The Red Sox beat the Blue Jays today, so they have now won three consecutive games for the first time all season. Here's the latest on the Red Sox:
- Cork Gaines of Business Insider notes that the Red Sox saved $4.6MM by waiting until last week to extend Adrian Gonzalez. Because of the luxury tax, it would have been expensive for Boston to announce Gonzalez's extension much earlier.
- The Red Sox have only signed only player for more money than the $154MM they committed to Gonzalez: Manny Ramirez signed for $160MM as a free agent in 2000. Earlier today, Jim Callis of Baseball America dug up some old scouting reports on Ramirez, whose bat stood out, even as a high schooler.
- Manny went 13th overall to the Indians in the 1991 draft, which I took a closer look at last week.
- Marco Scutaro told Alex Speier of WEEI.com that he doesn't mind sitting more while the red-hot Jed Lowrie plays regularly. Lowrie and Jose Iglesias could push Scutaro out of Boston within the next year, but the Red Sox are likely glad to have him on the roster at this point.
- Be sure to check out Tim Dierkes' review of Boston's offseason.
Thanks Scoot! Great team player.
Lowrie seems to be the real deal, just look what he did last season.
He’s always done well when he’s played. However, his problem is health — in his career thus far, Lowrie has been more fragile than an egg. Hopefully he can stay healthy moving forward.
reminds me of JD Drew, good when he plays, but the annual injury puts a damper on it.
I know that Jed has missed A LOT of time, but both of the situations were kind of dumb luck. His wrist injury was misdiagnosed, and then he got mono (rough stuff). The wrist could cause some concern, but the mononucleosis was overall a tough break…
I for one can’t wait for this kid to turn into a beast…
I think if Jed keeps hitting we should just try and package Jose Iglesias and a few other prospects for any big name pitcher that may become available July 31st. That is however if Jed stays hitting and stays healthy.
Lowrie will regress. His BABIP is .478, so he is bound to regress sooner or later. And pinning the future of Boston’s shortstop position on four months of good health from someone with Lowrie’s track record would be cavalier, to put it politely. I would sooner see Lowrie dangled as trade bait, in an attempt to sell high.
Yeah, I’m loving the way he’s hitting right now, but anyone watching Lowrie knows his numbers are going to have to normalize eventually. He’s gotten some more than generous scorekeeping calls (A couple hits that could’ve easily been scored errors) and a lot of extremely cheap hits. Remy commented on it the other day, but Lowrie seemed to be getting all of the breaks the team’s needed in regards to where the ball falls (Compared to Crawford who, while pressing, has gotten a whole lot of bad luck to make matters worse).
He’s definitely got some quality potential, but Lowrie is playing waaaaaaaay over his head right now. If Epstein traded Iglesias based off of Lowrie’s current performance, he should be fired on the spot.
that is some serious hyperbole
Life isn’t nearly as fun without hyperbole. Now I’m not saying Lowrie’s going to be a bust and we should by no means trade Iglesias (If the Mariners inexplicably came knocking with Hernandez for a package centered around Iglesias I’d be packing his bags myself), but trading Iglesias for the sake of trading him based off of Lowrie’s start, as some have implied should be done, would be a very, very stupid thing to do.
depends entirely on the talent coming back imo
a trade of any kind happening before the deadline is supremely unlikely. if lowrie’s production is very good for half the year and the talent coming back is significant, it’s not a crazy proposition
my preference right now? trade nobody
Basically my point. While yeah, if someone’s going to offer more than Iglesias’ projected worth, by all means, ship him out, but there’s no sense in getting rid of him unless we’re getting $1.50 on the dollar just because Lowrie’s having a good April, which some people seem to think is the logical solution.
“Lowrie will regress.”
he’s not going to hit .516 this year?!?!
regression to the league average BABIP would put his batting average at .338. what a bummer
lowrie’s “track record” involves fluke injuries separating solid development from a kid with a good prospect pedigree. i’m as hesitant to crown him a star as anybody, but at this point it would be a bigger surprise if he didn’t turn into a solid everyday player
iglesias could be the next pokey reese for all we know. he’s a defensive star, but he hasn’t really had an opportunity to show anything with the bat. trading lowrie before he does might be the bigger mistake
No matter how well Lowrie hits, Iglesias isn’t getting traded.
The thing is he’s had a broken hand from when a pitch hit him and mono. Neither of those seem to be things to worry about in the future.
Given Iglesias presence in the organization i’d say Lowrie’s future on the red sox may be as a DH-Utility player like Michael Young’s Position in Texas. If Lowrie can play at a .280/.370/.520 clip lwith 50-55 XBH like his 2010 numbers suggest then he could easly push Ortiz out of Boston next season (.243/.408/.351, 3XB, 5 RBI since Texas).
michael young is only in the wasteful spot he is because he can’t play defense. anywhere. just-turned-27 jed lowrie can. he’s not going to be a DH/utility infielder
Iglesias is top notch defender and Pedroia, Youk and Gonzalez all have gold gloves, Unless he can become a catcher he will have to be religated into a DH/Utility infielder if is to remain in Boston.
gold gloves are a ludicrous measure and youkilis earned his at first base, not third. if someone’s getting knocked out of that infield, it’s kevin
I saw somewhere (probably WEEI) John Kruk suggested the Sox should put Lowrie in right field next year. I’m thinking Lowrie at third and Youk at DH is more likely.
i don’t like the idea of limiting youk’s/gonzalez’s value by sticking one/both in the DH spot, but it might be the best option for 2012-13
as far as i can tell, right field in 2012 is ryan kalish’s spot to lose. if he and iglesias both hit competently at pawtucket this season, i don’t see any sense in leaving either player down there for another year
so assuming they’re both in the lineup and lowrie continues to produce, i do think you’re looking at a trade situation. though i guess that also requires the assumption that youk’s value doesn’t prove to be killed at 3b this year
i just think that given the kind of player youkilis is (and the kind of player gonzalez is, for that matter), forcing him to only hit may have a negative effect. and given the relative ease with which a “position” like DH can be filled on the market, i have a hard time embracing the idea of slotting either player there
I definitely agree, I think as long as Youk proves to be a competent 3B that is where he needs to be. My comment was meant more that Lowrie in right is really unlikely, not that Youk at DH is likely.
The Yankees never did what Boston did cheating the MLB system and signing a player after opening day to save money. Cheating the system! I hope the commissioner has the balls to do something about it. Forfeit a 1st round draft choice would be good for the first time.
what would you do? Would you rather spend the extra 4 mil?
While it’s a loophole, I wouldn’t say the Red Sox “cheated.” A team can sign a player they already control to an extension whenever they want, right? Would you ban all in-season extensions or only those just after opening day?
Hey Fake! Im Fantasy, good to meet you! I look forward to working with you! Now if we can just get the imposter John Henry we will be ready to go!
Sure thing! You’re the boss.
Hey, get back to work, you two.
did you just make that name up to be apart of our conversation?! LOL im speechless
And coming off of shoulder surgery, there is clearly an argument that they wanted to see how he felt playing full time before signing a mega-deal.