Odds and Ends: Bradley, Roberts, Cruz, Smoltz

Bellhorn! Lol, how ya been?

Does Zink have any options left? If not, he's pretty much worthless to any other team right now.

Randall Simon? Haha, let's hope that none of the Milwaukee sausages are around.

I'm seriously curious as to where Orlando Hudson will land at this point.

Most teams have that hole filled, and really I could only see the White Sox, Mets, Royals and Nationals bid for him.

Hudson is a good player though, and I think he could be a good addition to a number of teams.

Personally, I think the White Sox should be the team to land Hudson.

They shedded payroll in the Vazquez and Swisher trades, have a hole at second pretty much, and have a huge need for a top of the order hitter.

Hudson may not be the top defensive second baseman he once was, but he's still above average and should be at least average through the duration of any deal he signs.

After joining Arizona, Hudson really bloomed offensively though. He never was able to increase his power, but he did manage to improve his plate discipline to the point where he's one of the top offensive second baseman in baseball. He should be good for an OBP around .360-.375, with good gap power.

The Sox could add Hudson with Alexei at short, and then move Alexei to center field when Gordon Beckham is ready.

The Sox could just use some combination of Anderson, Lillibridge and Wise in center, which would help them defensively, although anything is better than Swisher/Griffey Jr.

You'd get this:

2B Hudson
C Pierzynski
LF Quentin
RF Dye
DH Thome
1B Konerko
SS Ramirez
3B Fields/Betemit
CF Anderson/Lillibridge

The Sox really need to address the lineup at some point, because right now, their pretty inadequate at second, third and in center.

J.C. Bradbury's article is a good read, thanks Tim for that. It really doesn't make sense the way they have moved this offseason, but i agree that 5 for a play who more then likely would not be ready till may/june is not the smartest move. But the Red Sox can afford that kind of move, not the Braves.

As for the Cruz idea. I would do it if I was the Yankees, simply cause bullpen help cost skyrocket at the deadline, and they could use him as part of a deal for a need, or simply to restock the system. Its not overall a bad idea to have lots of BP depth to trade later.

"BTW, Marcel has Zink at a 4.86 projected ERA in Boston...that's good enough to be a fifth starter on several MLB teams."

Don't take too much out of projection systems, especially Bill James and Marcel. They can be very, very wrong and are really simply educated guesses as to performance. If anything, look at PECOTA though. Projections are simply a piece of the puzzle though, not the end all be all.

I'd like to know what constitutes "serious health problems" but any way you slice it, this makes a poor rushed decision look a lot better for the cubbies.

"BTW, Marcel has Zink at a 4.86 projected ERA in Boston...that's good enough to be a fifth starter on several MLB teams."

Don't take too much out of projection systems, especially Bill James and Marcel. They can be very, very wrong and are really simply educated guesses as to performance. If anything, look at PECOTA though. Projections are simply a piece of the puzzle though, not the end all be all.

Posted by: scribbletone | January 09, 2009 at 11:25 AM

Obviously they are not and end all be all. I was simply trying to point out that Zink might not be as "worthless", as MickS seems to think.

Creo que NO! A Major League Team is spin-doctoring why they did not re-sign a "beloved" 20 year veteran member of the squad? I can't possibly believe it!

Business is business. The difference between the Sox’s and Braves’ offers is $3 million, not $1 million. Smoltz is showing no loyalty to Atlanta by taking less money to stay there (though he probably would've if the offers had been equal), and the Braves are showing no loyalty by paying only what they believe the player (41 y.o. player currently rehabbing) is worth.

He still goes into the hall as a brave (thanks to Wade Boggs' Blagodjevichian TB-hat-auction) so tip your cap, say "thanks for the service" and we'll see you on Old-Timer's day. Meanwhile, good luck to ya.

Emotional attachments to players almost NEVER work out.

By the way...why is anyone on here dumb enough to argue for Charlie freakin Zink?? He's a 29 year old rookie who has thrown a total of 4.1 innings in the ML...and gave up 11 hits and 8 earned. For anyone to predict that this guy can hold an era in the 4's...in his first year as a 29 year old rookie...in the AL Beast facing the Yankees and Rays...is either the dumbest man alive, smoking way too much weed or is a witch doctor.

That statement is taken out of context. As it stands alone it is the most ridiculous statement I've seen on this board. Anyone one here that actually watches the game can give you a roll call of players that tore up the minors and flopped badly in the majors for one reason or another. - jjyankeesfan2

NOT TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT.

http://baseball1.com/bb-data/bbd-bj1.html

is either the dumbest man alive, smoking way too much weed or is a witch doctor. - jjyankeesfan2

You should know, you seem like an expert on such matters.

"From that list I would only count with Veras and Marte."

I have to admit I'm interested to see what Marte does next year. His numbers with the yanks were unimpressive yet as I recall it was only a couple of games that really did him in... then again, that's all that's needed to destroy the stats of reliever.

jjyankesfan2 - Why does your being a Yankees fan not surprise me?

I think a lot of James statement was the unreliability of predicting future success. That being said, a lot of the guys who have put up great minor league numbers and flopped on the MLB stage either were injured, or didn't get enough of a chance to turn around their numbers. Even ARod can go 2-40, but if you get a fresh faced 28 year old minor leaguer doing that, his odds of getting another shot are few and far between.

See: Jack Cust, Calvin Pickering, Val Pascucci, Craig Brazzell, etc. Also, a lot of these guys just have skill sets that do not age well, so by the time they get a shot, they've seen their peak years go by in the minors.

*Brazell

jjyankeesfan, You can't compare Cruz with Hawkins signing last year. We already new he sucked.
The difference here is that the Yanks can get the guy for maybe 2/5. Yanks paid 3/21 to Farns.

"So, because Zink had one bad outing and never really had a chance with the big club(due to the fact that the Sox were never going to carry two knuckleballers), you and your ultimate wisdom have determined that he has no value whatsoever. I find your ostentatious manner both comical and pathetic".

The guy is a 29 year old rookie who posted a 16.62 era in his only cup-o-coffee in the Majors EVER. The Sox just dumped him because obviously nobody wanted to trade for him. If there was a line for his services, Theo would have gotten something for the guy. Or, if he had ML stuff, they would not have had any reason to bring back the 58 year old Wakefield for another year...they would have just saved that money and let Zink have Wake's spot for a fraction of the cost. Obviously none of that is the case, so the only thing that is "pathetic" is your lack of baseball common sense little boy.

I've clearly wasted enough time chatting with a 13 year old X-Box champion about a career minor-league knuckleballer that was just realeased!

"I don't think anyone arguing in this thread is saying he's going to be lights out, but anyone who puts up a 2.84 ERA at Pawtucket is most certainly probable to put up at least a high 4 to low 5 ERA in the majors".

Another one? Are you guys this bored that Charlie Zink is the topic of conversation??

It doesn't matter if the guy posted a 0.59 era in Pawtucket. The guy is not 21 years old...he's 29. Like I wrote above, if Theo thought he had major league stuff, why do they keep re-signing Wake on one-year deals? If he had all this talent and was just blocked by Wake, why aren't other teams interested?

The Yankees had a guy named Colter Beam who put up little league numbers in AAA for years. Every time he came up he was horrible. He's in someone's AAA system somewhere but there is a reason why the term "AAAA player" was created. PLENTY of players have lights out careers in the minors but for whatever reason...either their skills don't translate to MLB of they just have a 10 cent head...they can't put it together in the majors.

"I'm pretty sure you don't really understand how anything involving baseball works. No one traded for him because they realized that the Red Sox were going to be forced to make a roster decision and they can claim him on waivers for just the cost of a waiver claim".

And I'm pretty sure he's been in the Sox system and blocked by Wake for more than a few weeks. So why wasn't anyone asking about him last year. No teams needed a good, cheap novelty starter to gamble on?

The guy is 29 and saw his first cup-o-coffe this past year. If that doesn't clue you in, I'm not sure what will.

"Your hubris is a typical trait of many Yankees fans".

And your cluelessness is a typical trait exhibited by far too many on this board.

I have to get back to work. I'm sure the school bell will ring soon and your study hall will be over...so run along.

I have to get back to work. I'm sure the school bell will ring soon and your study hall will be over...so run along. - jjyankeesfan

I was hoping your material would improve. Seems as though your comedic talent is as parochial as your baseball acumen.

"Bruney sucks and Coke, Melancon and Aceves are unproven. H. Sanchez is coming back from an injury.
From that list I would only count with Veras and Marte. I like Ramirez more in the NL."

how does bruney suck? he hurt is hurt, rehabbed all year, came back and was pretty much dominating. veras gave up 23 runs last year, and 5 came in one bad game. How do you like ramirez in the nl? cause he doesnt trhow 95? you need different looks in the bullpen.

And Cruz isnt taking 2y/5m, he wants to be a closer, and if anyone has bad control its cruz.

Zack, every time I see Bruney pitch he can't throw a strike.

eLneneM360 the reason why I say this is b/c the other team won't offer him a bigger contract b/c they would also have to surrender their 1st round pick, unless is protected, but most of the teams interested would have to, but the Yanks wouldn't

"Zack, every time I see Bruney pitch he can't throw a strike."

apparently you didnt watch much this year. he admitted he was overweight last year, came into camp in good condition, freak accident with his foot knocked him out all year.

Unfortunately, Zink really didn't have much of a future in Boston. It seemed like he'd turned a corner in 2008, but getting ignited during that one game was the straw that broke the camel's back. I've seen him pitch a few times in Pawtucket and, while his stuff is good, he just isn't consistent enough. Look at his career ERA in the minors.

Hopefully some other team gives him a chance, but his knuckleball wasn't fooling anyone in MLB.

"apparently you didnt watch much this year. he admitted he was overweight last year, came into camp in good condition, freak accident with his foot knocked him out all year."

You need to look at his past work, too. If Bruney started throwing a new pitch or two, that's one thing, but statistically speaking, both his prior major league appearances and his minor league time in the higher levels indicate that last season was probably an aberration. He's always been pretty average at best and one would be safer to assume that he had one good season rather than assuming he turned some corner all of a sudden. He's always gotten hit a lot and is not what I'd call a reliable reliever. Let's not forget how inconsistent middle relief generally is. Outside of closers, typically, one season to the next for a relief pitcher is often night and day. Don't expect Bruney to have much in the tank next season.

Beyond him, you've got Veras who's been mediocre at all levels and Marte who absolutely tanked in in NY. Coke and Ramirez could be reliable, but it's hard to say, especially with how polar opposite Ramirez's 2007 and 2008 seasons were.

Look at the Red Sox bullpen from 2007 to 2008. They went from one of the best to one of the worst without actually really changing pitchers at all. You can't just assume your middle relief is going to repeat their season. The only three people in either bullpen I would legitimately trust to carry over prior success are Rivera, Papelbon and Chamberlain. Everyone else is a question mark and if you've got a chance to bring in a solid guy, you bring in that solid guy.

: scribbletone: the problem is don't they have another 2nd baseban that is ready to be called up. Not to mention Richar? Thee Orioles wanted that second baseman along wwith Floyd for roberts. Does anyone know his name?