move him for a starter.