With Victor Martinez and John Buck off the market, the Red Sox are turning their attention to "a number of catching contingencies" including free agent Rod Barajas, reports FOXSports.com's Jon Paul Morosi. Barajas would presumably share time with, or be a veteran backup for, Jarrod Saltalamacchia in Boston.
Barajas hit .240/.284/.447 in 339 plate appearances with the Mets and Dodgers in 2010, including a .939 OPS with Los Angeles after he was claimed on waivers in late August. The 35-year-old gained some AL East experience playing in Toronto in 2008-09 and is known for a strong throwing arm behind the plate. Barajas has thrown out 32% of baserunners trying to steal on him over his 12-year career, though as Morosi pointed out, that percentage dipped to 15% last season.
Boston tried to acquire Barajas from the Mets in July to fill in for their many injured catchers. Barajas' solid power numbers should earn him a bigger contract than the $500K guaranteed deal he signed with New York last February, though he would still be a relatively cheap pickup for the Sox.
Anymore former blue jays?
I want Downs and Frasor…also want Wheeler from Rays. Hope Sox move Papelbon and sign all three.
Plus if/when the Sox sign Werth or Crawford, Jays get hosed on the picks.
I don’t think getting a supplementary round pick and a 2nd or 3rd rounder for Jason Frasor can be considered “hosed”
I would say it’s getting hosed considering they should receive a first round pick for Downs.
not really, because chances are Jason Frasor wouldn’t get a contract offer from another team if the team had to give up a first round pick.
So either way, the Jays will not be getting a first rounder for Frasor
I don’t think getting a supplementary round pick and a 2nd or 3rd rounder for Jason Frasor can be considered “hosed”
For Taylor Teagarden? C’mon.
Taylor Teagarden doesn’t play for Boston, asshat.
Isn’t Taylor Teagarden in Texas? Salty in Boston, right?
Mistakes happen, they’re understandable. That said, that is an epic screwup.
what is?
It originally said Taylor Teagarden instead of Saltalamacchia.
I wish the Sox got Teagarden…….
yeah it is salty thats in boston currently not teagarden or max ramierez or any other ranger catcher
that just won’t be good enough for boston fans.
I think Boston’s happy they have Jarrod Saltalamacchia instead of Teagarden, but I could be wrong.
Sox have Salty not teagarden
way to be on top of things jdat.
I’d pass on Barajas
Wow we lose vmart an they wanna replace him with this bum.? That’s the one thing I hate bout Theo, is that he’s for the draft picks and prospects. We want to win now and we r NOT the small market teams. Ifsox don’t trade/sign a big name guy it’s sad.
What else are we going to do? Try to trade for Joe Mauer? Come on man. Understand that there is really no one else to get other than MAYBE Miguel Olivo.
I know that he was suspended and will be out the first couple of weeks of the 2011 season, but I wonder if it’d make sense for the Red Sox to call the Marlins about Ronny Paulino. He’s mashed LHP throughout his career, has good pull power, and has a far superior throwing arm to Varitek. Paulino’s also under team control (arby eligible) for two more years, and would probably be cheaper than Tek.
I don’t think a Paulino/Salty platoon would be any less productive than Varitek/Salty. Couldn’t possibly take much to acquire now that Florida also has John Buck.
I would rather have V-Tek back on a 1 year deal as a “bridge” to Lavarnway, who raked in AA (OPS just under .900) this year and held his own in the AFL (OPS just under .800). According to soxprospects.com Lavarnway should be ready by 2012.
I think Olivo would be a better choice.
Olivo is a far superlative choice because his legs and arm are fresh and he has decent power. His BA is less than Barajas, but can hit decently down at the bottom of the order. Theo is shopping at Walmart here. He doesn’t have to shop at Saks Fifth Avenue to suit me, but at least shop at Macy’s.
Olivo is a far superlative choice because his legs and arm are fresh and he has decent power. His BA is less than Barajas, but can hit decently down at the bottom of the order. Theo is shopping at Walmart here. He doesn’t have to shop at Saks Fifth Avenue to suit me, but at least shop at Macy’s.
Ouch, losing Martinez really hurts, and definitely weakens the Red Sox.
Also, the sky is blue and the grass is green.
But what about bluegrass?
Everything was just fine on this board until you had to inject a banjo, scratchboard and spoons. Damnit.
But what about bluegrass?
I think this could start the curse of the Martini
________________________________
Sounds like an OK plan…I am intrigued
Someone pinch me! I’m loving the idea of 2 poor players at an important position for Boston, especially with that disaster of a 70 million dollar pitching staff.
Disaster of a pitching staff? Go troll somewhere else.
di have to remind you of Lackey and beckett … lol
Because one year is really indicative of there true talent right? No rational person can say that they expected the year that those two had or expect that they will have similar years next year, particularly Beckett.
i expected better out of Beckett. Can’t say the same for Lackey, didn’t think he would adapt well to Fenway.
Fair enough, and that’s why I put the “particularly Beckett” at the end there, because it wouldn’t be completely unreasonable to predict a similar year out of Lackey next year. My point is the same though, having a staff of Lester, Buchholz, Beckett, Lackey, and Dice-K(Doubront/Wakefield) doesn’t exactly qualify as a “disaster” in my book.
Lackey had a strong second half, I’m sure it’s safe to say he came around.
havin a 4.00 era in the second might be better but it’s not strong.
you can’t really expect better the a 4.00 era someone who’s making 83 million in 5 years, kinda un fair to even expect as much
havin a 4.00 era in the second might be better but it’s not strong.
I did about Lackey, not Beckett, but i have hated the Lackey signing ever since it was first reported, it was almost as if Theo was jealous the NY yankees had a burden in Aj Burnett and wanted to compete with his horrible contract.
I don’t know how much you subscribe to sabermetrics, but for what it’s worth the Red Sox had the highest total WAR for starting pitchers in all of MLB, tied with the Rockies at 18.9 (source: link to fangraphs.com)
The Red Sox didn’t succeed in 2010 for a lot of reasons, but the starting pitching staff was hardly one of them.
That being said, Barajas kinda stinks and I’ll take my chances with some rookies and/or unproven talent over him. Take Varitek back if there’s a lack of “veteran presence”.
yeah, the disaster of a pitching staff that had a guy go 3rd and 6th in cy young voting..dumbass
Two very good pitchers and three below average starters does not a good staff make. Their collective performance does not even justify a third of what they are being paid, therefore it is a disaster for at least the next 4 years they are stuck with these financial burdens.
And one pitcher who had an uncharacteristically bad season (which no one expects him to repeat) and another who won 14 games as your #4 starter does not a “disaster” make.
i thought really hard about some clever joke about this, but i drew a blank. barajas just sucks. have fun with this one red sox
as much as i have seen Rod Barajas play he is swinging for the fences type of player ( Many Jays are) .. so yeah there are times when you are banging your head against the wall … but also 19-20 hr witha good defense and good veteran present is ok for me ..
i liked how he worked with our young starters when they first arrived so yeah he is ok
but not good for red sox standards ….. maybe you can look at Yanks catcher situation .. even more dire … Jorge Posada was worse then Matinez was behind the plate and his every mount visit annoyed the hell outta me …. they don’t have any good catchers either ( montero is in no way a catcher) .. maybe they’ll go in with Posada and Cervelli ..lol
Why the hell don’t they just keep Varitek?? Barajas is mediocre.
Varitek is old. And not very good, anymore.
Tek posted .276/.593/.868 as a RHB vs LHP in 2010. The guy can still hit lefties in a platoon situation. This works well with Salty, since he hits right-handers better as a LHB.
29 PA is nowhere near enough to make a judgement on, and you can’t expect him to put up his career numbers at this age.
29 PA is nowhere near enough to make a judgement on, and you can’t expect him to put up his career numbers at this age.
exactly, just think about how much Tek could teach Salty about handling a rotation
This just keeps getting better and better Theo.
This says barajas had a strong arm. wtf? i dont remember seeing that arm when he was with the Dodgers.
It also says he only threw out 15% of base stealers last year so it can’t be all that great
If youre going to go for a defensive catcher then you may as well get Gerald Laird who is one of the best on the market.
However the guy they should get is Miguel Olivo. Very solid behind the plate, he has thrown out 35% of base stealers over his career and threw out 42% 2 out of the last 3 years.
He is ok with the bat, still better than Barajas. He wont walk a lot, just 125 walks in over 3000 plate appearances. But he’ll hit about .250 or so with 15-20 HRs especially playing in Fenway. And he knows how to get himself on the field. His last few stops he was the 2nd option behind a younger catcher with more upside (COL-Iannetta, KC-John Buck) and he still ended up as the primary catcher.
Itll probably take a 2 yr deal to get him but shouldnt be too expensive.
However it could be interesting if the Yankees realize that Montero is not a catcher and Cervelli cant hit much, they may check in on Olivo as well since he was Girardis starting catcher for a couple of years down in Florida.
Does it really matter that he can throw out runners when he is also terrible at blocking balls in the dirt? I’m pretty sure he normally lets a lot of passed balls by per year.
Yeah he does have a little bit of an issue with passed balls but when you look at the Red Sox staff they dont have a lot of guys who throw power sinkers or anything like that outside of Papelbon and to a lesser extent Lackey. They are mostly power 4 seam guys with Beckett, Buchholz, and Lester.
Plus whatever he allows in passed balls he will more than make up for with his offense and throwing out base stealers.
Yeah he does have a little bit of an issue with passed balls but when you look at the Red Sox staff they dont have a lot of guys who throw power sinkers or anything like that outside of Papelbon and to a lesser extent Lackey. They are mostly power 4 seam guys with Beckett, Buchholz, and Lester.
Plus whatever he allows in passed balls he will more than make up for with his offense and throwing out base stealers.
Does it really matter that he can throw out runners when he is also terrible at blocking balls in the dirt? I’m pretty sure he normally lets a lot of passed balls by per year.
trade for napoli or sign a guy like bengie molina.
i was waiting for omeone to bring up bengie. hes an above average catcher for the last couple years, and will most likely come on a one year deal.
And is built like a sumo wrestler.
That would be the slowest catching combo out there 😛
I love that the Red Sox are downgrading. This article is blowing up how good Barajas is. LOL
I really think ,at this point,they might be hoping one of their catching prospects steps up in spring.
They don’t really have a guy who could though. Exposito isn’t that good and probably won’t be ready until 2012 at the earliest. I see the guy as a career backup. Lavarnway would be great if he could play the position, which is very much in question. Like I said in another post, Russell Martin should be on this team. He can be had for next to nothing right now, but I hope he gets nontendered. His power has really decreased the last few years, but they don’t need power out of their catcher.
Now that Victor is in Detroit, If Theo is intent on Salty starting/sharing catching duties, then the ONLY smart move is to bring tek back. Theres nobody better to teach the staff to Salty…Barajas?? WTF!!! NO!! just….NO!!
Maybe this is just a ploy to get Tek for 1 year at cheap money. Can’t imagine he wants to up and move every year until he retires in the next couple of years.
My thoughts exactly. Theo isn’t dumb.
My thoughts exactly. Theo isn’t dumb.
Man i try to support Theo….and then i see crap like this! Barajas is a bum! I love the sox but man Theo gets under my skin sometimes!
How you get mad at Theo when he hasn’t even done anything yet? Barajas isn’t a Theo guy anyway, no OBP at all.
I really doubt Theo is intrested at all. Probably just a ploy. He’s jot a dumb guy. Before i panic I’m going to wait for the rest of the off season to play out. If it looks like it sucked, then i’ll panic.
I really doubt Theo is intrested at all. Probably just a ploy. He’s jot a dumb guy. Before i panic I’m going to wait for the rest of the off season to play out. If it looks like it sucked, then i’ll panic.
man with the way the sox are going so far and the loss of crawford from Tampa the jays could be serious contenders for second in the east and have a shot at getting the wild card. the AL is gonna be fun this year with ten teams that could potentially made a strong push for the playoffs with the addition of one or two players still left on the market.
The AL East is getting so strong that they are going to knock each other off next year. I think thats why they are going to add another wild card in 2012. Next year the wild card could come from the west and the runner up in the East will lose out.
I’ll start by saying I don’t want any of the free agents. The Sox need to make a trade or re-sign Varitek.I wonder if the Sox could get Montero if they paid half of Papelbons salary, Saltalamacchia and mid to low-A prospect? Probably not.I really like David Ross. His slash line over the past two years is very nice. He only got 150 at bats the past two seasons so maybe the Sox could pry the guy from Atl.
Are you talking about Jesus or Miguel Montero? It doesn’t really matter because you’re “Probably not” assessment is actually an understatement for either guy.
And as for Ross, I’m pretty sure that Atlanta locked him up this past season and values him greatly as their backup C.
Are you talking about Jesus or Miguel Montero? It doesn’t really matter because you’re “Probably not” assessment is actually an understatement for either guy.
And as for Ross, I’m pretty sure that Atlanta locked him up this past season and values him greatly as their backup C.
Catchers are a dime a dozen. Barajas is what Boston needs…a defensive catcher. He won’t give you much by the way of average but he can hit 15-20 HR. and he will get what $2 mil tops? Boston isn’t going into this season without replacing offense. If I were Theo and I could sign Crawford for 6 years I would do it…..then I could feel comfortable moving Ellsbury in an Upton deal.
I think an OF of Drew, Upton and CC would be way better, esp since Drew is on a contract year.
I think an OF of Drew, Upton and CC would be way better, esp since Drew is on a contract year.
Can you really consider a guy a defensive catcher if he only throws out 15% of base stealers? Doesn’t Tek throw out more than that?
“the Red Sox are turning their attention to “a number of catching contingencies””
you guys all know that this is absolutely meaningless right?
It just means that are kicking the tires on all the options,if this is even true.
Contingencies are backup plans. Such as if Varitek retires.
i know what it means,thanks.
“a number of catching contingencies” would imply that he isn’t even their top choice.
I think that he’s rake at Fenway.. and if he isn’t played a lot then he shouldn’t hurt too much. For the money and power potential I think there are worse options.
I think that he’s rake at Fenway.. and if he isn’t played a lot then he shouldn’t hurt too much. For the money and power potential I think there are worse options.
lol strong first half, then don’t hit ever again. Did I mention the .284 OBP?
lol strong first half, then don’t hit ever again. Did I mention the .284 OBP?
The Sox missed the boat by not signing Martinez or Buck; I don’t think their replacements will be an upgrade.
Buck isn’t good and got overpaid…
The Sox missed the boat by not signing Martinez or Buck; I don’t think their replacements will be an upgrade.
Redsox need to get either Miguel Olivo/A.J Pierseinski, Carl Crawford, Adrian Beltre, Scott Downs
or
Jose Reyes, Jayson Werth, Miguel Olivo, Scott Downs
Aaron Cibia for Ellsbury!
The only 3 catching options I think are the best for the red sox are russell Martin, mike Napoli, or salty. Napoli would probably bring us the best offense, Martin would probably bring us the best defense. Or we could try to trade for Taylor Teagarden, or max Ramirez of Texas.
Wouldn’t the Red Sox trading for Napoli just seem odd, since Napoli is a poor mans version of V-Mart?
yeah but seeing as he isnt valued to the Angels, he could be had for a decent swap, the Angels like Mathis so if they matched up it could be a good trade, only thing is i dont think the Angels like the players on the Sox farm, they couldnt even come close to a trade when the Sox made a waiver claim, and i doubt it could happen at the winter meetings, I dunno, maybe they are still bitter at Manny admiring his home run in ’07.
Forget all of these guys, bring in that Lavarnway guy, he looked awesome, i hope he at least gets an invite to spring training, i am more excited to see this guy than Casey Kelley who was supposed to of been in the AFL game but hmmm wasnt.
I saw Lavarnway in the AFL and I can tell you he is no Martinez. Thats like comparing Ryan Kalish to Yaz.
Lavarnway may not be Martinez but he could be a good replacement for him and much, much cheaper not to mention they have other potentials coming in the next year or two so his point that they could have been more willing to let him go because of the possible replacements in the minors is justified.
Out of all people why Barajas? Low avg. low obp, with some pop? Is it for the defensive prowess? Why not just have Tek behind the plate then? There are other solid catching options available out there such as AJ or Olivo, this must be another bargain basement signing that Theo hopes will finally pan out. Come on Theo, as a Yankees fan, I know that this kind of signing and the others usually never pan out. *ahem* Nick Johnson.
maybe it was just my imagination but weren’t the Red Sox trying to acquire Ryan Doumit from the Pirates at the trade deadline? Are they still in on that or are they not thinking he can catch/they got turned off on him when the Pirates turned him into an outfielder?
maybe it was just my imagination but weren’t the Red Sox trying to acquire Ryan Doumit from the Pirates at the trade deadline? Are they still in on that or are they not thinking he can catch/they got turned off on him when the Pirates turned him into an outfielder?
Are the first 3 really even considered catchers? I mean come on, you have to have some respectable defense.
The rest are far from making the big leagues, especially Murphy and Sanchez. I think Romine might be their future catcher. Montero just doesn’t have what it takes to catch but then again, they’ve used Posada for years and are still using him…
wooww …. so lets see who in that category .. is ready to be atleast average Catcher at MLB …
posada is a dh
Cervielli ( good defense, no threat with the bat at all)
Monetero ( great hitter but 1B/DH is his future as per scouts)
Rominie ( of what i heard from scouts he still needs time behind the plate and he was at Double AA )
Murphy ( neevr heard of him so donno )
Sanchez may be the best of the lot but still couple of yrs away ..
so next yr tell me who is your starting catcher .. don’t tell me u’ll start with posada and Cervelli
Want more names? Abbott, Costello, Bonzo, Toto. lmao
Well, they won the World Series a couple times with crappy catching and a power bat. Don’t see why they should change things up now. Clearly this formula is fine.
So true, he tries to go deep every swing he takes, which can be scary.
Yes they stayed in contention because of Martinez, Beltre, and Papi, now they only have Papi. They better get Beltre and Werth or their going in the wrong direction. You can’t count on any teams pitchers but you can count on their everyday lineup.
Yes they stayed in contention because of Martinez, Beltre, and Papi, now they only have Papi. They better get Beltre and Werth or their going in the wrong direction. You can’t count on any teams pitchers but you can count on their everyday lineup.
u’ll start with posada and Cervelli.. Ok and thats still better than what most teams are putting out there and much better including boston. Even with Posada’s d hes a better catcher than Barajas, so no it’s not dire not even close, and unlike the sox they have catchers in their system.
u’ll start with posada and Cervelli.. Ok and thats still better than what most teams are putting out there and much better including boston. Even with Posada’s d hes a better catcher than Barajas, so no it’s not dire not even close, and unlike the sox they have catchers in their system.
As much as ppl disrespect Cervelli he did post a decent line in his 266 AB last year which is easily the most he’s ever had @ age 24. He his .271/.359 w/ no power but did show the ability to drive in runs when it matterd (.316/.402/.367 w/ 37 rbi in 102 PA w/ RISP). His lefty/righty and home/away splits are at least lge average as well. He had some brutal months in June-August and his defense slipped but I expect him to return to being a solid defensive C.
Good point on Romine. I’ve read some reports overrate him on defense and offense but consensus from the AFL was that he had some trouble behind the plate and still need a bit of work and his bat was only projected to be average at the ML level. I just forget whether his bat would be average for a catcher or all of the MLB and those are 2 big differences.
What does that have to do with this post?
the point was the yankees actually have quality catching prospects in their system the redsox on the other hand do not.
the point was the yankees actually have quality catching prospects in their system the redsox on the other hand do not.
Their rotation SHOULD be better next year, which is a little scary.. If they don’t resign Beltre there will be a big hole in their lineup.. Or even if they do, they have to hope “contract year” Beltre shows up. . .
I don’t know about signing werth either, I don’t see him as an impact player in the long run, he’s benefited from playing in philadelphia and in that lineup… I think the red sox could get CC and be a much better team.
Does everyone forget that the Sox stayed in contention for almost 2 months with Cash basically their starting Catcher while V-Mart was injured?
“You can’t count on any teams pitchers but you can count on their everyday lineup.”
Really? Count on guys like Ellsbury, Youkilis, and Pedroia right? Oh wait, injuries happen to position players too.
You had a perfectly sensible post until the last two sentences, I don’t understand why some Sox fans – and Yankee fans – think they’ve always got to go there.
I totally understand that Rod Bar is a last resort and that they went into the offseason hoping for a lot better than him. But really, Bar’s .240/.284/.447 does suck….REALLY SUCKS. WOrse is that it is in step w/ his career line of .239/.284/.412 and he’ll be 35 at the start of the season. Lucky for the Sox though is that barring an inability to sign Beltre or Werth their offense should be good enough to survive a Rod Bar/Salty platoon. Things aren’t that dire.
ya a .284 obp doesnt suck, sure. Maybe before you call other posters dumb you should learn a thing about the game
An on base percentage below .300, even for a catcher, does in fact, suck.
he’s not awful… but he’ll never live up to those numbers (salary)
(Sigh) I was waiting for a Yankee reference. Not really a burden though if you can afford it.
Are u walking in blinders, or just don’t flat out read about any prospects other than NYY ones?
Ryan Lavarnway. Aure he may end up as a Montero type.. A DH, but he was the Red Sox co offensive ML player of the season after hitting 22HR 102 RBI at High A-AA last season and he also has 1 thing going for him Montero does not if he does manage to stick at catcher.. A good throwing arm.
Luis Exposito. Pretty decent defense, lots of raw r/h power and a good throwing arm. Highest rated Boston catcher overall right now that finished 2010 at AA.
Adalberto Ibarra Cuban defector they just signed last July and had shoulder surgery over this off season. good arm and RH power.
Tim Federowicz. defensive specialist and the best combo of defensive skills and throwing arm of the bunch. Hitting has not been the best since moving up to high A ball, but was not horrible after he lit up lower A ball in 2009. Plate discipline another problem.
Dan Butler. catcher just signed last season and played for full season A ball. Hit well after being signed as an UDFA as the regular in his 1st full season.
Nothing wrong with the various catchers Boston has, not even counting Mark Wagner at AAA who was hurt a lot last season.
Lavarnway and Exposito are the main 2 who are being expected to take over, with Exposito possibly some AB’s by 2012 at the MLB level. Catching is one of the deepest positions the Red Sox system has..Period..
That’s simply not true. While the Sox may not have a catching prospect who could potentially hit around 35 home runs (and can’t catch) they do actually have some good catching prospects.
Lavarnway who has consistently posted on OPS around .900, hit 22 hrs this year and 21 last year and profiles as a solid defensive catcher with a plus arm.
Federowicz who has decent line drive power and is already an above average catcher and has an “Extremely strong and accurate arm with a quick release. Outstanding at throwing runners out.”
Then there’s Ibarra who has well above average power and plate discipline OPSing close to 1.000 in Cuba with an above average arm and is just working on his receiving and game calling.
The Sox have a young prospect named Lavarnway who looked good in the AFL chamionship game, he must of been way under the radar because all i heard from Sox fans were Exposito and Wagner…where did this guy come from and why isnt he getting a look? he was solid behind the plate and had some pop in his bat.
Acually John, Montero has a great throwing arm.It’s his footwork and ability to block pitches in the dirt that ppl were questioning. From what I’ve read his arm is better than Posada’s and Cervelli’s. I think much has been said about Montero but I lok forward to seeing what he can (or can’t) do at the mlb level.
nice info, seems like you know the Sox farm system really well
Tim Federowicz, is in single 22 and has struggled there, Lavarnay is 24 and is thought to need to years of work on his d just to become a catcher and it’s not like his offense is comparable to montero,exposito is 23 still in aa and struggled there, were comparing them to guys in aaa (montero) and double A (romine) who are younger then both and have done better.
Thanks YFS78, thought arm was his issue and not overall defense/blocking balls. Blocking balls has been one of the problems with Lavarnway since he started catching his Junior year at Yale/ He had well over 20PB during the 2009 season, but that number went down during 2010.
lol his arm is weak, he didnt have good relexes to throw to 2nd base, which is why he is being touted as a 1b/Dh type, that is scout talk for he has no arm, great bat though.
His arm is strong but his footwork is so bad it takes him a long time to throw the ball.
Just for the record, Lavarnway profiles as anything but a solid defensive catcher. In fact, just about every reputable source says he won’t be able to play catcher at the major league level. His bat is so good that he could have real value as a DH though.
You do realize Lavarnway isnt a good defensive catcher right? ill wait for Ibarra to actually play in the us before i judge him
I guess the way I said it sounded overly optimistic but the last I heard he had made good progress behind the plate and had the potential to become an average MLB catcher with a strong arm. But no, no one thinks he’ll ever be anything more than average behind the plate, so I guess his ceiling is average defense but ++ offense.
Way it is kind of looking. he had 1 get away from him during the AFL CS game last saturday he seemed to should have caught, but looked pretty decent otherwise on that game broadcast on MLB. Seems to have come a long way. That defense seems to be the only thing holding him back, as his bat has had -0- problems adjusting from league to league since 8/2008 so far when he 1st started playing professionally.
Crawford has said he doesn’t want to play for AL East teams, I think the Angels are a good bet for him.
That is true, but not too many pitchers are good 5 years in a row; but many position players that aren’t injured are.
If the Sox didn’t want Martinez they wouldn’t have offered him 4/42.
How about Salty? Word is that he has the yips, but what about his arm behind the plate? I mean Theo can’t seriously consider triple platoon of Barajas/Tek/Salty behind the plate, there’s gotta be at least some production back there.
You don’t make that kind of offer if you don’t want someone. A lineup of Ellsbry,Pedroia, Youk, Ortiz, Martinez,Werth, Belte, Drew, and Lowrie would be tough to beat.
You don’t make that kind of offer if you don’t want someone. A lineup of Ellsbry,Pedroia, Youk, Ortiz, Martinez,Werth, Belte, Drew, and Lowrie would be tough to beat.
Statistics in the minors againsn’t minor league pitcher of which about 2% will make the majors.
Statistics in the minors againsn’t minor league pitcher of which about 2% will make the majors.
Then the Sox did want him, just not as much as the Tigers.
The real question is why Martinez didn’t want to stay with the Sox. You can’t think they are a better team with Salty and Barajas.
Not many have joe mauer behind the plate? Wish the Yankees could, i’m just saying, there’s better options out there than Barajas.
Not many have joe mauer behind the plate? Wish the Yankees could, i’m just saying, there’s better options out there than Barajas.
Yep, and I don’t foresee either the Yankees or the Red Sox declaring bankruptcy any time soon.
In my opinion, you give Theo more credit than he deserves. The first championship the Sox won Theo had only been GM for a relatively short time. He did bring in some key players but it isn’t like he assembled the whole team. The second championship the Sox won was after Beckett and Lowell had been acquired while Theo was running around in his gorilla suit.
In my opinion, you give Theo more credit than he deserves. The first championship the Sox won Theo had only been GM for a relatively short time. He did bring in some key players but it isn’t like he assembled the whole team. The second championship the Sox won was after Beckett and Lowell had been acquired while Theo was running around in his gorilla suit.
The easy answer is that the Sox only valued VMart at $42m over 4 years and didn’t think VMart would be a catcher in 2 years.
No, if they wanted him they would have made a competitive offer. Offering 15% less than what he signed for isn’t a competitive offer imho.
No, if they wanted him they would have made a competitive offer. Offering 15% less than what he signed for isn’t a competitive offer imho.
Do you read? I actually recognized that he isn’t a “good” defensive catcher in response to Brian Mcgahan, but scouts are saying he has a chance to become average defensively which is a lot more than they say about Montero and he is VERY good offensively (he doesn’t have to be projected to hit 35-40 hrs to be good offensively).
That’s fine if you want to wait for Ibarra to play in the U.S. What about Exposito and Butler? Exposito would be an above average defensive catcher right now if they called him up to the majors and is just working on his offense in the minors (kinda like Romine right?)
It sounds to me like your real point is that they don’t have a “star” catching prospect who is really more of a DH like the Yankees have. When you say that they have no quality catching prospect you are plain wrong because they actually have several.
Speaking of the AFL did you get to see Juan Carlos Linares play? I haven’t seen him but I saw his numbers, is this guy legit? Because his numbers are unreal!
Speaking of the AFL did you get to see Juan Carlos Linares play? I haven’t seen him but I saw his numbers, is this guy legit? Because his numbers are unreal!
Exposito is two years older than romine and and played just as well as exposito did in (aa) so no i wouldnt compare them. Montero has better offensive and defensive skills than Lavarnway o and hes also a few years younger. To be 21 and raw behind the plate is quite different than being 24 and raw. Butler is the only exception so congrats they have one good prospect who happens to be in a ball. You dont consider that dire. The argument here is that the yankees have a more dire need at the catcher position then the redsox, something i dont see how anyone can honestly believe.
Because he gets a bad rap for his defense, which was suspect before this year but improved a decent amount during the season. At this point they are saying he has “Average blocking skills. Has improved on his catch-and-release mechanics since joining the organization. Hard worker, and with continued dedication he could be an average defensive catcher at the major league level.”
Like Mainesox said.. He didn’t really come out of nowhere, or his bat didn’t. His bat has been crushing since he started playing professionally full season just 2 and a 1/3 seasons ago, but he has only been a catcher since 2007, his Junior year at Yale FT, so is still learning the position and in 2009 had 25PB for Greeneville as recall, which is terribly high for a guy who only caught 65-70 games.
They are waiting for his glove to catch up to his bat, plus Exposito is ahead of him at AA (or was) in 2010 and this coming year Expo will be the AAA FT starter and Lavarnway AA, with Federowicz at High A again it looks like, unless they jam him up with Lavarnway yet again and make them split DH duties yet again, cause Ibarra has to have a spot somewhere and Butler needs to advance past Greeneville as well.
I think more than the money, when they offered 4 years it was pretty obvious that they were serious about him because nobody expected them to go near that.
And potentially Ibarra.
If montero was better defensively then Lavarnway, Lavarnway wouldn’t be a catcher because Montero is absolutely horrible.
Actually I’m pretty sure the argument is that you said the Red Sox don’t have ANY quality catching prospect in their system, and they do, where those prospects fall in comparison to Yankees prospects is kind of irrelevant. Sorry, when I said Exposito was above average defensively I meant to say Federowicz, who I acknowledge is not great offensively but really is very very good defensively. So while their best catchers may be farther away from the majors than the Yankees catchers they do have good ones in their system, and if Ibarra is half as good as he was supposed to be I could see him up with the big club by mid-season. Also Montero is in no way better than Lavarnway behind the plate (people are still at least talking about Lavarnway staying behind the plate…)
haha ya lets compare there ops without considering that one is a bit older than the other that makes sense. Lavergan is so good at catching that the sox sent him to the afl to work on it. Anyone that isnt a redsox homer will tell montero is the better prospect it’s not particularity close. Where as exactly have you read that lavernway has the capability of being a quality catcher? i would love to know becuase based on how much time he spent dhing in the minors i doubt it, unless of course hes going spend a few more years in the minors.
based on how many games Lavarnway played at the dh in the minors that’s not exactly a stretch.
I would respectfully disagree on the 80% assertion as to the 2004 championship. First, about 30% of that team was assembled by Dan Duquette. Second, in the very early days of Theo’s reign, the real actor for the BoSox was Larry Lucchino, with Theo tagging along. Theo went nowhere alone, including Arizona to see Curt, back then. So Lucchino probably accounted for about 20-30% of the 2004 team. Despite Theo’s lack of involvement with the Beckett/Lowell deal, I give him full credit for 2007. I think my estimates and attitude on this are fair and balanced, but certainly will listen to alternate suggestions.
I would give Cashman credit for the 2009 title otherwise that is correct. The year before Cashman took over the Yankees won 114 games (and the WS) in 1998. The next year they won 98 (and the WS) with the same nucleus. In 2000 they won 87 (and the WS) with still a lot of the same players from 1998. Every year they got worse under Cashman and they then didn’t even win the WS again until 2009 even tho they spent, what, 2 BILLION dollars? Thank God Cashman wasn’t fired long ago or the Yankees would have another 5 or 6 flags flying.
Strongly agree on Cervelli. He was offensively good and defensively passable. He had significant problems on D, including being unreliable on foul balls behind home, but he was what I consider to be a journeyman level catcher.
Posada’s no longer passable on D, hence the switch to DH. Montero never has been passable on D as a catcher (in fact, his D stats are downright awful … one of the worst sets of numbers of all “catching” prospects), which is why everyone rightfully regards him as a power bat alone. Romine appears to be of awesome potential. He’s not ready until at least 2012, and maybe not 2013, for full time duty. Murphy and Sanchez are too far away from the MLB to really expound on them.
Cervelli will probably be the lead catcher for 2011, and will perform decently. Who backs him up?
Lavarnway had to share his catching duty every year in the minors with likewise catching prospects. In 2009 and 8 it was with Tim Federowicz, in2010 the 1st half it was with Fed-X again, then he got called up to AA and had to split DH time again with Exposito, it’s called both prospects getting AB’s and even Fed-x, the defensive specialist cattcher with the rifle for an arm had to share DH duties on half the games so Lavarnway could catch for a season and a half he and Lavarnway were on the same teams.
If you don’t understand how it works..Ask somebody who does before you make false accusations.
I would do you one better. Carry-overs from 2002 (pre-Theo) to 2003 include: Varitek, Nomar (traded in season), Manny, Damon, Nixon, Merloni, Mirabelli, F. Sanchez with a pitching staff of Pedro, Lowe, Burkett, Wakefield, Howry, Fossum, and Embree. Now if those were only 20% of the 2003 team then the Sox had 75 players on the roster that year. I didn’t even go into what players were on the MLB staff that were already in the farm system pre-Theo.
2007 Pre-Theo players or those acquired during Theo’s gorilla freak out include: Youk, Lowell, Varitek, Manny, and Mirabelli with a pitching staff of Beckett, Wakefield, DelCarmen, and Gabbard. I can’t remember who else the co-GMs signed while Theo took his vacation.
AND I didn’t even have to take Lucchino into account for any of those. Theo has made as many bad deals as good ones. Thank goodness the Sox have the funds to deal with those blunders.
Well, I wasn’t really researching the specifics, but I recalled from memory that 2004 involved at least 8 guys who were main contributors that were Duquette holdovers (Tek, Manny, Damon, Nixon, Pedro, Lowe, Wake and Embree). Add to that Lucchino-driven additions of Schilling, Cabrera and Dave Roberts, and its around 50-60% non-Theo. As for 2007, I think there is a limit on attribution to others because, as GM, you get to choose to keep guys or cut them loose. They do, at some point, become your own.