marklmw

Lavarnway is a sharp and intelligent lad and I have no issues with given him a chance. I have said many times ... let the boys compete in the spring. Some players develop more rapidly than others. What if ... what if Vasquez arrives to Florida and he is looking really really good ... the pitchers are giving great feedback ... he is great defensively and he is swinging the bat well also. FO decides to start Vasquez off in Pawtucket anyway and gives the nod to Lavarnway and Ross to open the season. BTW ... Butler is also having a very impressive spring. So they arrive in Pawtucket and Vasquez is not hitting all that great but his defense is still stellar ... no one is even close defensively ... at the end of April he is hitting .250 / .300 / .400. But he begins to improve offensively ... and his numbers for May are .293 / .342 / .426. Ross gets injured June 1 ... Vazquez can very well be called up ... the rest is history ... he goes on to become a perennial gold glove catcher for the next 12 years. My point is that not everything needs to be set on opening day. You have to admit that Bogaerts was an important component of the Championship success.

wRC is an offensive stat ... Bogaerts will still get credit for that stat ... I want to take the 130 and give it a 50% weighting and you want to give the 130 a 45% weighting. I want to give Bogaerts a 50% weighting on his Defensive stat and you wan to give him a 55% weighting on the same defensive stat whatever that might be.

Interesting that you say this Dojji ... I love Pedroia but I was attacked when I suggested that signing him to age 38 was not smart. I thought age 36 was just about right.

Good point. It is a really tough decision. I would love to have him back ... one of the top 2 lead-off hitters in the game today. Can the Sox afford to sign Ells and Naps at the same time. I suppose they could as Naps will be signing for years and not much of an increase per. Ell's can eat up the savings on Drew. That being said I think that the Yankees are going to after hard... not that he is their top need but to make the Sox weaker as they get stronger. Damon worked out pretty well for them

One more thing ... Napoli was a pleasant surprise at 1B in 2013. That being said it is still his offensive numbers that the FO is concerned about when rounding out the lineup. So with the weighting his defense certainly does not work against him and is a plus but he could be error-less and make one spectacular fielding play after another but if he only produced 10HR's and 65 RBI's he would not be in our discussions for 2014.

Palodios ... I see Salty in the same light ... 6-7M per. 18M/3 or 14M/2

Teams will tolerate a lot with players who can hit. How many players make the HOF based mostly on fielding as the players greatest asset? ... Name me a few ... there are not many. If you move the weighting up to 55% defense for a SS you are actually subtracting from Bogaerts offensive value, same for Pedroia or Cano. On the other hand you would be helping make Drews case based on his stellar play in the field throughout the post season. Of course this was just an exercise for me and it is the Catcher position that I am most focused on right now.

I agree ... and there you have an exception to the rule. RF for the most part however has a guy with a strong arm but also a good bat. Reggie Jackson, Jose Canseco, Dwight Evens, etc. You hardly ever see RF's with terrible offensive numbers.

Or in years 4- 6 McCann is loving the short fence in right and he settles into the Papi Ortiz role. Should that happen he will not be overpaid. This was an excellent signing for NY no doubt about it.

Nothing could make me happier then to see Salty sign with Twinkies and for a lot of money. I hope that he does well there as he is family. IMO it is better for the Sox long term to let him go. If we are not going to over-pay Ellsbury why over-pay Salty. The catcher position is different than any other. I came up with a guide to rating players against each other by position I might apply the following weighting ... of course there are always exceptions to the rule: Catcher: 35% offense, 65% defense. CF & SS: 50% offense, 50% defense. RF, 3B, 2B: 65% offense, 35% defense. 1B & LF: 70% offense, 30% defense. Essentially a club can get away with a light hitting C, SS and CF as more emphasis can be placed on defense. A catcher is directly responsible for 1/2 of the game and at the professional level defense usually wins championships. Jon Lester comes to mind. A club can get away with an average fielding LF or 1B as long as they compensate with the bat. As I say there are always exceptions to the rule but I cannot put Salty in the exception bucket. Feedback is welcome.

People ... I really do not see Salty signing with us. For the catcher position his offensive numbers are pretty good ... so why are not other teams knocking down the door for him. The very same reason why Boston is not knocking down the door for him. Hell, last season Salty set a record for Doubles by a Boston catcher ... more than Tech or Fisk ever accomplished.

Nice presentation with the boxes DD.

Right ... Then the Sox will more than likely deal Lavarway or Butler ... IMO doing either one a favor and opportunity some place else. So I guess we are on the Hanigan watch now ... I really know very little about him and have never seen him catch.

How about we begin the season with Ross and Hanigan? Maybe keep Lavarway up as a bat and occasional start. Could the Sox afford to have all 3 up at the same time. Or if the Sox do acquire Hanigan do they try to deal Lavarnway?

Dojji ... Is Ross signed for 2014? I really know little about Hanigan but he might be an upgrade over Ross and perhaps a worthy 2 year signing where Ross is at the very end of his career. IMO a Ross / Hanigan duo does not make much sense. Butler should be given an opportunity one way or another. Vasquez needs more time at AAA level but he could make a push by mid year. I have said many times that our club is poised for 2015 to 2020 and not so much for 2014. But hell you never know we could be in for another surprise next year as well.

I agree with you. There will be some rookie lumps but hardly ever the game costing variety ... I have no issues with going after Hanigan ... Cincy doesn't really need Hanigan ... not sure what the cost will be. I would not give up Brentz ... he has a great arm and legit power. I am not sure that we need Ross any longer if we get a healthy Hanigan. Let Butler have a shot at it.

Who is watching the Pat's game?

People ... Look at what Butler has done at AAA ... It is close to now or never for him.

Lavarnway is no longer a rookie and neither is Bogaerts for that matter. Bogaerts excelled in some very high pressure situations throughout the playoffs. Why would you think of him as a rookie? Yes ... he is a rookie in name only as he is the odds on favorite to win 2014 Rookie of Year.

The point is that the FO does not want an offensive catcher ... they want a top defensive catcher. But you are correct ... Kottaras would make more sense for the money.

We had seasons with Lugo playing short. Relax ... I agree that by looking forward to 2015 - 2020 makes much more sense. Keep developing our youngsters, draft well, re-sign Naps, re-sign Lester, etc.

There is a reason why the Sox do not really care if Salty comes back. The guy gives you plenty off Offense from the C position so he really must suck on the defensive end of things. I would imagine that the FO figures that any 3 of the prospect we have on the farm will be upgrades over Salty from the defensive end of things. It's a long long grueling season so you have to take care of your pitchers ... the FO must know that the pitchers are not so keen on Salty.

Come on Man ... you cannot call Hanigan or Lavarnway rookies any longer. I don't think you can even refer to Bogaerts as a rookie ... the dude just crushed it on the biggest stage there is. JBJ got a taste of the bigs and he did not seem over matched at the plate and he looked fine in the field. We have a very experienced pitching staff and no one could be worse than Salty as a receiver... I mean if the guy cannot properly frame a pitch by now when will he? Think 2015 and everything will be alright.

Why not just give Butler, Lavarnway, Ross a shot. Or perhaps have Hanigan replace Ross if they think he is an upgrade. Thus let Butler, Lavarnway, and Hanigan compete for the catching duties.

That's all fine and good but I doubt it will take a top tier prospect to land him. Certainly not Nava, Carp, Brentz, etc.