ESPN's Buster Olney dishes hot stove opinions and rumors…
- In today's blog, Olney says some folks see the fairly expensive deals given to mid-level free agents Ted Lilly and Brandon Inge as a sign that teams will spend aggressively this offseason. Olney feels that this forecast might make certain club options, like those of David Ortiz and Mark Ellis, more palatable.
- Final decisions aren't due yet, but Olney tweets that his sources expect the Athletics to pick up the 2011 options on Ellis ($5.5MM net) and Coco Crisp ($5.25MM net). Based on the free agent market for center fielders, the Crisp option is looking like a good deal.
- Olney tweets that Boston's next pitching coach "may well be Curt Young, who turned down a two-year offer to stay with Oakland." Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote recently that the A's offered Young a one-year deal. Young interviewed with the Red Sox today, reports WEEI's Alex Speier, and was the most impressive external candidate so far.
Curt Young sounds good to me.
Yeah, he does. But, Curt Schilling sounds better to me. Curt Schilling is going to make a hell of a PC someday, much like Tek will make an amazing skipper (but, I think that’s much further down the line).
Schilling sounds good to me too. I’m liking the proof we have with Young, with Oakland’s success with their young pitchers, but Schilling knows what he’s doing.
And Varitek is going to be amazing at anything he chooses to do in baseball. I hope to see him stick with Boston for a long time, in various coaching positions.
“And Varitek is going to be amazing at anything he chooses to do in baseball.”
Except bat or field his position.
Shhh. 😀
(I agree)
Besides the fact that Curt Schilling has gone on record multiple times saying he doesn’t want to coach, why would he be an “amazing skipper”? He isn’t an easy guy to get along with, is very emotional, and he loves to hear himself talk. Just because you are a great player doesn’t mean you will be a great coach…I think he would be a horrible flop. Sure, he kept great notes on hitters and prepared well for every start, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to coaching. He seems like a guy who would have a hard time keeping things in house, wouldn’t know how to manage personalities, and would have a very hard time managing within the moment.
Going to miss Curt Young, don’t blame him for leaving… Can only stick around so long and watch your team not spend money, and not win a championship because of it.
Tim- I think you have to look at the free agent market by position, something that MLBTR does an excellent job of analyzing, and see where the market is very thin. Starting pitching, third base, outfield, and shortstop are all very, very thin. Relief pitching and DH are pretty deep this season. When the Tigers look at what’s available, you don’t get too far down the list at 3B before you see the guy that you’re about to let walk. I don’t think his deal is all that unreasonable, given his fairly average offense for 3B, and above average defense (which they believe will get better since his knees have improved). They may even pick up Peralta’s option at 7 MM, rather than give him two years, although I’m sure they’d like to work out an alternative. There just aren’t that many other options out there this winter.
I could easily see Boston picking up Papi’s option with all the money that they have coming off the books. His OPS was the best in the league vs RHP’s. The Twins almost surely will pick up Kubel’s 5.25 mil option as well.
I nominate Bill “Spaceman” Lee for the pitching coach job!
You just wanted to say “Spaceman” didn’t you…
Yes i did, totally worth it! lol. I think that would be hilarious to see Lee be a MLB pitching coach, he would get “random” drug tests alot thats for sure
Hey out of curiosity, who else is an option for the Red Sox right now as a pitching coach? I know, I know, the possibilities are huge, but I mean who is even available, who might be due for a promotion, etc.? I’ve never been very good at keeping track of coaches/possible coaches, so some insight here would be really helpful.
Mike Cather, who I think would be the best choice. The only downside is he does a great job developing pitchers at the minor league level, and you would lose that. However, I think the main job of a MLB pitching coach is to develop young pitchers and make sure the veterans mechanics are sharp. The Red Sox don’t need their pitching coach to re-invent project pitchers a la Dave Duncan.
Young is going to the Yankees