SoxSport

You would think Jocketty would take heed about changing roles for Chapman--based on Bard's experience. He's got one of the top closers in Baseball, and he wants to make him a starter--against the intuition of his manager and the player's own wishes. Chapman won't be the same pitcher as a starter, because he has to take something off his fastball--like Bard had to do. Plus Chapman doesn't have many pitches. The other example is Neifi Perez, who developed arm problems on the shift to starter. Never undervalue the closer role, if you use a closer regularly in important game situations.

Farrell says he likes his arm in RF. He may have been thinking Victorino in LF, which makes sense. It's possible Farrell has a slightly different view than the FO. You would expect Farrell has more clout in the organization upstairs than Valentine, from his previous experience as a coach in Boston. You can't underestimate the positive effect on the pitching a defensive OF of Vic-Ells-Bradley would have. They know that now. Perhaps Cherington didn't see that when he signed Gomes. Bradley wasn't in focus then.

You could use that as an argument for starting Bradley to solidify OF defense--to improve the pitching. In that sense, he makes the Red Sox better. One of Cherington's prime criteria for keeping him. The FO knows the score on all the stats. They know it's about the pitching, and any improvement in the defense to improve the pitching has to be a priority. That's why Vic-Ells-Bradley in the OF looks attractive. Iggy at SS as well. Looks like they are looking seriously at Iggy.

Starters have been good in ST. Maybe Farrell's influence. When veterans do good in ST, it's usually a sign they are in shape. You worry when they do bad. It could be up or down for them.

http://bostonherald.com/sports/red_sox_mlb/boston_red_sox/2013/03/red_sox_must_ponder_three_criteria_before_promoting_jackie Cherington's latest criteria as the most important on whether Bradley will stick: "will he play every day? is he ready to play in the majors? Does he make the Red Sox better?" He goes on to say other criteria such as an extra year of control isn't as important. Good for him. 2019 is all the pundits and the tweeters are talking about. Off what Cherington is saying, it looks like he has a good shot at sticking. But Ben still has a predicament with his over-signings pre-season. He left himself with little wiggle room for a prospect who looks like he's ready to start. Ortiz' injury helps him, but when he returns, they'll have to figure something out. 20 games up, 20 games down would be an alternative for Bradley that would retain the 2019 year.So far off it's seems pretty ridiculous to make it a priority for a rich team fighting to get out of the basement in 2013.

Cherington said today they haven't decided yet about Bradley. I've seen odds about 50/50 that he sticks. He also said Ortiz will probably be DL'd, and that changes the picture some about Bradley. That's a nice OF--Vic-Ells-Bradley. With Gomes DH, Iggy at SS. Solid defense. How much that would impact the pitching is a good question.

Yeah--they have been more successful with SSs that play D and don't hit. That's not unusual. Though Cabrera got some clutch hits. Run differential includes the offense. Is there a stat that measures the effect of defense on pitching performance? It's hard to quantify defense, much less how it affects your pitching. A lot of people don't like the UZI, I think they call it. Often doesn't agree with the perception of defensive performance.

That's probably a good standard--compared to other slick fielding SSs in the past on good teams. Give or take 20 points. Depends on how you value the defense.

What you do is turn strong defense at SS and elsewhere into a pitching asset. Too bad that isn't a saber stat.

Too early to tell. Slick-fielding SS Crawford hit .230 for the World Champion Giants last year. That's the model. Championship teams with good field, no hit SSs abound. They win on team play--defense, pitching and some offense. The Red Sox have deteriorated into a one dimensional team, not unlike the old Yawkey teams, where individual hitting was the main priority. They haven't paid enough attention to other facets of the game, including team play--moving baserunners.Too much individual play on the field. No attention to the situation. I think Iggy has a problem in Boston because of the negative approach taken in his development. There has been too much media emphasis on the negative--his weak hitting--and not the positive--his strong fielding. The result is even the fans take his glove for granted and focus on his hitting. In reality, it should be the opposite for a SS--a defensive position. The FO is partly to blame for that, though they recognize they have $8 million in this kid, and have to stick with him. He is much too young (22-23) to be passing judgement on at this point. You put the kid in AAA for a year, and see what happens. Players take varying amounts of time to develop. Look at Bradley--seems ready now. But he has played ball in college for four years, and may not need much minor league development.

I would start Ciriaco over Iggy at SS in the Yankee series. Ciriaco has a knack for killing the Yankees. I would also start Bradley in LF or RF in that series. Victorino can play any outfield position, so he can be moved around. It's time that FO started focussing on WINNING as a priority, and not all the other BS about managing "control" years of players, who is being paid salary, etc. The priority should be about carrying the best players on the team, not the players who fit for other reasons. And playing those best players.

It won't make any difference if Iglesias hits .200 or .300 on the Red Sox this year. They will live or die on their starting pitching. Iglesias glove might make some difference on the pitching, however.

Youks clearly can play 1B, if they have somebody to play 3B. But they probably want a LHd hitter at 1B. They look pretty desperate short term.

Logic says you go to your best prospect for depth, which right now is Webster. He's there if needed. Pretty dumb to continue to go after "experience" =retreads, when you say you are youth oriented. Watch what they do, not what they say. Prospects seem to be a last resort? "Cherries" is a guy who was stuck in the middle of FO organizations for a long time. The school is still out on him.

Based on tweets about the starting lineup today, it looks like Iggy might start at SS opening day, but Gomes might be in LF and Sweeney DH.Still speculation at this point, but if so it might suggest the FO gets its way again on lineups. I recall last year at this time, the report was V wanted Iggy and Lav to stick, but the FO vetoed it. Is this happening again with Bradley? Hard to say at this point, but I can't believe they will start Gomes in LF in Yankee Stadium. Farrell and the coaches are the only fresh faces in the organization this year. Farrell is critical to the success of this team, and I hope he gets his way on personnel.

The other thing about Bradley is he's played 4 years in college, so he would be much farther ahead than a high school kid with a partial year in AA. You have to wonder how they could treat college and high school grads in the same light regarding minor league experience. The college guys should be farther ahead--more mature, and require less minor league experience--if they are talented enough.

As I understand it, they can keep him up to the first 20 games, then send him to AAA for 20 games, then bring him back--for 2019 control. Seems reasonable. Ortiz DL'd makes this likely. Plus Bradley makes sense in LF opening series in Yankee stadium. Ortiz will come to realize he will have to play with a little foot pain this year to play at all. And with an orthotic. Takes forever to go away.

No lose situation for them with Bradley and Iggy. If they hit some, they might stick. If they don't, they go to AAA. Bradley might go to AAA before 20 games, and stay in AAA for 20 games, to be controlled to 2019. They sure do improve the defense--at the minimum. Somebody tweeted they could have had an outfield of Bradley, Ellsbury and Hamilton for less or same money as they spent for their FAs. But they didn't know Bradley would hit .500 in Florida. With their new found star closer DeLaTorre and the rest, Pawtucket is going to one hell of a team this year.

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/red-sox/post/_/id/25613/morning-report-roster-projections?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter Edes projects an opening day roster with Bradley in LF, Iggy at SS and Gomes DH. Drew and Ortiz DL'ed.

Hey, thanks for that. Shaughnessy wouldn't put that in his book. Too bad Tito didn't elaborate on how he allowed this to happen. And how he was often throwing in the towel when they got 5 runs down.

Hey, how about Hanley Ramirez? You have a short memory. NL ROY from AA ball. With the Red Sox, AAA. Kalish, career wrecked, injured while sitting in AAA.

Tito, by the way, has never accepted responsibility for that September collapse during his tenure. He never accepted the blame for anything. I haven't read his book, but I've seen excerpts. His target is the ownership--the guys who fired him. The truth is he was a very lax manager who at times after '07 looked like he didn't care much about winning.

I think the team will be sold in the next couple years. They are set up to do it.

It runs in the family with Drew. His brother was always on the DL, and took forever to get in gear. His salary per game played was astronomical. Don't see Iggy sticking. He needs to build up his bat confidence in AAA. His hitting has been so overplayed in Boston, he's better off building some confidence in Pawtucket. Ciriaco is more likely to get the nod if needed for a few weeks. I wish they would go directly to Bogaerts, but that won't happen, either. Not with this FO.

Natural tendency for a manager, but he's probably right. Valentine was in a lose situation. He had no support in that organization. I read he couldn't even get game scouting reports from the FO. Valentine's big mouth has made him a scapegoat for the Red Sox season. I think he inherited a dysfunctional situation. A bunch of prima donnas who felt entitled because they won 2 Championships. That includes Tito, who probably felt he was entitled to a lifetime contract. My own view is the organization still sucks because Henry didn't fire Lucchino and get a new GM. He continues to let the tail wag the dog.