Dojji

you want to argue with the numbers, feel free. He's poor at short because he doesn't have great range for the position, that's not a big issue at third, a few untimely recent fauxs pas doesn't change that. Career at third (300+ innings) Lowrie's got +6.5 UZR/150 at third base. That's an above average result. For comparison's sake, Youk was -2.7 this year And +3.7 for a career. Both are part timers, so it's pretty apples-to-apples. We might even gain in run differential if Jed hits at all.

Jed Lowrie is an above average defender at third.

Anyone who recognized that an easily-hurt first baseman moving back to third full time -- a more athletic position -- offers an increased opportunity for injury and a drastically increased chance that the player in question will be "playing through something" at any given time. Seriously, everyone knew that that was the one biggest risk -- the risk of exposing Youkilis at third I mean -- in the Adgon trade/signing. So looks like Lowrie or Aviles at third for the next little while. If it's Lowrie, we can probably deal with it. Lowrie's due to go on a bit of a hitting run.

Scuttlebutt on Soxprospects is that this guy may be called up soon. Wonder what that means for 'Tek. Is this guy gonna catch or is he a pure DH?

This is why they bring Wake back.

They're still called unearned runs for a reason.

Nope. Kinda exposes the difference between a real small market and a team that won't spend, doesn't it?

Meh. We're getting Daisuke back for one more go sometime in the latter half of 2012, and we've also got 5 other starters under contract if we keep Wake about. Going after a starter this year was a direct response to losing Buchholz, we aren't in a position to go after another SP next year. I suspect we'll be active in the relief market.

He's making 12M now. it wouldn't be that shocking. Are you/AtWork taking the 12M of Pap's current salary OFF the books before thinking about adding the 15M back ON? Because he's only making $3M more than he made last year if he gets that kinda raise. He's not making $27M.

Yeah, Wakefield is one of those guys who always seems to find some way to get 10-15 starts or more for this team, and we'll probably be scrambling a bit to replace him when he goes. I suppose the Pocket Ace could handle his role in the short term but he's got enough work to do in his own role as it is. Aceves is one of the best in the world at what he does, I'd rather keep him in that role. He's fun to watch when he's on though. Watching a guy up there throwing in the high 50's with a fastball in the low 70's and getting big league hitters out with that kind of stuff is just silly.

Someone offers me $5M to change my mind, I seriously consider doing just that unless what they're asking is morally reprehensible.

He had that streak this year. In case you didn't notice he had a period in I want to say June and early July that dropped 2 runs off his ERA. His first couple starts after being put back into the rotation were rough, and then he hit his run because the league hadn't seen him for awhile, then the team got used to Wakefield being in the rotation again and people are relearning how to wait on the guy.

I'd look at Crisp, since we have Aviles to play right field anyway.

We just ran the table at the last minute on the first round and supplemental picks. Got all of Barnes, Swihart, Owens and Bradley. http://www.soxprospects.com/dh.htm Looks danged nice to me.

Now it turns out that he spoke a lottle strongly in the heat of the moment (shockingly...) but that the Cubs are thinking about buying him out next year. This would be a perfect time for a big market to step in and relieve them of the burden of that contract, and see if winning was the magic tonic Z needed to turn it around. Isn't that right, Yankee fans?

Young just went deep for the Tigers in his first at bat lol.

More heavily projected, yes. Quite possibly more highly regarded, although Papelbon was considered a high caliber starting pitching prospect. More polished, heck no. He had to work pretty dang hard to refine his command to the point it is today and he was topping out at 91 when he came up. although I'm sure the cancer played a huge role in that. Papelbon was much more clearly a big league pitcher in 2006. Before they made a closer with him, Papelbon was very much considered an heir to Schilling and even in the wake of 2006, it was a heated debate whether it was better for the guy to go back into the rotation. And he probably would have done a very good job as a starting pitcher. I often wonder how history would be different if we'd made the other call in '07. Oki probably would have been our closer by May, and he was very, very good that year, but the Gagne bust would have been magnified and I'm not sure we win the Series, even with the better rotational pitching. Going forward every year since we probably would have had a better shot though, which makes it interesting and tough.

Yeah he's a slugging stud. I suspect that his bat has dropped off at least partially because they've told him that he's done enough to earn promotion and he's focusing 100% on the defensive side of the ball. We'll see this kid in September. I'm positive of that. Sooner if Varitek gets hurt.

I wouldn't count most of Lavarnway's "negatives" as negatives, just points of skepticism. To sum up, the issues with Lavarnway as a catcher: 1: he's raw, having not caught a lot of live games 2: His technique is a little awkward and does not look good to scouts 3: He's unproven even by minor league standards in the finer art of catching, such as gamecalling and setting the defense. Honestly I was more focused on what the managers were saying about the dude's character, worth ethic, and ability to get the job done. You'll notice I highlighted nothing about the bat. The bat is there, the defensive tools are stronger than they looked like when he was drafted, and IMHO the rest will come with hard work and reps if he's g ot the kind or character that insists he do those things, and it looks like he's saying the right things at any rate. I actually like the idea of having Salty and this guy jostling for playing time over the next couple years. I think Lavarnway's ceiling in the end is as high as Salty's ever was, and we could come down with 2 great catchers if things go really well.

Stumbled across this little tidbit via Soxprospects, the bit about Lavarnway's defense I found highly interesting. http://www.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/alex-speier/2011/08/15/why-ryan-lavarnway-became-one-who-didnt-get-aw

Can you imagine playing catcher with no glove and no pads?

If I thought he'd be that guy going forward, I'd agree with you. I don't trust a guy his size to stay healthy enough to produce.