With the Red Sox on the verge of completing a blockbuster deal with the Dodgers, here's a look at the latest out of Fenway..
- The Red Sox should trade Adrian Gonzalez to the Dodgers, just as the Phillies should have done with Cliff Lee when they had the chance, opines Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Even though Gonzalez isn't Boston's problem, the veteran has seen his power dip this season and will be owed $127MM from 2013 through 2018.
- Seeds of the mega-deal between the Red Sox and Dodgers were planted before the July 31st deadline, tweets Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com. The discussions were resurrected in the last week, which led to Gonzalez and Josh Beckett to go on waivers.
- If the deal goes down as expected, it will be one of the most interesting trades in baseball history, writes Dave Cameron of Fangraphs. Cameron writes that even strong believers in Gonzalez will have to concede that they won't have a hard time replacing his production with the roughly $262MM that they could save.
I think it’s a much different situation. The Red Sox are apparently willing to start a full reboot and want to change the chemistry of the team after their disappointing play since last September. The Phillies view 2012 as a down year and expect to compete in 2013. (And they should given their record in the All Star Break with a somewhat full team… at least for a Wild Card spot).
Lee’s problem this year has been the home run ball and a lack of offensive support. Otherwise, he’s been fine this year and should pitch well next year. He hasn’t lost anything off his fastball… in fact, he’s GAINED velocity. (slightly). Given the fact that it’s only a 3 year commitment going forward, I don’t really see a reason to have traded him. Especially if Biddle, Morgan, Pettibone, etc, can fill out the back of our rotation at the league minimum for a few years.
The Phillies are just a little over .500 since the ASB. What are you seeing that gives you confidence for 2013?
Chase Utley has the drive in his lower body to allow him to be an effective hitter, Roy Halladay has looked like his former self, and Domonic Brown’s playing well. Add a MLB caliber center fielder and they should be better. The bullpen’s still an issue but it’s not really a challenge dollars wise to upgrade there.
… and I don’t expect to see a situation where Cliff Lee goes 2-7 through August 25th.
“The Red Sox are apparently willing to start a full reboot”
Which is fine by me. As have said dozens of time here the last few weeks.. boston hasn’t had a full, 100% overhaul since the one they began in ’65. They had a partial again after ’73-74 seasons allowing Aparicio, Harper, veale, Bolin to walk and brought in Rice, Lynn, Beniquez, Burleson and a few others. another partial after 80 when they got rid of Lynn, fisk, hobson, but no full reloads in almost 40 years and I am not averse at all to seeing it.. As long as it is not a precursor to giving huge money to Ellsbury and more bad risk FA at least.
Boston ATM has a LOT of depth at the AA and high A level and would like to see them wait the 1-2 seasons for them to get the finishing touches onto the 4-5 that IMO can be solid contributors.
The Barnes, Bradley, Bogaerts and see if Cechini can be moved to another position other than 3b if they are going to hang onto Middlebrooks, trade Middlebrooks even. See just how many of the SP they have will develop next year and 2014.. The Drake britton and Brandon Workman’s, Henry owens.
This team is also **close** to having a top 10 pick next year.. Unheard of. 11th right now.
Ben Cherington is doing a great job at trying to fix the mess Theo left behind. If this deal goes down, he would basically fix it w/ one move — brilliant! Now, just get rid of Lackey…
I don’t know if they can find anybody to take Lackey off of their hands.
Im willing to bet if Lackey puts up decent numbers in ST and April, they could find someone to take him (provided the Sox eat some salary). You never know what kind of teams find themselves desperate around that time.
if lackey can be average he’s still overpaid but not an issue. and a step up from what we have now
It depends what the Sox want to do: if they’re trying to compete in 2013, they’ll probably want to move him as early as possible & eating some of his remaining contract isn’t terrible now that they’ve just freed up $261.5M; but, if the Sox do the smart thing & use 2013 as a bridge year, they’ll probably hold on to him until the deadline looms closer.
I think a team in the NL might look to AJ Burnett and think that perhaps Lackey is worth a shot
The problem is that teams are locking up their stars earlier and earlier. Last year Pujols and Fielder hit the market, which is rare. This coming year, outside of Josh Hamilton, there are few impact bats. Hamilton turns 32 next May, and will probably seek a 6-8 year mega-deal. That’s even more risky than Adrian Gonzalez’ contract. In 2014, the free agent list includes Granderson, Ellsbury, Choo, Hart, Pence, Nelson Cruz, Konerko, Mike Morse and Kendrys Morales. Some of those guys will probably sign extensions before they hit the market. All are solid players, but not near the level of Pujols or Fielder. I think a lot of small market teams have countered the big spending of the Yankees and Red Sox by buying out free agency years early on. Even with six years of team control, great free agents don’t seem to be hitting the market at 27 or 28 years old anymore. They’re usually closer to 30-31 due to those extensions. Signing a 31-year old to a long term mega-deal is risky (which is why the Red Sox are regretting the Crawford, Beckett, and Lackey deals, among others) Clearing up payroll is nice for the Red Sox, but there aren’t as many attractive free agents in their prime as there used to be.
And yet Lucchino will still have the same job next year.
Cheringon has just went from being the goat to the GOAT in Boston if he pulls this one out of his hat. Gotta give props to the Dodgers front office for being fueled by greed though.
I don’t follow Boston sports that much but from what I’ve understood he’s been overruled a lot… which would make this mess not really his fault.