Some Red Sox tidbits to close out the evening..
- BoSox GM Theo Epstein doesn't think that the Albert Pujols negotiations will have an impact on the club's talks with Adrian Gonzalez, writes Brian MacPherson of The Providence Journal. In December the slugger said that he would look for a market value deal rather than try to pattern his extension after Pujols'.
- By acquiring Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, and Bobby Jenks, Rays manager Joe Maddon believes that the Red Sox gained the most ground of any team in the division this winter, writes Alex Speier of WEEI.com.
- The Red Sox signed catcher Paul Hoover to a minor league deal, tweets Matt Eddy of Baseball America. Hoover, 34, has a career .733 OPS at the Triple-A level.
- If Felipe Lopez winds up signing a minor league deal with the Rays and makes the Opening Day roster, the Red Sox still won't receive a compensatory draft pick, writes Alex Speier of WEEI.com.
Theo will open up his man purse for A-Gon. He has already traded away 3 of their top prospects to get him, and has had a man crush on him forever. There is no way he hits the open market at the end of the year.
If that happened there would be riots in Boston
Well, Gonzalez did so he’d negotiate at pre-Pujols market value, so hopefully he sticks to that word…
How is it possible that Puljos deal won’t impact the Gonzalez signing?
That’s like saying that the A.J. Burnett contract didn’t influence the John Lackey signing price, which it clearly did.
If Puljos’ market value establishes a new high water mark, all the boats in the ocean will also rise with the tide, including Gonzalez.
I think what the Boston fans are saying is that the deal has already been agreed on before the Pujols deal. Just hasn’t been announced yet.
exactly, and by not announcing it they were able to get CC, if they did, NO CC
Again, seriously quit calling Crawford CC, that guy pitching for New York owns that moniker…its like calling a player Big Papi and not talking about David Ortiz….doesnt sit well.
its like the giants closer is now named the machine and that name was already dropped on pujols, however the redsox fans arent the most creative when it comes to nick names they stole red sox nation from the raiders nation , so why wouldnt reuse nicknames
Oh please. There’s probably been at least 30 players in history nicknamed “The Machine” or some variant. Pretty much any player who’s last name started with MAD has been called “Mad Dog.” Half the left handed pitchers in baseball were called “Lefty” at some point. And another famous Maddux nickname “Professor” has also been used multiple times in history.
Nicknames like Machine or Nation have been around forever and you can whine all you want about them not being original. Tell you what, when someone starts calling themselves “Oil Can” or something really strange that someone else has already been called, then you can come back and whine about someone being unoriginal.
maybe you should wait til the person is gone from memory before ripping their moniker and if you have a variant of nickname it isnt the same , like robot instead of machine. and you are right nation has been around forever it was just in oakland until it was ripped by people who thought it sounded cool. the lefty thing is played like i said not so creative. and nobodys whining grimace just stating the obvious
Actually “The Machine” is Pat Burrell. And that was his nickname from his days in Philadelphia.
And that nickname was earned more for what Pat did off the field, not so much what he did on it, if you follow me…
Dude, it’s his freakin’ initials. Just get over it. Unless you’re operating under the belief that Alex Gordon should stop going by Alex, because, y’know, there’s already one.
I bet if you called Bobby Jenks BJ, Rays fans will be mad saying there is only 1 BJ- BJ Upton. (Since BJ Ryan is pretty much done)
Conceivably, and they’d be stupid to do it. It’s just a name and the fact of the matter is that there ARE multiple BJ’s. I used to get mad at other Jonathans for stealing my name, but that was when I was five.
Personally, I avoid confusion by calling all players (With the exception of Ichiro) by their last names.
Sure it is his initials but your biggest rival best pitcher has the name , i mean its a little classless , and first names are different their on your birth certificate not a nickname somebody stuck on you and why would you want the same nickname as somebody else
Ummmm, C.C. isn’t a nickname for Sabathia, His name is Carsten Charles Sabathia. I’m sorry, but picking nits over one’s claim to their initials is probably the single most idiotic complaint I have seen registered on here, and that’s saying a lot.Until Sabathia goes out and puts a trademark on the initials, the usage of it is up for grabs.On the other hand, maybe they should both back off as we don’t want C.C. DeVille to suffer an identity crisis. I mean, names are serious business.
Edit: Seriously, folks, we’re entering Star Trek nerd argument territory here.
yes it is pretty low on the grand scheme of things , but i never heard carl crawford called CC until in a redsox uniform, maybe im wrong and im sure somebody somewhere called him that before, So then copying your arch rivals pitchers name is just wack and shows the redsox like to bite and i dont know if you have seen the advert when the star trek nerds are making fun of stat geek baseball players. so call it what you want but were all kinda nerds here giving opinion on a sport that not even being played at the moment and figuring out war , sabermetrics and such Id say were on the nerd level … and your name is obsessions so please
So Sorry, I called CARL CRAWFORD, CC once too. Hell, maybe ill start calling “CC” Sabathia his REAL name “Carsten Charles Sabathia”
start the CARSTEN CHARLES revolution my friend
i agree. let’s call him CaCa!
That might be the case, but if the ink is not on the paper, and Puljos gets something crazy like 8/$250M, don’t be shocked if Gonzalez and his agent get one of those nasty cases of amnesia going around…
On a serious note, this is a business, and with the business mentality things change, there is no way the Red Sox would of anticipated Pujols not being extended and as a result ask yourselves this question, would you just sit there as the best player arguably in baseball is within your grasp? Keeping in mind that if you dont get him you have to settle for Gonzalez? this is a huge time for the Sox, only teams I can think that need a first baseman are the Brewers is they dont resign Fielder, the Mariners, Astros, and possibly some mystery team would surface, but the Sox are the real front runner for either or and either way look to be very good at first, Youkilis at third is the big question mark.
I know I am going to get criticized for this comment, but how much more bang for the buck is Pujols? I can’t remember what the rumored “gentleman’s agreement” price was for Gonzalez, I think it was something like $160M/8 yrs? As for Pujols, well on the open market it keeps coming back to a contract comparable to ARod’s. New twist on an old debate, the $20M+/yr slugger or the $30M+/yr.
Once again, I need to say it: I’m NOT saying Gonzalez is a better player than Pujols.
All I am saying is do you think the Red Sox at the time of this trade had any feeling Pujols would be available? and do you think they arent weighing their options now that this situation fell into their lap?
As armchair GMs I’m certain we were probably more certain that Pujols would have re-signed with the Cards right now than most real GMs. The reason for this is fans are fickle and GMs are supposed to be patient and calculating. My guess is Theo probably felt the same odds of Pujols being the Red Sox first baseman in 2012 are the same now as the time of the trade.
how is youkilis a question mark at 3rd? he’s a dominant offensive producer and was converted FROM 3rd to 1st, he has also stated numerous times that it is his PREFERENCE to play 3rd. unless youre questioning his injury lingering…
Word is in an article I read yesterday on NESN that Youkilis feels stronger than ever. Youk is a grinder and I think he’ll be as good as ever this upcoming year. Look at the team around him, he’s got guys with pure talent to be the best in the game and then he’s guys like him and Pedroia that are grinders who had to work extremely hard to get where they are. They are not the most physically gifted athletes on the field but they have worked extremely hard to get where they are today. It’s a great mix.
If Epstein didn’t anticipate the possibility of Pujols not being extended, he should be fired. Any GM who didn’t keep that in mind as a remote possibility is bad at their job. Never, ever, ever consider a player out of the realm of possibility unless they’re dead and/or retired.
Edit: I mean, heck, the Red Sox offered Mariano Rivera a contract this year, I think that pretty much gets the point across.
Theo can sign Gonzalez for 6 years/120 mill, and still go for Pujols. If they signed Albert, teams would line up to take A Gon and his remaining contract.
The Cubs come to mind.
How is Youkilis at third a question mark? He came up as a third baseman and he fields more naturally at third. First has been his primary position only since 2006 when the sox acquired Mike Lowell and just happened to have an open spot at first with no other place for Youk.
If Gonzalez is looking for “market value,” then that market is going to change once Pujols’ contract is announced. He doesn’t have to get as much as Pujols, but King Albert will certainly pull the market up with him.
You’re all missing the real story in this article. Sox sign Paul Hoover.
Hoover, imho, is a better defensive catcher than either Salty or Tek.
I’m not concerned what Gonzo gets. At the end of the day he’s not going to get Pujols money but he deserves somewhere around Tex money. Regardless of what he gets, it’s going to be the Sox paying it to him. Theo & co. have coveted Gonzo for YEARS and finally got him. Ownership gave them the okay to add two superstars this offseason so they did. Gonzo isn’t going anywhere. Ownership won’t allow it.
I think all of this Adrian Gonzalez negotiation talk is all B.S. They probably already have a deal worked out are just waiting to announce it so they don’t get hit with luxury tax. Theo smart, just keep the media and the fans guessing.
The Sox may be waiting to see how healthy he is, its always a little bit of a ? when you come to a new team after an operation. Youk is also a ? with a hand injury. Injuries are always a key to teams doing well. I think Pedroia will be OK with his foot injury but Youk and some of their pitchers could be a concern.
i find it odd that you worry about youkilis who insists he’s fine, yet think pedro will be fine despite admitting still having discomfort. hmm….
Interesting, so if they Red Sox had convinced Crawford to sign a minor league contract, with a $142M payout “if he makes the team”, they could have avoided sending draft picks to the Rays? Sounds like quite a loophole.
MLB would probablly void that deal
hopefully this shuts up all the cardinals fans screaming bloody murder about “the pick, the pick, the glorious pick” they were giving up by releasing lopez last september.
The deal is done…and both sides colluded to avoid the luxury tax of 40 percent…a tax that the yankees routinely pay every year…there should be an investigation by MLB and a fine and loss of draft picks should be levied…simply put they cheated baseball out of about 10 million dollars…if this we’re the yanks…HOLY H-LL…and they cant back out for pujols because a-gons agent would rat them out!!!
The Sox have George Mitchell in their corner they can do whatever they want! Look at Obama, next thing you know Mitchell will be the baseball szar.
I always thought Szars were Russians!
How about Czars!
The supposed deal that was worked out was 154 million for 7 years. A Pujols deal will not affect the negotiations. That said, the Crawford deal could since they announced it after the Gonzo deal was said to have been agreed upon. If I was A.Gonz’ agent I might be arguing that my client is worth more than 2 million more per year than Crawford..