Palodios

Recently someone cited an article about the twins increasing their payroll because of the new stadium. Also, Mauer signed a very club friendly contract in the past. He was born in Minnesota, he went to high school in Minnesota, and has only played for Minnesota. He has spent his entire life in Minnesota. The question is, is it really worth it for him to move from his home for a few million when he's already filthy rich? They've won the division 5 times in since 2002, so its not like he'll never have a chance at a World Series ring.

I wouldn't put money on seeing Beckett and Mauer on the same team in 2011. The sox are just as likely to go with Lee/VMart. Mauer is a longshot, with the Twins wanting to keep him, and the Yankee being out a catcher.

Do any other organizations have that many picks? Looking through the east, and low payroll teams like sdg, tamp, pit, was, etc, the most I found was 5. Philly only has one-- Cliff and Roy must have really hurt their system.

Why are we talking Buch/Wake for the bullpen? Dice-k is the one who doesn't deserve a spot--no matter how much he wouldn't like it, or what they're paying him.

the speed on his fastball really isn't that important when we're talking about a pitcher with the kind of pinpoint precision that he has. Chapman can hit a hundred but he still got rocked in the classic.

hilarious!

Has anyone read that Edes article about Papelbon? He didn't even know about the players added to the team until January. He seems more and more like the kind of guy they don't want in the organization -- a player that isn't close with his teammates who wants to bleed big money out of the team.

Didn't he sign a hometown contract last time around?

Everything they've done this year has focused on two things-- staying competitive and keeping focused on the long term. By signing Lackey, they protect their pitching prospects from getting called up too early (Tazawa/Bowden last year) and provides an extra ace, and an insurance policy if Beckett walks. Replacing Lowell protects them from a mid-season injury risk, and gives Lowrie more time to develop after two years of wrist injuries. If they trade Lowell, they will be sure to get a decent prospect in return but right now he's a huge asset from the bench, and so is Hall. They made no big trades, protecting their prospects, but still making all the key replacements needed while staying under the luxury tax. And while they lost a few picks on the type A's, they more than replaced it because they lost wagner and bay to free agency for the four extra high picks. Losing Bay did hurt the offense, but they didn't hurt themselves with a five-year contract on an injury risk player. J Hermida was a good pickup with a nice upside, without losing much for him. Also, convincing Casey Kelley to give up his aspiration as an infielder may be the team's best move all season. Personally, I don't like the Beltre move, or letting Bay go, but I can definitely see why they made the moves they have. If they stay healthy and perform, I don't see them missing the playoffs.

I'm hoping that the whole national pride thing works both way. I've read some things about how he was incredibly ashamed of his pitching stats (Not about the team cooperation fiasco however), and by the sound of it, he's been working very hard to make sure that doesn't happen again. I don't like the guy very much, but when he was in shape this year (for the small sample size of 4 games) he pitched to a 2.2 ERA. Don't expect him to do anything out of character, like learn English or be a team player, but I wouldn't be surprised if he could get averages of 5 to 6 innings a game with sub 3 era and 1.5 whip.

Very indepth analysis. One thing you didn't mention was that the bullpen took a bit of a hit, losing Saito and the spot taken by Masterson/Wagner. I'm assuming they won't pick up another quality reliever unless they can get rid of Lowell, but I'd be a bit afraid seeing Richardson or Bonser coming in the 6th/7th innings.

Well, I don't have a clue. But since you're looking for all 40, might as well fill in some gaps. 1st - Youk 2nd - Pedey 3rd - Beltre? Catcher- ?? SS- Scutaro LF-Ellsbury CF- Cameron RF- Drew DH- Lars Anderson Eight there Ace- Lester 2nd- Buchholz 3rd- Lackey 4th- Dice-K etc Tazawa/Bowden/Wakefield That's seven Bullpen Manny Delcarmen Papelbon Bard Okajima Dustin Richardson Ramon Ramirez (maybe a couple of them) 6+ Bench Kalish/Reddick/Iglesias/Hermida/Dusty Brown/Lowrie Max Ramirez-- its going to happen eventually. Eight more So, 29 right there before they add anyone or make any trades. There's not really a lot of stuff to fill. Catcher/3rd Base/1 more strong starter And maybe a little help on the bench/pen. the 40 man roster always has quite a few minor-leaguers too, so those are players that will be definitely be TBD. On my roster, Mauer or Martinez is a must. If Beltre's gone, Derek Lee/Pujols/A Gon are my first choices, but those guys are unlikely. So, I'll probably check out Carlos Pena, if his average doesn't pick up a little bit, or Konerko. Beckett is going to go the way of Jason Bay-- He'll want more money than he's worth, the sox will find a better replacement, and he'll be stuck with a mediocre team for the same money the sox would have given him. Cliff Lee would be nice, but I doubt they'd be willing to pay the money for him, and go smaller with someone like Millwood. Depending on his year, I'd resign Ortiz to a very club-friendly incentive-laden contract. Well, its a start-- probably should see how this season goes first though, eh?

I think the best part about the site is the sidebar with links from the major boston news sites on the side. Its the fastest way to get Sox news I've found so far. The Rotoworld sidebar doesn't hurt either.

I don't agree with a 6/30 deal. Low 20s makes sense, but not much more than that. Based on what we saw from Chapman at the WBC, I get the feeling he won't be ready immediately. Let's say he takes 2 years to develop and hit his stride. If he's a starting pitcher, it will realistically take even longer than that for him to hit his potential. Ideally, the sox get 4 strong years out of him so it works out to be a 4/30 deal, so 7.5 million a year. Well, what if he takes longer to adjust to the majors? 3 years, we see 10 million a year. As of right now, he's a prospect. Best case scenario, they get an ace at somewhere from 7.5-15 a year. Most likely scenario, he ends up as a power pitch reliever. Worst case-- 30 million gone. Is it really worth signing a prospect for that kind of money when the money could go to making sure Papelbon sticks around, spending that money on a reliable closer on the FA market, or going after a Cliff Lee type?

In the rotation or not, the chance of all 5 the other guys being healthy and pitching well all year (buch/dice-k especially) is slim to none. Plus, you have to factor in early relief appearances( which I'm assuming wake would fill). Wakefield is still getting 80+ innings. Not only that, but considering the speed of his fastball, it might make sense to bring in someone who can prevent stolen bases.

Having a third catcher seems like the best option. VMart or Tek catching Wake on a consistent basis sounds like a bad idea to me.

How does Hall affect the luxury tax? By what I've read, I think that means his 9 million dollar salary will factor into it, pushing them over.

For the first half of the year, Varitek's offensive stats were perfectly fine for a catcher. I would also like to point out that Nick Green's first half stats (.257 .326 .395 .721) are extremely similar to Scutaro's career stats (.265 .337 .384 .721). With Green hitting like that, the team was more than happy with him at shortstop, so hopefully Scutaro will give us happy numbers.

How exactly is that pwnage? He posted stats about Lugo that support that he was better in St. Louis, essentially not making any point, and basically agreeing with me. Lowrie has been blaming his hitting woes on a nagging wrist for a year and a half. Nick Green clearly was slumping. In his career Varitek has show a different of .040 trend. In the last 3 years, Varitek's first versus second splits show a different of .090 ops. This year, he showed a difference of .340. You cannot call that showing signs of a trend. You said nothing about Brad Penny's being around regular averages. You said "Brad Penny will be Brad Penny". And you completely disregarded what I said about Dice-K. Being overworked is one thing, but being overweight is another. What does being overweight have to do with putting your nation-first? None of the injuries this year were to key players, besides Wake and Dice. The bullpen was healthy all year, but faltered at crucial times. Youk, Pedroia, Bay, VMart, Drew, and Ellsbury all were healthy, but inconsistent.

Now you're just trying to prove me wrong by pulling stuff out of your ass. Ortiz did not start late, he supposedly claimed that he was working harder this off-season to put the 2008 season behind him. Lugo's defense was far worse this season than previous seasons, which is really saying something. As soon as he left, his defense returned to normal levels. Don't know where you heard about the Smoltz mechanical glitch came from. I'm calling BS on this one. Injured or not, Lowrie hit .147 when he did play. Nick Green hit .321 in May, then .233 in June, .143 in July, .189 in August. Don't claim that's not a slump. Tek's OPS pre-All Star break was .826. Post-All Star break was .489. Some of that does have to do with injuries, but still, that's a serious drop. Penny-- Yes he does drop off at the end of the season, but not usually that bad. And at the same time, he was fine with SF. As far as Dice-K, if he really gave a damn about the team, would he have shown up to opening day overweight? I have no problem with him supporting his national team and overworking himself there. It happened to Peavy, and it happened to Ziegler, and I have no problem with either of them. I have a problem with him putting himself over his teammates. But you're missing the point. At no point was the team clicking on all cyclinders. You can get to the playoffs as a collection of pieces, but that's not going to get you any wins in the playoffs.

I'm not arguing with the FO, they know what sells tickets, and time and time again they like having the right mix of productivity and personality. The lighthearted atmosphere is what made 2004 the first team to get them past a 3 game deficit and break a curse that had gotten into the heads of 86 teams before them. I understand wanting players who aren't cancers to the clubhouse, but at the same time having an atmosphere where everyone is having fun and genuinely comfortable with eachother throughout the season creates such team chemistry that players get over slumps faster, and young players can go out there without the stress of needing the approval of the stone-faced veterans AND the approval of millions of fans. It also helps to keep the foreign players feeling involved despite language barriers. People wonder why Ortiz, Bay, Penny, Smoltz, Tek, Lowrie, Green, Daisuke, Lugo (defensively) all seemed to get into unusually long slumps that they couldnt get out of. It seemed like at no time was the whole team "on" at the same time, and don't tell me team chemistry has nothing to do with that.

The first world series team was a bunch of idiots. Bloody sock, cowboy up, plus the antics of Pedro, Ortiz and Manny, Damon's long hair etc. The 2007 team was like that too-- Remember what a riot the bullpen got to be by the end of that season? They haven't won a world series since they traded away Manny and Schilling retired. You have to also understand that when you sign a big contract player, its not just about production. Its about how you can sell them. When Boras talked about how Manny's presence alone would sell tickets, he wasn't just trying to oversell-- big name players with strong characters sell tickets. Why do you think the Memphis Grizzlies picked up Allen Iverson when he clearly doesn't help the team any? J.D. Drew is a big contract player who generates very little interest whatsoever. Compare the production of J.D. Drew with Ortiz, and the next time you're at fenway compare the number of Drew Jersey's versus Ortiz ones.

I haven't been following Houston much... what's the deal with Miguel Tejada, and why does no one seem interested in him? He's been healthy for eternity, hits 300 and plays 3rd and SS. Are his off-field problem that big of an issue?

I think I learned all I needed to know about Buchholz when he had to face Verlander, Sabathia and Halladay in a span of 3 starts. He averaged 6 1/3 innings, and gave up five runs between all three of those starts. He's done having butterfly in his stomach. He's done playing the minor leagues. This kid is a stud who can duel it out with the best of them. You may think that he hasn't hit his prime yet at 26, but considering that he's yet to have a full season in the majors, do you really think we've seen the best he has to offer? His start in the playoffs was pretty impressive, and if you don't count his two blowup games at the end of the season when it really didn't matter, he had a 3.21 era.

He's a big softy. Doesn't anyone remember last season when he was taking a bunch of days off, and he told Francona his back hurt, and Francona just told him to suck it up? He is also coming off shoulder surgery too.