6:00pm: The deal isn't close at this time and isn't likely to happen at all, writes Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. Silverman adds that the talks could indicate that the Red Sox are looking for ways to clear some salary in order to sign a free agent starter like Roy Oswalt.
4:52pm: Talks are fizzling, Renck tweets. The Red Sox are reluctant to part with Scutaro, since they don't have a clear alternative at short.
4:25pm: The Rockies are nearing a deal for infielder Marco Scutaro, Troy Renck of the Denver Post tweets. The teams are talking and the Rockies are trying to complete the trade. The veteran infielder would presumably play second base if the Rockies acquire him.
Scutaro, 35, set career highs in batting average and slugging percentage for a .299/.358/.423 line in 445 plate appearances in 2011. He also had a career-best 8.1% strikeout rate and finished with more walks (38) than strikeouts (36). Only seven shortstops have contributed more wins above replacement than Scutaro (12.7) since 2008, according to FanGraphs’ version of the statistic. The Red Sox exercised their $6MM option for him after the season.
If the Red Sox move Scutaro, they'd have a hole at shortstop heading into Spring Training. With Jed Lowrie on the Astros, prospect Jose Iglesias and infielders Nick Punto and Mike Aviles would sit atop Boston's depth chart.
What? Why would the Red Sox trade him?
To free up payroll to sign Oswalt ?
exactly
hmm good point
Maybe the Red Sox have a larger deal in mind for a big-name shortstop
Like who? Edgar Renteria?
That definitely sounds plausible lol I just hope it’s not a salary dump to get under the luxury tax. But I have a hard time believing that
Iglesias, I guess.
No chance, he’s not ready.
Offensively maybe, but his offense isn’t supposed to be very good even when it is ‘ready’ so just throw him out there and let him play, they’ll still have plenty of offense.
Scutaro is just a piece in a Tulowitzki trade obviously!
Nah, I think Tulo is a piece in a Scutaro trade obviously!
Noooooooo
What? They can’t possibly be planning on Iglesias or Punto playing short all season. Though this could be what frees up money for Oswalt…
Mike Aviles
Aviles for offense, Punto for defense.
They will be hitting 7, 8, or 9. He can handle the drop off, but we do need to guarantee we get another pitcher to sign.
Mike Aviles is the Sox SS
Once more, with FEELING.
I don’t understand this move. If they’re doing this to get Oswalt, ok, they gain in the pitching department. But then who’s playing short? Iglesias is definitely not really offensively…in the majors, he will probably struggle to stay above the Mendoza line.
Get it done O’Dowd, finally get someone who could play everyday at 2B. As long as not giving up too much of course…
fill one hole by creating another
There’s some innuendo there somewhere…
could be great, could be really dumb. fun
Agreed, but (at least in my opinion) it’s what would have immediately followed this trade, rather than who they got in return, that would have made it great or dumb.
That sounds like something the Red Sox would do. Trade their starting SS and his $6MM salary. So they could free up the money to sign Oswalt at about $8MM.
Don’t look now but that’s $2MM more than Scutaro and unless they have someone they or are getting someone from the Rockies to replace Scutaro. This is somewhat confusing.
Whether he’s considered polished enough or not, they do have Iglesias.
He’s NOT.
.235/.285/.269
^does that look polished enough for you? Those numbers would be disappointing even if he achieved those in the majors…but that was triple A! He’s not ready.
Yeah that .559 ops is not so good
hmmm…interesting, maybe this is to free up space for Oswalt….I think Aviles is gonna be the starting shortstop he is gonna be great with a full time job and produce, maybe Nick Punto might split time with him….well all i care about is signing oswalt
I think this is leading to bigger things… boggarts is going to be better than Iggy. I smell a big trade coming. Just my two cents. Let the comments flow..
Who says the comments are gonna flow…
Sox going to get Nakajima or something
Yankees didn’t sign him.. He’s back in Japan now.
So I had time to think, are Sox going to get Troy Tulowitzski?
Bartender, he’ll have another…;)
I’m curious as to who this Troy Tulowitzski fellow is. The Rockies have someone by the name of Troy Tulowitzki. Odd how their names are so similar.
Renck now saying talks are fizzling between Rox/Sox. “reluctant” to happen.
This is why I hate twitter.
My apologies…was just passing the news along, thought Sox fans would want to know.
This is why I love twitter. Thank god for false information
Probably Renck spinning it more than anything…
All he wants is his name on it if a deal was to get done. He always seems a bit desperate to me.
Agreed…which is why I rarely pay attention to anything he says in the Post…not a fan…
Definitely don’t pay attention to his articles for the Post. But follow on twitter only because hes the only one who actually keeps fans updated. None the less, getting tired of his antics honestly.
The state of Colorado straight up for Daniel Nava.
Your trade proposal = hero status
Is this Renck guy a serious reporter? How does he go from “close” to “fizzle” in less than 30 minutes? We all knew the Sox had no alternative to Scutaro at SS, he should do his homework in the future before going all Twitter tabloid with his reporting.
He has these type of moments. Happened last yr with Michael Young rumors.
I’m sure he wants to be taken seriously…whether or not he is taken seriously is debatable…
Why don’t the Rox give the Sox Herrera and a B prospect for Scutaro and cash. Hererra can man SS for the sox.
So Scutaro would play 2B I guess since they signed Blake at third. No idea who the Sox would put at Short…hopefully not punto.
I’m amazed no one has mentioned the possibility of Hanley Ramirez. Although unlikely, don’t go all postal on me I said the POSSIBILITY.
Only there is no real possibility.
Big deal: Sox get Castro, Garza and take Soriano for Soriano’s full salary off Theo’s hands in return the Cubs get Ranaudo, Buch, Iggy and Youk to play 1 b.
They then move Scutaro and Miller or Doubrount to the Rockies for pitcher Jhoulys Chacin.
New rotation: Garza, Lester, Beckett, Chacin, Cook, Padilla.
I still think Beckett will be moved before the season starts.
What do I know–fun to speculate.
I’m going to play it safe and say that none of that is ever even discussed.
EDIT: Also, Garza wouldn’t be the #1 pitcher and they wouldn’t have a 6 man rotation. Although, if they were to do this who knows what other ridiculous things they might do.
If I’m Cherrington I’m not trading with Theo, your going to lose that deal.
If there’s some smoke there may be a fire that’s starting slowly. What does anyone know about Colorado’s Jhoulys Chacin? Is he a good prospect–his numbers look excellent for a young guy. Any way adding some people to go with Scu that he might be available to the Sox?
Chacin would be our one. We would NEVER trade him to you guys for Scutero! Are you crazy!!!!
chill, he was just asking a question
Okay considering the reluctance Boston has shown of not going over the luxury task, and the fact that they have depleted their farm system by trading for Adrian Gonzalez, Mark Melancon, Andrew Bailey, signing type A FA’s like Lackey, and Crawford etc. trading for a young affordable starter without giving major league talent is I would say, out of the question.
Now I know they could easily pass over the luxury tax, it’s just money and they are one of the richest teams in baseball. However, we need to understand their owners want to make more money and the repercussions of going over the luxury tax affect their ability to make money.
Considering the need for a starting pitcher ala Roy Oswalt, and their powerful lineup, maybe they could deal a piece of their mlb team to get a capable starting pitcher.
This may be a hard sell but will this be a good move for both sides, trading Kevin Youkilis for Martin Prado and Jair Jurrjens? Prado would replace Youkilis at 3B and provide adequate offense, not Kevin Youkilis type offense, but decent, and Jair Jurrjens would improve their rotation, giving them a quality affordable starter. Kevin Youkilis will need to play LF and 3B when Chipper needs to rest, and he would provide ATL exactly what they need, a quality OBP guy with pop from the right side. Youk has played 20 career games at LF, and while it’s not ideal, Martin Prado isn’t exactly the greatest LF either. Youk’s 12 million salary would go to ATL, and BOS would receive 2 players making a combined 10.2 million.
I disagree the farm is depleted. Considering we have a top 10 catching prospect, a top ten 3rd base prospect, and a top 10 SS prospect. Plus a lot of quality guys in low minors and a few in the middle to upper minors.
You can’t deal what little they have. They don’t have good young pitching prospects, and their top 10 catching prospect, top ten 3rd base prospect, and top 10 SS prospect are their next wave of talent. Most of the guys that have talent are in the lower levels, and teams looking to deal a quality starter want bigger major league ready pieces. And apart from Iglesias and their top 10 catching prospect they don’t have much to offer
If you include Iglesias as someone the Sox have to offer up in a good way then the farm is worse off than I thought. Maybe with years of batting practice he’ll hit as well as Rey Ordonez without the power. Useless.
Not arguing that we got lots of high minors talent we got some but not a ton, but as I said alot of our best arms ect are in the lower parts of the system. So while I agree its not ideal for packaging for players, it is certainly not depleted and if anything is deep and balanced.
“You can’t deal what little they have.”
Have you thought the main pieces they used to acquire Andrew Bailey, one of the better closers in the game was Alcanta and Miles head? 2 people never played above A ball before, not reddick..
The Sox lower levels are full of people better than those 2.. head was barely top 20 in the system and Alcantra was lower..
But Reddick was the big one
Honestly, if it really came down to it..would starting Iglesias be the end of the world if it meant getting Oswalt? He was never really supposed to be a good hitter, people were just hoping that it would happen. I know that, ideally, he needs at least another year to develop in the minors..but if it’s between that and having Carlos Silva or Aaron Cook be the #5 I’ll take Iglesias starting at short.
This is the AL East your talking about, every move is big when your talking about starters. The Sox have too many ?s They are weak at C, SS, and RF, and have a third basemen who is a 1bmen. Their 4 and 5 pitchers are not better than last year on paper, and they down graded their relief on paper from last year. Add to that Crawford has a wrist problem.
Sox aren’t gonna make any more moves until Ortiz’s arb case is settled. The 4 million gap alone could determine if the sox need to free up any salary to get an Oswalt. I’m sure Cherington has relayed this to FA agents out there so let’s wait and see cuz Papi hopefully loses his case and Sox have 8-10 mil to sign Oswalt without making any other moves. This team with Oswalt has as good a chance as any( I’m presuming last years bs won’t happen again) to win!
Who is the the Sox shortstop?!
I think it’s a bigger deal to free up space for Castro/Garza but don’t quote me on that. I know Castro has had issues in Chicago off the field. Maybe a change of scenery would be good for him. I dunno just taking a guess.
is aviles any good? did they trade lowrie?
Your mom
the sox dont have the pieces to aquire both castro and garza. but its a nice dream isnt it?
I just came in to say, that the only reason you posted this 5 times, is because its insane. But Ive seen stranger things happen. No way the cubbies dump Castro. Not only that, but I dont see Theo doing the sox any favors any time soon.
Castro is really not going to happen.
Is it possible? Anything is possible.
A wild guess based on current projections would be that Castro could have something like $75 million in surplus value before he hits free agency.
Is it possible? Sure. But even if you think these figures are generous by 25%, that still means a serious offer for Castro has to START with $60MM in value.
That’s not a trade based on nice young minor leaguers. That’s a trade based on multiple sure thing top of the lists prospects or other young stars.
Yeesh, that’s some serious wishful thinking lol.
U can say that 100 times and the Cubs still won’t even entertain the idea of trading their 21 year old AS calibre SS.
They said awhile back that it wouldn’t be any major league level ready talent, then again, they said it would be done a long time ago.
O boy are they flowing thanks to you.
They traded Lowrie for Melancon.
Aviles at SS is probably a terrible idea. If anyone already on the Red Sox roster is playing SS, its Iglesias.
Lowrie was in the Melancon deal to Houston
This app on my phone sucks. Sorry for all the posts
ban hammer please
wouldn’t that be great…i wished the same thing
(also Cargo) but not even a chance….
A-Gon on his way back to the NL West then…
I just don’t see the Sox getting Starlin. He is exactly the type of player Theo needs to keep.
Mike Aviles is hardly a star
kalish out for most of 1st half with surgery, and crawford will be hitting 6 or 7th unless pedroia or ellsbury is moved in the line up and ortiz should be hitting above youk in my opinion
Kalish will be out half the year and Crawford is going to miss the start of the season. Mike Aviles is a streaky player so he wouldn’t be good in the long run. And if anything Crawford would leadoff and Ellsbury would hit third.
The same ’09 that he managed .458 OPS?
The same ’09 that he managed .458 OPS?
Theo and Red Sox Trade yeah dont see any problems buying that.
I think you’ve made half of the comments here
Clearly people have forgotten, how crazy unpredictable things have gotten in the Red Sox office
That’s what I was saying. If they trade Scutaro, Aviles should start out of all of the Sox in house options
Crawford hates the lead off spot.
Kalish had another surgery a month or so ago and they don’t know when he’ll be back yet, most are speculating around June though.
You think Theo would entertain trading Castro?
Not saying this will happen but I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried Crawford in the 3 hole. It would get Crawford a ton of fastballs and with the skills of our 1 & 2’s it would make walking Gonzalez a difficult proposition with fire power still to follow. I know the tendency is to try to limit Lhb’s being one after another but I think it would work seeing as neither has too much of a career split against lefties.
Ellsbury
Pedroia
Crawford
Agon
Youkilis
Ortiz
Salty/Shoppach/Lavarnway (By Mid Season at latest)
Scutaro
Sweeny/Aviles?
Sorry that was confusing–Theo pays Alphonso’s full salary and in addition the Sox get Castro and Garza for Ranaudo Buchholz, Iggy and Youk.
I am, but you think a 35 year old would rank a A and a B prospect? And I thought the Yankees over valued THEIR players!
No way Scutaro brings back that much. Two B prospects would be my guess or an A-/B+ and a C+
And Hererra is 26.
His glove has been ready but his bat needs more time. He probably cant even hit above the Mendoza line in the majors. I don’t think the Sox can afford that sort of offensive gap in their lineup, especially in the AL East.
Wouldn’t work. Soriano is of no use to us. He would not be able to handle right field so he is completely unnecessary. The rest is a huge overpay on our part and a downgrade on several levels. The rest is awful too. We lose a guy who when healthy is a top 15 offensive player with solid D, a very good 3 starter, a potential number one starter prospect, and a D wizard with potential in Iglesias. In exchange we get a nice young SS who is still not the offensive threat Youk is when healthy, and Garza who is an upgrade over Clay. So we weaken the lineup, create a hole at 3B until Middlebrooks is ready, lose some nice prospects, all of this just to fill a position we have filled now and still leave ourselves with a rotation hole? And no I didn’t forget about the Rockies part, it just is so unfathomably unrealistic I worked with the first scenario.
Herrera is a 27 year old 2B with the bat of a four year old. On what planet do the Sox consider giving the Rox a better player and cash when they already have a craptastic utility guy in Punto?
What is Cherrington doing!
This team looked better on paper last year, the Yanks and Rays look to be better now.
This team looked better on paper last year, the Yanks and Rays look to be better now.
Rays rotation is nice but the offense still has got a ways to go to be around the same area. The Yanks got three quality starters, we got three quality starter, they got a top three lineup, we got a top three lineup, I like our #4 starting option better than theirs though, and they will have the better bullpen but ours will be strong. Health is really the tie breaker for us, but Rays arn’t there yet.