There's enough Red Sox fans here to warrant this thread. Plus, I'm sure the Yankee fans will like a thread to keep tabs on their arch enemy. Sox and Angels FA Pitcher John Lackey reach a tentative 5 year deal. http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/mlb/news/story?id=4741437&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines Source: Lackey agrees with Red Sox The Boston Red Sox have reached a tentative deal with right-handed pitcher John Lackey, pending a physical, worth slightly more than the $82.5 million, five-year contract A.J. Burnett signed with the New York Yankees last year, a source familiar with the negotiations told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark. Lackey traveled to Boston for a physical exam Monday, fueling speculation that an agreement was close at hand. Specific details weren't available, but the Red Sox's heightened pursuit of Lackey came after reports that Boston is fading in its efforts to retain free-agent outfielder Jason Bay. Lackey, 31, is 102-71 with a 3.81 ERA in eight seasons with the Angels, and he would join Josh Beckett and Jon Lester at the top of a powerhouse rotation in Boston. The Mariners, Angels and Mets are among the other teams interested in signing Lackey. Entering the offseason, it was believed that Lackey would use A.J. Burnett's five-year, $82.5 million contract with the New York Yankees as a benchmark, but industry estimates of his potential haul have ranged from $60 million to $100 million. There were reports that Lackey declined a $72 million offer earlier this year from the Angels, but his representatives have since characterized those reports as untrue. Lackey shut out the Red Sox through 7 1/3 innings in Game 1 of the AL Division Series and nearly no-hit Boston in 2008, but in nine career regular-season starts at Fenway Park, he is 2-5 with a 5.75 ERA. Bay turned down Boston's latest contract offer late last week and was ready to "move on" from Boston, according to his agent, Joe Urbon. The Red Sox have no intention of offering Bay a five-year deal, a source told ESPNBoston.com. Also still up in the air is the status of third baseman Mike Lowell, who will undergo a physical for the Rangers this week, a source told EPSNDallas.com, as the Red Sox and Rangers continue to evaluate a proposed trade that would send Lowell to Texas and catcher Max Ramirez to Boston. Jayson Stark and Jerry Crasnick cover Major League Baseball for ESPN.com.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091214&content_id=7808926&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb Offer reportedly made to Chapman by Sox Deal on table for lefty Cuban sensation worth $15.5 million Just to catch people up, past Sox transactions: 12/13/09 Boston Red Sox traded RHP Chris Province to Minnesota Twins. 12/13/09 RF Brian Anderson filed for free agency. 12/12/09 RHP Chris Province assigned to Boston Red Sox from Portland Sea Dogs. 12/10/09 Minnesota Twins traded RHP Boof Bonser to Boston Red Sox for . 12/09/09 Boston Red Sox claim RHP Ramon A. Ramirez off waivers from . 12/09/09 Boston Red Sox signed free agent LHP Fabio Castro. 12/07/09 Boston Red Sox signed free agent RHP Scott Atchison. 12/04/09 Boston Red Sox signed free agent SS Marco Scutaro. 11/25/09 Kansas City Royals traded Tug Hulett to Boston Red Sox. 11/20/09 Boston Red Sox claim Robert Manuel off waivers from Seattle Mariners. 11/16/09 Boston Red Sox released C George Kottaras. 11/13/09 Boston Red Sox activated 1B Aaron Bates from the 60-Day disabled list. 11/13/09 Boston Red Sox activated RHP Junichi Tazawa from the 60-Day disabled list. 11/13/09 RHP Paul Byrd filed for free agency. 11/13/09 SS Chris Woodward filed for free agency. 11/09/09 SS Alex Gonzalez filed for free agency. 11/06/09 Boston Red Sox outrighted Miguel Gonzalez to Pawtucket Red Sox. 11/05/09 Boston Red Sox outrighted Fernando Cabrera to Pawtucket Red Sox. 11/05/09 Boston Red Sox outrighted Joey Gathright to Pawtucket Red Sox. 11/05/09 Florida Marlins traded RF Jeremy Hermida to Boston Red Sox; Boston Red Sox traded LHP Hunter Jones to Florida Marlins and Lowell Spinners traded Jose Alvarez to Jamestown Jammers. 11/05/09 SS Nick Green filed for free agency. 11/05/09 RF Rocco Baldelli filed for free agency. 11/05/09 LF Jason Bay filed for free agency. 11/05/09 LHP Billy Wagner filed for free agency. Lowell's trade is pending his medical records http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/news/a...t_id=7807092&vkey=news_bos&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos Sox vs. Yanks opening night April 4th on ESPN2 http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/news/a...t_id=7808400&vkey=news_bos&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos
I love the Lackey move. Beckett - Lackey - Lester - Dice-K is a great front 4 with either Wakefield or Bucholz as the No. 5
Meh. I've never been a big Lackey fan and he's historically sucked at Fenway. Hopefully it works out.
also signed Cameron to a 2-year, $15.5M contract. This essentially takes them out of the Bay sweepstakes, wonder if Cameron will slide over to LF
Totally did not see the Lackey move coming. If they were going to commit this much money to a free agent starter I wish they would done it for Burnett or Sabathia last year but that's certainly too late. Theo always talks about not making shortsighted moves that force a team to carry dead weight towards the final years, but this has high potential to be one of those. On the other hand, the rotation should be pretty good for the next two years at least. Also, interesting that the Sox are evidently passing on both Holliday and Bay, going with Cameron instead. There is definitely a major power void in the lineup now though. At this point they still need a third baseman, so I would expect them to either A) sign Adrian Beltre, or B) try and trade for Gonzalez and move Youkilis over.
great defense in the OF now with cameron in CF... not to mention he has a good bat for a CFer... lackey term was a bit long but all in all i like the move.
just curious, not being a yankees troll, genuinly interested, who do you see as the LFer now? I assumed it was going to be Cameron (LF), Ellsbury (CF), and Drew (RF)... by putting Cameron in CF would you slide Ellsbury to LF or would he be demoted to the bench?
I think they will probably rotate around. Ellsbury is weird because even though he can fly he actually had on of the worst uzrs in the league from center but he has very strong career numbers defensively when playing left. Cameron will definitely split time with Hermida, so I'd say Hermida will be in left when he plays with Ellsbury in center and maybe Ellsbury in left with Cameron and center when Cameron plays. Certainly lots of flexibility there.
All I can say is these moves better be the precursor to including Buchholz and Ellsbury in a deal for a Gonzalez or Fielder type, though I'd rather keep Ellsbury if possible. This offense is going to be atrocious as it stands now.
you are out of your mind if you think the sox offense is atrocious. They would be one of the 5 best offenses in baseball again this year with the current lineup, the drop from Bay to Cameron is more than made up in the difference between martinez and varitek over a full season, adding in the rather large upgrade to scutaro at SS, and you cover the difference between Lowell and kotchman, of course i would guess they probably sign Adrian beltre, who had almost exactly the same road OPS as Lowell. Add in the massive defensive upgrades of Cameron, whoever plays 3rd (youk or beltre) and scutaro and the Red sox should actually have a much more efficient team than last year
Scutaro is not good. He will be a marginal improvement over Lugo. Except he doesn't have brown skin, so the fans will love him and call him scrappy.
The Sox lineup has some good hitters but I doubt they're top 5. Pedroia is nothing special at the top of the order and Youkilis, Martinez, Ortiz is an average middle of the order.
"Source close to A Gonzalez believes he'll be traded to Red Sox within next 10 days.Does this mean deal will happen?No.But momentum is there" (Source) Red Sox take aim at Adrian Gonzalez (Source) The Red Sox are not done yet. The team, set to announce the signings of free-agent right-hander John Lackey and center fielder Mike Cameron, is working hard to obtain Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, according to major-league sources. A deal is not close, and might not happen at all, sources said. Jed Hoyer, the Padres? new general manager -- and Red Sox?s former assistant GM -- wants a high price for Gonzalez, whose contract is one of the biggest bargains in baseball. "Jed has been asking for a ton," one source said. Gonzalez, 27, is signed for $4.75 million next season with a $5.5 million club option for 2011. He hit 40 home runs last season despite playing his home games at pitcher-friendly Petco Park. If the Red Sox acquired him, they would shift first baseman Kevin Youkilis to third. In the meantime, they await the completion of their trade of third baseman Mike Lowell to the Rangers. Gonzalez, in fact, might be the final piece the Red Sox envision as they look to complete their offseason construction, which began with the signing of free-agent shortstop Marco Scutaro to a two-year, $12 million contract. The addition of Lackey will give the Red Sox the flexibility to trade right-hander Clay Buchholz, who likely would be the centerpiece of any package for Gonzalez. Likewise, the addition of Cameron will give them the flexibility to trade outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury. The Padres would be tempted to move Gonzalez if they could get Buchholz and Ellsbury in the same deal, sources say. However, the Red Sox would be very reluctant to include both, according to another source. Minor-league outfielder Ryan Westmoreland is another potential Padres target. Minor-league pitcher Casey Kelly is believed to be untouchable. Lackey and Cameron will cost the Red Sox nearly $100 million combined. The addition of Gonzalez at club-friendly salaries would enable the team to pass on free-agent third baseman Adrian Beltre, who is seeking a four-year deal for at least $40 million, sources say. The Red Sox then could turn their attention to signing right-hander Josh Beckett to a long-term extension -- and retain the financial flexibility to pursue other free agents in next year?s deep market. If the Red Sox fail to acquire either Gonzalez or Beltre, they would be left with a Casey Kotchman/Victor Martinez platoon at first and Youkilis at third.
LAst year's team was 3rd in R and 2nd in OPS. This years team is not going to be significantly worse. Remeber last year includes the awful production from SS, ORtiz's first half disaster, a whole lot more Jason Varitek being awful, more than half a year less of MArtinez the best hitter on the team. Bay to Cameron is a drop offensively I agree, but not more than 3 spots with those other improvements. Also consider that the Red SOx biggest problem last year was fielding, bay was one of the worst fielders in baseball last year, I think his UZR was something like -13, cameron is excellent his was something like +10, and adding him to the OF should improve ellsbury's UZR as well. The upgrade at SS to scutaro is huge, last year scutaro was the 4th most valuable SS in baseball his WAR was 4.5 the highest ranked SS on the Red Sox last year was Alex gonzales at 0.5. Actually WAR has Cameron at 4.3 and bay at 3.7, though part of that is positional. if cameron plays LF he is less valuable than bay for sure, if he plays CF and ellsbury moves you have to figure out what elssbury's increase in fielding wins is then change the positional adjustment, considering Elssbury scores terribly in CF on UZR and great in LF this could be a huge jump, some have suggested it could move him from his current 1.9 WAr up into the low to mid 4's. That seems a bit too optimistic as it assumes a UZR of +17-+20. More likely is something like a 10 to 13. but even that combined with Cameron brings you pretty close to even, add in Scutaro vs. gonzales and you are looking at a positive, add martinez vs varitek, and lackey vs whoever they drop out of the rotation, likely wakefield, and you have a pretty huge WAR increase
The problem with the offense is that it was inexplicably streaky as a group. They're prone to teamwide, prolonged slumps, largely due to the lack of real power threats. OBP is all well and good, but at some point you need to drive those guys in. Gonzalez and Martinez in the middle of the order would go a long way. Also, UZR sucks.
As it stands now, with 8 of the 9 spots in the order established, I would put the Red Sox on having an above average lineup but top 5 I'm not so sure. Martinez is a top 5 hitting catcher but other than that unless you put Youkils at 3rd and even then it's close to whether Youkils is a top 5 3B they don't have any players in the upper echelon of the league at their position. I think they could be 8th in the league in hitting but with their rotation as is they're still a threat for the division, but I just don't know about them being an elite offensive team with the players they have now.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting tell me the 5 teams that are going to score more runs than them this year that didn't last year. the angels who were only 11 runs better got worse, philly is the same as last year when they were 52 runs worse than the Sox, minny, colo? even if cameron and bay have exactly the same year stats wise as last year it's a 15 run produced drop. where are the extra 50- 70 runs coming from for 5 teams to be better. That assumes that the improvements at SS and C are smaller than the drop from Lowell to Kotchman or beltre which is insane. other than the yankees no team has top 5 hitting talent at every position, plus NL teams have the pitcher hitting. the red sox will have a top 5 hitter at 2b, 1B and C for sure, that is more than most teams
I could see the Yankees, Phillies, both Chicago teams, Texas and the Mets with a move or two being in the discussion. It very well could happen that they wind up in the top 5 but I just wouldn't call it a sure thing. And Pedroia is not a top 5 2B and if Youkilis is playing 1st he's not a top 5 1B.
