Let's assume the opening day lineup

[SoxSport]

MBrooks has hit about 30 HRs for the Red Sox the last 2 years. He is a typical power hitting 3rd baseman who looks like he can move to 1B easily when the time comes. These guys don't grow on trees. He is a valuable piece that calls for some patience. X, too. These guys could be a monster left side of the IF for them the next 10 years. And they're both protected. Wow.

[Bellhorn04]

MBrooks has hit about 30 HRs for the Red Sox the last 2 years. He is a typical power hitting 3rd baseman who looks like he can move to 1B easily when the time comes. These guys don't grow on trees.

 

Or he's Mark Reynolds with a slightly better glove. Reynolds could hit 30 playing half his games in Fenway.

[User Name]

Except that Reynolds has hit 30+ in a season, and multiple times.

[marklmw]

Except that Reynolds has hit 30+ in a season, and multiple times.

UN ... what do you think ... should the Sox give WMB another shot to open the season at 3B?

[reYoukilis]

The excess of SP will be sorted out in spring training when injuries occur and other teams needs for SP grows. Unless Marlins finally give in and make Stanton available I can't see the Sox making any other major moves.

But do we have an excess of quality arms? I understand that we are at the beginning stages of a youth movement but if say Lackey starts losing his mojo, do we have a comparable talent to take his place or will this youth movement have us, maybe, getting worse before it gets better? In other words do we need another big name to shore up the rotation?

[Dojji]

Naw, if he hits 30 hrs this year and everyone gets excited about it, you'd just pooh-pooh it because of groupthink.

 

If he's actually demonstrated 30 HR ability, what I think about it becomes irrelevant.

 

Until then, let's keep things grounded. He's got good power potential, but so did Wily Mo Pena. Those gaps in WMB's plate approach are not merely inconveniences -- some players never make the leap you're assuming Middlebrooks is just going to conquer offhand.

[Dojji]

UN ... what do you think ... should the Sox give WMB another shot to open the season at 3B?

 

I'm not MVP, but unless we sign Drew, third base is Middlebrooks' to lose, and I honestly don't think we'll be signing Drew (I'd like to, you don't let good high quality veterans go on a whim but not sure Cherington agrees with me).

 

That said, my faith in the future of third base for the Boston Red Sox lies with Garin Cecchini. That plate approach should cover a multitude of sins and Cecchini is every bit as athletic as Middlebrooks, so the power ought to come around in time.

 

Middlebrooks could be a 30 HR guy, but Cecchini has the toolbox and approach to be a consistent 20-20 player if the power develops like I think it will (and like it did for hitters like Youkilis), and I value that just a bit more.

[User Name]

No, you are incorrect. The power to hit 30 HRs is there, but what good are thirty HR's if he can barely get on base, or even make consistent contact?

[seabeachfred]

I'm not MVP, but unless we sign Drew, third base is Middlebrooks' to lose, and I honestly don't think we'll be signing Drew (I'd like to, you don't let good high quality veterans go on a whim but not sure Cherington agrees with me).

 

That said, my faith in the future of third base for the Boston Red Sox lies with Garin Cecchini. That plate approach should cover a multitude of sins and Cecchini is every bit as athletic as Middlebrooks, so the power ought to come around in time.

 

Middlebrooks could be a 30 HR guy, but Cecchini has the toolbox and approach to be a consistent 20-20 player if the power develops like I think it will (and like it did for hitters like Youkilis), and I value that just a bit more.

 

Dojii, if WMB can hit 25-30 homers and Cecchini becomes a 300-plus hitter, you find a place for both of them in your lineup. You don't trade one away and be left with one good hitter and a weaker one at the spot Cecch or Will could have played.

[Dojji]

Tell me where I ever advocated trading Will Middlebrooks

[User Name]

Tell me where I ever advocated trading Will Middlebrooks

 

Subpar reading comprehension is a common problem around these parts.

[sk7326]

Really trading Middlebrooks coming off of the last 12 months or so just doesn't make sense. If you think his career has any sort of improvement in it at all - and I certainly think it does, you are better off trading him when that appears and then you can get a better haul. From the scouting stuff I see, Middlebrooks probably does everything on the ballfield better than Cecchini except hit ... which of course is the most important skill a position player can have. But if Middlebrooks can get himself to even a C/C+ level on-base guy (league average, maybe even a shade below), he can be a very valuable starter.

[User Name]

The real problem with WMB (per scouts) is pitch recognition, and that's a hard skill to improve, but not impossible. If he could learn to lay off breaking balls in the low-outside quadrant of the strike-zone, you're looking at 25 + HR, .330+ OBP seasons for the duration of his prime.

[sk7326]

The real problem with WMB (per scouts) is pitch recognition, and that's a hard skill to improve, but not impossible. If he could learn to lay off breaking balls in the low-outside quadrant of the strike-zone, you're looking at 25 + HR, .330+ OBP seasons for the duration of his prime.

 

Right ... I don't even think it has to be that high. League average was more like .320 so if he was a .315-.325 sort combined with a significant defensive improvement, there is a damn good starter. (the tools are there, it has not shown in the results yet)

[BornToRun]

The real problem with WMB (per scouts) is pitch recognition, and that's a hard skill to improve, but not impossible. If he could learn to lay off breaking balls in the low-outside quadrant of the strike-zone, you're looking at 25 + HR, .330+ OBP seasons for the duration of his prime.

Right. I don't think WMB is ever going to be a guy who walks all that much but if he can adjust his approach to the point where's he is K'ing less and swinging at better pitches to hit, he might be able to hit .280-90 which would allow him to put up at least average OBP numbers.