Rangers Rumors: Red Sox Pitching, Andruw

yeah maybe now they apply reasonable pricetags to their catchers.

I hope there is no trade with the Red Sox unless Buchholz is part of it and Salty is the other. If the Rangers were to give in and send Teagarden to the Red Sox for some other pitcher, it'd be a lopsided trade in favor of the Red Sox and the Rangers would be giving away their best option at catcher. All this because the Red Sox still are sore from the Gagne trade. Let the Red Sox look elsewhere for a catcher or they need to be the ones to give in. Period.

my error, i ment bowden + hagadone. carter was for another scenario that i ended up not liking.

if we are giving up two top 10 team prospects, you bet your butt we want the guy you dont want to give up

Honestly,

Bowden and Hagadone is way too much for any of their catchers.

They all have limited upside, while the potential of that Boston duo is huge. Bowden is a potential 2/3 with a fairly high probability, and Hagadone has ace potential, but is furthur away and coming off surgery.

I think Bowden for Salty straight up would be a reasonable deal.

The end of MadmanTX's comment is pretty much what I think is wrong with most trade discussions. Ideally, it should be about both teams feeling they get fair value and addressing needs. Sure, part of that value has to do with need, but to state that one side has to "give in" is just silly.

How far off are Exposito/Brown? Dusty spent some time in AAA last year, if I recall. I know he projects more as a backup, but the potential to platoon is there, maybe.

I'd say at this point, with Varitek back on the roster and a couple of prospects on the way, Boston's catching needs are less dire than Texas's pitching needs. Theo Epstein's a shrewd enough negotiator to know his team's strengths and weaknesses and not overpay. I think if there's a deal here, it will not be terrifically lopsided either way.

why is buchholz so untouchable? I watch a lot of baseball and had that guy on my fantasy team for a while last year and the year before, not that great so far. Lots of hype though, thats the only thing you can count on. Not even close to being on the same planet as Lester. Also, Varitek is a spare and thoroughly washed up.

"Sullivan says the Rangers "still like many pitchers in the Red Sox organization.""

Translation: Hey, hey, don't go away mad. We were just kidding about Buchholz. Don't leave us here with three catchers and no pitching.

This thing is over Texas keep your catchers, Boston will keep its pitchers. If Theo thought for one second that Texas catchers were the right match, he would have moved Bucholz.
Hagadone and Bowden will never get done. This trade if done will during season or trade deadline.

I hope the yankees keep signing players out from under boston. I hate both teams but the boston bandwagon party makes me sick. Manny to the yanks

If Nick Hagadone comes back healthy I expect big things from him. Before his surgery, he looked nearly major-league ready although he was at a low level. He has much potential as anyone in the organization.

I'll confess I don't know much about C. Buccholz. Can someone from Boston comment on what were his issues last season? Obviously his AAA #s were real strong, outside of not averaging 5 innings per start, but the major league sampling seemed rather large for the results to be so poor.

Anyway, I don't expect a trade prior to the season starting. I think they would like to evaluate both Salty and Teagarden longer themselves. Bigger issue is 2009 is pretty much a write off for the Rangers while our best prospects probably won't arrive until the 2nd half of the season. They don't have serious expectations of contending so there's no real pressure to get a deal done right away.

Buchholz walks a lot of people in the process of striking them out. His WHIP is nearly 2 and he hasnt had a lot of luck pitching deep or even into the 6 inning of games. I dont see where he's that much, if any, better than bard, bowden, and hagadone. He's not Lester and we can all agree on that.

I'm tired of Boston thinking that it has all the chips in this poker game of a trade. It's not always about player value, but player value to that team. Boston is looking to win now so they will move pieces to help them win NOW (hence taking a slightly bad deal to win the title). The Rangers are looking for their future so why would they give up a piece of the future for a possible bust? The deal must be sweet for the Rangers. They know if they hold on to things then they will be a perennial threat down the road.

I believe the Rangers will surprise people this year. I'm not saying they will make the playoffs but they will give the AL West a run for its money.

"As for the Rangers and their catchers, its fair to ask a steep price if you have no intention of moving them at the moment."

The problem with that is that there's only a limited time they have the advantage. Next year, mauer and others will be available next year, and who do you think the bosox will take, mauer or salty? The bosox are saving up lots of cash this year so they can throw it at mauer next year, and they can outbid everybody (except the yanks, but they're stuck with posada for a few more years, at really big bucks).

"I'll confess I don't know much about C. Buccholz. Can someone from Boston comment on what were his issues last season?"

He threw a no hitter in 2007, but last year he just had a meltdown and got shelled almost every game he pitched. In interviews on NESN TV he said he felt OK and couldn't explain what went wrong. He just seemed emotionally spent, you know, like watching his dreams of millions going down the toilet, just dazed and confused.

The sox sent him back to the minors and he rebounded and pitched much better. Bottom line: I think the pressure of his no-hitter was weighing on his mind, thinking he had to live up to that standard all the time, and he just freaked. He is a really good pitcher, but if he can't get his head straight, he'll just implode. And that's the million dollar question, "can he develop the mental toughness to pitch in the majors?"

Nobody knows for sure. But we won't have to wait long to find out: he'll get some big league starts this year for certain and all questions will be answered. I can't wait to see what happens, but I'm pretty sure it will be either champ or chump and nothing in between. Stay tuned, boys and girls, this will be exciting, he has all the physical skills required to be an ace.

"Mauer is not going to be a FA until after 2010, thats two years."

Ok, 2 years, but he's worth waiting for, so I don't expect the sox to settle for less. They'll sign someone as a temporary fix, if need be (like Tek hitting .200 LOL).

And no way is mauer signing with the twins, all the interviews I've seen with him almost screamed he's going to test the free agent market.

i say trade maxram for ryan tucker and split time with tea and salty then if you can get a haul for one at the trade deadline do it.

Goomba, I still think the Twins are going to hammer out a deal with Mauer, but time will tell on that front. As for the Red Sox getting him and outbidding everyone else, I might note the Jorge will have 1 year and 13 million on his contract at that time. Now that should be an entertaining battle to watch.

As for my point before, the Rangers don't have to rush this trade, they have time to wait at the moment. And say some other teams want a young catcher, well they know where to look. Its not a question of the Red Sox and Rangers, it question of the Rangers and the teams in need of catching. Cause I think the Rangers are aware they are waiting for the talent in the minors to be ready before trying to compete.

"Goomba, I still think the Twins are going to hammer out a deal with Mauer, but time will tell on that front. As for the Red Sox getting him and outbidding everyone else, I might note the Jorge will have 1 year and 13 million on his contract at that time. Now that should be an entertaining battle to watch."

Every time the twins played in boston last year, guess who the media bimbos interviewed after the game? Yup, mauer, every single game. And every time they brought up his free agency, and he wasn't even coy about it, he said it's something he "intends on exploring."

I guess it's possible the yanks would bid on mauer, and if the yanks do outbid the sox for mauer, I'd be cool with that too. But as far as staying with the twins: no way.

"but the worst thing for that kid was to throw that no-hitter. he will prob end up liek ankiel. he needs a change of location to a smaller market."

That could be very very true. We'll know by the all star break.

Alright, we agree on something

"But minus his no hitter, he's been average at very best, which is about where phil hughes is as well."

Not true. In 2007, Clay was awesome, just freaking awesome. The only reason the sox took him out is because he'd pitched too many total innings and they were afraid of fatiguing his arm. It was actually Lester who seemed like he would fall apart. Of course, things reversed in 2008, Clay went in the toilet and Lester looked like an ace.

Same thing on the yanks with Joba and Phil. In the first game Joba started, he got blown out, just crushed, lasted only about 3 innings, but he did pretty well after that... Phil not so much, he looked good in only a couple games, and never dominated in the majors.

Joba, Lester and Clay are top tier... Phil is below them. He needs at least another year in the minors before we see for sure what he's made of, but he won't get it because the yanks will start him to give someone else in the rotation a rest (or for an injunry). I'm not holding my breath for anything amazing, while for Clay, I wouldn't be surprized if regained his 2007 form.

I like Hagadone, but the others have holes in their game. The Ranger are probably better off getting a couple of pitchers like Hagadone and Hand. Maybe a couple of position players like Westmoreland and Casey Kelly hoping that one turns out to be an above average player.