The Official 2009 Boston Red Sox Thread

Sox outrighted Saito to the minors which basically means they took him off the 40 man roster and he's most likely going to reject the move and become a FA. I thought it was a good gamble the Sox took on him last off season but he really didn't show much and never really used in a big spot nor did he work on back to back days.

 

Nick Cafardo reported it so yes it must be, he's by far the worst reporter that covers the Red Sox (even worse than Pedro Gomez on espnboston.com), it shocked the Globe hasn't tried to get rid of him by now.

 

Red Sox made a move today trading Hunter Jones and Jose Alvarez for Marlins OF Jeremy Hermida. I like this deal a lot for Boston. I know Hermida has been somewhat of a disappointment since he's been drafted but he's still somewhat young (25) and as a 4th or 5th OFer I like his possible upside. Especially since we're giving up absolutely zero for him. Jones has an ok arm but will always be the 12th man in the pen, ditto for Alvarez so even if Hermida does nothing for the Sox we won't regret the deal. Good gamble here. Theo has always been hot out Hermida for awhile now.

Well done Theo. Hopefully the end game will net us Adrian Gonzalez and/or Felix Hernandez (and that's when I wake up from my day dream).

 

Left handed balls though.

 

Some Sox news:

Sox declined options for Alex Gonzalez (6 million) and Jason Varitek (5 million). Varitek has 5 days to accept his player option for 3 million or become a FA.

Sox picked up Victor Martinez's option.

Sox and Tim Wakefield agreed to a 2 year 5 million dollar contract with incentives that can push the contract to 7 million. This takes the place of his life time player option at 4 million per year. I personally like the move. If Wakefield ends up making 7 million it's worth it and even if he never throws another pitch again for the team he's earned 5 million through the years but really the Sox would only lose 1 million dollars here.

Lots of talk of King Felix, Halladay and Adrian Gonzalez trades but I would be shocked if the Sox got those players. I think Felix is a huge long shot.

 

I can almost guarantee the Sox won't go after Lackey. They don't give out big contracts as it is to older pitchers and plus they have Beckett to think about as well.

I'm not crazy about resigning Bay to be honest. He's a nice player but he disappeared in June and July and was very streaky outside of his outstanding April and May. I think the Sox will draw a line in the sand with Bay maybe a max of 4 years 65 million and if he says no than enter the season with a Hermida platoon with possibly a Josh Willingham type player. Or maybe get a 1 or 2 year stop gap (Adam Dunn) until Reddick or Westmoreland is ready.

Buchholz is untouchable unless it gets the Sox Felix Hernandez or Hanley Ramirez, other than that I'd pass.

 

Happy 3 year anniversary to the Red Sox winning the bid for Daisuke Matsuzaka! Can't believe it's been 3 years already.

 

I do think next year is going to be a rebuilding year unless the Sox sign Bay and make a few big trades (i.e. Halladay and Gonzalez). Let's face it the team needs help offensively. I really like their top 4 in the rotation with Beckett, Lester, Buchholz and a bounce back year from Matsuzaka. The pen should be ok to good too. Again I'm not sure if I like signing Bay long term but we might be stuck with him because there's nothing out there.

The thing the Sox lack are big bats and unfortunately even resigning Bay the team is still at a disadvantage because Ortiz, the SS position (with Lowrie, Gonzalez, the Cuban SS or whoever) and possibly 3rd base depending on what Lowell can give us is a black hole. I haven't looked at the FA class after the 2010 season but I hope it's at least better than this bunch because I think you'll see a lot more of the 'value' trades and signings.

 

I don't think Holliday is worth what he's going to get, especially since he's proved he can't hit a good hard fastball like the scouting reports on him say, as seen in Oakland. I'd take Bay over him only because we know what we're getting with him. Although Holliday is the better player and younger too. I just worry about him.

I tried to look up free agents after the 2010 season but the site was down. I'm guessing it probably isn't good for impact bats. I think Theo is going to have to get creative to try and land some bats and I think he will.

 

I wish but if Mauer ever hit the open market there's no way the Yankees would let the Sox get him.

Yeah although the more we hear about Adrian Gonzalez needing to be traded the less likely it will happen. It seems like all the time the players talked about the most never get traded while the ones never talked about get moved. I still don't think AGon will be traded, but I obviously hope he does.

 

Varitek accepted the option. 3 million is a lot of money for a back up catcher but it's not like the Sox are hurting in that department. I actually don't mind him as a back up. Hopefully the Sox can sneak Kottaras through waivers and send him down to Triple A but even if he's claimed it won't be a big loss.

 

Heard yesterday that the Red Sox aren't going to be big spenders this offseason. They're looking at signing Bay or Holliday but that's pretty much it. They want to keep the payroll down for next offseason when the free agent class is better. They're also looking to make some trades.

The Tigers and Reds have been rumored to be needing to cut payroll. I doubt this would ever happen but what if Theo could get Miguel Cabrera? I'm sure it's a long shot (much like them getting Felix Hernandez) but Miguel is making a lot of money and Detroit is down on him because of the whole last weekend getting drunk episode.

 

George Kottaras has apparently been released. I don't think it's a big loss, he was never going to be a starter and guys like him are always available. The Sox really like Mark Wagner who's in Triple A and have a few younger catchers they like too.

Gammons always reported a few days ago that the Sox would like to have Lowrie play the whole year in Triple A so they can be sure his wrist is fully healed and he could actually play a full year without getting those pesky injuries. Can't say I'm not all for that, he hasn't earned anything offensively (even with his injuries as an excuse) and the Sox can't go into the season with a ? mark at SS. I'm guessing they'll resign Alex Gonzalez for a 1 year deal and then look at either Lowrie or Jose Iglesias, the Cuban SS they signed this season as the starter in 2010. Iglesias is said by pretty much the majority of scouts that he's the best fielding SS in the minor right now but his bat is a big question mark as they're not sure if he'll be anything more than a singles hitter but he is only 19 years old so he still has some growing to do.

 

Bay rejected Boston's 4 year 60 million offer. Hey if he can do better than that in the open market more power to him.

 

I don't blame him for trying to see what else is out there but his options are pretty limited and I highly doubt any team is going to blow away that offer, as I'd have to think if he gets similar offers he stays in Boston.

 

You know it's a slow winter when Alex Gonzalez signs with Toronto and fans are freaking out about it. Seriously it's Alex Gonzalez here. He's a nice player but he can't hit, and we need some hitting.

 

I don't think the team should go into ST with Lowrie as our only option but I'm not losing sleep over losing Alex Gonzalez. If the Sox are just worried about defense they might as well sign Adam Everett then. I'm not sure I'd want Scutaro, especially if we lose 2 draft picks because of him (although if a team signs Wagner and we get 2 picks from them, it won't be that bad).

To tell you the truth I have no idea who the Sox should get, but trust me it won't be OC. If I had to guess it will probably be Scutaro.

 

Interesting article by Gammons today. He mentions that the Sox have asked Pedroia if he thought he could possibly play SS for them. Gammons' thinking is that the Sox could go with Pedroia for a year or two until Iglesias is ready and sign a 2B like Orlando Hudson or trade for Brandon Phillips to play 2B. Definitely interesting but I doubt Pedroia could handle SS everyday for the Sox.

 

I'm not sure if it will happen. He was ok in 2006 when he played there at the end of the year but he didn't have much range (although to his credit and he admitted he was heavier then and didn't have the quickiness) nor did he have that good of an arm especially with balls in the hole (that's what she said). But he will catch everything hit to him and other players like Michael Young were serviceble at SS. Who knows.

If it were to happen I'd have to think the Sox would either try to get Hudson, Phillips, Uggla or Felipe Lopez.

 

They need offense. The guy has been getting better with working counts and the strike zone and has been able to hit 25 plus HRs playing in pitcher's parks. Put him in Fenway and it could really help his numbers even more. Of course the guy has stone hands but still the team needs hitters and as a 2B Uggla has a lot of value, then next year they could move him to 3B if Iglesias or Lowrie are ready to play SS. I wouldn't be against Uggla, assuming the Sox don't have to give up much for him. I like him better than the other options I mentioned.

Of course this can all be a clever ploy to try and scare Toronto from offering Scutaro arbitration. I mean the timing of the article is curious. Gammons has always been a Sox over hyper and Pedroia is all of the time so why not?

 

Apparently the Braves are close to signing Wagner, if that happens the Sox get the 20th pick in the draft along with a sandwich pick after the 1st round. Now I think you'll see the Sox going after Scutaro since they'd lose their 27 or 28th pick and a sandwich.