Thoughts on the HOF

09 Monday Jan 2012

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Congratulations to Barry Larkin on being voted into the Hall of Fame today. Great player and he deserves the honor. That said, I have a small problem with the HOF voting taking place.
I like a lot of baseball writers, and most of them I respect for the job that they do. What I don’t like is the notion of a “hall of fame player, just not on the first ballot”? What the hell is that? Why do some writers feel the need to classify a hall of fame career this way? Correct me if I am wrong but you are either a hall of fame player or not, right?
My opinion, all ballots should be made public after the vote. If you, as a writer, want the ability to not vote for someone then I, as a reader want the ability to criticize you for it. If you can’t take the criticism then you are in the wrong profession. You don’t write damaging articles without a by line, do you? No, you are all the happier to disgrace a player if you feel they deserve it, I say writers should deal with the same. I believe there were 9 blank ballots turned in this vote, nine of a class that had at least two sure things in my opinion. Don’t want to vote for them? Fine, put your name on it and stand up for your vote.
I don’t know all the details about how writers get votes, if you do please let me know, but some people should loose that privilege. If you can put up a good argument for not voting someone it that’s fine, it is your vote not mine, however I feel some people are taking advantage of the “closed” ballot.
I was lucky enough to visit the hall as a kid, and I hope I get to go again before it becomes a joke.
By the way, my favorite Larkin moment, his at bat to start the ’99 All Star Game. Pedro (future Hall of Fame player) was on fire that day and Larken never stood a chance.

Maybe Louis Tiant Needs a Job?

09 Monday Jan 2012

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Last night, several people on twitter confirmed that the Red Sox and Aaron Cook

Aaron Cook, looking to make a comeback (Denver Post photo)

reached a deal for a minor league contract. Cook, coming off a terrible season with Colorado, was hoping the team would pick up his $11 million option. After the Rockies, smartly, declined that option he seems to have settled for a small one year deal to try to up his value again.

Cook had about as bad a year as you could imagine the 33-year-old sinker-ball pitcher to have last year. 3-10 with an ERA north of 6 while only being able to manage 4.5 SO/9 is really not what I had in mind when I wrote about looking for a 4th or 5th starter last night. I understand the attraction to having a sinker ball pitcher at Fenway, but give me Saunders, Kuroda, or Maholm any day of the week.

Carlos Silva should offer a boost to Ft. Myers restaurants (AP photo/Morry Gash)

I get the fact that competition for a pitching spot in spring is a good thing, I like seeing it too, but right now the Red Sox have signed guys up that I just hope never make it out. I can’t see rooting for Carlos Silva or Aaron Cook to be a healthy life choice for me. Oh well, still more time to find that perfect guy to shore up the back-end, right?

Bigger issue for me on these deals is that while I did not want to believe it, it seems more and more likely that Cherington will have minimum control over this team as GM. It is too bad, from what I know about Ben, he is a smart baseball guy and he deserves to get his chance after being in shadow of Theo, serving him well surely. I sometimes wonder if Lucchino would not make himself GM just so he has someone elses name to attached to the bad deals he makes?

 

The Long and Cruel Offseason

08 Sunday Jan 2012

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Football playoffs kicked off this weekend, at this time of the year I really start to miss baseball. This offseason in particular has been, well, quiet for the Sox. I did want to take a quick look at a few of the acquisitions, or proposed acquisitions to this point.

Lets start with Andrew Bailey, this trade was a fantastic one for the Red Sox. I won’t sit here and hate on Pap, we all know what he did for this team and how clutch he was at the end of the game. We had to let him walk, and that was a sad day for a lot of Sox fans, but at his asking price it just wasn’t worth it. Next on the radar was Ryan Madson, another guy that would have been great to see at the end of the game, again the asking price was way to high for a closer with one year experience. Keep in mind there is still talk of him being targeted by the Red Sox if the price comes down, and a back-end of Melancon, Bailey, and Madson would be real good. Looking back at the Bailey trade we didn’t really give up all that much. I like Reddick and he is an everyday right fielder, just not for this team. Long term the team has been looking for Kalish to step up, not Reddick. People question Bailie’s ability to close in Fenway after coming from an incredibly pitcher friendly ball park. I think his numbers show that he has the stuff to attack the strike zone and get people out. Sure he used the park to his advantage but that shows me he has smarts. He is a fly ball pitcher much like Pap, who never got nearly as much talk about giving up home runs. His save percentage is almost identical to Pap last year and his lack of opportunities, seriously how many save chances is that potent A’s lineup going to give you, shouldn’t be a concern. I, for one, am extremely excited to see him in the game.

Paul Maholm is a name that has been tossed around the rumor mill the past week or so. To me this would be a great pick up for the Red Sox at the right price. Cherington isn’t looking for a top of the rotation guy here, he has a few of those that can get the job done. What he needs is a 4/5 started to eat up innings and get around 12 wins and, more importantly, keep the team in games. This is what I thought Lackey would be great at, his history showed he could eat innings but we all know how that is going. Maholm should come cheap after a down year with the Pirates and there is talk of him maybe looking for a one year deal to try to get back on track. He made about 6.25 mm last year on his way to 6-14 record while posting a respectable 3.66 ERA and getting over 5 SO/9.

The Top Ten

06 Friday Jan 2012

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Baseball America came out with their top 10 prospects in the Sox organization today, and to be real honest with you, this shit gets me excited. A lot of people look at prospects and take the “call me when they are in the majors” approach. Not me, growing up 15 minutes away from the Pawtucket Red Sox, prospects have always been a really exciting part of the game for me. But I digress, more on the list.

Here is the thing, not a snowball’s chance in hell that all these guys work out, never gonna happen. That makes it exciting and this list has some names on it to get pretty excited about. Three new draft pick ups cracked the top ten, lead by catcher Blake Swihart. The other two are Pitcher Matt Barnes and Outfielder Jackie Bradley. I love Swihart and I think the kid has a great chance to be a real deal big league catcher in a few years. I was a little shocked to see him ahead of Barnes, a guy who was drawing comparisons to Verlander (please turn out like Verlander).

Not a big shock to see Will Middlebrooks and Xander Bogaerts top this list, Middlebrooks who I have previously said should be in the lineup in Boston by the end of the year without any unforseen injury. Anthony Ranaudo come in as the highest rated pitcher. While working his way up to Salem A+ ball last year, Ranaudo struggled a little bit when he got there. More time at this level and he should be ready to move upward again.

Probably the most interesting, and maybe crazy, part of the article is the 2015 Red Sox line up projection that looks like this,

Catcher: Blake Swihart

First Base: Adiran Gonzalez

Second Base: Dustin Pedroia

Third Base: Will Middlebrooks

Short Stop: Jose Iglesias

Left Field: Carl Crawford

Center Field: Jacoby Ellsbury

Right Field: Xander Bogaerts

DH: Kevin Youkilis

Besides the fact that I wouldn’t mind trading Youkilis this year and moving Lavarnway into the DH role and I don’t have much hope for Jacoby Ellsbury being on this team in 2015, on paper this team is really good.

This is why prospects are fun, yes it is stupid to look at a 2015 season when so many things can change but hey, I don’t care.

Jenks Insurance Premium Goes Up.

05 Thursday Jan 2012

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Elsa/Getty Images

Bobby Jenks is undergoing another neck surgery, reports Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. At 30, I never expected Jenks to be this much of a health risk, sure he blows up like a wood tick every now and then but this is crazy. Somewhere, JD Drew must be laughing, or whatever the equivalent of an emotionless robot does. As the season draws near without a 5th starter it looks more and more like Aceves will join Bard in the rotation leaving a bullpen resembling swiss cheese. Sorry for not having more faith in Carlos Silva but come on. I can deal with Sweeny in left field but for the love of god can we please find some decent help for this pitching staff?

Young Guns

04 Wednesday Jan 2012

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Will Middlebrooks, Ryan Lavarnway and Jose Iglesias (Getty Images/ICON SMI)

Excellent article by Mike Andrews of SoxProspects and ESPNBoston today outlining 10 things to keep an eye on in 2012, click here to read the article.

This season Will Middlebrooks has a great opportunity to crack the big league roster and make an impact. Not out of the question would be a trade deadline dealing of Youk to help shore up second half pitching questions and allowing Middlebrooks to step in everyday. Of course it still has to be seen if he continue to progresses but that should give a fairly good sample of the season to make that call. His defense isn’t a question and with a career line of .272/.330/.440 he could sneak in the back of the order. It is no secret that Youk has rubbed his fair share of teammates/coaching staff the wrong way, with his health questionable Middlebrooks is next in line to fill the corner.

Forget Pitching

03 Tuesday Jan 2012

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Lets get something straight, this team can have all the pitching it wants but it is built around offense. That being said, how will this years team stack up? Last year with one of the most prolific offenses in the MLB they sill fell short. Yes it was mainly due to a monumental (insert word that can’t be said here) on the part of the pitching staff. Using Bill James projections for 2012 lets check out the offence.

Catcher: Jarrod Saltalamacchia (sure it will be a platoon but Salty will be the go to guy); After a drastic start to the season the numbers never fully came around. In 103 games behind home plate Salty hit .235/.288/.450 falling below is career average of .244/.307/.406 in everything but Slg. While benefiting from career highs in doubles (23), triples (ok it was only 3 but still) and HR’s (16) he was serviceable in a line up that has had mediocre production from the catcher for a few years now. Next year Salty projects to be a .245/.311/.436 hitter with a OPS of .747. That said hopefully we will see a slight increase in his numbers but what you see is what you get.

First Base: Adrian Gonzalez; Needless to say the Sox need another huge year from Adrian is they want to contend. Blowing away his career numbers with a ..338/.410/.548 line the only thing more to ask for would be a return of his power numbers (27 HR). Father removed from shoulder injury should see those HR numbers bounce back. Gonzalez projects to be about the same, just a step off his blistering pace set last year with a line of .301/.387/.517.

Second Base: Dustin Pedroia; He of the oft changing nickname provided another great season at the plate no matter where he hit. Almost matching his career numbers exactly with at .307/.387/.474 he was also able to go yard a career high 21 times. Expect nothing but the same from Pedroia, .299/.378/.469, as he starts his prime years.

Third Base: Kevin Youkilis; Youk had a tough year with injuries and for his standards underperformed. At .258/.373/.459 Youk had one of his worst years so far. At 33 and with a “bad body”, it is not a stretch to say that Youk may be in the decline. There should be an increase with a healthy Youk, .281/.389/.489, but only time will tell if he can get through an entire season.

Short Stop: Marco Scutaro; .299/.358/.423 Scutaro provided a nice pop that no one predicted. Stepping up his game at the plate was a huge part of why the Red Sox offence preformed so well last year. .271/.341/.378 projected next year is a return to “normal” for Scutaro. He will be the go to guy with Jed Lowrey packing his bags this offseason and as long as they can get him regular rest Scutaro should continue to be a spark in whatever part of the lineup he is in.

Left Field: (ugh) Carl Crawford; It was bad, so bad that it won’t be written here. Projected at .286/.332/.436 we will hopefully see the player that tormented us in a Rays uniform. His speed is a huge asset and if Carl can start to get on base again it will give catchers nightmares in tandem with……

Center Field: Jacoby Ellsbury; .321/.376/.552 enough said. It was ridiculous, it was crazy, it was inexplicable. Ells hit like someone insulted his mother and then hit some more. If I hadn’t seen it I would never have believed this season happened. Can he repeat? Probably not, it’s just too insane to imagine. However, if he hits his projections at .304/.362/.476 the Red Sox will still be sitting right among the tops in the league in production from a center fielder.

Left Field: Anyone know who is going to play left? Right now my money is on Ryan Sweeney; Left field seems to be resigned to not being a power spot on the Sox. Projected at .285/.352/.392 (Oakland projections) Sweeney should do fine in this lineup. He tends to hit opposite field so we may see his home run numbers increase slightly and he should benefit from the wall in left.

That’s it, those are your 2012 Red Sox at the plate, we should be in for another offensive treat of a season.

A Fond Farwell

03 Tuesday Jan 2012

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One of the huge inspirations for TLRS was all the other blogs out there, one in particular blog always stood out from the others. SawxBlog is one of the first Red Sox blogs that I started reading and today I read the sad final post as SawxBlog is being retired so to speak. Derek, creator of SawxBlog, wrote one of the most emotional posts I have read in a long time.

I understand that there is a good chance I could do this for years and no one will read a single word. However, it was reading blogs, such as SawxBlog, that inspired me to start TLRS and because of that I will do my part to fill the huge void that is left. 

I hope that someday someone will read TLRS and decide to do the same.

Goodbye SawxBlog, thank you for all the great times.

Red Sox: Now accepting resumes

03 Tuesday Jan 2012

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Red Sox signed 12, yes 12 players to minor league deals today. The list is too long and insignificant to list them all. Really only one name that can fit into the big league club.  

The only name of real worth on the list is Rich Hill. Before being sidelined with an elbow injury and eventual TJ surgery, Hill was rather efficient on the mound. Only 9 innings so sample size be dammed but he didn’t give up a single earned run. As long as his elbow is healthy he should be able to slide right into the bullpen.

Jesse Carlson is a guy that could provide some bullpen depth, if he can get his control back. 3 years in a row his numbers have come down but he once showed promise that could be usefull in a pen that might loose Bard and Aceves.

Carlos Silva is a name that I am sure no one expected to hear again. Not really sure what the Sox are going for with this signing, hoping for a Bartolo Colon like resurgence from the fat big man is the only thing that makes sense.

Not sure if any of the names listed in the signing come close to a job, but one thing is sure, the Sox are looking for pitching depth and they are willing to look under any rock they find.

Time Heals All……Well Most

03 Tuesday Jan 2012

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Well it is January 3rd and this is the first post on TLRS. Getting right out in the open with it I started this for a simple reason to have fun and talk some baseball. A few months ago the Red Sox season ended and to this day I am still mad hurt sad with how it all ended. This being a new year, soon with a new baseball season, I have decided I needed a new outlet for my frustration and joy that comes with being a fan. So here it is.

The Plan: get it all out there for others to enjoy/mock/sympathize. There will be statistics mixed in with my own feelings about players and the Red Sox as a whole and some recapping of games. It is all intended to be lighthearted and fun, however if you are also a Red Sox fan you should understand when it gets passionate and slightly over the top.

What I am not is a writer, calling me a writer is an insult to a whole lot of people far more talented than myself, I make no apologies for grammar or spelling but I will try my best, so lay off me. TLRS will be updated as often as can be so please visit often, share with others and feel free to comment when the mood strikes.

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