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Is it now? Lowell 05: .236 (AVG), .298 (OBP), .360 (SLG), .658 (OPS), 8 HR, 58 RBI Lowell 06: . 284, .339, .475, .814... 20 HR, 80 RBI Do you think '06 was better or worse than 05? Quite a bit better if you ask me. The Marlins traded him in 05, not 06. He's not worth 9 million, that's for sure, but he's a very solid 3rd base option for some team. "You've got ass breath, you're kissin' ass too much", The Coup. Better than average at 2B is not the same as average at 1st or 3rd in terms of power and production. Our hitting isn't bad but it isn't great. Again, what the hell do you propose sir know it all? Here's the deal: If the sox move manny then they will have to make a number of moves. They will get something in return for him and that will change the roster in one way or another, nobody knows. If the sox don't move manny then they desperately need a #5 hitter. Where do you propose that #5 hitter hit? Do they get another RF to replace Wily Mo? Do they get another CF to replace Coco? Do they get a #5 hitting SS (not likely)? Do they get another catcher? OR do they get either a 1st or 3rd baseman? They NEED a #5 hitter and WMP strikes out too often to be effective there yet. With Manny on base at a .410 clip you MUST drive the ball behind him. Youkilis, Lowell, Veritek, WMP, Gonzalez, none of them are very solid #5 options against the top AL pitchers so Manny will get walk after walk. When the sox were injured in August Manny had a .500 OBP. So find a spot to put a #5 in without thinking about 1st or 3rd, while playing WMP, Crisp and Manny. Even if they DO trade Manny they'll still need a strong #5 in the lineup. Or they could just not pay attention to offense, as you propose. And when it comes to putting all of their resources into pitching, just who do you see them as being able to get? They spend all of their energy on Matsuzaka, Zito and Schmidt, only to watch Matsuzaka sign for 100m with Seattle, Zito choose to go to Anaheim and Schmidt go to Texas, and then they're an injured, old, expensive team with our 3rd best power hitter producing what the Yankees or Jays or Tigers 6th best hitters produce. For 120m that's not okay.

I'm pretty sure they'll try to get pitching via free agency whether or not they have Youkilis. That said I don't see them moving Youkilis as he's a cheap, high OBP, relatively young (pre-prime) player. That's what makes him valuable to others, but the sox need all the help they can get. You can't say they won't be able to move Lowell. The sox have money right now, they don't have talent. I bet they'd be willing to pay 5 million of Lowell's salary to move him for another good player. That's just me, but I'm pretty sure its assumed that they will pay money to move Lowell. they might keep him. If so they'll have a great defense. If they get a top tier starter like Schmidt then they will have really solid pitching with really solid defense and a decent offense.

Yeah, I don't think the day of the big contract is over. Pavano is still around. Damon is still around. Jeter makes more money than Manny and Sheffield's near 14m option just got picked up. Abreu was a great pick up and he'll be around next year, especially when some stupid team trades its best players for a year of Sheffield before he retires. I haven't read too many people saying we should move Youkilis and not Lowell. Maybe a few but that's not a popular view. Youkilis is younger, cheaper and will probably have as good a career as Lowell has had. Also, he can play 2 positions well and Lowell can't.

Don't worry about ORS. He's extremely bright when it comes to baseball, but he's also a little grumpy at times and scathing. His memory is like a steel trap apparently. Lowell is under contract for next year. The reason I think people speculate about moving youk or Lowell is because, combined, they do not provide even average offensive output from the corner positions. So we need to upgrade in one position or the other. Youkilis can play both positions pretty well and he's cheap. Lowell plays 3rd really well, offensively is about as productive as youkilis, but he costs 9 million a year which is way to much for an over-the-hill, little-power 3B. The sox should upgrade at either 1B or 3B and move Youkilis to the other position.

You mean robertson, right?

Except that Hatteberg's best seasons are roughly equal to this season for Youkilis. Actually, Hatteberg's best OPS season was this year (.825). There's no reason to think Youkilis won't do considerably better than that with more experience. Again, I'm all for putting Youkilis in as part of a great deal but he's worth a fair amount in my opinion. I think his 2 position abilities and OBP make him as valuable a piece as Crisp, especially considering how much cheaper he is.

Damn impressive work Scaffolds. It's hard to know what will become of most of these guys but I'm glad they are heavily involved in the Caribbean.

How many times do we have to watch Kenny Rodgers holding back tears after games? I just don't get his success, but he appears to be really, really on (duh!).

That's my inclination as well. It's just too obvious. It looked like iodine or something.

Okay, this is kind of a stupid question to start with but I'll address it nonetheless. This is pure condesention. It's as if the Yankees somehow achieved some great feat this season, posting yet-another AL Best record, only to collapse in the playoffs. The tigers are a good team but I don't think they're as good as either the 05' Chi-Sox or the 04 Red Sox. They're solid with some good (high ceiling) pitchers. I think we either don't know the whole story from Beckett or he's going to be better next year. He's not a headcase, he's a young pitcher who made a huge adjustment last year and threw more innings and got more wins last year than he ever has before. In a season that's a down year for him and for the sox I consider that a positive thing. Statistically he's on the cusp of being a top-tier pitcher. We all got a little too hopeful about him coming to boston, but I don't hear too many people complaining that we have him. Wang is wang. I wouldn't get too excited about him. He's a good young pitcher but his stuff is not dominating but he's got nice poise. If Wang is the best you got then you certainly will looking up at the other AL teams. If I'm in the playoffs I'll take Schilling over Wang 10 times out of 10 given how they each pitched this seasons and the head they each have on their shoulders. I thought Schill looked pretty darn good this season; much better than I expected. Currently the Sox have 4 pitchers who could be #2 on other staffs throughout the league in Schilling, Beckett, Wakefield and Papelbon. None of them would be a #1 on a World Series team. 4 x #2 is a lot of potential and could be a very good staff if they add a Matsuzaka, Schmidt, Clemens or Zito. Or it could be a slightly above average staff if Matt Clement or Jon Lester returns to fill out the top 5. Give me 162 games, an offseason full of moves and I agree there are probably 6 teams at the top of the AL, but I couldn't tell you which one is best. It's a crap shoot and it always depends on which team is playing the best.

Nice post. I have been guilty of #2, as I thought I read that somewhere but I'll defer to your well rationalied explanation.

Here's a very interesting article about Matsuzaka, including a portions of a discussion with a White Sox scout about how scouts see Matsuzaka. He's about as I thought he was, above average in every category but not spectacular in any area. There is nothing wrong with that. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sp20061022jg.html I like that they call him cocky. Flashes of Pedro dance through my head, especially the part that talks about his brushbacks and beanballs. Good stuff.

I think that's a stupid thing to say... 'unfortunately'... 'boston'. Would that author rather that Boston continue spending exorbinant amounts on its high-priced talent at the expense of other teams being able to get them? I can see how allowing draft picks to go to the top teams is counter-productive, but don't blame Boston for making that choice and taking advantage of a chance to NOT spend exorbinant amounts of money on guys who aren't worth it. In any case, despite my visseral reaction, I don't see it as unfortunate at all as now the Sox have a crop of young players to build with over the next few years.

What does this mean? That japan will not produce any more offensive players who find success in the US? I don't get very excited by 12 HR and 60 RBI at 3B. seriously, we can do better than that. If this guy has 25 HR power and can get on base at a .370 clip I'd be excited. Anyone know his OBP in Japan?

Yeah, its great when A-Rod chokes. I'm just not willing to admit that he's somehow metaphysically incapable of getting a hit in a playoff game or on the "big stage". The guy has tremendous hand-eye coordination, he's had plenty of big hits for the Yankees, and he's done well in the playoffs for the Mariners back in the day. I'm really just waiting for the other shoe to drop and would prefer to see it drop while he's on another team.

Nah. They would have kept Trot and wouldn't have gone after the mediocre (at the time) Ortiz.

I could see LL pulling the trigger on a deal for Beckett even if Beckett had a weak labrum (or whatever it is). He was the one who pushed for it, as Theo wasn't ready to give up on both Hanley AND Sanchez. So that's possible. However, with the way Beckett pitched this season I just don't buy it. He may have had a little less velocity than he did the past few years, but radar guns are fickle and I definitely said "damn, he throws hard" numerous times this season. For whatever reason he didn't throw his breaking stuff much, or his changeup. Actually, he really only threw his fastball. He threw 204 IP though, which is great. Particularly when you account for the fact that this guy didn't tend to get as deep into games as a lot of top-notch pitchers do. If he reduces his per-inning pitch count he will go deeper into games and pick up more innings for the same amount of work.