sk7326

The BABIP fairly tale is ending. He has not shown an ability to hit at any level ... that said, if he could hit for more than 2-3 months, he could be a good solid SS. Elvis Andrus has made a career out of it. That said Boegarts is on his heels ... if Iglesias cannot hit as a rudimentary level he becomes a non-starter.

It is not overreacting - and his ability to hit big league pitching and put together big league at-bats is very much an open question.. He also wasn't very good last year either. He had a couple of good stretches, but the pitch recognition is poor and has been a problem since his minor league days. That is really hard to overcome. Let's put it this way - superior pitch recognition is what has kept Drew as a .225 hitter from being a total zero offensively. Being as much of a hacker as Middlebrooks has shown can work if you have generational contact ability like Garciaparra did or Vlad Guerrero did. Middlebrooks doesn't square up that many balls.

It is a weird use of an asset. Delmonico has tools and approach from what I've read - but has had injury problems. Not a Top 100 prospect, but certainly someone with a pro possibility. You are trading that for 20 innings of value. This is why the prospect position for reliever trade is always so dicey. Even if Machado might be their future at 3B/SS, Delmonoco has more value as a commodity one would think.

Clearly, one underrates the value of #3 pitchers. The Sox down the stretch in 2011, and most of last year had a ton of trouble scrounging up #3 starters. A #3 starter (assuming we have the same definition of a #1 starter - there might be 10 of those in the league) can play a decade in the bigs and deliver 180-200 innings. If these guys can get to a #3 level, that'd be success. Frankly, Ranaudo and Barnes probably are looking at that sort of ceiling. Owens has a lot more, but he also is far away from the show and has not actually thrown a ton of strikes - his potential is all projection. Trey Ball is even more projection, but also not eligible to be traded except as a PTBNL. Webster has more probability - although his ceiling is debatable. For a ground ball pitcher he gave up a lot of homeruns in his show starts. But he definitely can be a useful starter. De La Rosa might have more ceiling. Sox could use another starter - but if you look at their 3-4 record since the break, they have scored a combined 3 runs in the 4 losses. The pitching has been relatively good, just have run into some buzz-saws. Kuroda, Moore, Price and Tillman are 4 of the best in the AL. Not a ton of shame in those losses.

seller's market early for sure - late, a matter of how much a team wants to move somebody. White Sox price could move down - and if it means the Sox can move one or two of their "non-untouchable but ok" prospects (Middlebrooks IMO, Marrero, Ranaudo, Brentz) so be it.

This is a place that can be fixed (and was) ... umps suck in general, i have no idea why they still call balls and strikes.

Drew's having himself a day ... that should be a homerun period. Drew has been frustrating (all that non-contact) but when he actually puts the ball in play, it has been going far - virtually all season.

way to pitch out of it ...

Obviously long run - would have been nice. That said, Lester's ability to just take the ball and compete has been valuable this year considering how the injury bug has flown. The Sox last 2 seasons have been severely lacking in just getting any sort of reliability.

Not sure Peavy is the right price. That said, WMB is absolutely, 100% expendable. Not saying his future is dead, but a guy with that approach is not someone I bet a ton on.

With Lackey the body language is bad on TV. But you have to sort of take what his teammates say as the truth, and from off the record stuff I have read (from the Rosenthal-Verducci sorts), Lackey is really respected on that team. I suspect perhaps pitching a season or two with his elbow hanging from his body has earned a lot of respect.

His 2011 season with the 30 homeruns - he was probably the MVP, and definitely the MVP among position players. If he did THAT every year, he could write his own check. If he could give 140 games of THIS SEASON, that is a 5 win sort of player, and that is really really valuable - easily worth a 15-20M a year number in today's environment. He is one of the best CFs in the American League this year. Problem is he has not been able to put the number of games together consistently. The SBs are valuable - it's nice to have them. But getting on base far out-trumps the other stuff ... he could be that valuable as a 30 SB guy. The future risk with a guy like him is that as a 30 year old, how long will it be before he has to move to a corner, and if he does can his bat still play? Both of those are open questions - let alone the durability one.

Bradley has had precious few at-bats above AA. The spring hype was both silly (for his 2013 output) and justified (for his promise in general). You look at his approach at the plate and it's super advanced. He has shown potential to be a plus-plus defender in center field. The power will be fine. The baserunning will not be as amazing. That said, the marginal value of a 70 SB guy is not that high. I think Ellsbury will get 5/75 somewhere. Quality CFs in an industry drowning in cash.

First time, long time ... Fan since 1986 as a wee 8 year old and they broke my heart. Been in DC since grad school - and the 2004 title outside of the usual (birth of my baby etc) greatest moment of my life. After the Remy forum became paywalled have been looking for a good Sox forum.

Lot of small sample size theater here. Iglesias is the better defensive SS than Drew - but Drew has been pretty good too. Aside from platooning against lefties not a ton of reason to sit Drew relative to the other options. 3B has just been a black hole all season - you had to figure Iglesias was going to turn back into a pumpkin at some point (somehow a .470 BABIP was not going to last).

I expect Boegarts is coming up for September - but will make sure he's postseason eligible. Look at what the O's did with Machado. If he comes up, I expect he will be coming right in to start at 3B.

Middlebrooks is possible. I keep thinking the nuclear option though will be to do what the Orioles did last year ... and bring Boegarts in to play 3B in the stretch run. With his approach and his potential - sure he might not be much better in the short run than the other options, but he can't be much worse and at least far more promise.

Boras works for his clients and clearly does them well. Ellsbury will not give up his leverage, which is just good planning. He and the Red Sox have mutual reasons to end their relationship.

1. Industry practice these days - the contract will be a mild albatross in years 6-7. But if Pedroia can be a 3-6 win player for 4-5 years, it is a fair trade. He is a more valuable player than Ortiz, so treating him differently makes sense. 2. Cross that bridge when we get there. Pedroia's contract is pretty tradeable all things considered. You look at what Cano will get in free agency and this deal will become a screaming bargain. I mean, we locked up one of the more valuable players in baseball for the cost of a Ryan Dempster-level starting pitcher. 3. Ellsbury has had a wonderful season, and in 2011 he was one of the five best players in baseball. That said, his durability is a concern. But a bigger concern is that he will be 30 by September, and his bat is not valuable enough to say that he can maintain his value if he has to move to an outfield corner. I think a 4/5 year deal is possible still, but I think the Red Sox would be entirely justified in letting him walk and putting in Jackie Bradley full time.