SoxSport

They don't have the balls to take chances. They have the money to spend on veterans, and think they can keep people in the seats that way. I suspect it's the reverse. The fans would rather see the prospects.

You can kick ass in Pawtucket, but if your way up is blocked by a salary, you'll stay in Pawtucket.

I don't care who plays SS. But I'd like to see all these kids get a serious shot at what they can do, instead of parking them all in Pawtucket. But they never get that shot with a position closed up already by an expensive player. Drew is the SS. They just aren't willing yet to go to the prospects--preferring the veterans. Are any of those prospects ready yet? Who knows? They had no real clue about Middlebrooks, but were forced to bring him up when Youkilis got hurt. And if Drew gets hurt... The prevailing view, it seems, is we talk prospects, but we go with the salaries. Because we have to be respectable--to sell tickets. And the money is there to spend.

As I recall, Hanley Ramirez came out of AA ball, got traded to the Marlins, and next year was ROY in the NL. If he doesn't get traded, he sits in AAA for a year. Middlebrooks spent only a partial season in AAA, and would have still been there if Youkilis hadn't destructed. The Red Sox like to sit on their prospects. That's their history. Partly because their roster is always heavy with high salaried veterans. Partly because they believe in the maximum amount of seasoning in the minors. The Orioles have a kid named Manny Machado. He's getting overhyped off his scant minor league background, but he's 20 and being touted as the next ARod. Already in his 2nd year in the majors. That doesn't happen in Boston. The Red Sox have a bunch of prospects right now, but the roster has been filled with veterans, as usual.

Reading today Cafardo says they have 5 guys at SS. Iggy, Bogey, Marrero, Ciriaco, Drew. Now Iggy hasn't shown he can hit at a hi level yet, Marrero has just single A experience (though a college grad), Ciriaco is viewed as a utility player, and Bogaerts needs to pay his dues in the minors. Which reminds me of his idol, Hanley Ramirez, who had to get traded to get his chance to become ROY in the NL for the Marlins. In Boston, he sits in AAA. So why did they blow $10 mil on Drew? Why not have Bogey and Iggy fight it out for SS? I also see they have Bogey playing 3B in the WBC. What for? The management has no balls.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2013/02/gonzalez_crawfo.html AdGon says the Red Sox problem was with the management, not the players. Lots of conflicts upstairs. Lucchino paints everything over--he's one of the problems, in my view. It was clear his choice for manager, Valentine, never got any support from the rest of the organization. Maybe his frustrations led to his mouthing off to the media about his players. Crawford? Well, Crawford seems a bit confused about what his problems were. He certainly wasn't a good fit--defensively in LF at small Fenway, or offensively--in a free swinging lineup that did not play smallball. And he was grossly overpaid on a team that sneered at stolen bases.

It boils down to pitching. In all the divisions. The teams that get the best pitching will come out on top. All those millionaire hitters don't mean squat unless you have a few millionaire pitchers--who can earn their pay.

Anything's possible, but I don't see 90 wins this year as realistic for this team. There are too many things that have to go right, and that hasn't happened for awhile in Boston. I see Buchholz has managed to strain his hammy already. Not doing his stretching exercises? Time to trade that guy while they can. Not durable.

I see Papi is mouthing off against Valentine again. Keeping the Boston media employed. Well, Valentine did the same, too. Touche, Papi.

The Guardians suddenly have a sugar daddy.

You don't figure Dickey to have another CY type season, not in a hitters park in Toronto and the AL East, with the DH.

I don't have a problem with their strategy for Lav and Salty. Both need to play regularly. Lav gets to play in Pawtucket, Salty in Boston. If Lav hits in Pawtucket, and Salty doesn't show any improvement in Boston, I think they'll deal Salty by the trade deadline. They won't want to pay him more next year--not with Lav available. We'll probably see Lav the 2nd half unless Salty improves.

I wouldn't take seriously anything Henry said today. They are clearly aiming for respectability the next two years--which is why they spent all that money signing veterans. Part of that is selling tickets, maybe a part is keeping the team attractive for a possible sale. The prospects will get more seasoning in the minors, unless there are injuries.

Last year was a dysfunctional year for the Red Sox. It was a year in which the manager had almost no support in the organization, which rebelled at the way he was chosen. Now, I ask you, is that the right climate to be bringing up prospects and expecting them to produce? I'm thinking about Lav and Iggy. The talk is Valentine wanted both to stick with the team, but was overruled by the FO. They both went to Pawtucket where they did pretty well. Both disappointed when they were recalled to Boston later in the year. Neither hit a lick. And Lav was expected to hit. Iggy is a marginal hitter, anyways, but he was completely useless with the bat. Considering that most of the team, including a lot of veterans, underperformed last year--especially after the big salary dump, you have to maybe excuse the weak showing of Lav and Iggy. They'll surely get another shot in ST/AAA this year in a better climate. The remarkable thing is Middlebrooks did so well last year considering the distractions. That's a good sign for him. Though he missed the last part of the season due to injury, when the team basically quit. The injury may have been a boon for him.

I doubt they'll trade Lav. They have an option year left on him, and are looking for him to improve his hitting in AAA. Salty will have to improve some this year to warrant a bigger contract next year, so he's more likely to be traded. They figure rightly both can't get enough PT in Boston.

Maybe he's trying to build him up for a trade. But he isn't fooling anybody. I do think Salty is the type of kid who will improve. Big on effort. Limited on talent--maybe. These type can surprise. Didn't expect 25 HRs last year.

Ben was in the middle of the pack in the FO before Hoyer and Byrnes left. I just hope he hasn't been Peter Principled up to GM because Henry didn't want to spend more money hiring on the outside.

I just wrote a post about Salty somewhere here. MLB rumors is reporting an interview today with Cherington which implies Salty and Ross will stick, and Lav will go to Pawtucket. Already the media is overinterpreting--saying Lav is trade bait. Considering Ben's track record--or lack thereof--in player evaluation, I think that sounds a bit hasty. Granted Lav should start the season in AAA, but he probably has more upside than Salty, and he shouldn't be traded. I expect Salty to improve this year, especially defensively, because the kid is a hard worker. He has to get his glove target off the middle of the plate and onto the corners. Caught him at that watching him last year. And he needs to get his OBP up. Lav has to get his stroke back in Pawtucket--or in ST. Salty and Lav are two big guys who can be very good catchers. They should hold onto both. Ross is strictly backup material long term.

I wonder about Dickey in the AL, too. And in a hitters ballpark. Plus he won the CY last year, and that often means an off-year the next year. And then he's 38. You have to wonder about the Jays. They have a bunch of stars, but that doesn't guarantee wins. Their pitching is what counts. You wonder if Johnson can stay healthy, what Dickey will do, whether Romero can rebound, etc. Every team has questionmarks. Can the Orioles be Cinderella again? Will the Red Sox have still another year when everything goes wrong? Will age finally catch up with the Yankees? Can the Rays replace Shields? Always questions at this time of year that are tough to answer.

I saw some rankings of the top 10 3rd baseman on MLB channel last night, and they actually had Youks ranked 3rd! I thought that was pretty ridiculous, but then they said these rankings were based on pre-season a year ago--which is ancient history. But why show them now? Maybe it's just the media power of the Yankees. Any player they have gets a boost? Sure, but Youks is way way down the list now. Not really a 3rd baseman anymore. You wonder if he can last a year at 3B. The Yankees are looking more and more like Swiss cheese.

I see that Cherington was interviewed today about the catching situation, and the interpretation is he has just about written off Lavernway: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/02/red-sox-notes-.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter I think what he said was overinterpreted--it's looks like Lav will open the season in Pawtucket, but I doubt they will deal him. He still has a ton of upside, and is probably better right now defensively than Salty. But Salty is a kid who tries hard, and can be expected to improve his game even more this year. You look for improvement in his game calling--and his target placement for the pitchers. He has to get that glove off the middle of the plate, and target the corners more. It would be a mistake to deal Lav now. The kid has too much potential and catchers don't grow on trees. Hold onto those kids.

yup.

Greatest player? I would say Williams--for being probably the greatest hitter of all time. Plus he played his whole career in Boston. Babe Ruth would have to be there, too. he was a great pitcher as a Red Sox, and also led the majors in HRs a couple of times playing RF part-time as a Red Sox. Ruth was already recognized as the best player in baseball when that NY carpetbagger, Frazee, sold him to the Yankees--presumably to build up the floundering NY franchise. The Babe was the best all-around Red Sox player. I would put Yaz number 3. He was not a consistently great hitter in his career, padded his stats with the DH, but was a great defensive left fielder. The best I've seen at Fenway. He was a big game player. Pedro was certainly the greatest pitcher--at least the best I've seen. There were several years in Boston when he was the best pitcher on the planet. He is right there in the top 5.

Yeah, it was pretty stupid for them to spend all that money they saved, and then have everybody conclude that it was a "bridge year" after all. It better not be a bridge year. Because if they end up a .500 team, people will be asking that question. Why did they waste all that money? They could have just played their prospects instead of keeping them in AAA. Or signed cheaper players for one year. Now they are stuck with mediocre players for 2-3 years. The chances are slim Napoli will have the season he had a couple years ago. And Victorino and Dempster are hardly impact players. But the bottom line is the pitching. They must have solid starting pitching to improve--regardless of what the hitters do.

The greatest I've seen is Yaz '67. Dick Williams said that, too. Yaz put it all together that year--a dominant player who carried the team to the pennant. And they might have beaten the Cardinals in the Series if Gibson hadn't been unhittable and Lonborg had had an extra days rest for the 7th game (he had only 2 days; Gibson had 3). Yaz was as good a hitter as Williams for that one year--and a much better all-around player.