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WFAN, Jon Heyman and others are reporting that Jason Bay has an agreement with the Mets.  4-years, $66mm.  It is easy to question what Bay and his agent were thinking, but they clearly overplayed their hand and now Bay is in a large baseball park when he could have returned to Fenway for a reported 4-years, $60mm.

Hind sight is 20x20, I mean he couldn't have known he'd be down to 1 suitor, but he must be kicking himself.

Regardless of how he is feeling, Bay was one of two legit sluggers on the market and now his signing (presumed) leaves only Matt Holliday available, just the way Scott Boras wanted it all along.

What this also does, is leaves some financial flexibility for moves later in the season for the Red Sox.  But it also means the Red Sox offense is a step below where it was in 2009.  Something they will have to address at some point in 2010.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 03:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

The Red Sox have already had an active off-season leading most to believe they are done shopping.  But now WEEI's Rob Bradford is reporting that the Red Sox are having internal discussions as to whether or not they can make another offer to Bay, thus boosting their line-up and saving Bay from certain embarassment and torture should he become a New York Met.

Bradford suggests that an offer would be in line with their previous 4-year, $60mm deal they offered earlier in 2009 and again at the outset of free agency.

My guess here, assuming these reports are true, is that Red Sox management feels Bay would be crazy to not accept a 4/60 offer...or even a 4/56 offer for that matter.  They'll let him save face and take the 4/60 and be done with it.  It is rumored that Bay has only 1 suitor right now in the Mets and really doesn't want to play there.  Bay and his agent have overplayed their hand and would do anything short of beg for another crack at negotiations with the Red Sox.

Now if this does happen, there will be an outfield logjam what with newly signed Mike Cameron on-board.  In addition, it turns out Mike Lowell is still on the Red Sox too.  I'm not sure how this will play out, but if Lowell still ends up getting dealt (his surgery will have him ready by spring training and he could still be dealt to Texas or another team at that point), then Bay could be valuable in case David Ortiz doesn't pan out in 2010.  In addition, he can hold a semi platoon with Ellsbury (with Cameron moving to CF), Ortiz and Drew (with Bay playing left and Cameron moving to RF).

Between injuries to Drew, tough match-ups to Ellsbury, Ortiz and Drew and regular days off for all of to the outfield and Ortiz, he will easily find enough at bats.  In fact, it is silly to think Bay would have to struggle for at bats, in fact it will be Cameron, Ellsbury and Ortiz that will struggle to get at bats in favor of Bay.

I'm getting ahead of myself here, but I love the idea of this as Bay would significantly upgrade the offense and seeing as we know he can play in Boston, likes it here, and seeing as Bay doesn't want to play in New York, it all makes sense.

Lastly, with Lackey and Bay on board, Ellsbury and/or Buchholz, as we've mentioned, become even more available for a mid-season run at an offensive upgrade at 1st or 3rd, that is unless you like the idea of 600 PAs from Casey Kotchman this year.  Let's watch this play out.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 08:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

In very quick fashion, the Red Sox have become a different team, especially when it comes to team defense and pitching.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 02:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Ken Rosenthal is again at it along with ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, both are reporting that the Red Sox are looking to sign Mike Cameron to be their left fielder. If true, we can say goodbye to Jason Bay (and Matt Holliday for that matter).

The Red Sox aren't kidding when they say they want to become better defensively. Cameron played CF last year, and has a grand total of 9.2 IP in left in his career, but Boston must be thinking the transition will be easy. The other thought might be to move Jacoby Ellsbury to LF as Cameron was a far better defensive option in CF than was Ellsbury in 2009 according to UZR/150.

No word on the dollars involved, but the reports suggest it will be a 2-year deal.  Cameron hit .250/.342/.452/.795 in 2009 almost exactly in line with his career averages.  He has decent pop, but has always been known for his defense with 3 gold gloves under his belt.  He'll be 37, so that might be the main reason they move him to LF.

Cameron hits lefties better than he does righties (.859 OPS vs. .765).  Conversely, Jeremy Hermida hits righties better than he does lefties (.792 OPS vs. .697), so we might be seeing a platoon here.  Hermida's defense isn't great however, so maybe LF is Cameron's job full-time with Hermida the 4th OF.

While I wish we were talking about Jason Bay right now, I don't mind this move.  Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe wrote an interesting piece the other day stressing that wins and losses are all about run differential and that it doesn't matter how you created run differential.  It is common sense, but it is also easy for that basic principle to get lost in the shuffle.  You can either score more runs, or allowed fewer runs (or both heaven forbid).  The Red Sox have clearly chosed the latter.

Now, I still expect a move for a hitter as Clay Buchholz just became far more available than he was yesterday.  The obvious candidate I'd like to see would be Adrian Gonzalez with Kevin Youkilis moving to 3b.  If they can pull that off, I think we'd be looking at keeping the runs scored about the same as 2009 but improving the runs allowed.

So Lackey and Cameron all in one day.  Lackey will cost them a draft pick but Cameron was not offered arbitration, so no draft picks are due.

The AP is now reporting that the Red Sox have reached tentative deals for Lackey and Cameron, both pending physicals.  Ken Rosenthal is reporting it is in the vicinity of 2-years, $15.5mm for Cameron.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 09:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports is reporting that former Angels pitcher John Lackey took a physical today with the Boston Red Sox, "an indication that he is close to an agreement with the team, according to a major-league source."

Rosenthal said the deal will look somewhat like the deal AJ Burnett signed with the Yankees last year.

At first glance, this could mean many things.  First, they have lost their minds and clearly thing Lackey is a great pitcher (if the money/terms are true) and furthermore, it might be a prelude to yet a larger deal.

Consider a starting rotation of:  Lester, Beckett, Matsuzaka, Buchholz and Wakefield, unless Wakefield is not progressing quickly enough from off-season surgery, or the Red Sox are pioneering a 6-man rotation, it could mean a deal is in the works to trade Buchholz for an offensive upgrade.

After not hearing about Adrian Gonzalez for a while, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe mentioned that Boston and San Diego have discussed a deal for Gonzalez, but couldn't agree on players.  The mention of talks was encouraging to me as I hadn't heard any of trade talk between the 2 teams.

More to come...

Like Ken Rosenthal did, I should note that Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse broke this story.  Price is the same guy I said I hadn't heard of before and therefore assumed was a slacker...YankeesRedSox.com management disciplined me.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 01:04 PM | Permalink

UPDATE:  The Red Sox acquired Boof Bonsor today according to MLBTradeRumors.com.  He had been designated for assignment earlier this week.  Bonsor is a strikeout pitcher, but is coming off major arm surgery and is hardly a lock to make it back to the major leagues.  I wouldn't expect much of him in 2010 at the major league level.

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Nothing happened on day 3 of the Winter Meetings for Boston, but overnight, the rumors on a Mike Lowell deal started to really heat up.  As of now, there are reports that a deal is in place pending league approval.

Texas Rangers get - Mike Lowell (3b) and $8-9mm to offset salary

Boston Red Sox get - Max Ramirez (c/1b)

Assuming this does go down, that means the Red Sox are in the market for a corner infielder.  Of course Casey Kotchman could handle first base, but I can't imagine Boston feels good about his offensive potential.

My guess is we're going to see Nick Johnson in a Red Sox uni with Kevin Youkilis moving to 3rd base full time or Adrian Beltre at 3rd with Youkilis staying at 1st.

To be frank, I'm not excited about either of these options.  I would be thrilled with Johnson if I thought he had any chance of staying healthy, as when he does, he grinds pitchers down and gets on base at an amazing clip.  He played in 133 games last year,

38 in 2008

0 in 2007

147 in 2006 (career high)

131 in 2005,

73 in 2004

96 in 2003

When he plays, he is a near lock to get on base at .400, a trait cherished by Theo Epstein  and his defense is good, but I don't know why any team would expect him to play a full season.  Kind of like JD Drew with less power...just what all Boston fans want.

Adrian Beltre is an excellent defensive third baseman, but shows a decided lack of plate discipline (career .325 obp) and has only had 1 really good year back in 2004.  Perhaps Boston knows something about his hit chart and Fenway would be a good home for him.  Looking at his career at Fenway, I don't see anything special with his hit chart at Fenway.

In fairness, Seattle, Beltre's former home, is a place power hitters can go to die.  I guess I have seen his production (stats not first hand) and it doesn't excite me and most worrisome is he is coming off a horrendous season, in his walk year no less.  It just doesn't add up.

As for Max Ramirez, he had been an offensive star in the minors for Texas, but something happened in 2009.  This reminds me of my comments on George Kottaras, another catcher who was humming along in the minors, but then hit a wall offensively.

Ramirez's career minor league numbers:  .299/.398/.486 in 2146 plate appearances, that includes 334 PAs in 2009 at a .230/318/.334.  Ugly.  Couple that with the fact he is on his 3rd organization and will be 25, after having been drafted in 2004 as a 19 year old.  Why has it taken him so long to make it?  There has to be other concerns.  He did have wrist issues in 2009, but to get some many PAs and still post those numbers is awful.  Consider this though, Ramirez is Veneluazan as is Victor Martinez (and Marco Scutaro).  Perhaps this is shaping up to be a mentoring thing.

So this move clears the way for a new infielder for Boston and now we just have to wait and see if it actually happens.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 08:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Not much of anything happened for Boston yesterday.  Certainly they continued their due diligence on many players and perhaps advanced talks on trades and/or free agent signings, but from the fans perspective, nothing happened.

One thing did happen and that was the Yankees traded for a center fielder.  The Red Sox (i.e. Theo Epstein) have publicly said they do not make moves based on what the Yankees are doing, but everyone knows that while that might be their goal, they always have an eye on what the Yankees are doing.

The Red Sox have a glaring hole in left field and even if they do re-sign Jason Bay, or sign Matt Holliday, that just leaves them at status quo.  Yes Marco Scutaro is an upgrade offensively at shortstop, but there is no way he replicates his 2009 offensive performance and his defense is a step down from Alex Gonzalez's, so he is an improvement overall, but probably not as great as some might think.

Back to Bay/Holliday, the Red Sox can't sit around and be content with status quo.  With David Ortiz another year older and coming off a disappointing season and Mike Lowell not getting healthier or rangier, this team could be worse offensively.

Now the Winter Meetings aren't the only time deals can be made, but the fan in me wants something done now, if not sooner.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The first day of the winter meetings yielded some minor league depth signings and a potential major league bullpen arm.

In signing Scott Atchison, they get a reliever who pitched in Japan for the past 2 seasons.  Just prior to his departure to Japan in 2007, the Red Sox had hoped to sign him, showing that he never fell off their radar.  Atchison looks to be a fringe player based on his State-side performances, but he did do very well in Japan in 2009.

Also signed were old friend Kason Gabbard and new friend Fabio Castro.  This is probably Gabbard's last chance to stick around in pro baseball, let alone hoping for a major league job, he had a horrible, injury plagued 2009 and is looking to rebound (9.60 ERA in 40.1 IP for 3 teams in the minors).

Castro's signing is for AAA emergency starter depth, no more.

The biggest news Red Sox fans are waiting for of course is whether or not Jason Bay comes back in 2010 and if not, who will replace him.  Matt Holliday is an option and of there seems to be no shortage of trade rumors flying around, although nothing too hot/concrete as it pertains to the Red Sox.

My take is that the Red Sox have to sign Bay or Holliday and upgrade another roster spot (starter or bat, with bat being my preference) to make this team top-tier in 2010.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 09:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

It rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?

Someone named Ed Price, of Fanhouse.com (???) has been Twittering (Tweeting...or has Tweeted...Twittered...whatever) that the Red Sox and Marco Scutaro have agreed on a 2-year deal.  ESPN's Jerry Crasnick and Gordon Edes are reporting that Scutaro worked out for the Red Sox and are closing in on a 2-year deal.

So if we believe what we read, the Red Sox have solved their shortstop vacancy.  Is Scutaro a premier fit?  In a word, no.  He is coming off a career year at an old age, but can play an average shortstop and seems to have decent control of the strike zone.  That said, I fully expect the Red Sox to give Jed Lowrie as much opportunity as possible to win the job.

Scutaro's 2009 employer was said to have been considering moving him to the outfield had he accepted arbitration.  That doesn't speak volumes of their confidence in him as a defender, but perhaps it was just a rumor floated to force Scutaro out the door.  His leaving will garner the Jays the Red Sox first round pick and a supplemental pick in the 2010 amateur draft.

So with shortstop most likely filled, the Red Sox now need to sign a left fielder (or trade for one).  I still think this offense needs some additional giddy-up.  More to come I suspect.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 11:15 PM | Permalink

Reports are circulating that Billy Wagner has agreed to a deal with the Atlanta Braves pending a physical.  Assuming he passed the physical, the Red Sox will get draft pick compensation for losing Wagner as they offered him arbitration yesterday.

I'm not sure why we get so interested in draft pick compensation.  Given how the current system works, you might be able to draft 1st round talent in the 10th round if a player is considered a "tough signing."  Obviously if there is an undisputed top pick, it is nice to have top picks in the draft, but it seems fairly easy to work around not having those top picks.

The Red Sox also offered Jason Bay arbitration yesterday.

Now that teams have a working knowledge of which free agents will and will not cost a draft pick, we should start to see more deals over the coming days heading into the Winter Meetings.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 09:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)