laxtonto

Deal was for McGuiness, Menedez, a PTBNL and $350,000

Just FYI, Salty got demoted due to his inability to throw out runners and a bad case of the yips... Still has a hard time throwing guys out (15% CS) and looks "forced" throwing the ball back to the pitcher. May be a future 1B candidate...

Been out of the loop for a while... On Max Ramirez.. Lets start with the fact that yes he had two injured wrist most of last season. That really hampered his ability at the plate. With that out of the way, Maxamillo has some severe issues. Enough to have him knocked into the 13-18 range in a deep Texas system. First off, his ability to defend behind the plate has not improved. The plan was to keep him in AAA and let him work on is footwork, defense and game calling abilities and make him fringe average defensively behind the dish. He foot work never improved last year and some people thought his abilities behind the dish as a whole regressed. Most likely he is a 1B/DH guy. He does not have the athleticism to play the OF and, unfortunately, he is pretty short and will not make a great 1B. Second major area of concern should be the rumblings scouts have had on him being a bad ball or mistake hitter and that his swing is a little slow or long. Combine those characteristics with the wrist troubles and you see why his numbers fell so far. I would be afraid that he might not be able catch up with a MLB fastball. He is a guy that really needs to be scouted hard. The thing with Ramierez is that unless you have absolute faith in his bat, he may be a non-prospect if he can't stick at C. He is a guy that might be just good enough to captivate everyone when he gets on a hot streak but not quite good enough to be an everyday regular. I really doubt that he is either the C or DH of the future. Lets not forget that unless he rocks with the bat next year he is a potential non-tender candidate due to his age and lack of position. As far as dealing Lowell and eating 9M for him? Not a horrible move id the team thinks that Beltre is the best FA option for this year or next year on the FA market at 1B/3B. It is better to treat Lowell as a sunk cost and improve the team this year and fill the potential hole for next year now instead of trying to fill that hole in a weaker FA market. The big bats are really not going to be available in FA next year. The time frame in which prominent FA reach the market has shifted due to the craze of locking guys up through arbitration and beyond and so there is going to be a "hole" in the market as it adjusts. Not a huge fan of Ramirez but without knowing who else is on the table there is no way to judge. My biggest concern will be if Texas keeps dragging this out to get something else in the deal in hopes that the Sox will panic. I would not be surprised to see some Beltre to "X" rumors here soon just to see if Theo gets antsy

I think I would have rather seen him than Wilson throwing 98 on the corner...

A clean inning that had 1 good defensive play and 2 hard hit balls... Seemed more scary than normal. it might just be that Texas takes some viscous cuts and puts balls in play with some major velocity on it.

No... Unless Larkin gets in first ballot first and there is a close precedent

Ill go with that... But I would not be surprised to see a major push for Larkin

This O'Day guy has sick splits Dominates RH.... Meh LH

He'll make it... Especially if he sticks around a few more years... Approximately 2700 hits, best feilding SS of his generation...

Ok, time to trade for Vizquel... I am sold

All cruz needs now is a single for a cycle...

That call should almost always go to the C because he blocked the plate and the ball was in time. That being said, it looks like he missed the tag intially and had to tag him further up his arm after he touched the plate.

WTF was t hat?

After seeing it again from over the C shoulder from the 1st base side, he was safe... Can't blame the ump though because of how the player ran it. You couldn't tell unless you where on the 1B side instead of the 3B side.

I don't know if he touched him from the view in the air behind home plate....

Right Shoulder Strain....

Why... Thats a good thing, right? The guy behind the plate has been horrible though...

That blown call saved a run... Umps are trying to get the Sox a win today

So Dice has struck out 7 through 4 1/3 and still has given up 4 runs? So Texas either crushed it or K's?

If Kinsler didn't get hurt, he would have split the MINF vote first off, and second off his numbers would have dwarfed Pedroia's. Kinsler would not have won, but neither would have Pedroia. Youk probably would have, and he actually deserved it.

Nice catch!!!

if Kinsler doesn't get hurt last year, Pedroia doesn't win the MVP... I like Pedroia, but he is vastly overrated by many. Hes good, not great.

Better UZR, UZR/150 and +/- this year that Pedroia

Atleast the Ump is helping out... According to pitchfx, all 5 of those were strikes.