SoxFanForsyth

Good point. I guess I wouldn't gut for JJ. When he's healthy, though, he's as talented as anyone out there.

I will say this - the thing that's appealing about signing Gio is that he's not just a stop-gap. He's a guy we will have for a while. Right now, we can't have a stop-gap because we have no pitching in the upper minors that just needs that extra 1-2 years of development, and then will be ready to compete in the MLB. That's exactly what Oswalt will be, too. A stop gap. But a stop gap to what? Nothing. So I definitely see the need for another young arm to step in. Having said that, I am ok with dishing Lavarnway. I'd rather keep Kalish but it's not a deal breaker. I'd hang up on Billy Beane if he mentioned Will Middlebrooks, Xander Bogaerts, or Brandon Jacobs. Those are my 3 untouchables. I'd go Lavarnway + Kalish + Ranaudo for Gio, though.

Agree, Example. Only a couple pitchers who I gut the system for - Felix, Josh Johnson, Verlander, and Tim Lincecum. That's about it right there. Gio, to me, isn't even close to that talent.

Would you prefer Oswalt, Lavarnway/WMB, and Kalish? Or would you prefer just Gio? Gio's price is steeeep. They asked the Marlins for Mike Stanton.

All things equal, I'd definitely take Gio over Oswalt. But if I could get Oswalt for 1/$8-10mm + an option for year 2 vs having to give up a guys like Lavarnway, Kalish, and WMB for Gio, I'll take Oswalt. But I guess we really have no pitching in our upper minors at all, so it's not like we're just trying to "bridge the gap" between this year and 1-2 years from now when we have this huge pitchign talent coming up. I can see Gio being a good option as well.

I disagree. I don't think the Rangers are even the best in their division right now. I'd take the Angels with Haren, Weaver, Wilson, and Santana, and an offense that just added Pujols just about any day of the week. That's a tough, tough team to beat. I agree with signing Oswalt. Absolutely agree. Sign him and Zumaya, put Bard/Aceves in the rotation (I'd put Aceves in the rotation myself, he threw over 100 IP last year and didn't show any signs of letting up), and all of a sudden this pitching staff went from being a weakness into a strength. Adding depth, however, is going to be difficult. Saunders would be good for depth, but he won't sign a minor league deal. I guess we could make him our 5th man, and then have Aceves as our #6, Doubront #7, Tazawa #8, Miller #9.

There's some more information, including an indication from Zumaya himself that the Red Sox have already expressed interest. Hopefully he's interested in the Red Sox as well. This article was written on 12/2/2011, to give you a bit of a time reference.

I believe he got hurt in 2010, if I remember correctly. I think the surgery was immediately after that. Didn't throw an inning last year, though. Here's an update I just found So about 20 teams took a look at his workout. I would be shocked if the Sox weren't one of them. This was from the Dallas Morning News, so I'm not surprised that it only mentions the Rangers. I don't at all take this as an indication that the Rangers are the most interested in him, just that they are the only ones cited in the Dallas paper.

Haven't heard anything about him, but I've always been a huge Joel Zumaya fan. Dude throws straight gas. I always hated it when he would come in relief for the Tigers when we were facing them. He would be a huge addition to the bullpen, pending health. That elbow injury looked nasty.

This is exactly how I feel about almost our entire bullpen. Jenks - Injured and fat. We can hope he returns to form during a contract year, but I have zero expectations. Doubront - Injured last year, got torched a few outings as well. Big step backwards in my book from 2010. Hope he can gain his stuff back, but I'm not expecting anything. Tazawa - See your comments. Morales - When he throws strikes, he's a top 3 left handed reliever in the entire game. Throws hard, and his stuff is filthy. He just lacks consistent control. Hope, not expect. Albers - Brilliant in the first 3/4 of the season, but then he got absolutely pummeled. Which Albers was the real Albers, and which was just an aberration? Judging by his history, I think we got 3/4 of a year of aberration. Again, hope he's that good, but I am not naive enough to expect it. Melancon - I guess we can expect him to have at least moderate success pitching in the AL East. If he throws to a 3.3-3.5 ERA, that's about what I'd expect. Not elite, but he'll get the job done. So basically, our bullpen is full of "If they pitch like they did during the ______ season, they'll be great, but if they pitch like they have recently, it's going to be a tough year."

I'm sorry - I hardly consider Aceves a question mark in terms of SP. he threw 114 last season to a 2.61 ERA, and in September, when you would expect his arm or legs to start to tremble and for him to become less effective, he threw to a 1.80 ERA. Come on man. Aceves as a #4 starter is very encouraging. I would much, much rather have Aceves as my number 4 over Lackey or DiceK. Or Colon, or Garcia, or Burnett, or Hughes. So saying he's a question mark is an absolute joke. And saying he's a major, major question mark is about as much of a homer comment as you can get. Bard, fine - he's a question mark if he's a starter. But if the Sox go out and sign Joe Saunders and Roy Oswalt/Hideki Kurodo, and retain Felix Doubront and Tazawa, and now all of a sudden they've got: Lester Beckett Buchholz Oswalt/Kurodo Aceves/Saunders Saunders/Aceves Doubront Tazawa Miller That's 2 signings, and then they have a back end of the rotation of Aceves - Melancon - Bard, which is a solid 8th-9th inning duo. Get a little aggressive and trade for Bailey, and all of a sudden this team's pitching staff is very solid and pretty deep. Say what you will, but they're really only 2 moves away from having a good looking pitching staff.

Are you serious?? Are we really still talking about the ownership being "focused on soccer"?? Come on man. They went out and bought Carl Crawford and traded and resigned Adrian Gonzalez last year. Give me a break. Don't make excuses. If they haven't made a move yet, it's because they haven't found one that makes sense. It's not because they aren't paying attention to baseball.

I'd rather have kept Lowrie, and put Weiland in the bullpen.

Ugh. Worst day ever.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=5965955&c_id=mlb THAT is Mark Melancon. What a douche.

Jim Bowden speculates on a Red Sox/A's trade involving Gio Gonzalez WMB, Ranaudo, AND Kalish?!?! Yikes. I don't know if I'm good with that. First off, I would hate to have to give up WMB in any trade. Second, I would hate to have to giev up Kalish in any trade. And I would absolutely not dish Kalish AND WMB for one player. If I had to make the deal, I'd go WMB, Ranaudo, and maybe Reddick.

I cannot believe that Cherington just threw out SP depth for this guy. I mean I really cannot believe it. Whats worse - This could mean the return of Wakefield. NOOOO!!!!!!!!

Wow. I am not impressed by this move at all. Hopefully this means the Sox are saving their chips for Gio because Bailey was costing too much. Mark Melancon. Awesome. I'd rather have kept Lowrie (who crushes LHP) and Weiland (who probably will end up being as good as or better than Melancon).