Peter Gammons made one of his regular appearances on WEEI's The Big Show on Friday afternoon to chat about the Red Sox. Matt West has the full transcript, but here are a few of the more pertinent notes….
- David Ortiz's improved play led to a question about Boston's future plans at the DH spot. Gammons thinks that it will depend on if Victor Martinez is willing to re-sign "at a DH price or at a catcher’s price. If its a catcher’s price I don’t think Victor will come back; if its a DH price I think they’ll bring him back."
- Along those same lines, Gammons notes that "a DH price" is lower since league-wide, designated hitters are producing fairly average numbers: "The DH has been devalued, there are a lot of 35-, 36-year-olds who used to have the juice of life that don’t have it anymore."
- Mike Lowell's agents have told Gammons that eight to ten teams are interested in their client, though Gammons doesn't necessarily believe them. He thinks Lowell will end up being dealt from Boston at some point, though Gammons notes that two possible contenders for his services (the Mets and Rangers) are out of the running given the production of Ike Davis and Vladimir Guerrero, respectively.
- Gammons cites Tampa Bay as a potential destination for Lowell if the Sox end up releasing him. Lowell would split time in a platoon at DH with Hank Blalock.
- In regards to the rumors about Chris Iannetta, Gammons says the Red Sox attempted to acquire the catcher two years ago and "do really love him." A deal could still happen later in the year though Gammons doesn't know if Boston could meet Colorado's trade needs.
V-Mart seems like the kind of guy who would give a discount to stay somewhere. He said he wants to finish in Boston, I would suspect he would be willing to negotiate a reasonable contract knowing that the team is looking to stop all of the running against them.
You’re going to fall for that again after Jason Bay?
I was going to say something similar to this.
If V-Mart gets back on track, I think he will want an above-average contract for his skills.
a pretty good hitter,that is all fill in catcher,can not throw runners out
“V-Mart seems like the kind of guy who would give a discount to stay somewhere. He said he wants to finish in Boston, I would suspect he would be willing to negotiate a reasonable contract knowing that the team is looking to stop all of the running against them.”
LMAO! ya lots of athletes and their agents give discounts on the their contracts
Used to have the “juice of life”, huh?
Interesting choice of words.
“Mike Lowell’s agents have told Gammons that eight to ten teams are interested in their client…”
I wonder what country these so called “teams” are from where they’d be interested in Lowell’s services (or lack thereof).
“the Juice Of Life”….lmao. Finally some national sports reporters, are catching on that 38 year old hitters don’t hit 40+ Homers normally.
I really doubt that Iannetta gets dealt. Olivo isn’t exactly locked up in a long term contract and Iannetta just signed one. The Rockies truly believe that Iannetta is their catcher going forward. Frustrated as they might be they’d need a haul of prospects for him. They would probably demand a 1B prospect in return given the age of Helton, so there goes at least Anderson. Plus the bullpen hasn’t been quite what it should be, so a couple of MLB relievers would be required too but I doubt Boston would be willing to trade Bard given their recent issues / rumors with Papelbon. Papelbon probably wouldn’t go to the Rockies as they’ve signed Street to a long term deal and Papelbon wouldn’t be happy in a setup role.
I just can’t see it happening. So put Iannetta on the Sox dream sheet with Adrian Gonzalez under the category of ‘we can dream, can’t we?’
Ha-ha, yeah you’re right, Chris Iannetta, trying to remember how to hit down in AAA, is just as out of reach as Adrian freakin’ Gonzalez.
Mmmmmmmmmmmoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Just saying that Boston won’t likely give up what the Rockies would demand if they would even consider trading him which I highly doubt that they will.
Not to mention that Iannetta has been raking in AAA since he got there with a .350/.452/.717 5 HR 21 RBI and a 10:10 BB:K ratio. He’ll be up in Colorado again soon enough
Whether or not Colorado feels he is the catcher isn’t nearly as important as the fact that he is a $3mill AAA catcher who lost his job to a guy who got released by the Royals.
At some point, Ianetta is goingto have to step up, or he will become contractual deadweight for the Rockies. Fortunately, it’s not a crippling contract, although very few teams are interested in $3mill backup catchers. Still, Colorado has a decision to make, because Ianetta is currently on a three year downward trend, and the Rockies will only be able to cling to 2008 as his trade value for so long…
Seem to recall Boston offering up Bard before the last season for either Teagarden, or Salty to Texas and got a strong feeling they are glad texas declined that offer. Both Salty and Teagarden both still have more upside that Ianetta, though Salty and Teagarden have struggled with the bat and injuries at the MLB level thus far and Bard has excelled so far as the top setup guy out of the BP, as well as the future closer for Boston.
Why would they move him for a guy (Ianetta) that has failed to hit out of the new version of “the launching pad” and not very well even there at the MLB level, as well as in the PCL, a AAA league where most any decent prospect hits? It is an offensive oriented league, with pitcher friendly parks.
Cannot see Boston giving up Anderson either, that is far, far more than a non hitting catcher signed to a bad contract is worth, much less wanting MORE than Lars. Epstein is not Omar Minaya, or Ed Wade and rarely makes foolish moves like that.
Look no further than shrewd moves, such as pickups for Billy Wagner and Victor Martinez over the last 2 years. he does not overpay.
You’re going to fall for that again after Jason Bay?
and Pedro and Damon and …
Here’s what I think Colorado is likely to ask for in exchange for Ianetta:
To COL: Lars Anderson, Luis Exposito/Ryan Lavarnway, Daniel Bard, Clay Buccholz
To BOS: Chris Ianetta