Orange Juiced

And I think he made over a million bucks too. Good deal indeed!

I'm sure he will.

Now Buchholz - he of the 1.74 era in 2013 (and career 3.60 era, and 121 era+) - is a "second rater"? He's one of the most talented pitchers in all of baseball. His only issue - and it is a big one - is his durability. Without that question mark, he's a #1 starter on a playoff team. He's worth a lot more than you apparently think. But he's not worth a true #1 ace, precisely because of those health issues. Which is why the Sox would have to add another quality piece to the mix - hence Brentz (19 hr in just 368 ab this year), who could be a very productive player in Colorado down the road. You'd trade two top prospects plus Buchholz to acquire Shields? That's crazy talk right there.

How about this: Sox give Rockies: SP Buchholz, OF Brentz Rockies give Sox: OF Gonzalez Colorado could use some serious pitching help, and Clay would immediately be their #1 by a mile. They also get Brentz, who might be able to put up decent numbers in Coors Field. He would be future OF help for them. The Sox would then replace Ellsbury with Gonzalez, giving JBJ one more year to improve before being a starter in 2015. It would mean either going with a rotation of Lester, Lackey, Doubront, Peavy, and Dempster, or going after Tanaka hard (or getting another SP somewhere). I think that's the kind of deal it would take to get Gonzalez.

What do you propose to give up for CarGo? BTW, I was looking at his b-ref page, and a few things stuck out to me: 1. He hasn't played a full season since 2010, and even then it was just 145 games. Dude always gets hurt. 2. He puts up terrific numbers. Last four years, ops+ of 133. Superb player. 3. Look at the last two years in terms of WAR. In 2012, his dWAR was -1.9, but he won a Gold Glove. In 2013, his dWAR was +0.6, and he won a Gold Glove. So I can't tell if he's good or bad at defense. 4. His salary the rest of his contract: 2014 (28): 10.5 2015 (29): 16.0 2016 (30): 17.0 2017 (31): 20.0 That's 4 years, 15.9 million average. That's less than what Ellsbury will get, and I think CarGo is just as good a player. Comparison, per-162 games: Gonzalez: .300/.357/.530/.887, 125 ops+, 29 hr, 98 rbi, 105 r, 25 sb, 3.3 bWAR per season Ellsbury: .297/.350/.439/.789, 108 ops+, 15 hr, 71 rbi, 108 r, 55 sb, 3.0 bWAR per season So I'd be happy with the better, younger, and cheaper option in CF over the next 4 years. But again, what to give up to Colorado for him? Surely it would take a LOT.

When all was said and done, Dice-K turned out to be not very good. But the first two years, he was solid. Combined numbers: 61 g, 3.72 era, 126 era+, 1.32 whip, 8.6 k/9, top-4 rookie of the year in 2007, top-4 Cy Young award in 2008, winning pitcher in game 3 of the 2007 World Series Did the Sox get their money's worth? Eh..probably not, but still, he helped us win a championship.

World Series Stats Team: 194 ab, 27 r, 41 h, 9 2b, 0 3b, 4 hr, 27 rbi, 21 bb, 59 k, 2 hbp, .211/.291/.330/.621 David Ortiz: 16 ab, 7 r, 11 h, 2 2b, 0 3b, 2 hr, 6 rbi, 8 bb, 1 k, 0 hbp, .688/.760/1.188/1.948 Rest of Team: 178 ab, 20 r, 30 h, 7 2b, 0 3b, 2 hr, 21 rbi, 13 bb, 58 k, 2 hbp, .169/.233/.241/.474 In the WS Ortiz had just 8.2% of the team's at-bats, but: - 25.9% of the team's runs - 26.8% of the team's hits - 22.2% of the team's doubles - 50.0% of the team's home runs - 22.2% of the team's RBI - 38.1% of the team's walks Just amazing.

First pick up his option. That gives them a lot more time to work out an extension. Who knows…maybe in the meanwhile he suffers a major injury or whatever. The option was in his contract for a reason - they should use it.

I didn't think his regular season numbers could be topped. And yet they were. Facing some of the best offenses in baseball, under the most pressure-packed circumstances possible. Amazing, amazing season by Koji. One for the history books, no doubt.

The pitching really, really came through for Boston this postseason. Just amazing. Some facts: - ERAs in each series: - ALDS: 3.03 - ALCS: 3.06 - WS: 1.84 - OVERALL: 2.59 - Lester + Lackey: - Lester: 5 g, 1.56 era, 0.95 whip, Sox went 4-1 in his 5 starts - Lackey: 5 g (4 starts), 2.77 era, 1.19 whip, Sox went 3-1 in his 4 starts, and 4-1 in the 5 games in which he pitched - Bullpen: - Koji: 13 g, 13.2 ip, 0.66 era, 0.51 whip - Workman: 7 g, 8.2 ip, 0.00 era, 1.15 whip - Breslow: 10 g, 7.1 ip, 2.45 era, 1.77 whip (only bad number in the bunch) - Tazawa: 13 g, 7.1 ip, 1.23 era, 0.95 whip - Doubront: 4 g, 7.0 ip, 1.29 era, 0.86 whip - TOTAL: 44.0 ip, 1.02 era Pretty freaking incredible performance by these five guys over the course of the whole playoffs.

The Sox probably won't re-sign Ellsbury. So that means JBJ in the starting lineup, most likely. Peavy will be just fine for the Sox for the regular season. We saw how it was much more difficult for him in the playoffs against excellent offenses, but during the year he'll be valuable. Dempster needs to go. The Sox should give Napoli a QO, and maybe do the same for Drew, though clearly Bogaerts is the SS of the future for this team. I still think Middlebrooks can grow into a pretty decent major-leaguer - if they give him the 3b job I would think that a .250/.325/.450/.775, 25 hr, 75 rbi line wouldn't be out of the question for him. And that would be just fine, given his cost. Tough call with Salty - he was pretty good this year but was overmatched in the playoffs. Are they really going to spend big bucks for a catcher that they pulled from the starting lineup in the most important games of the year? Where are the places they can improve?

The Sox faced these three teams in the playoffs: Tampa Bay - #9 in MLB in record, #11 in MLB in era, #11 in MLB in runs scored, #7 in MLB in ops, three CYA caliber starters in Price, Moore, and Cobb Detroit - #6 in MLB in record, #9 in MLB in era, #4 in MLB in starters' era, #2 in MLB in runs scored, #2 in MLB in ops, three CYA caliber starters in Scherzer, Verlander, and Sanchez St. Louis - t#1 in MLB in record, #5 in MLB in era, #5 in MLB (#1 in NL) in runs scored, two CYA caliber starters in Wainwright and Wacha, dominant bullpen And against this murderer's row, the Red Sox just ripped off an 11-5 record, for a .688 winning percentage. This Red Sox team is, simply put, phenomenal.

Nobody knows what JBJ will end up becoming. But this team absolutely can withstand having a guy "play his way into proficiency". Witness Will Middlebrooks and Daniel Nava. Let's say the Sox have this as their starting lineup. You're telling me that it can't be very productive? 1. Victorino, RF 2. Pedroia, 2b 3. Ortiz, DH 4. Napoli, 1b 5. Nava, LF 6. Bogaerts, SS 7. Saltalamacchia, C 8. Middlebrooks, 3b 9. Bradley, CF That team should be a top 3 offensive team. And they could choose to spend some $$ in the short term (maybe, say, a 3/51 deal) and add Carlos Beltran to play LF. They could afford that, it doesn't handcuff them for the long term, and he'd be pretty sweet to have in the 5-hole behind Napoli.

It's nice when most of your moves work out beyond your wildest imaginations.

39/7=5.6 runs per game. I sure wouldn't mind seeing 5-6 runs tonight!

I totally agree. And their best relievers are pitching a lot more innings than their other bullpen guys. But that's all counter-balanced by the fact that in Detroit and St. Louis, they have faced the #2 scoring team in the AL and the #1 scoring team in the NL. Plus Tampa was the #11 scoring team in all of baseball last year, so they were no slouches offensively.

On the flip side, the offense surely has struggled. Regular Season Stats: 5.27 runs per game, .277/.349/.446/.795, 15.6 total bases per game Playoff Stats: 4.40 runs per game, .226/.307/.349/.656, 11.3 total bases per game But look at the starting pitchers they've had to face, and those pitchers' regular season stats: ALDS 1. Moore - 3.29 era, 1.30 whip, 8.6 k/9 2. Price - 3.33 era, 1.10 whip, 7.3 k/9 3. Cobb - 2.76 era, 1.15 whip, 8.4 k/9 4. Hellickson - 5.17 era, 1.35 whip, 7.0 k/9 ALCS 1. Sanchez - 2.57 era, 1.15 whip, 10.0 k/9 2. Scherzer - 2.90 era, 0.97 whip, 10.1 k/9 3. Verlander - 3.46 era, 1.32 whip, 8.9 k/9 4. Fister - 3.67 era, 1.31 whip, 6.9 k/9 5. Sanchez - 2.57 era, 1.15 whip, 10.0 k/9 6. Scherzer - 2.90 era, 0.97 whip, 10.1 k/9 WS 1. Wainwright - 2.94 era, 1.07 whip, 8.2 k/9 2. Wacha - 2.78 era, 1.10 whip, 9.0 k/9 3. Kelly - 2.69 era, 1.36 whip, 5.7 k/9 4. Lynn - 3.97 era, 1.31 whip, 8.4 k/9 5. Wainwright - 2.94 era, 1.07 whip, 8.2 k/9 I mean, good lord, that's an unbelievable murderer's row of pitchers right there. Every single one of them except Hellickson (and even he has been a very, very good major league pitcher for his whole career - career stats of 3.70 era, 1.24 whip, 6.4 k/9) is an all-star caliber starting pitcher, even if they weren't actually on the all-star team.

Sox' pitching has been the key. Regular Season Stats: Starters: 3.84 era, 1.29 whip, 7.6 k/9, .709 ops Relievers: 3.70 era, 1.31 whip, 8.9 k/9, .710 ops TOTAL: 3.79 era, 1.30 whip, 8.0 k/9, .710 ops Playoff Stats: Starters: 3.44 era, 1.20 whip, 7.7 k/9, .654 ops Relievers: 1.34 era, 1.11 whip, 7.3 k/9, .594 ops TOTAL: 2.70 era, 1.17 whip, 7.6 k/9, .633 ops Very impressive.

Ellsbury is still most likely going to get an offer that is just the opposite of what the Sox have been interested in doing - something along the lines of 6/120 or even bigger. I do not see Boston matching or surpassing what he'll get on the open market.

Not to be a party pooper, but it's still entirely possible that the WS MVP is Wacha, Holliday, or Beltran.

The Cardinals made a major error with respect to their roster construction. They kept Shelby Miller, even though they don't ever use him, on the roster. Why? Personally, I think he's a terrific pitcher and I can't understand why they wouldn't use him. But hey, whatever. It left them without an extra positional player that may have come in handy. Not that they have a lot of guys on the bench that can hit, but adding another player may have allowed Matheny to make some moves that he otherwise hasn't.

Koji has been fantastic. Lester has been phenomenal. But Ortiz has been historically great. His performance right now is up there as one of the great World Series performances in the history of the sport. Can't deny him that. What I think would be more interesting is if it goes 7, and Lester pitches 2-3 innings in relief in game 7 and picks up a win. What do you do THEN?

I absolutely think he'll very much be available to pitch some in game 7, if indeed we get that far.

Jon Lester was pretty bad in 2012, which led many pundits and Sox fans to question whether he was a top tier pitcher anymore. Well, he bounced back with a solid 2013 and has been incredible during these playoffs. Here is his playoff game log for 2013: ALDS game 1, vs TB: 7.2 ip, 3 h, 2 r, 2 er, 3 bb, 7 k (W) ALCS game 1, vs Det: 6.1 ip, 6 h, 1 r, 1 er, 1 bb, 4 k (L) ALCS game 5, at Det: 5.1 ip, 7 h, 2 r, 2 er, 3 bb, 3 k (W) WS game 1, vs StL: 7.2 ip, 5 h, 0 r, 0 er, 1 bb, 8 k (W) WS game 5, at StL: 7.2 ip, 1 h, 1 r, 1 er, 0 bb, 7 k (W) 4-1, 34.2 ip, 25 h, 6 r, 6 er, 8 bb, 29 k, 1.56 era, 0.95 whip, 7.5 k/9 The guy has been unbelievable. And for his career, here are his postseason stats: as starter: 11 g, 73.0 ip, 56 h, 16 er, 20 bb, 63 k, 1.97 era, 1.04 whip, 7.8 k/9 overall: 13 g, 76.2 ip, 59 h, 18 er, 21 bb, 68 k, 2.11 era, 1.04 whip, 8.0 k/9 I mean, those are just incredible numbers. He will get today and tomorrow off, and then, if needed, he should be able to give the Sox 2-3 innings of relief in game 7, since it would have been his scheduled day for a bullpen session if this was a normal week, and also since there are no more games after game 7 this year anyway. So I expect he could give the Sox a few innings if they need him. Just an amazing pitcher who has carried the Sox throughout this playoff run.

Game 1, the defensive difference that existed during the regular season showed up. Games 2 and 3, the Sox' defense has been atrocious in many ways. Some sterling plays, but some godawful ones too. The fact is this: Boston very easily could be up 3-0 in the series, except for two colossal blunders of the same exact nature: terrible throws to third base. Those basic, you-learned-in-Little-League-not-to-do-that, plays don't happen, and I think we're talking sweep tonight. So I think St. Louis is very fortunate (not lucky, because mistakes are part of the game, but *fortunate*) to be up 2-1. The Sox will win tonight, then it's best 2 out of 3, with 2 in Fenway, and the Sox having Lester and Lackey in games 5 and 6. And that would be a very acceptable situation. But first things first: gotta win tonight.