Results tagged ‘ Jed Lowrie ’
Offseason Review
As I watch Jason Varitek retire it inspired me to get back to writing on my blog. Also as the month turns over it seems like a good time to an offseason review, so here it goes:
Subtractions:Jonathan Papelbon, J.D. Drew, Jed Lowrie, Hideki Okajima, Josh Reddick, Marco Scutaro, Jason Varitek, Tim Wakefield, Kyle Weiland, and Dan Wheeler
The biggest loss was Jonathan Papelbon. He was force at the back of the pen, but when your biggest loss is you’ve had a good offseason in terms of losing guys. Lowrie and Scutaro hurt the Sox infield depth, but with three guys (Punto, Aviles, Iglesias) who can handle any position in the infield They should be fine. Drew, Reddick, and Wheeler won’t hurt at all considering they found better players to replace them. Kyle Weiland might be a huge loss or nothing at all, we have to wait and see. It’s sad to see Wakefield and Varitek go, but they weren’t going to be key players this so they aren’t huge losses at all. All in all this list could be much worse.
Additions
Andrew Bailey, Chris Carpenter, Aaron Cook, Mark Melancon, Clayton Mortensen, Ross Ohlendorf, Vincente Padilla, Nick Punto, Cody Ross, Kelly Shoppach, Carlos Silva, and Ryan Sweeney
I like who the Sox added this year. Bailey, Carpenter, Melancon, and maybe Mortensen will provide much needed help help in a weakened pen. Sweeney and Cody Ross will platoon in right. Punto will provide nice infield depth, or maybe even become the starting shortstop. Cook, Ohlendorf, Padilla, and Silva will all compete for a shot at the fourth and fifth spots in the rotation. Shoppach will be an alright backup to Saltalamacchia. Like I said before I like this group. A lot of them are hit or miss guys, but they can end up being key players down the stretch.
Grade: B
I’d give this offseason a B. They didn’t lose any real key players, and filled the necessary holes with good enough players, but nothing spectacular. Although none of the additions are sure things they could become huge players or huge failures. All in all nothing great, but nothing bad.
Off Season Ideas: Lincecum to the Sox?
Sorry once again for the absence. Today will be my catch up day.
John said:
Compensation for Theo suggestion: Take Lackey and Jenks too. Give us Garza.
Then we package Garza with Bowden, Doubront or Miller, Reddick, Lowrie, and either Tejeda or Pimentel for Tim Lincecum and Sergio Romo. Then we sign Willingham for one year. Re-sign CoJack and sign Andruw Jones and Jose Molina to round out the bench.
Why it would work: For what we’d be giving the Cubs it seems like a fair enough deal to get Garza in return. Then shipping him to San Francisco would be a huge package for Lincecum and Romo. The Giants would have to at least consider it. And also, signing Conner Jackson, Josh Willingham Andruw Jones, and Jose Molina wouldn’t be to bad of a deal.
Why it wouldn’t work: They’re are plenty of flaws with this proposition. First of all Garza is the Cubs ace, and they don’t want to part with him. They also don’t want another washed up pitcher with a huge contract like Lackey when they already have Carlos Zambrano. They could want Jenks, but it’s unlikely that he’d serve much of purpose there. In the other half of deal the first that doesn’t work is that involves Tim Lincecum. He’s probably the biggest piece in San Fransico, and they never want to lose him. Also the package for them is a bit ridiculous. The front office loves Reddick, Lowrie, and Doubront, and are too valuable to the Sox after they lost they’re top three prospects last year. Lastly, I don’t have a problem with signing Josh Willingham, Andruw Jones, and Jose Molina, but resigning Conner Jackson just isn’t a good idea. He can’t hit very well anymore, plus he’s nothing special on defense besides his slightly above average arm.
If you want your idea on here please comment below or any article, email me at tricher00@gmail.com, or send me a tweet @thebestsoxblog.
Deadline Review
I’m a bit puzzled by the Red Sox moves at the deadline. They acquired Mike Aviles, Erik Bedard, and Josh Fields. Bedard is the only one I see having any impact this year. He’ll start until Buchholz is healthy, and then I don’t know what the Sox will do with him then. He might keep his spot in the rotation if he pitches better than Tim Wakefield, but if that’s not the case there isn’t really much room for him on the roster except as a possible second lefty out of the bullpen.
Fields is said to be just a throw in so is impact, if any, will be minimal. He can play both corner outfield positions and both corner infield positions, so he may be of some value to the Sox.
Aviles is the most perplexing move. To give away too players with tremendous upside for a utility infielder seems a bit strange. The only possible move I see for Aviles with the Sox is potentially competing for the starting shortstops job next year with Jed Lowrie and possible Marco Scutaro. Aviles has proven he can be an effective starter at the big league level, so that may of been Theo’s thinking as he made that deal.
Sox Acquire Mike Aviles From Royals
Today the Red Sox sent Yamaico Navarro and minor league pitcher Kendal Volz to the Royals for utility infielder Mike Aviles. Aviles, 30, finished fourth in the 2008 rookie of the year voting, but has struggled with his utility role this year. He’ll add much needed depth to the Sox infield while Jed Lowrie is on the DL. Aviles is arbitration eligible at the end of the year and is under team control until 2014.
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