SoxFanForsyth

You're not looking. It's everywhere

Reyes included too. This is Cherringtons baby. And the Jays just stole it.

Looks like the Blue Jays have acquired Josh Johnson and Mark Buhrle, and potentially Reyes (early reports, unconfirmed). Another 2 SP and an elite SS off the market that was available. Not like we needed SS or SP

I think you'd have to give up Bradley, too. But regardless, that would put the Sox in contention for years and years. What's even funnier is that the Sox could still afford to go out and sign a big name FA like Hamilton. I don't advocate it on a long term deal, just showing how much financial flexibility they'd have. Realistically, though, I think they could get Reyes and Johnson.

Marlins are shopping everyone. Literally. The Sox should be 110% in on Mike Stanton. And they should also look to see if they can acquire Jose Reyes.

I think they should absolutely take a flier on him. They can't possibly count on him to produce, but to take a flier on him and let him earn a starting spot in ST, I'm all for that. Personally, I wouldn't be opposed to going into 2013 with Kalish and Bay as our options for LF.

The Red Sox pitching is going to live or die on Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz. A scary thought, to be sure. But I think that's where this team is heading. They'll make an acquisition this year, likely a guy like Garza or Niese or Sanchez, but I really think Cherrington is going to go into next season with a rotation of Lester - Buchholz - Niese - Doubront - Lackey. And that's almost certainly not going to be enough to compete for a WS title. A weak AL East title? Sure. WS? Almost certainly not. But I think Cherrington is going to be focused on keeping the kids and not sacrificing the future for the current team. And I think that's a good, disciplined approach. Guys like Upton are tempting, but cooler heads prevail and I'm glad they didn't dish De La Rosa or any of the B's for him.

Yeah but according to Alex Speier, his position isn't going to be a deal breaker.

Career OBP nearly .356. Saw 4.41 pitches per plate appearance last year (career 4.27, Youk's career is 4.30, for reference). .880 OPS since 2008. Averages 25 HR for the past 4 years. 162 Game Average of HR in past 4 years is 35. Basically - Sees a ton of pitches, works the pitch count well, gets on base at a well above average clip, has very good HR power, versatile in that he can play C or 1B, and will come at a price of around $11-12mm AAV for 2-3 years. There's a ton to like in Napoli. He'd be a fantastic pickup for the Sox.

I think the Sox will sign Napoli, but not as a C, as a 1B. He may get some time (10-15 games) behind the plate, but certainly not any substantial amount of time. Lavarnway is going to hit at the MLB level. He's going to be below average defensively, but he's going to hit. Don't let that small sample at the end of 2012 fool you.

Please find a quote where I wanted to add all 3 of them. I have mentioned all 3 names as potential targets individually, not in aggregate. Don't put words in my mouth and then try to call me out for it. You look like an *******.

Just because we need to improve our SP doesn't mean we don't need to look at ways to improve our team overall. Mauer and Morse would be very good options at 1B, and Tulo obviously is an MVP caliber SS. You don't just ignore one aspect of the team just because you have other needs.

Not to mention the Sox had a well above average offense with little production from Ells and Pedroia, and with both Ortiz and WMB on the shelf the entire final 2 months.

We don't need to improve the offense. We need to improve the pitching. The offense, like I said, was better than 7 of the 10 PS teams.

Point is that Gonzalez and his .812 OPS is hardly what was keeping this team from being a contender. It was the pitching. It was Beckett's 5-11, 5.23 ERA. It was Lester's 4.82 ERA. It was Buch's (team leading) 4.56 ERA. It was Doubront's 4.86 ERA. It was the fact that the Sox had 9 pitchers start games in 2012, and not a single one, regardless of how many starts they had, posted an ERA under 4.10. Not one. Morales had 9 starts and had a 4.14, but outside of that, it was Buch's 4.56 ERA that was the best. I would rather see Morales start next season than Doubront, to be completely honest. I think Doubront needs to be trade bait this offseason. Fact is, the Sox scored more runs than 7 of the 10 playoff teams last year. Their team ERA (4.70) was 0.71 points higher than the worst playoff team last year (Rangers, 3.99). And their SP ERA (5.19) was 0.78 points higher than the worst playoff team too (BAL, 4.42). The Sox can replicate their 2012 run production and make the PS, no problem. They have to have Lester and Buchholz return to form or they're complete s*** again.

I hate it when people do this. It's absurd. When you're looking at replacing 2012, you look at 2012's stats. Not how the player is overall. If we're going to replace his production from 2012, it's a .812 OPS. That's it. He had 86 RBI through 123 games, which is very good, but RBI's are a completely situational and opportunistic stat, so I give little credence to it.

Not to mention that the AL East is extremely weak right now. The weakest its been in years. The Yankees have Jeter coming off surgery, is another year older, and was already losing range, ARod who's bat speed is measured with a sun dial, Mo who's coming off of a busted knee, no RF, no C, and a rotation anchored by CC, and after that has quite a few question marks. How will Pineda respond? Pettitte is, what, 41 now? To expect much from him is hardly reasonable. Hughes and Nova both are extremely up and down. The Rays will always have SP, but their offense is as anemic as they come. The O's were a complete flash in the pan and will likely fall back to an 80-81 win next year. The Jays? No. The AL East is as winnable as it's been in years going into 2013.

At the time they were dealt, here were their stats: Gonzalez: .300/.343/.469 Crawford: .282/.306/.479 Beckett: 5-11, 5.23 ERA Those are hardly numbers that will be difficult to replace. Gonzo's .812 OPS is not all that great to be honest. Those numbers can be pretty easily replaced by any number of players, be it a trade for a guy like Corey Hart, or signing someone like LaRoche or Napoli. Crawford only played 31 games, but regardless, Torii Hunter, Shin Soo Choo, Melky Cabrera, Justin Upton, Cody Ross, etc can replicate Crawford's numbers pretty easily. It's not going to be any FA acquisitions or trades that push this team into a contender. It's going to be the rebound by Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz, and maybe a little bit of a contribution from a Matt Garza/Anibal Sanchez/etc that we acquire externally. If Lester and Buchholz return to form (3.30-3.50 ERA), this team is going to be right in the mix, no doubt. It isn't going to take a bunch of Josh Hamilton type signings to get them where they need to be. It's going to take pitching, health, and guys just playing career norm baseball. Pedroia and Ellsbury will both almost certainly rebound, Lavarnway will be much better than Salty, as OBP is heavily favored over SLG, Middlebrooks and Ortiz will be healthy again. And I really think that both Lester and Buchholz figured out their mechanical issues (Buch earlier than Lester), and with Farrell as their manager, I think he'll be a big help. Just a quick reminder, last time Farrell was with the organization, Lester had 19 wins, Buch had 17 wins, Lackey had 14 wins, and they all had decent to outstanding ERA's. Not saying he's a miracle worker, but at the same time I think the SP will have a lot more comfort with their coaching staff this year than they have in a while.

If Salty or Gomez play a substantial amount of first base next year, this team is definitely not going to be a playoff contender.

Salty will get dished now, which is good. He's still got value not because he's some amazing catcher, but because the catching market is so incredibly thin. He's going into his final year of arbitration, and will likely get around $2.5-3mm if I had to guess. Needless to say, that's a much, much better deal than you'll get on the market. Pierzynski and Martin are the two decent catchers on the market, and they'll be seeking multi year deals. I would agree with Lauber that the Sox can use Salty as a nice complimentary piece in a deal for someone like Garza, or as more of a main piece in a deal for someone like Floyd or Niese.

Not if he's a lefty. If he can throw left handed, he can be a LOOGY until he's 45.

No thanks for Salty at 1B. Can't have a sub-.300 OBP guy at a primo hitters position. Lauber mentioned that the Sox could deal Salty for either Niese of the Mets or Gavin Floyd of the ChiSox. I would think the Sox would have to give up more than Salty for Floyd. Floyd had a 4.29 ERA last year, 4.46 ERA overall. I'd much rather have Niese, though. 3.40 ERA last year, threw 190 innings, and is going to be only 27 heading into next season. He's also signed through 2016 with a remaining $24mm on his deal, and two options after that for $10mm and $11mm. Solid pitcher under a cheap contract through 2018. Yes, please.

Ross is a very underrated backup catcher. Very good defensively, and over the past 3 years (173 games), he's hit .267/.345/.450, and thrown out 31%, 33%, and 44% of attempted stolen bases. And I know you love your CERA, so I'll give you those too. Over the past 3 years: 3.11, 3.15, 3.59. I love the signing. Short term deal, $3.1mm/year is hardly going to break the bank for this team, gets on base at a solid clip. It's a good signing.

Ross deal is 2 years/$6.2mm

Rosenthal reports that Ross will be "more than a back up but not a starter". I would think that would make him a late inning defensive replacement and a mentor to Lavarnway.