Red Sox Rumors: Penny, Bay, Lugo

Funny how you trash Lugo when he is just playing like he always has. I question whoever signed him, knowing he would play like he is.

@ johns: Well said, my man, well said. The Red Sox MUST resign Bay. Bay and Youk have become the heart of the Sox offense.

@ A: Lugo was a little bit than he was now when he was with Tampa. Off the top of my head I think I remember him hitting .280 a year and .290 another yeah, something like that. I never liked Lugo and I'm still hurting that the Sox didn't resign Cabrera back in 05 (lol).

"Papelbon for Ryan Braun."

Thanks for the laugh. Braun is signed to a very team friendly contract through 2015 (Yep, six more years). There's no way in hell he's going to get traded in the next several years unless some team decides to pay out the rear for him.

Small market teams don't exist just to be feeder teams for the big market clubs, ya know?

I don't think there is any one guy on the Red Sox roster that the Brewers would trade Braun straight up for- especially not Papelbon, a guy who thinks he's going to be worth 15-20 million a year. He's way too full of himself.

Whether or not that deal is viable isn't really the point.

The point is that the Sox have other options for LF besides Bay and Holliday. and there is no rule that states a departing free agent has to be replaced with another free agent.

Most Sox fans seem to have the teams future plans ironed out in their heads and get totally sidetracked by any deviation. "We re-sign Bay. Trade for a young catcher. and Youkilis moves to 3b to accomodate Lars Anderson."

It all might happen, but then none of it might, and the Sox are a pretty well positioned team to deviate from that ironclad plan, which can apparently be completely derailed by Jason Bay receiving a better offer. So if Ryan Braun isn't in LF (and Milwaukee would have a quick closing window with hellbent free agents Fielder and Papelbon leaving at the same time), but they certainly can make a trade. And it could be for a player that most fans think is "untouchable."

Anderson and Buchholz might be more than the Sox FO is prepared to deal, but they have moved significant prospects before, and as the A-ball guys (Westmoreland, Hissey, Kelly, Pimental, Alamanzar, Gibson, Fife, Weiland, Mailman, Rizzo, etc.) move up into AA and start becoming either legitimate prospects or suspects, the Sox ability to make deals could possibly even get better.

Or it could completely plummet if they all start faltering...

I'm both a Red Sox fan and a Braves fan. I personally hope the Sox do release Lugo and eat his salary. Nothing really personal against him, but we have better options and he's a waste of a roster space as the 3rd Shortstop.

That being said, were I Frank Wren and the Sox released Lugo, I'd absolutely take him in an instant. I'd only be paying the league minimum, and he'd provide the team with another decent hitting, decent fielding player for a couple years until the Braves can figure everything out. I've been posting a lot here lately saying "I'd love so-and-so on the Braves, blah blah". At this point I'm just looking for ANYONE competent to replace Jelly Johnson, Diory Hernandez, Gregor Blanco and Jeff Francoeur.

Trading for Teahen would take care of the Francoeur problem until Jason Heyward is ready, not to mention he could give anyone on the infield a day off here and there. Lugo is the same way. He can play 2B, SS and 3B as well as emergency outfield. I wouldn't mind him at Second at all. I'd take him hitting .270 over Johnson's .216 ANY day. Their defense is practically the same as well.

On a different note, I do think the Sox need to lock up Bay. The last thing we need is the Yankees picking him up and having him murder our pitching for the next 5 or more years. Bay, Youkilis and Ortiz are a simply fantastic 1-2-3 knockout most of the time. Keeping that in order would only prove to be a positive thing. He may cost more than a young guy coming up, but who says Reddick isn't a bust? (like Jordan Schafer was earlier this year for the Braves) That isn't saying he'd never turn it around, but Epstein would kick his own ass for not re-signing Bay then.

Umair, I agree with you on Orlando Cabrera.

Hindsight is 20/20, but I was questioning the Renteria addition at the time. Why replace Cabrera (who fit in, thrived in Boston, and just helped you win a WS) with a similar player (who turned out to be a major bust, of course) in Renteria and spend more in the process???

Now, if the Sox hadn't signed and subsequently traded Renteria we wouldn't be in this Lugo mess right now...

I also agree with Gugs87 in that Lugo is not a COMPLETE waste of space, though. If he is OK with coming off the bench and is willing to play 2nd or even in the OF occasionally, then he does have something to offer. I just don't know what to do with him when Lowrie comes back. Do you send Green down so he can keep getting at bats and innings at SS? I don't know...

There's no law that says Lowrie has to be the Red Sox' shortstop. He still has option years, and he hasn't shown anything that tells me that he's head and shoulders better than what the Sox are running out there right now.

Green's had a nice couple of months. It probably won't continue, and if he falls off then he should be jettisoned to bring up Lowrie. But if he does, then Lowrie can get some polish at Pawtucket (where he has less than 100 games played in his career, and where he has a .489 OPS on his rehab assignment) while Green and Lugo hold down the fort in Boston.

It is not a carreer year for him >Why does everybody think that he Is doing what he always does hit about 280 and hit 30 + hr the only Difference is he is on a better team that gets on base more and in turn he drives in more and gets more at bats and lowrie WILL be a 300 hitter that works the count and sprayts the ball from gap to gap

I think Bay is one of those guys who you can't let get away.

He means more to the team and to Red Sox Nation than simply being a good LF.

He's been a good clutch hitter, and those are the kind of guys we need. As well, he's a proven guy, and someone else would not be proven to come up big for the Sox in key situations.

Bad move if they let him go.