Eddy Ballgame
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Everything posted by Eddy Ballgame
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2016-2017 Offseason Trade Speculation Thread
Eddy Ballgame replied to Dojji's topic in Boston Red Sox Talk
My guess is that they'll bring some guys in on minor league deals, but I wouldn't expect much "quality." If I'm a fringe starting pitcher looking for an "opportunity," Boston wouldn't be very high on my list. An awful lot can change between now and April 1st, but based on Dombrowski's comments regarding the rotation, if the season started today, you'd have a guy who made the all-star team last year (Wright) pitching in middle relief. -
A bad joke and a rip off of Cedric Maxwell. Just kidding!
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Dombrowski already said that he would be the 4th starter, so if he has a good spring, he's not heading to Pawtucket to start the season. Now go make me some bacon & eggs, Kimmi.
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Whether or not a guy made the all-star team "last year" wouldn't have any influence on my decision. Dombrowski said after the Sale trade that E-Rod & Pomeranz would be 4 & 5. My guess is that in the unlikely event that all 6 starters remain healthy and all pitch well this spring, Wright or Pomeranz goes to the pen. Wright, because it would take him a lot less time to be stretched out if and when they need a starter and Pomeranz because he's actually done it. I don't think It would be very wise to screw with Rodriguez mentally, either, and that's exactly what you would be doing if he has a good spring.
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I realize that, but I have no doubt that the acquisition of Sale went well beyond the "stats."
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If Benintendi somehow has a hiccup and isn't ready, we could always put Brentz in right, Betts in center & Swihart in left. They'd go from having one of the best defensive outfields to having one of the worst, the overall offense would take a huge hit and they'd impede Swihart's development as a catcher again, but at least we'd have a young starting pitcher to compete for a rotation spot for a team that is set up to win now.
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I don't think the Sox ever had much interest in Quintana. It sounded like it was either Sale or bust. Then again, who knows. Maybe they feel like they already have a Quintana in E-Rod.
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I agree. I get the feeling that sometimes people might confuse him with Felix Doubront. If he has a solid spring and gets demoted to Pawtucket, this kid is going to be irate. These things always seem to work themselves out anyway, but I can't see them demoting him unless it's warranted.
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Even that sounds to me like Smith could be ready a lot sooner than initially expected. I'd love to bring in a guy like Greg Holland, but why would a guy who is looking to rebuild his value ever consider signing with a team where he'll essentially be competing for the 6th/7th inning role? It doesn't make any sense. A guy like Holland is likely going to want to sign with a Pittsburgh or Miami where he can possibly close. My guess is that they'll bring in a few guys on minor league deals, but I doubt they give another reliever a guaranteed deal at this point.
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I don't think they look at it as replacing Koji, Tazawa & Ziegler with Thornburg only. Koji missed nearly 2 months, Ziegler was only there for less than 3 months & Tazawa also missed some time and struggled a bit. They'll now should have a full season of Joe Kelly who looked good down the stretch, their now saying that Carson Smith could possibly be back to start the season, Barnes has the stuff to take a step forward and they have plenty of arms between Ross, Abad, Hembree, etc. that someone else could emerge. Middle relief is a often a crapshoot, but they should have enough power arms to have an effective bullpen. If not, they'll go get someone at the deadline or sooner.
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Just a guess, but I think that they'd rather save whatever wiggle room that they have with the luxury tax for whatever needs might arise at the deadline. They are likely going to have some tough calls with the roster as it is.
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You'd have to think that Greg Holland could find some better opportunities than Boston to rebuild his value, but he would be worth the risk if that's not the case.
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I think that they exercised the Buchholz option as insurance against not being able to upgrade the rotation through a trade, assuming that they'd be able to move him if they were able to upgrade. Once the Sale trade happened, Buchholz' salary relief became more valuable than he did. As many have mentioned, a lot of things could've happened had they waited.
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Rotation depth is certainly important for every team, except for maybe the 2004 Red Sox, but Buchholz would've definitely asked to be traded if he didn't make the rotation. As many have mentioned, Buchholz became expendable with the Sale trade & the savings against the luxury tax gives them some much needed flexibility.
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I don't think anyone is saying "screw the defense" or "everyone has to hit for a high average." I'm just not as ready as you are to trade Swihart and hand the reigns over to Vasquez, because he was a a "born catcher." He needs to show that he won't be an automatic out, or he'll be a career backup. There are lots of "born catchers" who end up playing in local softball leagues. As things stand right now, out of Leon, Vasquez & Swihart, Vasquez is the current favorite to be the only guy who won't be a starting catcher somewhere next season. As far as "intangibles" go, he was demoted last season for "doing things his way," so those intangibles might be in question. By the way. I would love to see Vasquez win the job, not be an automatic out and give them stability behind the plate for a long time, but until he does, I'd hang on to a guy like Swihartt.
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Buchholz was certainly the kind of depth you like to have, but if they had kept him and he didn't make the rotation out of spring training, there's no doubt he would've asked to be traded. The guy is pitching for what might be his last contract.
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They probably could've held out for a better prospect down the road, but it would be pretty risky. He was never going to go to the bullpen if he didn't make the rotation, so he wasn't "rotation depth" in the sense that you could put him in Pawtucket or make him the long man in the pen. He was going to be one of 5 starters or they would've moved him. Trading him now was the "safe" move.
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Look at his post season game logs inning by inning. He HAS given up "2 runs through 6" -and he's kept his team in a lot of playoff games. People manipulate his "stats" to make it look like he's been "batting practice" during the post season. It's simply not the case.
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2016-2017 Offseason Trade Speculation Thread
Eddy Ballgame replied to Dojji's topic in Boston Red Sox Talk
EE would've definitely looked good in the middle of that order, but I think it was you that mentioned how 1st base defense is underrated and Moreland will certainly help there. Moreland being left-handed gives the line-up some more balance as well. He doesn't have the "sexy" numbers, but I think he'll compliment Ramirez well. I also agree that EE will get more than 2 years, even at this point. -
Blake Swihart is a 24 year old kid, so I'm pretty sure that he has some time to improve defensively, as well as offensively. There's a reason why it's always reported that the Sox have no interest in trading him. Young, very athletic catchers who hit effectively from both sides of the plate don't exactly grow on trees, but "natural" catchers who can't hit seem to be pretty common in baseball.
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After the Sox signed Mitch Moreland, my guess is that the Sox have absolutely no interest in Seth Smith whatsoever. If the Sox do decide to trade Buchholz prior to spring training, I'll also guess that they'll wan't some type of prospect in return.
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Agreed. Swihart is a great athlete, which is obviously one of the reasons they seem to tell everyone he's simply not available. I'm glad the "Buster Posey" comparisons have been tempered (maybe more like a BJ Surhoff ceiling), but I don't think anyone would be surprised to see him become the #1 catcher on this team at some point in the near future.
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Oh...Thought MVP78 wanted link regarding Benintendi. Not sure where the Kopech thing is. In one of Gammons' recent articles he mentions that one scout said Kopech was best pitcher he saw in AFL this fall. Think I saw what you mentioned on MLB TR.
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Go to Petergammonsdaily.com and click on the article there. It's in the paragraph directly below the pic of Sale.
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