Sox Acquire Porcello, Miley, and Masterson

[Palodios]

Oh, okay. LOL!! I'd still like to meet for a drink when I am up there this coming season. We can meet before a game at Remy's instead of the Mandarin. It would be a blast to meet have an offsite TS meeting with you, SFF and others in the area who want to join.

 

I should be around in April/May, but I may be moving to Seattle in June.

[cp176]

Oh, okay. LOL!! I'd still like to meet for a drink when I am up there this coming season. We can meet before a game at Remy's instead of the Mandarin. It would be a blast to meet have an offsite TS meeting with you, SFF and others in the area who want to join.

 

I bet that you would have a great time. If I could be there, I would buy the drinks.

[mvp 78]

I should be around in April/May, but I may be moving to Seattle in June.

 

Congrats. Seattle is awesome!

[sk7326]

So back to the pitching staff. Does anybody else covet Zimmerman of the Nationals and what would it take to pry him away? I know there's only 1 year of contract control left but I feel this guy is coming into his prime and would be a true staff ace if the Red Sox could get him.

 

Depends on the price - but realistically the Nats SHOULD drive a high price. They won 98 games last year! Yes, there is the "he's in his last year" considerations, but flags fly forever, and if I'm them - if I don't have a great deal, taking a shot with a team that can win it all is never a bad idea.

[cp176]

I have been saying this for some time as well. I'm wondering if the Red Sox are looking to package Xander for a controllable ace, ie a Sale/Harvey type.

 

 

I wouldn't be real happy to see him go but if we were able to keep Betts somehow and it was a move that brought the right player in I would be ok with it. I am really not trying to be a bit negative here, but when you bring in some good fairly young arms from the outside, I do think that it is fairly clear what the current thinking is about the young arms that are currently in our system. Renaudo, Workman, Barnes, maybe even Owens vs Porcello, Miley, and Masterson. My guess is that if they thought a combination of that first 4 could truly get the job done the deals would not have made.

[Palodios]

Congrats. Seattle is awesome!

 

Thanks! It has been a complex one to negotiate -- turnover in our office has pushed off my move date from January. Hopefully everything will work itself out.

[mvp 78]

http://deadspin.com/did-the-d-backs-trade-wade-miley-because-he-wouldnt-giv-1672345734

 

I like Wade Miley more and more everyday.

[a700hitter]

I should be around in April/May, but I may be moving to Seattle in June.

I am hoping to be in Boston in April and/or May.

[Palodios]

I would imagine the Red Sox are looking for a relatively cheap #2 to finish off the rotation, or go all-in on a cost controlled #1.

 

That means Gallardo, Garza, Fister, Shields. If Ben wants to overpay, it will someone from the Sale/Harvey/Kluber/Holland/Darvish group.

 

The high end group is looking too costly, consisting mostly of guys like Cueto, Zimmerman, Scherzer, Hamels, Price. Those guys are costing franchise changing talent, and give no control -- that isn't happening.

[sk7326]

I would imagine the Red Sox are looking for a relatively cheap #2 to finish off the rotation, or go all-in on a cost controlled #1.

 

That means Gallardo, Garza, Fister, Shields. If Ben wants to overpay, it will someone from the Sale/Harvey/Kluber/Holland/Darvish group.

 

The high end group is looking too costly, consisting mostly of guys like Cueto, Zimmerman, Scherzer, Hamels, Price. Those guys are costing franchise changing talent, and give no control -- that isn't happening.

 

I think that's possible - but I think it is also possible that the team sees this as good enough, at least until the mid-season trade market opens up in earnest. There is some merit to finding out whether this team is a legitimate buyer before making the plunge on a Cueto sort. There are enough swing options between Owens, Rodriguez, Barnes in various call ups to be able to piece together 100 or so professional starts here.

[seabeachfred]

... and the the 2011 epic collapse.

 

Aside 2013, most of our issues in recent years have been the lack and the ability to assemble good pitching staffs. Sometimes it was the BP. Sometimes it was the SP. Sometimes it was the lack of depth. Sometimes we went with the low-risk/high-reward mentality which turned into disasters, and sometimes it was the combination of some of the above.

 

Thing is, Since 2011 I've seen this debate over and over again, and for each pitching situation turned into a nightmare and made by our FO, I saw here a lot of brilliant and specific ideas/solutions of how those situations could have been addressed before those decisions were taken by the FO (like the Lester thing). All I'm saying is that you do not need to be a super genius in order to emit an opinion of how this team should be assembled, since our FO has shitted the bed big time as well so many times that I just can not remember how many. They are not the twelve olympians who have everything figured it out and immune to questions and explications by those who load their wallets. Funny thing is that some here and there still think that our FO is a deity or something just because we won 3 WS.

 

When we entered into the 2015 offseason we all knew all along AGAIN, that we needed solid SP, at least 2, IMO. When you see the recent acquisitions and see how they lost Lester, I say to myself, oh boy, here we go again. Sure, There's still time to round the team but considering the recent past hopefully this is not one of those years when I said, I told u.

 

iortiz, I did say a lot of mistakes have been made and I get as overwrought as you do.......as you well know my friend. What is weird is how similar our staffs were in 2012 and 2014 to the one in 2013 when we shocked the world. I keep harking back to the fact that players we hoped would rise to the occasion like Middlebrooks, Bradley and Bogaerts all crapped out badly this past season causing us to lose games we might have won----and when you couple that to the injuries suffered by Victorino, Pedroia and Napoli, that was enough of a laundry list to capsize our team twice over. That we lowballed Jon Lester to boot only added dirt to our grave. This must not happen again next season or the season after that or the season after that or the......well, you get the idea.

[seabeachfred]

So back to the pitching staff. Does anybody else covet Zimmerman of the Nationals and what would it take to pry him away? I know there's only 1 year of contract control left but I feel this guy is coming into his prime and would be a true staff ace if the Red Sox could get him.

 

vjc---if the names Betts or Swihart are mentioned Cherington should simply say---HIT THE ROAD JACK AND DON'T YOU COME BACK NO MORE NO MORE NO MORE NO MORE, HIT THE ROAD JACK AND DON'T YOU COME BACK NO MORE. In addition we must have a two day window to resign him to an extension or the deal is doubly off.

[seabeachfred]

I have been saying this for some time as well. I'm wondering if the Red Sox are looking to package Xander for a controllable ace, ie a Sale/Harvey type.

 

I've been pretty vocal that you cannot have effective ground ball pitchers with a shortstop who cannot field, cover all that ground and make the DP effectively.....especially if at bat you can't hit worth s*** with men on base. This would be the very time to trade Bogaerts while he has top value and the rest of baseball isn't all that aware that this guy might be another Middlebrooks or Bradley.

[vjcsmoke]

I'm not really opposed to trading anybody if we can land an Ace for our rotation. That is the one position that trumps imo. You have to have the goto guy that you have a losing streak, but you put him on the mound you know you will get back on track with a win. The Red Sox offense should be much more potent in 2015. But we need that guy who can hold the other team to 3 runs or less and we can count on for around 20 wins.

 

I've been pretty vocal that you cannot have effective ground ball pitchers with a shortstop who cannot field, cover all that ground and make the DP effectively.....especially if at bat you can't hit worth s*** with men on base. This would be the very time to trade Bogaerts while he has top value and the rest of baseball isn't all that aware that this guy might be another Middlebrooks or Bradley.

 

BTW we just obtained Varvaro so our bullpen got a little deeper and stronger.

http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/baseball/braves-traded-varvaro-to-red-sox-for-pitching-pros/njTwf/

 

Stilll need to address the pink elephant though BC.

If we land Shields or Hamels I would be satisfied.

If we get a stud like Zimmerman, Scherzer, or Sale I would be ecstatic!

[mvp 78]

Why would the White Sox move Sale???

[vjcsmoke]

Ok let's take Sale out of the discussion then. Replace his name with Cueto maybe. Who else is available that would make sense?

 

This article sums it up nicely. If we land an ace, we look elite. If we don't we'll probably finish middle of the pack and no postseason.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2014/12/11/now-time-for-red-sox-get-ace/EF6VSpODKeBbjwe9q9fK9M/story.html

 

Trade possibilities

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2014/12/01/red-sox-have-countless-options-trade-market/k77Ae3e1CWW3dPOOpSp4LK/story.html

[Palodios]

Why would the White Sox move Sale???

 

They would need to be overwhelmed with controllable major league talent that fits their needs. Xander + Mookie or something way overboard like that.

[Spudboy]

Why would the White Sox move Sale???

 

They won't unless they have been too busy whacking in the shed to notice that they now may be able to compete.

 

They seem to being building a team to compete.

[Spudboy]

http://deadspin.com/did-the-d-backs-trade-wade-miley-because-he-wouldnt-giv-1672345734

 

I like Wade Miley more and more everyday.

 

Lol. "Unless Miley suffers from celiac disease, it would have been incredibly dumb for the Diamondbacks to insist that he adhere to a gluten-free diet. That is because people who reside in the "Gluten is bad for you!" camp are basically the dietary version of anti-vaccination nutjobs. Gluten is fine, and a pitcher should not be traded away just because he wants to keep eating it. If this is really what happened, the Diamondbacks are very stupid."

 

Yup.

Edited December 18, 2014 by Spudboy

[sk7326]

They would need to be overwhelmed with controllable major league talent that fits their needs. Xander + Mookie or something way overboard like that.

 

Besides, their moves look a lot like a team looking to contend in a suddenly soft division

[jacksonianmarch]

The White Sox just traded for Samardzija, and signed Robertson, Melky and LaRoche. They are going for it this yr. They aren't dealing Sale no matter what you offer them

[BSN07]

The White Sox just traded for Samardzija, and signed Robertson, Melky and LaRoche. They are going for it this yr. They aren't dealing Sale no matter what you offer them

 

Ya I agree with this. I think he is completely off the table at this point.

[Behindenemylines]

James Shields

 

Word has it the Giants are in the lead for him. Not sure Shields plays well in Fenway. You look at his numbers when he pitches there and I'm not a fan of bringing him a board for 4 or 5 years. Unless you can get him on the shot (No happening) I gotta pass on him.

[seabeachfred]

Word has it the Giants are in the lead for him. Not sure Shields plays well in Fenway. You look at his numbers when he pitches there and I'm not a fan of bringing him a board for 4 or 5 years. Unless you can get him on the shot (No happening) I gotta pass on him.

 

That may be so BEL but the fact remains we need a No. 1 ace and we should not be swayed by any BS coming from the FO that we are now set with a decent starting rotation. The fact is Masterson sucked to high heaven this past season with the Guardians and they couldn't get rid of him fast enough. Then he imploded so badly with the Cardinals that they dropped him from both the rotation and post-season roster. Buchholz? Do we really want to count on him next season? Oh yes, he has great stuff and at times he can be a top notch pitcher but that is too few and far between for a team challenging for an AL East Title next season, and besides, a little scab on his rear end and he is out for two months. The others do not match up as aces but rather maybe one No. 2 and a bunch of threes. I would much rather have Shields than some of the stiffs we're counting on to help us win next season.

[TeddyBallgame09]

Owens will be a starter limited duty late in 2015......full time next year.....there are 2 other starters right now in minors for 2015....opinion: buchholz is on way out......give him one more year and that's it.........New starters look very good....miley and porcello will last....Masterson?..Nieves and Farrell are brilliant pitching coach minds...for example....Sox got Porcello, Miley, and Masterson for same price next year as Lester salary for one year....AND...porcello is as good or better, Miley will be as well....Masterson's knee is in doubt, but if OK....he'll be fine......I wouldn't trade any prospect for a free agent unless.....that guy is low on the top list, and not a good prospect for 3-4 years....I'd trade JBJ mid year, keep Victorino if his back is ok.......dump Buchh mid year....for a top starter at mid year...Coyle..at mid year....