Will Ortiz Injury Lead To Acquisition?

I wouldn't mind seeing the Sox add Bay but then what do you do next year assuming Ortiz is healthy. Do you let Manny walk?

I was watching the Red Sox game tonight on NESN, and Remy brought up the point that though Manny is DHing tonight, it is not something he likes to do, and the Red Sox know he plays the LF in Fenway better than anyone internally might. They have internal options, as well as doing what the Angels are doing with the 4 outfielders and one of them DH's. Remember that JD Drew can DH when hes got one of his nick nack little injuries. It will be tough to replace Ortiz in the line-up but i doubt outside options will be considered, especially not Bonds.

Move Manny to DH and give Moss a shot. Not only would he take away the need for an acquisition, but he could be showcased for a trade at some point.

I'm not sure you take a guy like bonds until you're sure Ortiz is out and even if he is, I say just DH Manny, and then put in Moss.

I think eventually, an Ortiz injury will lead to an acquisition, but come on people! They still have Coco Crisp playing backup CF.

Are you telling me that Epstein, who is paying Coco about $5M to warm up the pine, will not just move Coco or Ellsbury to left and let Coco get some auditioning? Please, Theo will have patience, because they can AFFORD to move Coco/Jacoby over and then spell one with Moss every few days, build up some aggregate stats for Coco (he will probably be at .260-.280 by July's deadline).

i would agree that the best move, or at least the one i would make, would be to move manny to dh and let moss/coco play in his place. if theo wants to go elsewhere to get a replacement, how about juan rivera or maybe even pat the bat?

It just means the DH will become a resting spot for Manny, Drew, and probably Youk. Moss is the most likely to get a call. Coco will get more ABs and lessens the likelihood of him being traded. Carter is also doing good in AAA, Boston might see him as an interesting possibility at DH. Youk will probably take the #3 spot, Manny will move to clean up, and Lowell will stay the #5 man. I can think of far worse lineups than a Red Sox minus Ortiz.

Ellsbury
Pedroia
Youk
Manny
Lowell
Tek
Drew
Coco
Lugo
It's a different kind of lineup that most Sox fans are used to, but an argument could be made it's the kind of lineup Theo has been prepared to build.

If Boston does make a trade, Dunn would be the most flashy but Boston could afford to let him or Manny walk. Probably cost them Masterson, Hansen, and Lowrie which is too much. It's not an emergency now, not unless Ortiz is out for the season and even then...

I am sure it wouldn't happen but if Ortiz becomes out for the year maybe the Redsox trade for the one season replacement in Jim Thome. Thome is an older version of David Ortiz and hasn't won a world series making Boston an ideal place for him.

Regardless of their disputed value, I wouldn't trade that trio for Dunn.

Those three currently have more value to the major league team than Dunn could ever muster.

"Bonds would be a great choice for the BoSox and could quite possibly hit the 38 he needs for 800 just based on the protection from Manny."

wow.

Bonds could hit 38 HRs this season?

wow.

Even if he came back today, he's have 104 games to hit those 38 HRs in. The fact is that if in some made up, crazy, imaginationlandword Bond was actually signed by the Red Sox, he'd still need at least a couple weeks in the minors to work on his timing and get ready. That would put him arriving at some time in July, and roughly give a 43yr old guy a half a season to swat 38HRs, assuming he'd play everyday, which he wouldn't.

So I'll sum it up:

For a club that values clubhouse guys (see Millar, Damon, Casey, Youk, Tek, ect) I can't see them signing a part time DH for a half season with a reputation as being a clubhouse cancer. Furthermore, if they did for some wild reason signed him, there's no way on God's green Earth would he come close to hitting HRs at a world record pace.

I know this will never happen, but I'd love to see the Sox hold off until near the trade deadline; then, if Ortiz looks to be out for the season AND the Braves are out of contention, trade for Mark Teixeira. They could move Youkilis to LF, where he's played before, and leave Manny at DH, or rotate the DH spot to rest guys.

Of course they should ONLY do this if they can get a window to sign Teixeira to an extention, because half a year of him isn't worth the hassle. But Boras represents Teixeira, and the Red Sox and Boras have a good working relationship. If they did, then the question of whether to pick up Manny's 2009 option is less urgent, since Teixeira/Ortiz is a terrific 3/4.

I can't see the Sox doing too much, really. They can survive a month without Papi, but if it ends up being long-term, I'm sure they'll look to do something to add some depth.

My prefered lineup has Manny DH-ing, Ellsbury in LF, Coco in CF and Drew in RF. Mix Manny in LF every few days to give guys like Sean Casey a start, but offensively and defensively this is the best they can do.

Trading for a big name like Dunn or Bay is going to cost us young players who will be making valuable contributions in the coming years (Lowrie, Masterson, Anderson, etc.). And once Ortiz returns, what do you do with a guy like Dunn or Bay? Just can't see it happening.

if they decide they arent going to pick up the option for manny next year they should trade for bay. If they are going to pick it up, Raul Ibanez would make a nice fit in LF while letting Manny DH. He should be fairly cheap.

I have heard a few rumors about Bucholz being on the trading block now that Lester has begun to establish himself and Colon has been such a success. I think the Sox will work internally until the return of Matt Holliday.

Coco Crisp and Clay Bucholz for Matt Holliday? I think they could work something around that. The Rockies have already made pretty clear that though he's not technically on the block, they will listen to offers for Holliday. This also keeps him from being acquired by the Yankees.

Otherwise I think even with all the bad publicity, Bonds is the Sox best option. Moss is a good temporary fix but Manny doesn't want to DH, it would break up the great 2,3,4,5,6, that the Sox have leaving a HUGE gap in the 3 or 4 spot.

An incredible amount of dumb ideas on this thread. I know the object of this site is to speculate, but come on!

The Sox will deal with this internally. And it does not matter of long Papi is out; there will be no acquisition of steroid-boy.

I think we see why they kept Coco around like they did. Manny sits at DH, Coco plays LF, and Boston doesn't have to trade anyone away.

And another thing...

If your choice is Coco Crisp or Barry Bonds to fill a void in your lineup, who would YOU choose?

Coco Crisp is one of the most over-rated players in all of baseball. The Statheads need to give up the ghost on this guy, he's been exposed for the bum that he is, and I'd NEVER pin my hopes on Crisp filling Big Papi's shoes.

Sure, Bonds is available, but to suggest that he's an option for Sox acquisition indicates you don't pay much attention to how things are done in Boston.

"And another thing..."

Usually this follows a previous statement. Where is your "first thing"?

"Coco Crisp is one of the most over-rated players in all of baseball. The Statheads need to give up the ghost on this guy, he's been exposed for the bum that he is, and I'd NEVER pin my hopes on Crisp filling Big Papi's shoes."

Who said anything about him filling Ortiz's shoes? While his bat is less than stellar most of the time, to discount his defense is pure stupidity. Why else would they be platooning him with Ellsbury instead of simply benching him or working harder for a trade?

The notion that the offense the Sox will lose by replacing Ortiz with Crisp in the lineup can be made up in the field by replacing Manny with Crisp is actually pretty valid.

I don't know that it would be a total wash, but I bet it'd be close.

If I'm Theo, I'm not feeling a whole lot of pressure to find a quick fix just yet.

"Even if he came back today, he's have 104 games to hit those 38 HRs in. The fact is that if in some made up, crazy, imaginationlandword Bond was actually signed by the Red Sox, he'd still need at least a couple weeks in the minors to work on his timing and get ready."

This is the guy who hit 73 home runs in a season. He is also the guy who slugged .565 on only 94 hits last year because there was no one worth pitching to him hitting behind him. You pitch around Bonds with Manny behind him and you are screwed. That means Bonds gets pitched to in a hitter's park. I didn't say he would do it, I said it would be possible. For crying out loud, Ryan Braun hit 34 in 113 games last year.

"...You think Crisp in the field will be as valuable as Ortiz at the plate? Really? Interesting..."

The issue is the delta from Ramirez to Crisp defensively, compared to the delta from Crisp to Ortiz offensively.

For the defensive half of the equation, I've got some UZR data here, shown as Runs per 150 games in LF:
Crisp (03-05 w/ CLE): +29, +59, +33; average +40
Ramirez (05-07): -42, -37, -42; average -40

So you go from a guy that will cost you ~40 runs a year in LF to one that will save you ~40 runs a year, for a net gain of ~80 runs a year.

It's not hard for me to believe the offensive difference between Ortiz and Crisp is less than 80 runs a year. But let's see.

Here I'm looking at RC/27:
Ortiz (05-07): 9.06, 9.87, 10.86; average 9.93
Crisp (05-07): 5.86, 4.49, 4.50, average 4.95

Let's next divide those averages by 9 (each guy occupies only one lineup spot in 9) and multiply by 150 games.

Ortiz generates 166 runs per year, and Crisp 83. Difference of 83 all year.

Looks pretty darn close to a wash to me.

"For the defensive half of the equation, I've got some UZR data here, shown as Runs per 150 games in LF..."

...Humm, yeah ~ although I do believe in defensive statistics, I am not enough of a believer to call their value that precise. I also know that so many things need to be factored into them, and we cant just take those rates on their own. I am also a Indians fan, and can tell you Crisp wasn’t that good in Left ~ but we’ll skip that…

See here's the biggest problem ~ a difference of Ortiz to Crisp on a batting lineup is extreme, and it will carry a trickle down effect. Will the pitchers ERA really drop enough to counteract the probable dramatic difference in overall production? Facing a Ortiz-less Sox is so nice in most peoples eyes, facing a Sox team with Crisp in LF is no big deal.

Darkstar; to say nothing about the fact that Manny plays the Green Monster as well as anyone (surely better than Ellsbury) and he has led the league in assists more than once.

Ellsbury, Coco and JD offers little improvement over Manny, Ellsbury and JD, and what improvement exists, exists in CF.

But the offensive loss of Coco starting everyday is humongous.

AA,

Are you serious? 1st off, Bonds hit 73 HRs SEVEN FREAKING YEARS AGO, and hyped up on more chemicals than Scott Weiland.

2nd, someone please tell me how Fenway is a hitter's park as far as a left handed 89 year old recovering steriod user is concerned.

"Bonds will be in a Sox jersey by the middle of the month. Schilling will explode. Fans will riot. The Celtics will lose.

I love it."

Thats classic.