Boston Red Sox Thread

[elliseamos]

Doubront needs to prove he can show up for a season without turning into a tub of lard during the offseason before I'm willing to put a high value on him.

what he did in the world series was filthy. i'll stay on team doubront, thanks.

[elliseamos]

*still assuming* the Sox are working w/ $32M this offseason (based on current obligations for '14 and the reports that they won't be going over $189M to avoid the luxury tax) and therefore that none of their own free agents return, how would you feel about this 25-man roster? (bolded = FA or trade)

SP: Lester (l), Lackey (r), Buchholz (r), Doubront (l), Peavy (r)
BP: Uehara (r), Breslow (l), Tazawa (r)(arb), Mujica (r), Badenhop (r)(arb), Miller (l)(arb), Dempster (r, long)

line-up/order:
RF: Victorino (s)
2B: Pedroia (r)
DH: Ortiz (l)
LF: Gomes (r)
1B: Nava (s)
C: Pierzynski (l)
3B: Middlebrooks (r)
CF: Jackie Bradley Jr. (l)
SS: Bogaerts (r)

Bench: Carp (l) (arb), Ross (r), insert OF here, insert utility IF here

Total for the fa & arb. elligibles comes to $21.50M, which leaves the Sox with $10.50M to get to their below-luxury-tax total, with bench players being the only roster spots not currently filled. Also, the recent Mujica signing likely means Workman keeps his pawtucket-bus-pass (spot starter).

Spoiler: show

Pierzynski - $8.25M, love the one you're with
Mujica - $4.75, no free passes makes him seem like a uehara "stat" comparable.

estimated (made-up by me giving them a raise on their salary from this year) arbitration numbers:
Tazawa - $3M
Miller - $2.5M
Badenhop - $2M
Carp - $1M

[Coach]

*still assuming* the Sox are working w/ $32M this offseason (based on current obligations for '14 and the reports that they won't be going over $189M to avoid the luxury tax) and therefore that none of their own free agents return, how would you feel about this 25-man roster? (bolded = FA or trade)

SP: Lester, Lackey, Buchholz, Peavy, Doubront
BP: Uehara, Breslow, Tazawa (arb), Badenhop (arb), Workman, Miller (arb), Dempster

line-up/order:
RF: Victorino (s)
2B: Pedroia (r)
DH: Ortiz (l)
LF: Gomes (r)
1B: Nava (s)
C: Pierzynski (l)
3B: Middlebrooks (r)
CF: Jackie Bradley Jr. (l)
SS: Bogaerts (r)

Bench: Carp (l) (arb), Ross (r), insert OF here, insert utility IF here

Total for the fa & arb. elligibles comes to $16.5M, which leaves the Sox with $15.5M to get to their below-luxury-tax total, with bench players being the only roster spots not currently filled.

Spoiler: show

Pierzynski - $8M, love the one you're with

estimated (made-up by me giving them a raise on their salary from this year) arbitration numbers:
Tazawa - $3M
Miller - $2.5M
Badenhop - $2M
Carp - $1M

Love the starting five pitchers, and that's most important.

Don't think you can have Dempster work the bull pen...think he's gone via trade

Not loving the batting order...need more pop. Makes me really recognize Napoli's presence....

Good job on this, Ellis

[elliseamos]

*still assuming* the Sox are working w/ $32M this offseason (based on current obligations for '14 and the reports that they won't be going over $189M to avoid the luxury tax) and therefore that none of their own free agents return, how would you feel about this 25-man roster? (bolded = FA or trade)

SP: Lester, Lackey, Buchholz, Peavy, Doubront
BP: Uehara, Breslow, Tazawa (arb), Badenhop (arb), Workman, Miller (arb), Dempster

line-up/order:
RF: Victorino (s)
2B: Pedroia (r)
DH: Ortiz (l)
LF: Gomes (r)
1B: Nava (s)
C: Pierzynski (l)
3B: Middlebrooks (r)
CF: Jackie Bradley Jr. (l)
SS: Bogaerts (r)

Bench: Carp (l) (arb), Ross (r), insert OF here, insert utility IF here

Total for the fa & arb. elligibles comes to $16.5M, which leaves the Sox with $15.5M to get to their below-luxury-tax total, with bench players being the only roster spots not currently filled.

Spoiler: show

Pierzynski - $8M, love the one you're with

estimated (made-up by me giving them a raise on their salary from this year) arbitration numbers:
Tazawa - $3M
Miller - $2.5M
Badenhop - $2M
Carp - $1M

Love the starting five pitchers, and that's most important.

Don't think you can have Dempster work the bull pen...think he's gone via trade

Not loving the batting order...need more pop. Makes me really recognize Napoli's presence....

Good job on this, Ellis

dempster's listing had more to do with who was staying in the rotation.

[MattA75]

*still assuming* the Sox are working w/ $32M this offseason (based on current obligations for '14 and the reports that they won't be going over $189M to avoid the luxury tax) and therefore that none of their own free agents return, how would you feel about this 25-man roster? (bolded = FA or trade)

SP: Lester, Lackey, Buchholz, Peavy, Doubront
BP: Uehara, Breslow, Tazawa (arb), Badenhop (arb), Workman, Miller (arb), Dempster

line-up/order:
RF: Victorino (s)
2B: Pedroia (r)
DH: Ortiz (l)
LF: Gomes (r)
1B: Nava (s)
C: Pierzynski (l)
3B: Middlebrooks (r)
CF: Jackie Bradley Jr. (l)
SS: Bogaerts (r)

Bench: Carp (l) (arb), Ross (r), insert OF here, insert utility IF here

Total for the fa & arb. elligibles comes to $16.5M, which leaves the Sox with $15.5M to get to their below-luxury-tax total, with bench players being the only roster spots not currently filled.

Spoiler: show

Pierzynski - $8M, love the one you're with

estimated (made-up by me giving them a raise on their salary from this year) arbitration numbers:
Tazawa - $3M
Miller - $2.5M
Badenhop - $2M
Carp - $1M

Love the starting five pitchers, and that's most important.

Don't think you can have Dempster work the bull pen...think he's gone via trade

Not loving the batting order...need more pop. Makes me really recognize Napoli's presence....

Good job on this, Ellis

dempster's listing had more to do with who was staying in the rotation.

Dempster will get plenty of starts once Buchholz finds some sand in his vag

we really need to re-sign Napoli

[philpritchard]

Saltalamacchia ends up getting an average of $7 million over the next three years. Wouldn't that deal have been preferable to what they're paying Pierzynski for 2014? Or are Swihart and Vazquez good enough/close enough that they don't want to block them beyond this year?

[MattA75]

Saltalamacchia ends up getting an average of $7 million over the next three years. Wouldn't that deal have been preferable to what they're paying Pierzynski for 2014? Or are Swihart and Vazquez good enough/close enough that they don't want to block them beyond this year?

I honestly think they were just done with Saltalamacchia after the postseason he had and how effective the pitchers were with Ross catching...I'm sure the prospects were part of the decision too, but I'm not sure the team will be missing much with Salty gone

[philpritchard]

Saltalamacchia ends up getting an average of $7 million over the next three years. Wouldn't that deal have been preferable to what they're paying Pierzynski for 2014? Or are Swihart and Vazquez good enough/close enough that they don't want to block them beyond this year?

I honestly think they were just done with Saltalamacchia after the postseason he had and how effective the pitchers were with Ross catching...I'm sure the prospects were part of the decision too, but I'm not sure the team will be missing much with Salty gone

I guess going from Saltalamacchia to Pierzynski will save money on jersey production, too. They should have just stuck with Ross as the starter.

[MattA75]

Saltalamacchia ends up getting an average of $7 million over the next three years. Wouldn't that deal have been preferable to what they're paying Pierzynski for 2014? Or are Swihart and Vazquez good enough/close enough that they don't want to block them beyond this year?

I honestly think they were just done with Saltalamacchia after the postseason he had and how effective the pitchers were with Ross catching...I'm sure the prospects were part of the decision too, but I'm not sure the team will be missing much with Salty gone

I guess going from Saltalamacchia to Pierzynski will save money on jersey production, too. They should have just stuck with Ross as the starter.

I think it'll be a 100-60 split or so between the two, and Ross was hurt this year for a good period of time...I think this says more about what they think of Lavarnway's potential as an everyday bat more than anything...

[numbers]

Salty couldn't handle crunch time, this year wasn't the first time he shit his pants once the games started mattering. Why resign him when you don't trust him to play in big games? Not to mention that the pitchers all wanted the other catcher every year regardless of who it was.

[philpritchard]

Salty couldn't handle crunch time, this year wasn't the first time he shit his pants once the games started mattering. Why resign him when you don't trust him to play in big games? Not to mention that the pitchers all wanted the other catcher every year regardless of who it was.

If it's based on his game calling skills or his defensive ability or his chances of repeating a breakout season, that's perfectly fair. If they let him go because of a 20 at-bat sample in which he struggled during the playoffs, that's a horrible decision.

[MattA75]

Salty couldn't handle crunch time, this year wasn't the first time he shit his pants once the games started mattering. Why resign him when you don't trust him to play in big games? Not to mention that the pitchers all wanted the other catcher every year regardless of who it was.

If it's based on his game calling skills or his defensive ability or his chances of repeating a breakout season, that's perfectly fair. If they let him go because of a 20 at-bat sample in which he struggled during the playoffs, that's a horrible decision.

it was his defense that killed him in the playoffs, not his lack of offense

[philpritchard]

Salty couldn't handle crunch time, this year wasn't the first time he shit his pants once the games started mattering. Why resign him when you don't trust him to play in big games? Not to mention that the pitchers all wanted the other catcher every year regardless of who it was.

If it's based on his game calling skills or his defensive ability or his chances of repeating a breakout season, that's perfectly fair. If they let him go because of a 20 at-bat sample in which he struggled during the playoffs, that's a horrible decision.

it was his defense that killed him in the playoffs, not his lack of offense

Ahhh ok. Still, though, the playoffs are such a small sample that you have to take anything that happens there with a grain of... salt (ha!). Is his defense normally that bad?

[numbers]

He's not a good game caller. This years playoffs wasn't the first time his nerves got the better of him. The last week of the year in 2011 they benched him in favor of lavarnway(who hadn't caught a game in the majors) because he couldn't throw to a base without air mailing it.

[elliseamos]

i've added mujica to my run-through of the roster up-thread.

i like the signing. it reminds me of uehara's signing last season (no, i don't expect mujica to be the new closer).

[numbers]

I predict that Uehara will not be the closer by the all star break, so I'm all for adding guys with closer stuff and experience in the role.

[Norah]

I'll never not like a signing like this. A relief pitcher with experience and past success (despite hiccups along the way) for around 10MM over 2 years. Bullpens are never safe, no matter how well they perform one year you always need to add a guy like this.

[numbers]

If they could get Kemp for say, Webster and Marerro(or something similar) with the Dodgers eating some of the money, would you do it?

[elliseamos]

Nap is back!

I'd say that's it for roster moves, unless they can trade one of their $tarter$

[Norah]

I love that we're pretty much at the luxury tax threshold and still haven't re-signed Drew.