Links for Wednesday, four years after the Padres completed the trade that sent 2010 All-Star Evan Meek to Tampa Bay. A year later, the Pirates shrewdly plucked Meek from the Rays in the Rule 5 draft…
- Stop by at 2pm CDT for this week's chat.
- Yankees bench coach and former AL manager of the year Tony Pena is a serious candidate for the Marlins managerial job, according to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro.
- The Pirates will consider removing Zach Duke from their rotation, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Duke, who was a non-tender candidate to begin with, didn't do himself any favors by allowing eight runs last night.
- Rob Bradford of WEEI.com doesn't expect the trio of David Ortiz, Victor Martinez and Adrian Beltre to return to Boston next year, but he doesn't think it'd be a bad idea to bring all three players back.
- The early returns on the deal that sent Cliff Lee to the Mariners are not good, as MLB.com's Todd Zolecki explains.
- Rick Porcello, Starlin Castro and Buck Showalter's Orioles are among the late-season positives for non-contenders, writes ESPN.com's Buster Olney.
unless the red sox want to give 3+ year contracts out, beltre and martinez won’t be coming back.
I have no doubt he will get it….but i feel that giving Martinez a 3 year deal will be a disaster for a team. He will produce offensivly but he will allow may too many free bases behind the plate. Doesn’t hit enough to be an everyday Firstbasemen in the AL East, Same wtih a DH. Doesnt throw well enough to be an everyday Catcher anywhere. Mixing and matching like CLE did and Bos has done is the best bet…but Allocating 3 years and high dollars to a player like this is something I personally would avoid. He is a catcher on his baseball card and managers lineup only not in skill set.
I could see him alternating between C and 1B on a team such as the Dodgers. Russell Martin and James Loney both regressed and had terrible seasons. Perhaps Victor Martinez plays 1B vs. LHP (with Loney benched) and catches vs. RHP (with Martin benched). Of course that turns Martin into a backup player, but that’s probably what he should be…
Any team that puts him behind the dish better be prepared to outscore their opponents by a large margin. Dodgers don’t have a good enough offense to off-set giving up that many free bases. Especially in a division where SD and COL love to run.
Probably right. If I were in charge, I’d go for Beltre at 3B, platoon Loney (vs. RHP) and Blake (vs. LHP) at 1B (their splits justify it), and leave Barajas and Martin to play catcher.
Then if there is any money left over, Dunn, Crawford or Werth for LF. Otherwise just go with Gibbons.
The Red Sox are poised to have one of the most interesting offseasons of any team in baseball. With V-Mart, Varitek, Beltre, and Ortiz becoming free agents, Papelbon entering his last year before free agency and having his worst season (by his standards), not to mention Nancy Drew receiving $14M for impersonating a baseball player, this is a make or break winter for Theo and the Sox.
According to Fangraphs, J.D. Drew has been worth $50.8 million over the past three seasons while earning $42 million in salary. Why do you have some sort of vendetta against Drew (not just this comment; I can recall others you have made)?
Drew never comes through in clutch situations, is just average defensively, injured often (except this season for some reason) and is not a leader or clubhouse guy.
Clutch is extremely subject to variation due to small sample size. He is excellent defensively. Who really cares if he is a leader? The Sox already have Ortiz, Pedroia, Youkilis, Lester, etc. to fill that role.
“Drew never comes through in clutch situations, is just average defensively”
How about that Grand Slam in Game 6 of the 2007 ALCS when facing elimination? I realize this is just one game, but if you want to talk clutch this is the most clutch thing you can do. Also, the guy is a very good defender and plays one of the toughest right fields in baseball.
Career line: .281/.388/.499 – .887
Career RISP: .278/.409/.492 – .901
Career 2 out/RISP: .246/.415/.466 – .881
Career “High Leverage”: .279/.384/.490 – .874
So there goes your clutch argument. He’s also consistently above average in Total Zone Rating and UZR, meaning he’s an above-average defender.
I am not the biggest JD Drew fan, but he has had some key hits during the playoffs in 2007 and 2008. He also is a very good outfielder, playing one of the most difficult corners in baseball, the right field of Fenway, where a pass ground ball, or a ball getting in the right field corner ricochets to the bullpens. (Watch how other teams’ right fielders have a very difficult time in there, especially right fielders with not many years in the AL)
I don’t think Drew is worth the money he is being paid, no matter what Fangraphs puts it. However, he is a solid defender, he got a contract because of his OBP. not hid BA. He has never hit left handers well.
Right now, he is main strength is his defense, and I don’t think it will be appreciated until he leaves the Sox after the 2011 season.
This season Drew is hiting 257 with 18 homeruns and 62 rbi’s in 127 games. 127 games is a high number for him, but for all the sabremetrics geeks to say those numbers are worth $14 mil this season and $50.80 over three seasons, just shows the weakness of Fangraphs for assessing player value. $14 mil ought to get you a 3-4 or 5 hole hitter, these are not the numbers of a 3-4-5 hitter.
I can’t take you seriously about criticizing other system’s flaws in assessing player value when all you mention is batting average, home runs, rbi’s, games played, and their lineup order…sorry. FYI Adrian Beltre hasn’t hit 3-5 for the majority of the year…does he suck too? Is Victor Martinez’s 15 home runs and 64 Rbi’s more valuable because he was hitting #3 in the order? I have some issues with fangraphs, but I have wayyyy more issues with your assessment of Drew. You also disregard his much more productive 2008 & 2009 seasons which he was talking about, and only include this year which was 1/3 of his argument. You do realize their is more to baseball than just batting average, homers and rbi’s right?
There may be more to baseball than batting average, but Drew is hitting just .203 against left-handers this year and that’s significant. The successes (and failures for that matter) Drew has had in the past are exactly that–in the past. Drew’s salary is along the lines of a 3-5 hitter and his statistics don’t justify him hitting in these spots in the lineup.
fangraphs needs to watch actual games to see how inaccurate that is
With 2 weeks left in the season the Pirates are “considering” removing a likely non-tender pitcher?
And here I thought the Brewers are being obstinate keeping FA to be Dave Bush in their rotation this long.
Duke is merely doing his part to help the Pirates secure the top pick in the 2011 draft.
And another way to look at it would be – tender Duke a contract to give you innings similar to a random AAA callup or give your #1 pick the bonus it takes to sign him. Easy choice in my book.
I think they wanted as much time as they could to see if he waranted a contract tender. I think he has made up their mind lately so they don’t care to see any more.
If they non-tender Duke, find someone to take most of Maholm’s contract, and trade away Doumit (for a shortstop maybe?) they would have plenty to bring in a true frontline veteran starter like Vazquez or De La Rosa.
Javier Vazquez? I don’t know if I would want him on the Bucs. He’s past his prime, but seems to pitch well in the NL.
Your basing past in his prime because of one bad year with the Yankees? I cn give yu multiple reasons he is having this year, One: He’s melting in the pressure of New York. 2:He’s pitching in the best divison in baseball the Al East. 3: He’s been injuried on off for most of the season. The year before this one he was a Cy young pitcher for the braves alot of people critzied the trade from Alanta’s Perspective now every one is cheering for them. Alot of people saw this coming because Javy just cant pitch in New York. Now put him back in the Nl and i thin he will do just fine, i was actually hoping that i the Reds turn down Bronson’s option that they would look in Javy o Brandon Webb, maybe its just me seeing that but all in all a trip back to the Nl would do wonders for him
Sorry my Keyboard is sticking but im pretty sure you can tell what i mean
I’m just afraid that, for the Bucs to get Vazquez’s services, they’d have to overpay him to pitch in the ‘Burgh and I’m not sure the Pirates should do that. I’d rather see them overpay on more of a sure thing.
What “sure thing” would want to play in Pittsburgh though? They need to take one-year fliers on guys looking to rebuild value.
Every trade looks good at first, but you can always shoot it down later if some/none of the players are performing for you 1-2 years down the line. The Phillies traded Lee to the Mariners and if none of the return is paying off, oh well. It happens to every team once in a while.
The Phillies should have left Aumont in the bullpen. Control has always been his weakest point, and if he can correct that, he could be highly effective out of the bullpen. At 6’7 / 220, he should have no problem throwing his fastball downhill. It’s locating it and adding in something offspeed that has been his problem.
Michael Brantley needs to be added to the list of positives for non-contending teams.
Has a 14 game hitting streak (longest of any rookie this year) and 22 of 23 I do believe. Looks like the leadoff man of the future that the Indians thought he’d be when they got him in the CC deal.
Chris Perez too. He started the season poorly, but has a very nice second half of the season under his belt. He’s still walking too many, but he has improved some. I’ve always felt he’d be able to get away with a few more walks than most relief pitchers because he’s just unhittable on most nights.
Kudos to the Indians for riding the waves with him; it’s obvious he just needed some time to settle in. He’s on his way to being an elite closer IMO.
Depending on salary demands, I’d like to see Beltre return. However, I think bringing back VMart and Papi would be huge mistakes; unless, of course, Papi is willing to sign for 1 year, $5m with a club option for a 2nd year.
Bradford says he wouldn’t mind if all three returned and I wouldn’t either but it’s not positive move unless the alternatives cost too much. If I can’t do better than Ortiz I pick up his option (Overpaying but it’s 1-year). If I’m convinced Beltre is playing clean and will likely be healthy over the next four years I pay him. Martinez/C is fine but is not a good value at DH/1b so he’s the last on the priority list but he’s a very good guy and may not demand huge $$$. Bottom line is I start back-channel work –if it hasn’t started already– on about five FA’s and see what they think about RS. I have to say that last week’s statements about 2-year deals and 1-year Op pickups don’t give me a lot of confidence they want VMart-Ortz back.
Tony Pena? I like.
Starlin Castro, who has great range and very high upside, needs to take a few solid rounds of infield this offseason. I made a bet with a buddy that he would win multiple gold gloves by the time he retires.
If Martinez was willing to work on his defense at first base, I wouldn’t mind them signing him to play there next year on a two year deal with Ortiz Dh. Once Ortiz leaves after next year Martinez can dh…but I doubt he accepts a two year deal. Then the Red Sox can move youk to third for a year and look for a defensive catcher who can throw runners out. Its all depends upon how willing Martinez would be to do this though…
Doubt it. He said he sees himself being a Catcher for “6 Years”.
Yea 6 years aint happening for him unless he meant backup catcher.
any team who is stupid enough to sign victor for 6 years to catch better be prepared to get stolen on.if the red sox have offense at 7 or 8 of there lineup why not get a guy with a strong arm for catcher to get a good offense and defense catcher is hard.beltre should be resigned as ortiz probably will.im not a gm but for boston they need to save some money for a solid reliever or 2.there is gonna be a few firstbasemen that the sox will pursue if they dont get beltre it is a key offseason for them no doubt I see them making a few surprises but thats just me
I see Adam Dunn at Fenway
I don’t.