Dojji

I shouldn't have to lecture you about the difference between serving in a role and being defined by it. So I won't insult your intelligence by assuming you don't know the difference. Lowrie will play backup infield next year. That does not mean that he is no more than a utility man. It simply means that that's his best role next year, much like Youkilis best served the team as a backup 3B in 2004 and 2005 at a similar age. (OK OK, the team should have moved him to first in 2005 instead of screwing around with Millar and Petagine and Olderdude and who knows who, but still)

The only way I'd sign him long term is to a perpetual $12M/year Wakefield-style option. That way he has some security and every year is like a contract year.

I'm sorry, but there's no way you can say that with the kind of confidence you're implying. For all his health issues (the last one being completely unrelated to the original wrist injury, mind, unless wrist injuries transmit mono) the kid's only 26, he's still got plenty of time to make a positive impression. The health problems need to end of course but don't write the kid off just because he hit a long spell of bad luck. I mean how many of us when we saw Youkilis debuting for the first time in his career as a starting player at age 27 dismissed him as an average 1B and spent their days pining for Teixeira? Older college bats, especially those with known offensive upside, should not be written off just because they hit their mid 20's and are not starters yet. It's a good way to let gems slide through your fingers.

Iglesias isn't the only one in position to take advantage of Scutaro's expiring contract. Jed Lowrie still has potential, and if he has a healthy year next year he ought to be in the mix. Let's not forget that Lowrie was once considered to have as much potential as Dustin Pedroia, and he played well at SS when he was healthy enough to get out there. If he can stay on the field he could still have a chance at a John Valentin type career. And Yamaico Navarro is underrated. If he keeps demonstrating the gap power he flashed in Portland and develops some consistency with it he could make something of himself as well. It's nice to have options.

I hadn't realized Victor was only going into his age 32 season -- I had it in my head that he was older than that. I wouldn't mind keeping him around for 3-4 years if the price is right. I don't think we have any options that are a better all around package than than Martinez, and if that ever changes, V-Mart has a bit of versatility to him because he has experience at 1B, so it's relatively low risk for an over-30 catcher.

No -- the big difference between this year and the previous year is that Matsuzaka's stuff is significantly better -- he went from being shelled to being a guy who's hard to square up properly again, like he was in 2008. I still think that the lion's share of Daisuke's problems trace back to the shoulder injury he's been documentably struggling with since late 2007. For his entire time here, as Daisuke's shoulder goes, so goes Daisuke. He took that time off earlier this season, rested and rehabbed it and as a result he's got his fastball back and he's able to set up his offspeed pitches this year. I think that's the clincher in an argument beyond a reasonable doubt. If, and I can't stress how big an if this is, but if Daisuke commits to fully following the shoulder strengthening regimen prescribed by the Sox, the one that's kept the shoulders of every pitcher but Daisuke healthy for the entire time he's been here, the one he did everything short of declare war on Boston to avoid following last offseason, if he follows that regimen and gets his shoulder healthy, I predict a very good year next year

http://www.soxprospects.com/players/navarro-yamaico.htm Navarro pros: Plays SS, 2B and 3B competently Decent OBP skills Capable of gap power 22 in AAA -- Navarro has time to grow Navarro cons Not able to claim SS as his own in the minors Inconsistent year-to-year offensively Possible utility ceiling rather than prospective starter Nowhere near the bat to make the 3B utility truly useful Neither dominant speed tools nor stand-out power tools nor high-level discipline Projection: Somewhere between a starting 2B and a utility infielder depending on his OBP skills and gap power, which still has a bit of projectability to it. Still has a chance to work out at SS but that's not where the smart money seems to lie at the moment.

Delgado would be an interesting gambit. Frankly it'd be almost guaranteed not to work, but our options are so limited that shooting for the moon actually makes sense anyway.

Nava has his share of power. He's not a good slugger, but he's a solid gap to gap guy. He's not going to hit like a prototypical 1B but then we don't really have too many of those on hand anyway. Not gonna put up a big fight that Nava should be our 1B since I don't honestly believe it myself, but Nava's still an underrated hitter around these parts.

ORS and Example may object strenuously to referring to me as the minor league expect. I think he could learn first base. He's not unathletic. The issue there is that he isn't exactly tall, is he? Not really a prototypical 1B in other words. But if you allowed for a few growing pains as he learned a new position, yeah, Nava could learn first base, I'm sure. EDIT: He's 5'10" so taller than I remembered. But there's a lot of finer points to playing 1B that he'd struggle with and if we tried it we should probably count ourselves grateful this is not a bunting league

I'm going to phrase this as politely as I can. *WHY* is Eric Patterson in Boston instead of Daniel Nava? We have Hall who can back up Lowrie at second, and you might as well give Nava experience and see what you have. He's going to be here next year, he may well be in Boston, and with Youks out this is now a lost year so get him the most experience you can.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzgAjjuqZM

None of them. V-Mart and Beltre won't stay and Ortiz won't stay for the deal I'd offer him.

Which happens to be exactly what we need.

lol it honestly could have been anyone, and no, nothing's going to happen on the Papelbon front. As for Lowell, it's a distinct possibility except that we actually need him atm until we know whether we're going to lose Youks for the rest of the season or not. But if Theo decides to get what he can for Lowell, I suppose we can run with stopgaps for the rest of the year -- or call up Saltalamacchia and play him or V-mart at 1B.

Lowell still has utility. He can still hit a little and doesn't suck defensively when he can play. He's way overpaid atm, but if you re-up him for what he's worth, somewhere in the 4-6M range, he could be a decent to actually quite strong bench player, with some time at DH you could probably nurse him through 350-400 decent at bats.

I know you're being sarcastic, but Dunn sure has his flaws. Defense for one. I would take a serious look at Derrek Lee as a stopgap 1B. It's a gamble, he's having a truly lamentable year, but there's no denying his talent and you could get him for reasonable money right now. He seems like a guy who could really benefit from playing in Fenway. And it isn't that hard to figure out how to piece the roster together if he can't pull through, so go for it. I would also be for exploring the idea of re-signing Mike Lowell for short money to play Kevin Millar for one year. There's no denying that he can hit, and his skills would seem at first blush to make transition to 1B relatively simple for him. For the right price, Mike can still help us. This is an option you explore if FA utterly fails you, but it would be a better option than most of what I see out there that doesn't involve a blockbuster trade and several valuable, desperately-needed young players going somewhere else.

Right now, gun to my head, tell you how we solve the 1B/DH situation next year, my answer probably sounds something like "Dunn-Lowell-Ortiz quasi-platoon." Youik over at third since it's going to be way easier to find a solid short term 1B than a similar 3B and patch the first base situation together with multiple roster veterans.

The thing about Kalish and trades is I'm reluctant to move him because there's two outfield positions coming up when Drew and Cameron walk at the end of next season, and of course left field is wide open, so Kalish is a guy who can fill any one of multiple needs. Filling one hole by creating another one isn't great asset management, and you can't always sign your blues away.

He might not be for trade, if the Padres think they can go on one last run with him. It's a low risk proposition for them because if it doesn't pan out they can trade him at the deadline and if it does, they might have the revenue to ink him.

A lot of Youk's power is tied up in doubles -- way more of his overall power than Gonzo. So let the doubles guy double home the speed guys and then put long bomber guy behind him to hit the 2 run homer.

Of course that really doesn't actually address the absurdity of thinking that we can have Kalish and Adrian Gonzalez at the same time. All roads to Gonzo run through Kalish IMHO, he's the piece we have who is the best candidate to headline any trade for a headline slugger.

Not taking anything away from Gonzo's talent, but he's a patience/power hitter with decent offense tools otherwise while Youkilis is a more balanced package. Letting Youks get on base or rap a double or hit a base hit BEFORE AGonz hits his homer makes more sense to me than doing it the other way around.

if I have Youks and Gonzo 3-4, I'd rather bat Youks third. Pure hitter ahead of the high-performance slugger. I think you get a couple more runs that way.