Dojji

Just curious: do you think Lavarnway is a catcher, Keeper? Tim Federowicz is I think one of the catchers the organization needs to most keep an eye on. From what I've heard the defensive skills are unquestionable and he took a big step forward offensively. Remains to be seen if he can sustain it obviously, but Fed's got a chance.

Who's going to take these guys? If we're going to get anyone in who's better than what we have, we have to be taking on salary. The only guy we have who makes sense to trade, and is worth anything to another team is Tim Thomas. And no. Just no.

Would definitely not be surprised if they did get something done. Mauer apparently loves playing for the Twins, and the Twins like making money, which having a pinnacle player really helps with, so it's a good match.

The heck?

The only reason to use the term "the upper minors" in my opinion is to encompass both AA and AAA. Otherwise, just saying "AAA" or "Pawtucket" is clearer. I'm cognizant of the strikeouts, but I'm not too worried about them because they're not the result of an inability to make contact, which is IMHO the big reason you'd worry about strikeouts. Reddick is a power hitter, strikeouts come with the territory -- even more disciplined power hitters like Ortiz, Youks or Bay sill strike out a fair bit. Hitting for power without striking out a ton is reserved for utter freaks like Pujols and Mauer. I'm more concerned about the franchise's willingness to jerk him around. It strikes me as exactly the wrong approach with a guy like Reddick who needs to get consistent reps in order to gain confidence and discipline.

Dipre. You know as well as I do that AA is the upper minors. It's about time to stop holding out on Reddick. He tattooed the Eastern League at age 22. He is on pace to make the majors for good by age 24. He's officially on the radar, it is time to treat him as such -- a few warts and all.

Thing is, Reddick's discipline is only about average but his contact skills are actually very good. AVG-driven hitters can be very good offensive players. We used to have one as our starting shortstop. Sure, our lasting memory of the guy was from when he jumped two levels to the big leagues and looked correspondingly lost, but I wouldn't let that erase the rest of what the guy has done in the minors.

I don't know where you're getting that Reddick doesn't have corner OF power. His power potential was supposed to be one of his major selling points and his IsoP in Portland this year was actually very good. Now his discipline might get in the way and stop him from getting enough contact to let him use his power effectively, but as I understand it, raw power is most definitely not Reddick's problem. If Reddick plays well in Pawtucket this year, and performs solidly in a callup I could see him as our starting RF next year with Drew moved to left field to cut down on wear and tear.

One but not two? Dipre, they need to sign a guy or we'll have ALL THREE. Even if Drew plays out 2011, which is a potential optout year for the Sox depending on Drew's health, it's doubtful he'll still be here much beyond that. And the FA list for 2011 is Crawford and Nobody, so we're going to have two of those guys out there and probably the third playing 4th Outfield -- and that's if we don't get pennywise and pound foolish trying to sign Crawford. But then, I suppose I'm not counting on a guy who's never put up a healthy professional season to be a fulltime big league superstar starter, and I therefore must be a fool.

Oh, I have no trouble at all believing that we'll have more than 3 big leaguers matriculate over the next 3 years. My only point is that it might not be the guys you'd instantly think about. Over the next three years Cameron, Drew, and Hermida will be moving on, and the impending FA lists for outfielders are fairly underwhelming over the next 2-3 years IMHO. I have little difficulty believing that Kalish, Ellsbury and Reddick will all get ample opportunities to prove that they can be starting players. Unless we re-sign Drew or sign Carl Crawford, these guys won't even be jostling. V-Mart and Tek are both leaving next year as well, unless we get something done and the list of impending FA's at the catcher's spot is VERY weak. If we wind up in the same place re: Mauer and V-Mart as we did re: Holliday and Bay, I could see us promoting two catchers and basing playing time off performance. Expo is more talented than Wags, but Wags is much more seasoned, so I'm not sure which way that would go.

How did Kevin Youkilis crack the roster? Just because a guy starts as a backup doesn't mean he can't earn his way from there. Youkilis' 3 year window would have encompassed respectable showings in 2006 and 2007 as unspectacularly solid starting 1B and met your criterion, even if he was never originally intended to do so.. I honestly think Kalish is going to impress some people. As for Richardson and Doubront, it comes down to what they do once they get here, since the bullpen can be a bit of a crapshoot at the best of times. Wagner doesn't have a great shot with Expo coming, except that you're assuming Expo has a great year. He's got a talented bat, but it's no secret his approach is a little meh, and advanced pitching could expose him this year. Besides, both of our big league catchers have contracts that expire this year, so if we lose the Mauer sweepstakes we might wind up with 2 holes to fill there.

Not forgetting that "lesser lights" in particular Ryan Kalish, Mark Wagner, and Dustin Richardson, have a very good chance of earning playing time on at least a part-time basis within the next 2 years themselves. I could see any of those three plus Felix Doubront playing bench/bullpen roles in the very near future. Kalish is at least a solid 4th OF with good baserunning speed, strong D from all 3 outfield spots, and useful power. Even if a starting spot doesn't open for him here, there's no way he's not going to get a chance to crack the bench. Wagner's got the defensive chops to thrive as a backup catcher, and at least some hope of hitting. Both Doubront and Richardson are talented LHP's with at least bullpen utility. I could see Doubront in the inning burning "Long Lefty" role, while Richardson seems like a standard issue LOOGY type. We couold see any of these players next year depending on how the roster falls out. Richardson might even break camp with the team (longshot, but our bottom bullpen slots are open)

Interesting flier. The guy isn't horrible, and he might be useful.

In other words, "if it becomes a problem, they'll settle and suffer and wait for next year." I guess that's a legitimate school of thought.

If it gets to be a problem, we can probably release Varitek and call up Mark Wagner or Dusty Brown, both of whom have better arms than our current duo. I know Brown has knuckleball experience and I think Wagner has a little too. Most likely it'd be Brown, since Wagner still has maybe a bit more development he could manage in the minors and Brown is an older guy who seems well-suited to a backup role.

Non-news.

One point.

Kerry Wood comp is sexy. Wood was one heck of a pitcher before Dusty Baker destroyed him. Looks like the guy loves him some power pitcher icons and has the stuff to follow their lead. Sounds like someone to keep an eye on.

An outside chance he'll be in the middle of our order. OK. I think Martinez, Lowell if he's still here, Ortiz, Drew, VMart and Beltre would all have to abjectly suck to have any chance of that happening, but OK.

More malcontented rumblings from an old-timey curmudgeon. It's like some of the old scientists looking at the newfangled atomic theory thing and scoffing, preferring their industructible bits of Earth, Air, Water and Fire. Old timey thinking: The batter hits the ball.... and runs happen. Sabermetric thinking: the batter hits the ball, and based on a number of relatively predictable factors, a specific number of runs happen.

He's getting paid to produce offensively. HR's are part of that, but only part. If he invests in a few bunt singles, and it makes managers back off the overshift, that's a worthy investment of a few bunts where there might have been big swings, as he'll sacrifice one or two potential homers for maybe as many as 5-10 additional doubles. Also, they only really overshift on Big Papi when there aren't lots of baserunners on, so in those situations he's still free to swing for the downs and has a better chance of something falling in if it doesn't work out. Any time there's an LHP on the mound and nobody on, Ortiz should drop one down. He should do it until the infield has to stay put when there's a lefty on the mound. That way the managers get to choose -- the Lefty Specialist, or the Overshift. One or the other. But not both.