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vjcsmoke

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Everything posted by vjcsmoke

  1. vjcsmoke
    Ooops. Who necro'd the 2013 thread? LOL. NM then. Anyone want to talk about 2015? Hopefully we have a thread for that somewhere...
  2. vjcsmoke
    I guess trading a young power hitter for a projected #3 pitcher is considered a good deal because Cespedes only had 1 year left on his contract. But I would normally have preferred to keep the everyday player unless we could have packaged him to get a better pitcher. In the end we took what the market gave. The rotation has a lot of questionmarks. Who can emerge to be the #1 guy? A huge question. I don't know if we even plan to address that issue before the season starts but right now we have no ace on the squad. Maybe Cherington is praying/hoping that Buchholz has a good year? He's either really really good or really really awful.
  3. vjcsmoke
    I think they are around an 80-85 win team right now. Which means we will be mediocre and likely finish just outside the playoffs. If they sign/trade for an ace I can see them jumping to a 90+ win team. And that should be enough to make the playoffs.
  4. vjcsmoke
    Merry Christmas all. Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is for the Red Sox to land the next Pedro Martinez. please make it so! ;-)
  5. vjcsmoke
    I'd be happy if Joe Kelly could become as good as Derek Lowe - a solid #3 on a contending roster. Only time will tell if he can reach that level.
  6. vjcsmoke
    Just shows you how much Middlebrooks' value has bottomed out. He needs a fresh start somewhere else. The arrival of Sandoval meant the end of the Middlebrooks era. At least Hanigan gives us some value defensively. Maybe... it might make Vazquez expendible if we plan on pairing Swihart with Hanigan in the near future. One young offensive catcher + 1 vet defensive catcher.
  7. vjcsmoke
    Let's see if Porcello can even play in Fenway first before throwing around contract figures like 5/100. Lester pitched better than anyone currently remaining on the staff and we only offered him 4/70. In hindsight the Lackey deal was a good contract. The problem was that he sucked for the first couple of seasons and didn't prove his worth till the tail end of his contract. But Lackey had a much bigger and better body of work with the Angels than Porcello has shown thus far in his career.
  8. vjcsmoke
    Ok let's take Sale out of the discussion then. Replace his name with Cueto maybe. Who else is available that would make sense? This article sums it up nicely. If we land an ace, we look elite. If we don't we'll probably finish middle of the pack and no postseason. http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2014/12/11/now-time-for-red-sox-get-ace/EF6VSpODKeBbjwe9q9fK9M/story.html Trade possibilities http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2014/12/01/red-sox-have-countless-options-trade-market/k77Ae3e1CWW3dPOOpSp4LK/story.html
  9. vjcsmoke
    Napoli is a good 5-6 hitter. Don't see the point of moving him just for moving him. What would anyone even give back in return that would be worth taking his 20-25 HRs out of the lineup?
  10. vjcsmoke
    I'm not really opposed to trading anybody if we can land an Ace for our rotation. That is the one position that trumps imo. You have to have the goto guy that you have a losing streak, but you put him on the mound you know you will get back on track with a win. The Red Sox offense should be much more potent in 2015. But we need that guy who can hold the other team to 3 runs or less and we can count on for around 20 wins. BTW we just obtained Varvaro so our bullpen got a little deeper and stronger. http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/baseball/braves-traded-varvaro-to-red-sox-for-pitching-pros/njTwf/ Stilll need to address the pink elephant though BC. If we land Shields or Hamels I would be satisfied. If we get a stud like Zimmerman, Scherzer, or Sale I would be ecstatic!
  11. vjcsmoke
    So back to the pitching staff. Does anybody else covet Zimmerman of the Nationals and what would it take to pry him away? I know there's only 1 year of contract control left but I feel this guy is coming into his prime and would be a true staff ace if the Red Sox could get him.
  12. vjcsmoke
    Just read an article that says the Nationals are shopping Zimmerman. This guy has really hit his prime. Being selected to the Allstar game twice, and top 10 in Cy Young voting twice. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/z/zimmejo02.shtml I know there's only 1 year of contract control left on him, but that's exactly why he might be gettable. Should the Red Sox make a move for Zimmerman and hope they can sign him to an extension? http://www.overthemonster.com/2014/12/15/7393467/jordan-zimmermann-trade-rumors-red-sox-nationals
  13. vjcsmoke
    I was just about to post about the same thing: http://www.overthemonster.com/2014/12/8/7353377/red-sox-allen-craig-trade-rumors-brewers There is a market for Craig if we are looking to unload an OF/1B. He does not make that much relatively speaking at 6m per season, so it doesn't really hurt us if we keep him. However if we can use him as part of a package to get something useful, it behooves us to explore those options. Maybe another BP arm could help us. We resigned Uehara but how are we bridging that 7th/8th inning gap to get to him in a closing situation? Not to mention the bright pink elephant in the roam that is our lack of #1 pitcher. Who could we aquire on the trade market besides Cole Hamels. Is Cueto obtainable?? http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2014/12/9/7364315/reds-trade-rumors-johnny-cueto-aroldis-chapman
  14. vjcsmoke
    Jumping ship? Well don't let the door hit you on the way out. Seriously. You're spoiled rotten and you don't even realize it. The Red Sox won WS championships in 2004, 2007, and 2013. All of this after a nearly 80+ year drought after selling the Bambino. You have no idea how lucky you are/were to be a Red Sox fan. Management is temporary. Theo came and went. Cherington and Farrell etc. won't be here forever. But they caught lightning in a bottle in 2013. There is no way we should have won coming off last place the year previous. But they did it. The level of ingratitude here for the magic of 2013 is amazing. The offseason isn't even done and people are already writing off the 2015 Red Sox. Ok good luck with that. Go ahead be a hater. Change the laundry that you root for. I won't. I don't like fair weather fans and I don't care who else you choose to root for. GOOD BYE. CYA. DON'T COME BACK!
  15. vjcsmoke
    Santanna only cost 55m? Wonder why we didn't go after him. We paid 100m for Lackey and he sucked for his first couple of years with us. Redeemed himself at the end, but wow that could have been an albatross contract if he had continued to suck. Anyways, let me fantasize about Scherzer at the top of our rotation. Most likely we end up with Shields or Hamels though... if we are aggressive.
  16. vjcsmoke
    Do the Red Sox have anyone in their farm system ready to take over a sizeable role? I know I keep hearing about how good our prospects are. But will we throw anyone into the fire and hope they become a homegrown ace? How does Henry Owens' future look for example? http://www.csnne.com/boston-red-sox/scouting-report-henry-owens-whos-headed-pawtucket
  17. vjcsmoke
    I see Craig as a possible RFer/1B backup. This guy averaged over .800 OPS before his injury plagued 2014 season. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/craigal01.shtml And who knows if Victorino can come back healthy? It looks to me like they are both wait and see candidates. Who can win the RF starting job? The Red Sox see Hanley Ramirez as their LFer and I believe Castillo is seen as their CFer. Which means for the RF spot we have a 3-way battle between Betts, Victorino, and Craig. If Craig can't win a spot, he's going to have to be a platoon player. The good news is that Victorino is signed only until 2015. If he doesn't win a starting spot, it should be pretty easy to trade him to a contender who needs speedy defensive outfield depth at the deadline or just let him walk at the end of the season. Really don't know what we'll do about Craig if he doesn't bounce back though. He's got pretty big contract.
  18. vjcsmoke
    Porcello is an interesting player. Big tall guy, innings eater. But a groundball pitcher. Last year was his best yet. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/porceri01.shtml His control is very good to excellent, averages around 40-50 walks per season. The negative is that he has given up more hits than innings pitched in just about every season. And that is a concern. With a groundball pitcher, you really need a strong infield defense to back him up. His strikeout rate is also quite low, so he's not going to get you a lot of free outs that way. I think the key for Porcello is how he plays to our park. If he can pitch to his strengths in the confines of Fenway and our defense gives him good to very good backup he could reach the next level. Which I envision would be a top flight #2 pitcher if he continues to improve. Would I rather have Cueto? Of course. But Porcello is not a bad guy to get to help out a rotation that was clearly in bad shape and needed an overhaul. It's a start.
  19. vjcsmoke
    So the Red Sox have been very active this hot stove. In addition to Panda and Hanley Ramirez, the Sox still needed more pieces. They just added 3 starting pitchers. Granted none of them look Ace quality, but they could be solid rotation pieces. http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/_/id/12014434/boston-red-sox-acquire-pitchers-rick-porcello-justin-masterson-wade-miley-deals-trade-away-yoenis-cespedes How do you feel about what the Red Sox have done so far? I feel like they have opened the purse strings and are making a bid to be truly competitive for the upcoming 2015 season. They still need an Ace though. Will they make a move for Cole Hamels or will they back up the brinks truck for Scherzer? What would you like to see happen next?
  20. vjcsmoke
    I'd love to have Lester return and then have the Sox add Cole Hamels to the mix. That would give them 2 proven, ace-quality pitchers at the top. If we can't get Lester back, we'll probably target Cuetos from the Reds and again Cole Hamels from the Phillies. Gotta give up some to get some. The question is who do we give up to get that starting pitching? You've got to think that Middlebrooks days in Boston are numbered ever since we signed Pablo Sandoval. And Cespedes has been on the block and is the odd man out now that we signed Hanley Ramirez.
  21. vjcsmoke
    I'm fine sticking with Vazquez. You can have catcher who hits 220-250 and that's fine as long as his defense is superb. BTW we already have one of the best hitting C prospects in Swihart so I have no problem with Vazquez holding the fort until Swihart is ready.
  22. vjcsmoke
    Still dreaming of a Cespedes, Castillo, Stanton OF but it's unlikely to happen. If Stanton is Untouchable, Does anyone think that Nelson Cruz could be had? He's a RHB veteran Dominican slugger who recently exploded for 40 HRs for Baltimore. http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=443558#gameType='R'&sectionType=career&statType=1&season=2014&level='ALL'
  23. vjcsmoke
    Of course the Sox are interested. An OF of Cespedes, Castillo, and Puig would be one of the best offensively in the AL next year. The question is how much would it cost to put that all together. The package demanded would probably be huge.
  24. vjcsmoke
    Maybe that's because the Yankees already have Jacoby Ellsbury? It's true that right now Jackie Bradley Junior looks like he is playing with a wiffle bat. IE No idea how to hit. But considering that our only OF locks are Rusney Castillo and 1 year of Cespedes, there's room for a 4th outfielder who can field and run the bases. I'm not a believer in the rest of the current Red Sox outfield and unless by some miraculous chance we land Giancarlo Stanton, there's still big ? marks about Victorino and/or Allen Craig. JBJ is the least of our problems and right now JBJ's value is low. What can we even get for him? This is the same problem we face with Buchholz. He has low trade value but he's way too inconsistent to be a dependable top of the rotation starter for us. Sure I'd like to upgrade on him and I'd be willing to move him, but who could we get in return?? Now if we could trade a package of Buccholz, JBJ, and prospects for Cole Hamels, I would drive them to the airport myself. But realistically, are these guys wanted by anybody right now?
  25. vjcsmoke
    I know we're talking small sample size but Rusney Castillo has been raking for us. http://nesn.com/2014/09/red-sox-notes-rusney-castillo-already-looking-like-five-tool-threat/ .333 batting average (11 for 33), 2 HRs, 6 rbis, 3 steals, and a .934 OPS. I guess the Ben Cherington and the Red Sox aren't idiots after all. This move might work out for us. ;-)
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