redsoxfan3

Agreed. I don't see this as anything more than a depth move. He has been plagued with injuries. Last year he was horrendous after coming off of his injury. Just another name to add to the list of Jesse Carlson, Brandon Duckworth, Carlos Silva, and Charlie Haeger. Maybe one of these guys can be some sort of value for us other than just depth. We have signed several minor league contracts where guys are going to be potential depth guys for us in the rotation. This move doesn't hurt us, and in the long run may benefit us, but I am not expecting anything great from Cook. I am still waiting for that move where we get our 4th starter, this is definintely not it.

I think that was just something that they agreed to in terms that didn't involve his compensation. As of right now that is not the compensation, although it would not surprise me if we hear in the next few weeks that it is the compensation. I don't really know what the hold up is, because back in November, Theo's compensation was really the only thing that everyone was talking about. It wouldn't surprise me if we just get a crappy prospect and they call it a day. I don't see what is taking so long for the compensation. It has kind of fallen off of the radar. I remember some people were saying that his compensation could be something with some sort of trade with Garza. That is probably a long shot, especially since their asking price is super high. We will probably know fairly soon what the official compensation is. The only thing I am worried about as of now is getting a #4 starter in the rotation and adding a couple of more arms to the pen. I think we are generally headed into the season on a good note from this offseason. A couple of more good moves could make us a really good team this upcoming year. The Melancon and Bailey trades were great moves by BC. I would love for us to sign Oswalt, Kuroda, or Jackson, but their asking prices are probably too much. Maybe Saunders is more realistic. All I know for sure is that we need one more proven guy in the rotation, because I don't know what to expect from Bard and with injuries. Hopefully Dice-K will be a good second half guy for this team. Either way, when it is all said and done, we will be a good team and a team that can compete for the AL East title.

This year he is going to be the third string catcher and will start the year in AAA. He will probably remain in AAA the majority of the year, unless either Salty or Shoppach get hurt at C or Papi gets hurt at DH. He will be back again during the September callups if he isn't already in the majors due to injuries. The reason he stays in AAA is so that he gets his at-bats and a chance to improve defensively. I expect him to do well in AAA offensively and improve some defensively. I feel that he is major league ready now as a DH, but I expect him to improve more defensively so that he can play C at the major league level. I am not going to give predictions in regards to statistics, because he is not going to be in the majors the majority of the year.

I will let you know if I find out anything. I am going to be at some games I believe, I might even be volunteering at some games as well. I go to college at FGCU which is a few miles from the stadium. I live in Fort Myers permanently. If you need any information on places to eat or stuff to do, just let me know. Any information I find I will post here.

Good point Palodios. I completely agree with you. I am excited in the acquisitions of both Melancon and Bailey. Melancon will be a solid set-up guy that will replace Bard. Bailey will be a solid closer that will replace Paps. I won't expect him to be as dominant as Paps, but he will nonetheless be a good pickup. I am excited about the moves, especially since it only cost us Reddick, Lowrie, and Weiland. Kalish can replace Reddick, I feel like he has a higher ceiling. I also am interested in seeing if we go after another RH right fielder. I saw on MLBTR that Mike Aviles will be fighting for the RF spot. That could be interesting, because I knew when we acquired him last year that they were talking about him possibly playing in the outfield. We might see a platoon of him and Kalish with McDonald being the possible depth guy, although I would like to see us sign someone else for that role. Sweeney will be interesting to watch. I am hoping Aceves can stay in the pen and that we can sign one more starter. With Aceves, Melancon, and Bailey as the 7th, 8th, and 9th combo, I am extremely comfortable. Signing or trading for one other decent starter will make this a good offseason in my opinion. If we can somehow trade for Garza I will be happy. This will be an interesting couple months for us for the remainder of the offseason.

Kalish has to go out and prove himself this Spring. Sweeney is also a LH outfielder, so we still need to go get another RH outfielder. Kalish will probably be the one that ends up starting, but I still think we are going to go get a RH outfielder because I don't see us relying on McDonald as the utility OF. A guy like Cody Ross would be very good for us. I am not sure how his talks are progressing with the Rockies.

We acquired Bailey from the A's according to MLBTR. We are giving up Reddick in the deal. This is definitely good news.

I can't say I disagree with you about not expecting us to get Bailey or Madson, but it is possible. You aren't even going to give Jenks a chance? I agree he was out-of-shape in the past, but what makes you think he is not trying to improve on that? He might be better than you think next year. Miller will be a long inning reliever when needed and a spot starter. I am not expecting him to be reliable in the pen, just as someone to be there so we don't burn out our other relievers. I am not expecting us to have Bowden as a reliable reliever either, just another innings eater. Doubront is yet to reach his potential. I have more faith in him than most do. I feel like he can play a vital role in our pen. He has started the majority of his career. If he can work on just being a decent reliever, then I think he can be effective. Give him some time in Spring Training. Atchinson only pitched in 17 games last year, but if he can have the same numbers as last year and be consistent for us this year, he can also be a decent contributor. I'm not really expecting much out of Albers, he has pretty much sucked his entire career. I was just saying that if he improves, then that will be a boost to the pen. I am not expecting these guys to be the best relievers in the world, I was just stating the positives that these guys can do to help our pen out. Like I said, we are not going to have the best bullpen, but I think we will construct a bullpen by opening day that we can compete with. We are not finished with acquisitions. Like you said, you don't expect us to go after Madson or Bailey, but we might. We are not just going to sit back the rest of the offseason, we are going to do something else to improve our pen. I really liked the addition of Melancon.

It is funny that you ask that. I went to get some fried chicken with Lackey last night right after we went to the gym. Instead of working out, we just had some beers. It was pretty cool. He was telling me about how well his offseason workouts are going and how much he is progressing. He will be ready for the 2013 season. He told me he plans on gaining weight and being out-of-shape. So far he is doing everything in his power to meet his goals.

BTW, has anyone heard if Marco Scutaro was at Disney on Christmas? I saw someone in a Red Sox shirt that looked like Scutaro. I was at Epcot with my fiancee. I searched for it online, but didn't find anything. I was just interested in knowing, because I know not too long ago Pedroia was spotted there. If anyone heard anything, it would be cool to know. I did happen to see some Notre Dame football players.

+1 Thank you! I completely agree. A lot of fans that I talk to want to completely rebuild this team. We lost Papelbon, that the only huge loss for us. We can solve that by signing Ryan Madson. In my opinion, we don't even need to sign Madson, we just need to find a decent closer who can get the job done (I wouldn't mind giving Melancon the chance). This team has the chance to be the best team in baseball if everyone stays healthy. We can break this down by each position. C- We improve some. We lose an aging Varitek (hopefully the FO does not feel the need to cave in and resign him). We sign Shoppach, who will replace Varitek. Shoppach is great with throwing out runners. We have Lavarnway as well, who will probably start the year in AAA (my guess so he doesn't lose at bats and playing time), who could always come up and be an offensive bonus to this team. We can expect the same out of Salty. 1B- Stay the same with Gonzalez. I expect a drop off on his average, but a boost in his power numbers. We still will be solid at 1B. 2B- We have leadership at 2B with Pedroia. He will hopefully be the next Captain if they choose to give someone the C. I expect his stats to be the same, if not slightly better. SS- We have Scutaro again. He will be solid for us. I don't expect big things out of him, but we definitely are not getting worse at SS. 3B- Youk is solid defensively and I expect him to contribute more offensively if he can stay healthy. We should improve at 3B. Utility IF- We got rid of Lowrie, but we replace him with Punto. We also have Mike Aviles this year. We have two solid utility infielders. DH- We stay the same at DH with Papi. His numbers might decrease some, but we will still get solid production from him. We have Lavarnway ready to go as a backup plan if something were to happen to Papi. LF- This is the big question mark. Carl Crawford cannot do any worse than last year. We can really only improve in LF. I think this will be a bounce back year for Crawford. If he has a big year offensively, along with Youk, then this team will be one of the best, if not the best offensive team in baseball. CF- If Ellsbury can duplicate his numbers from last year, then that will be amazing. I see a slight drop off of power numbers from Ellsbury, but I still see him giving us great production with average and with speed. We are definitely set in CF next year. RF- This is another question mark. A lot of people want a RH right fielder. J.D. Drew is gone, but that is perfectly fine with me. We have Kalish and Reddick that can play in a platoon role together if we do not go get a RH right fielder. I think Reddick will be more consistent. I hope Kalish can have a good recovery after his injury. I think that we can improve in RF, but it is a question mark at this point. Maybe Cody Ross would be a nice addition. Utility OF- McDonald is our RH outfielder as of now, but I see us signing another RH outfielder at some point. At this point, we stay the same, but we only improve with a signing. SP- It sounds hard to believe since we haven't signed anyone, but we actually can only improve our rotation. Lackey is out for the year and Wakefield is hopefully not returning. With Lester, Beckett, and Buchholz at the front of the rotation, we have a strong front end if they all can stay healthy. Bard was moved to the rotation and possibly Aceves, depending on if we sign any other starters. The only thing we have to do is improve on the production of Wakefield and Lackey, and that should not be hard to do. Dice-K might even be beneficial to us when he makes his return in July or August. At the very least he adds depth for us. The only thing that raises a concern for me is injuries. If we can stay healthy, then we can have a solid rotation. I like the rotation as of now, signing someone else will only improve the rotation. We are still looking into Oswalt, Kuroda, and Jackson. We resigned Miller, which helps our depth and he can be a spot starter. Jesse Carlson could also be a decent spot starter if needed. I expect Lester, Beckett, Buchholz, and Bard to all start for us. If we don't sign another pitcher, then I am comfortable with Aceves in the rotation. Matsuzaka, Miller, and Carlson are there to add depth during the year if needed. Bullpen- Bard and Melancon can both close for us if needed. If the season started tomorrow, then Melancon is our closer. I am comfortable with him closing, but I know a lot of people are not (I am a lot more comfortable with him as the the set-up man). I know we lost Paps, and that is a huge loss to the pen, but we are making a fresh new pen. Bard will probably be in the rotation, and possibly Aceves, but if they don't work out as starters, we know they are reliable relievers. I expect Jenks to be a positive contributor. We are still probably going to try to trade for Bailey or sign Madson, that would only improve the pen, because Melancon would be able to be the set-up man. Miller, Albers, Bowden, Morales, Doubront, and Atchinson will also be fighting for spots in the pen. Nothing is set in stone at this point, but we do have options for the bullpen. We also can go out and trade for some relievers and still even sign some relievers. If we can get a bounce back year from Jenks, improvement from Albers, decent numbers from Morales again, see Doubront reach his potential, see a decent year from Atchinson, and have Miller and Bowden be consistent when called upon, then this bullpen will be effective. I am not expecting us to have the best bullpen in baseball, but I expect us to have a decent bullpen. We are far from finished acquiring players this offseason. The bullpen will be decent and with a good offense and a better rotation, then the bullpen will be effective enough. I would love for us to sign Madson. The biggest thing for this team is injuries. If we can stay healthy, this team will be one of the best in baseball. We have new management, which is a positive. A lot of people forget how good this team was last year for most of the year. The September collapse will not happen again.

You can also purchase overpriced tickets on Stub Hub. It might not be ideal for how much they are, but I really want to get decent seats for one game. They have a lot of good seats left on Stub Hub. Thank you for all the help everyone!

I don't know if there is a topic about JetBlue Park already. I currently live in Fort Myers, so I see the stadium quite often. It is amazing how fast the stadium is coming together. I am excited about the Red Sox playing here in 2012. I know that there are probably a lot of people excited about the new stadium. I did have some questions though. Is there anyone planning on making the trip to Fort Myers this year for some Spring Training games? Do you know what dugout the Red Sox will be using at JetBlue? Is it going to be like at Fenway where they use the 1B side dugout? I am assuming so, but I have not yet purchased tickets because I have to ask off of work. I would love to get tickets right behind the dugout. If anyone can let me know, that would be greatly appreciated. Tickets are going fast and I am probably going to have to purchase tickets off of Stub Hub right behind the dugout for a $125 a piece.

I like us hiring McClure as the pitching coach. I think he deserves a shot. He has a lot of experience as a pitching coach with the Rockies and Royals. I am not too sure about Bogar being the bench coach, but at least he will be in the dugout and not at 3B anymore. I know that not many people like Bogar, but I do respect his career .601 win percentage as a manager. I think that he could be a decent person in the clubhouse as the bench coach. If the FO feels that he deserves a shot, then I am willing to give him one. Jerry Royster could be an interesting move as the 3B coach if that is who the FO chooses. The things I like about Royster is that he has managing experience, experience actually playing 3B, and knows Valentine. The thing that I like is that we finally have almost all of the coaching pieces put into place. Now hopefully we can find some good deals to improve our pitching.

I read on MLB Trade Rumors that Oswalt is now seeking a one-year deal. I wonder what the price would be for him. He might be worth the risk. The only thing for me is hopefully he can stay healthy. This could keep Bard or Aceves in the pen, which would be good. Also, we have "increased dialogue" with Francisco Cordero. I would rather have Madson, but I feel like Cordero would be a cheaper option and still would be reliable for a year or two. He is 36, so he is getting old. The positive of potentially signing both Cordero and Oswalt is that we would have flexibility. If we keep Bard as a starter, then Aceves would probably be the 7th inning guy, with Melancon as the set-up, and Cordero as the closer. If we keep Aceves in the rotation, then we would probably have Melancon as the 7th inning guy, Bard as the set-up, and Cordero as the closer. Cordero, Melancon, and Bard all have the potential to close for this team. Melancon and Cordero have experience as a closer. Either way that would leave us with 3 solid arms in the pen for the last three innings.

I was looking at options for a RH right fielder. What about Reed Johnson? He hit .309 for the Cubs last year. I haven't heard much about him. How much would he cost? He made $900K last year and I'm assuming that he wouldn't get much more. He only played in 111 games last year and is 35. Maybe he could be a cheap signing and would work in a platoon role in right field? I am not big on guys like Magglio Ordonez, Cody Ross, Ryan Ludwick, or Xavier Nady. Obviously Beltran is the best option, but the most expensive.

For a start, I want to sign Madson as our closer and Oswalt to a 2 year deal. Then we can keep either Bard or Aceves in the pen. I would prefer for Aceves to start, keep Bard as the set-up, and have Melancon as the 7th inning guy, it might not be realistic to get both, but it could be possible. Now to be unrealistic, Madson signs a 4 year/10 million deal and Oswalt signs a 2 year/5 million dollar deal. That would make my Christmas, even though those rates are unrealistic.

This is kind of off-topic, but I didn't want to start a whole new thread about it, but is anyone going to the yard sale at City of Palms Park tomorrow? I know a lot of you guys aren't from Fort Myers, but if you are, I strongly recommend you make the trip over. There are some good deals. I will update everyone with what I get.

I wouldn't doubt that at all. He closed 20 games for the Astros last year and had a decent ERA. I wouldn't be surprised if they made this move so Bard can go to the rotation and so he can be our closer. I am not saying he will be our closer, it just makes sense with what is happening at this point in the offseason. He could be a solid set-up man, and if anything like others have said, he will be at the minimum a good addition to our pen.

Yes, we threw out Weiland, he was great SP depth for us. Weiland was garbage last year. He still could develop into a decent pitcher, but he was nothing but miserable for us last year. I don't want depth that is unreliable.

He had a 2.78 ERA in 2011. The 3.21 is his career ERA. I could see this guy as emerging. a700hitter- I agree with you on that one. I was hoping for a better deal than Melancon and these were two guys that were decent trade bait.

Not sure if this was posted already.

Weird, I posted that a minute after you did. It sucks, but they must not feel like Lavarnway isn't ready defensively. It wouldn't make much since to keep Lavarnway on the major league roster as the third catcher and to just be a pinch hitter, it would take a lot of at bats away from him.