The Red Sox obtained Andrew Bailey and Ryan Sweeney from the Athletics yesterday, sending Josh Reddick, Miles Head and Raul Alcantara to Oakland. Here's the latest on the Red Sox as reaction to and analysis of the trade continues…
- Ryan Kalish says he had left shoulder surgery in November in addition to his September neck operation, according to Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. Kalish may be ready for game action by May or June, but he doesn’t have a clear timetable. The Red Sox have Sweeney and Darnell McDonald in right, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see them pursue other options.
- The Red Sox never got the sense that Ryan Madson’s price was going to drop enough to make him a viable option, tweets Rob Bradford of WEEI.com.
- Bailey would have been traded to Texas if the Red Sox hadn't included Reddick in the deal, Peter Gammons of MLB Network tweets.
- The Red Sox are now shooting for a starter, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Heyman lists Hiroki Kuroda, Matt Garza, Roy Oswalt, Joe Saunders and Edwin Jackson as possibilities.
- Red Sox director of player development Ben Crockett told FanGraphs' David Laurila that Head can hit despite the fact that "he's not going to win any beauty contests." Jim Callis of Baseball America told Laurila that Head's stocky frame makes him difficult to project. "I do think he can hit, but he’s limited to playing first base and you just don’t see that many 5'10", 5'11" first basemen in the big leagues," he said.
- ESPN.com's Keith Law says Oakland got fair value for Bailey, whose health is an unknown, and Sweeney, whose raw power hasn't translated during games. Reddick provides the Athletics with additional years of control and Head and Alcantara could also prove useful. However, the Red Sox aren't likely to miss the trio of players they gave up and they obtained a proven closer.
I like the deal for both sides. We get a Bailey and a solid OF in Sweeny who could turn it up at Fenway. Miles head was soooooo blocked it isn’t even funny so keeping him was pointless, he was a perfect prospect to deal.
You will like Sweeney – solid – time to forget Big Papi
How does Papi have anything to do with Sweeney? Yeah Sweeney is a solid player but Papi is still a much better bat and they in no way conflict with each other. This is either the worst joke ever, or a puzzle wrapped in a mystery laced with an enigma that Tom Hanks will be hired to decode in the future.
Sweeney isn’t a solid player, he has a total of 1.0 WAR over his last 180 games in the bigs, thats terrible.
Bailey is solid and cheap but has a history of arm troubles. I think a lot would have to go wrong for this deal to look bad for Beane.
I completley acknowledge Baileys arm troubles but apparently he is 100%. So unless Reddick repeats, and at least one of those prospects starts regularly its a Sox win. But I think as of now its pretty even.
“Solid” you say.
Not a week ago you were saying “Bailey is a lights out borderline elite closer, not just a reliever.”
Adding in “All of these prospects can easily fizzle out or get hurt, WSN got the known quantity, which is an all star who can be relied on for 20+ QS and 200+ IP.
If you are talking about what team is going to get the best minor league numbers out of it, you are correct. But no one cares about that”
That was said in regards to Gonzalez, but the lack of consistency in your argument is pretty compelling. The Red Sox got an “all star” and all the A’s got back was a few prospects who can “easily fizzle out or get hurt.” Sure, maybe they’ll light up the low minors, “But no one cares about that.”
On paper, this isn’t as much of a steal as I’d like to say, but by and large the Red Sox got him relatively cheap. Reddick’s got potential, but as I said weeks ago, I don’t see him as a good fit for Oakland considering his poor plate discipline. As for Head and Alcantara, good pieces, but Head was never going to play for us and Alcantara’s projectable, but a lot has to go right for this to work in Beane’s favor. It’s a very high risk, high reward return.
Greetings from the future. It is I, Tom Hanks! I hold the answers! Without further delay, here we go…he roots for a team that wanted Ortiz, possibly. He’s hoping the Sox will dump Ortiz so his team (I am guessing the A’s) will get Ortiz.
I admire your effort Tom Hanks.
Check Ortíz’s splits at Fenway and away… yeah, that’s why he quickly accepted whatever deal the sox offered to him, he is no stupid.
BWAHAHAHAAHAHAHA
Why is a guy who wasn’t even a starting OF for the A’s the last 2 years being called “solid” now?
Red Sox Hype Machine FTW.
Sweeney’s going to be a bench player. A guy who can come off the bench, draw a walk and play good defense is “solid,” no one’s expecting him to make the All Star team (Or even crack 300 plate appearances for that matter).
Crisp, DeJesus and Willingham were the CF, RF & LF respectively. While I’m abit at odds with ANOTHER left handed hitter he is a guy who the Sox think can slap 2b off the Wall with some consistency if he lands the starting RF job. 2Cents!
there goes the Red Sox , continuing to empty their farm for a quick fix..
Yeah.. they really emptied the farm on this one by getting rid of two guys in low A, one of which was an international free agent signing..
Every time I come on here I find some reasonable, intelligent Yankees fans (shout out to Yanksfansince78 and a few others I can’t remember off the top of my head). I also find a bunch of idiots like you, often Yankees fans, that give your fanbase a bad name. Get your head out of the gutter.
Is this sarcasm? I really can’t tell.
In case it isn’t sarcasm: You realize that they gave up a 1B prospect who has a decent ceiling but is far from reaching it (and they have one of the games best 1B already locked up for the next 7 years), a 19 year old pitcher with plus-potential-stuff who has no command and mid-rotation starter potential (also a long way from reaching potential), and an average-ish RF (with occasional All-Star potential if he learns plate discipline).
One was not ranked, one was the #21 prospect, and one was the #23 prospect; hardly emptying their farm…
seriously?
I have never seen Miles but I am picturing Kirby Puckett playing 1b.
Well watch Prince Fielder or old footage of John Kruk or heck even Billy Butler when he can find his glove and the Royals allow him to play 1st!
PS Butler is like 6’2 though, still some say he plays 1st like he’s 5’11 =P
Miles Head shrunk two inches in the same article
He’s listed at 6’0″, 215 lb, since when is that “short and stocky”? Seems kind of normal to me.
Also pretty funny reading this article about how he’d never amount to anything more than a 1B, and then reading that the A’s immediately told him that he’d be playing 3B next year.
Dustin Pedroia’s listed as anywhere from 5’7″-5’10”. Sometimes height listings are generous.
Listed weights and heights are rarely correct (Pedroia isn’t 5’9″ or 180), and 6’0″ is probably a little generous for Head and he’s probably a little more than 215. If I had to guess I’d say he’s closer to 5’10” 230, but it’s just a guess.
I don’t blame the A’s for trying him at 3B, it can’t hurt anything and if it works out they are better off because of it. But the fact that he was already moved to first base because he defense at 3B wasn’t deemed passable, and the fact that scouts are saying they don’t expect him to be able to play there, should both suggest that the chances are pretty slim that it works.
For Oakland’s sake (and for Miles’ sake) I hope it does. I honestly do, I hope his defense is good enough to stick at 3B and I hope he becomes an above average 3B in the majors, but the chances of his defense being passable at 3B are slim.
Chances are slim, but Miles could slim down to have better chances.
I wish the Rays would’ve manned up here and dealt two or three prospects to get Bailey. We couldve easily dealt Archer(#3 prospect) and Brandon Guyer with one more B- prospect and Bailey couldve been had, probably with Sweeney who is pretty much Matt Joyce without the power boost. Great deal for the Sox
There should have been more teams in for Bailey, that’s the most surprising part.
The as aparently were worried about his elbow wouldnt be too surprised if other teams were as well
If it wasn’t In-Division the Sox and Rays match up well for trading. Sox have catcher,1B,and SS (Exposito,Lars,Iglesias(examples)) trade chips and the Rays have the 4th starter types to deal (Wade Davis).
LOL at Wade Davis being worth those type of prospects, even one of them would be funny.
And the Red Sox still have holes with a 170 mil payroll….
They only have holes to fill because Matsuzaka and Lackey went down with TJ… both of whom count towards that 170M last time I checked…
They would have holes if they hadnt gone down.
Like what?
Like what?
So does every other team who’s payroll is more or less than theirs.
There’s no perfect team.
Nope there isnt, but 170 mil should give you replacement level players at every position and be able to field a starting 5 with backups.
They have players who are at least replacement level for every position, as well as back ups for every position. If they have ‘holes’ it’s because they are trying to replace some of those players with better ones.
If you think I’m wrong, give me a position where they don’t have a “replacement level player” to fill the position.
They have players who are at least replacement level for every position, as well as back ups for every position. If they have ‘holes’ it’s because they are trying to replace some of those players with better ones.
If you think I’m wrong, give me a position where they don’t have a “replacement level player” to fill the position.
Troll.
Yankees don’t satisfy that with even a higher payroll.
By holes you mean we don’t have an stud at every position. Looks like we are a rotation signing and some depth signings away from finished and being completely ready to compete with anyone.
Yeah except we have pitchers for 4-5. Bard (High Celing, nasty nasty slider, can dial up to 100 with his fastball) and a competition between Miller, Doubront, Tazawa, or another FA for the 5 spot. Most teams would beg for the “Holes” the Sox got. Top offense, good D, solid pen with good internal candidates to improve it (I see Bowden becoming finally useful here), and a great front three rotation with a very strong possibility of having a Bard become the fourth. Yeah we are just Swiss cheesed up everywhere.
Head “isn’t going to win any beauty contests”?
Well, Beane isn’t selling jeans out there, Mr. Callis.
As a Sox fan, all of those starters sound good to me. Except Saunders, although even he’d be fine if the price was really low.
I love (LOVE!) the fact that apparently the big tipping point that landed the Sox Bailey rather than the Rangers was Josh Reddick. JOSH REDDICK! I mean the guy lit it up for a couple months then spiraled down steadily
the red sox spiraled down rapidly! he was a rookie
he started his spiral around june/july; the Red Sox rapidly plummented starting Sept. 1
he started his spiral around june/july; the Red Sox rapidly plummented starting Sept. 1
All the message board trolls are terrified of Bard becoming as good of a starter as he has been as a reliever. Virtually no one is giving him a chance to even be as good as a replacement player.
You had better hope his arm falls off, because if he is good and the rest of the rotation stays healthy, that’s a scary front 4 to go with an awesome offense. Keep the counterpoints coming, but the truth is, no one knows how this experiment will work out.
Next year if he even is good he will be babied and be on an innings count, so no I am not scared of him because in the game he might do good but he will be out by the 6th-7th and I can get into that questionable swiss cheese pen.
The pen should be solid. Your posts are selling everyone short on the Red Sox. Your bias is making you look like a fool.
lol last year I was scared to death of the red sox as a tigers fan! This year I am not, sorry not biased to always go after the red sox. Pen is not nearly as strong and the rotation is worse.
Keep on kidding yourself. The rotation is stronger simply by the subtraction of John Lackey and his historically bad season. There’s no reason to think that the front three won’t be healthy and solid and we won’t miss Dice-K either. The Sox will pick up a respectable #4 in January and Bard/Aceves will fill #5. The pen has several question marks, I’ll give you that, but on paper, it looks to be above average.
No reason? Clay was injured last year and is coming off back surgery and becket has an injury history. Sorry I think that is reason to be skeptical.
Buc had a bone bruise and was advised to rest it. He never got back surgery.
Really? thought he did. Oh well I am not always right. That worries me more though, makes me wonder if it will come back.
Pretty sure Leonard is actually wrong. They originally thought it was a bone bruise, but they found out it was essentially a bone spur, which they removed, and he was actually ready to come back for the last couple weeks or so of last season, but they just had him shut it down at that point.
Really? thought he did. Oh well I am not always right. That worries me more though, makes me wonder if it will come back.
Buc had a bone bruise and was advised to rest it. He never got back surgery.
More like two weeks, really. Check it out.
I wasn’t aware that Sweeney even had raw power. He’s a little old to call a player with potential power.
I said this last year and its probably more true this year. Have a team era of 4.50 or below and this team’s offense will win you over 100 games. It’s not hard to pitch for the Sox throw 7 and give up 4 and you probably win 14-15 games every season.
I would suggest the Rangers as a trading partner for the Red Sox, since they will likely have a starter to trade, but they would have to wait til Darvish signs and then the Red Sox don’t have anything to trade the Rangers since the Rangers would have wanted Head to play first base…
The rangers have their own rotation to worry about
Head is still at least 2-3 years away from the big leagues.
Yea I think the Rangers are fine on offense and with feliz a question mark and oganda a question mark past july I would hold on to the starter depth, too many sps is never a problem!
If it’s a 1b for next year they want they would go after Lars and not Head.
For all these worthless comments against the Red Sox you are deceiving yourself if you think they won’t make the playoffs. They have a top offense, a rotation that will post solid numbers next year and a solid bullpen. Red Sox are title contenders.
Did you copy and paste that from December 2010?
Wow NY are we having a moment haha……why cant we be friends (Repeat).
Wow NY are we having a moment haha……why cant we be friends (Repeat).
Holy Cow, eat more chicken!
This comment is efficient because you could use it at this time last year.
I love the arguments here, subtracting papelbon/bard from a great bullpen and replacing them with injury prone bailey will get you back to 90+ wins again? Having an aging ortiz and trading away your best utility guy and ellsbury’s friend on the team in lowrie will help you? Having Bard come out of the bullpen to pitch in the rotation will be flawless? Yea it has worked before but as has been shown by Joba its hardly a science. Relying on clay to bounce back from back surgery makes you confident? Jeez what type of spin can you put to these to make this good for the Red Sox? Sorry if you think I am biased, I just look at that and dont see a team that scares me like last years team did. Too many question marks and too much needs to fall into place. Yea Crawford wont repeat but do you think Elsbury will? He will probably do good still but last year was truly amazing and a drop off isnt out of the question.
The AL east is only getting better, the Rays have a better staff and can put up runs against whatever AA pitcher will be pitching for the Red sox in july. The Blue Jays arent done and will have a full season of rasmsus and lawrie. Also dont count out the AL West team to get the wild card.
“Kalish may be ready for game action by May or June, but he doesn’t have a clear timetable.”
Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiic tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime.
I’m going to pop some popcorn and stop by the Boston Globe boards, real quick. There is no way half of the Boston media doesn’t collectively mess itself over this one.
Kalish may not be the answer, he only hit .260 in a small sample.
He only had a league average batting average over a ~50 game sample as a 22 year old? Oh no, he’s doomed! …
“small sample”
His minors numbers are solid. He hit for good average, got on base and had some good power. He’s a good fit for a corner outfield spot and he can play CF in a pinch. He lost a year of his development last year, but he’s still only 23 (Will turn 24 just before the season). If he rebounds from offseason surgery, he’s got better upside than Reddick.