SchillingIsTheNatural

I'm hearing stuff along those lines as well...less and less I see the name Andy Marte....whatever is happening its taking forever.

OC is one of my favorite players and I see the slip up by elsebueno but I think the point was that a comparison or OC to Alex Gonzalez is much closer than that of Alex Cora to Gonzalez.... I mean honestly can people really envision Alex Cora making a diving stop, turning a fast double play, firing a rocket to 1st?? Does anyone even remember what he looks like?? He looks like the second coming of Jorge Posada (with the fat ass and everything). Seriously Cora is not exactly a stellar athletic machine...just a good fill in...if he starts at SS for us we have probably the worst starting SS in the league. I'd much rather have a guy who's best rate was 103. The one thing I'll say Gonzalez deffinitly has over OC is the arm strength. He can unleash one when he needs to.

He is 24 years old and it sounds like he still isn't done developing. Thats not particularly old by any means but from what I hear he is not ready for the major leagues. The deals the Red Sox are rumored in mostly consist of MLB players or MLB ready players. I did hear that Brandon Moss could be a part of a deal going to Cleveland along with Austin Kearns in that potential three-way deal. No backups to that rumor so take it for what its worth.

We aren't a low market team. I guarantee the Red Sox could sign Alex Gonzalez along with other players. Right now the money needs to be spent on a SS and CF if possible. Who have we spent big money on in the offseason? Nobody...the Red Sox have money and signing Gonzo to a contract won't put us back. Its not a hard player to sign its not exactly over priced for the defense he could bring to our team. I think you would find that on a full time basis Alex Cora would really struggle at SS. He is best used as a utility infielder...not as an everyday starter and thats what Gonzo is. Its also not a sure thing he wants 2 years 10 million...spring training is coming up and he isn't signed...its possible nobody is willing to pay that and we could get him cheaper. Perhaps playing for us interests him since we have Mota, Beckett, and Lowell.

.291 compared to .310...what the hell is the difference?? Thats so stupid. the defense between the two is big and thats more important. I wouldn't worry so much about money either cause I'm sure the Red Sox can afford it. Not to mention we are talking about a two year commitment?? God help us if we have to give a guy 2 years in a contract. This is not a big contract, its not a lot of money, and its a SS who gives us superior defense (again more important at the SS position then offense) and has experience in winning a World Series. Sounds good to me.

I wasn't paying attention to him back then but I wouldn't call him a stud. Rarely had an OBP over .400, was an error machine at SS, and would never hit more than 20 HRs in a season....huh?? I was really just talking about there approach to the plate. They both look the same. I could deffinitly see Youkilis having a season along the lines of Julio Franco... He could hit somewhere between .285-.320 AVG...15-20 HRs.....360-390 OBP. He just won't make that many errors cause he is playing 1B.

Thats a good point. Most of you would also notice the amount of games JT has played the last several seasons. He hasn't played a full season since 2000. He is deffinitly older and for him to be effective I think he needs to come in later at certain points of the game. He is this years version of John Olerud, Doug Meintkeiwisndkf. His playing time will depend on the success Youkilis has...after this much time and effort on his part I'm sure he is ready for it.

I'm not sure if people were upset giving up Renteria or creating a hole at SS. I was not impressed with Renteria in Boston. I thought his batting was mediocre and his defense was obviously horrific. Add all that with the money involved...eww I was more upset we have a huge hole at SS then they were talking about Julio Lugo who is just as bad defensively. On that note I'm happy they are talking about Alex Gonzalez cause he makes his living in MLB through defense. Its like Pokey Reese....they are a sure thing at defense otherwise they wouldn't have been in the league this long.

He did hit 20+ HRs in a season didn't he?? Besides you don't need to focus on hitting for the guys up the middle. They are the most important players on defense (SS, 2B, and CF). Alex Gonzalez is an excellent defensive player which is what you want...so who cares if he can't hit?? He can bat 9th in the lineup and I'm sure he will do just fine with the protection.

He reminds me of Julio Franco. They both look the same when they hit. Both play decent defense and can get on base. Not a ton of power but probably between 15-25 depending on the year. Hitting in Fenway certain helps Youkilis. Of course there is no way Youkilis ever sustains a career like Franco has but I just think they are similar in style.

Youkilis deserves a shot and I'm not strictly going by his MLB numbers that look decent. I went back and saw what he was able to do in AAA. He probably traveled more than anyone on the team going up and down between MLB and AAA. Check these numbers out in AAA... 152 AB / 8 HRs / 27 RBI / .459 OBP / .592 SLG / .322 AVG. .....in 74 starts for the Red Sox he had 5 errors.....playing 1st allows for less errors so I'm not nervous about him in the field. Add all that up with a mentor behind him in JT Snow who has 6 gold gloves.... Kevin Youkilis (the Greek God of walks)

I'm in....sorry I'm so late with this one...slipped by me

From the beginning the Guardians said they never wanted to trade Coco Crisp. Follow that up with the GM or whoever it was that was on vacation coming back and getting all pissed off cause the deal leaked out. He stated its bad for a team and the players if they hear they may be traded. Then they come out and say Guillermo Mota failed his physical....think its possible they just don't want to part with Crisp?? We were already giving up too much....personally I think the Guardians can go to hell and deal with there pitching problems another way.

I would rather just give up Matt Clement for Austin Kearns. If the Guardians were interested in Kearns then I would trade them Kearns straight up or Kearns and a reliever for Coco Crisp...In no way when involving a third team should we have to give up a starting pitcher and our top prospect for basically one good outfielder. The prospects in Cleveland are not good enough to make it more lucrative unless they involve Sowers or Smith.

Correct me if I'm wrong but about every player in the majors has to go through the minors at some point. True he is no sure thing but then again NOBODY is. I thought Edgar Renteria was a sure thing in the field....well damn those gold gloves he won don't make a lot of sense do they? Players get injured, struggle with new teams, struggle with a certain ballpark, stuggle in the NL or AL....there are questions surrounding every player no matter what league they play in. The scouting reports, athletic ability of the player, past statistics, injury history, etc. are all you can go by really. Its the job of the front office to figure out those questions and make the best judgement.

Rhodes was better last year but the years before you have to admit....Guillermo Mota was insane. The guy has major heat and has been very successful...however I think its his health that would stop that potential trade. If we are talking about a healthy Guillermo Mota then I'm nervous...based on the fact if we have Mota (from the Dodgers) then he is possibly the best reliever on our team. On the other hand if he is Mota (from the Marlins) eh....worthless for the most part. I'm guessing there is a health issue.

I am excited about that actually. I know A-Gonzo doesn't have a great bat but I'm sure Fenway will help him hit a little. He is extremely underrated defensively. The guy is outstanding defensively. It wasn't too long ago the Florida Marlins won a World Series and we are gaining Mike Lowell, Josh Beckett, and Alex Gonzalez. Match up that world series team with our world series guys....I'm excited about that. Mike Lowell has a great chance to hit 30 HRs. All he does is pull the ball....last I checked there is a huge green monster that way which he can hammer the ball off of all day. I look at Mike Lowell as a major upgrade to Kevin Millar. Alex Gonzalez doesn't have the bat of Edgar Renteria but Mark Loretta does so thats where I see that production being picked up. On the other side I think Gonzo is much better on the defensive side after what I saw from Edgar. Obviously Josh Beckett speaks for himself. Only part from our team last year that is missing is Johnny Damon.....switch hitting Coco Crisp could find his numbers go up with the protection he has in Loretta, Manny, and Ortiz hitting behind him. I know a lot of us are down right now but you have to admit...our team has some huge upgrades in many areas. Pitching staff, defense, and in several cases the batting is much better....I'm pumped lets get the damn season going.

If Mike Lowell doesn't work out (he will I don't know why you think otherwise) then Kevin Youkilis would move over to 3rd and JT Snow would take over at first. Thats a bit extreme...I have no idea why a gold glove 3rd baseman with a career of pulling the ball to the right and setting up perfectly for Fenway would struggle so much. Thats a good way of thinking. Well thought out post. However despite his numbers I'm still worried Andy Marte becomes Eric Chavez, Scott Rolen, or David Wright.....then again if any were to become available in free agency we could be huge bidders.

Fine....then Jeremy Sowers. You have to think that since Andy Marte is a top 5 prospect...thats probably equal to a pitching prospect in the range of top 15. Not to mention Hanley Ramirez was our top prospect for a while....so who cares.

According to one of my friends who saw him pitch...his velocity is down to around 95-96. He injured his arm and hasn't quite been the same but still effective. I guess his slider was something to be real scared of. He needs to develop another pitch I guess cause he mostly just uses the slider and fastball. I guess he isn't in the class with Lester and Papelbon for a couple reasons: they have more pitches they can throw and there accuracy is better. None the less he has serious heat and good movement so he can become a hell of a pitcher. I always thought prospect pitchers are more valuable than position players so that would be a fair switch. Andy Marte is certainly in the top group of prospects while Adam Miller is probably int he second group....I would still put him in the top 10 for pitchers.

yea what was the full trade...this is the first time i heard about the Reds being involved...I thought it was the Phillies.

The more I read about this the more I'm starting to hate it....the reason is because I'm seeing other teams we could be making a better deal with INCLUDING the Guardians (meaning there are other guys we could be talking about on there team). If we are going to sign Alex Gonzalez (which I am not against cause his defense is awesome) then our only hole is CF. You mean to tell me we can't put together a trade with Wells, Clement or Arroyo??? If we have to trade Andy Marte why not talk to the Athletics about Barry Zito? Maybe the Dodgers will talk to us about the availability of Eric Gagne? There are other CF prospects we could be talking about in regard to Marte. If anything I think a fair deal would be Coco Crisp and Adam Miller for Andy Marte and Matt Clement. Hell we could even continue with the Mota for Riske feature....doesn't that seem like a fair deal?? Coco Crisp (we need CF) + Adam Miller for Andy Marte + Matt Clement (Guardians need SP)

Now I'm not too happy for the deal. I was waiting to hear all the names and we are getting screwed.... Andy Marte Guillermo Mota Kelly Shoppach for Coco Crisp David Riske Josh Bard .....we are getting wrecked in the catcher deal alone. Why would we give up Shoppach for Bard?? Thats much too one sided. I would say Riske and Mota were even if not for injury concerns to Mota. Then we have Andy Marte for Coco Crisp which is in favor of Cleveland. At this point we are getting the worse end of the deal in all three areas with the possible exception of David Riske. They need to add Adam Miller in this deal

Jason Michaels won't give you the same production as Coco Crisp. Michaels can only hit cause he plays in Philadelphia. He still only hit 4 HRs last season....he sucks Coco Crisp is athletic, has speed, has some pop to his bat...he is a good player and he is walking into the prime of his career.....whatever the outcome I'm sure the front office is capable of making the right decision.

No no no no I was being sarcastic about "I love the Colts".....cause I added "such a stupid move". Hence...I love them cause they are retarded. So "we" means the Patriots