Red Sox 2012/2013 Offseason Thread

[BSN07]

I don't blame Ben. I'm voicing my frustration on the FO as a whole. Like I always do when discussing the moves. I'm not one of the one that singles cherries out

Listen I know Bauer is no sure thing. But he's the kind of high upside SP prospect they should be looking for if they are avoiding the pricey FA market. Cleveland gave up next to nothing for him. And yes I am aware of his issues. But he's young and still has time to get it together.

I'm not sure if I'm more upset about the non deal or the other deals it could have lead to. Trading Ells would have required them to get involved on Hamilton/Swisher/Ross. They would have likely had to deal Iggy in the trade so they would be in the Drew Market(him on a 2 year deal is not bad, Bogaerts should be ready by then). Bauer would have been added to the SP pool and Kalish/Stubbs and Salty would be available for another SP(if the Napoli deal goes through).

I supposed this snag in the Napoli deal might have kept them from getting into deep discussions...

edit: I'm possibly salty over not being able to add Bauer to the killer "B" group lol

[User Name?]

As i said in the other thread, he would be the type of high-upside SP prospect they should be looking at if he weren't: A) Extremely wild. B ) A whiny little bitch. They should be done with prima donna pitchers after Beckett.

[BSN07]

Originally Posted by User Name?

As i said in the other thread, he would be the type of high-upside SP prospect they should be looking at if he weren't: A) Extremely wild. B ) A whiny little bitch. They should be done with prima donna pitchers after Beckett.

I guess I can see that. Hopefully they do something soon or announce they are just going with what they have some we have some idea of the direction they are heading in.

[a700hitter]

Originally Posted by Dojji

Every deal another team makes is not a fail on Cherington's part.

For the love of god, people.

You are right. His record speaks for itself.

[jung]

You can't hang all of this on BC. Do i think him a competent GM....honestly I don't. But I am not buying any of this BC, new found control over the FO bull either. The Sox and BC seem to have turned the position into something with very narrowly defined boundaries that are way inside the normal expectations for a GM....wayyyyy inside.

[jacksonianmarch]

Red Sox deep in negotiations with Dempster. I think this'd be a good move

[BSN07]

The Red Sox are in serious discussions with Ryan Dempster, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). He cautions that there is no deal yet and the LSW Baseball client could still sign elsewhere.

Jesus Christ why? On a one year deal it's iffy, but I might keep my mouth shut. They already offered 2 years and he said no. In no fing way should they go 3. I am 100% against this move. This NL retread gotten eaten alive in Texas.

I seriously would rather they not sign anyone at all as opposed to signing Dumpster.... I'd rather the knuckleball kid get a chance and I thought the god damn days of "can anyone on the team catch a knuckleball" were finally behind us...

[BSN07]

Meanwhile teams that understand SP are doing this,

The Rays are nearing a deal with right-hander Roberto Hernandez, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports (on Twitter). The free agent pitcher would provide depth for Tampa Bay's bullpen or rotation. Jorge Brito and Charisse Espinosa-Dash represent the 32-year-old.

[a700hitter]

Cubs Claim Sandy Rosario
By Mike Axisa [December 12 at 2:04pm CST]
The Cubs have claimed right-hander Sandy Rosario off waivers from the Red Sox, reports MLB.com's Carrie Muskat (on Twitter).

This guy has bounced around like a rubber ball this off season. I think that more than half of the Red Sox transactions have involved Rosario.

[redsoxfan3]

Originally Posted by jacksonianmarch

Red Sox deep in negotiations with Dempster. I think this'd be a good move

I could live with signing Dempster, but I think we would still need to sign one of Jackson, Lohse, or Sanchez as well to put us in a decent situation with our rotation. We would then have one of those three, Dempster, Lester, Buchholz as our top fourr starters with Lackey, Doubront, and Morales battling for the 5th spot. Morales could go back to the pen and we would be able to teade Doubront somewhere if Lackey wins the 5th spot. Guys luke Wright and De La Rosa could be used as depth later in the season if need be and if they have good seasons in AAA.

[jung]

I think about 4/5 of the Sox rotation will likely battle for the 5 spot.

[DocHolliday]

Originally Posted by User Name?

As i said in the other thread, he would be the type of high-upside SP prospect they should be looking at if he weren't: A) Extremely wild. B ) A whiny little bitch. They should be done with prima donna pitchers after Beckett.

It's easy for all of us to remember the guy Beckett was when he left town. What we forget is that he was, at one point, very similar to where Bauer is now- where he didn't have any WS rings. Despite all of his attitude problems and location issues early in, he played a major part in winning the WS for the Marlins in '03 and basically put the Sox on his back in '07. Its not completely out of the realm of possibility that Beckett lost his competitive fire and drive in the final years in Boston (he even hinted to it in SP saying baseball was no longer his number 1 priority).

Hindsight makes it easy to see where the Sox made the mistake with Beckett in offering him the extension in 2010. But despite all of his attitude problems, he did a lot of good things here early on when the drive was still there. I'm sure the Indians feel the command issues are part of maturing and the drive to win at all costs will be there despite the attitude issues.

Not saying Bauer is the only solution in solving the Red Sox pitching problems, but he was certainly one of the few available pieces with top of the rotation ability.

[jung]

Hindsight was not required to see that there were issues with the Beckett extension when it was signed. Don't think hindsight is an issue as there were plenty of folks on the forums that were very much against that extension.

Not sure there is a direct comparison to Bauer though. Not really commenting on Bauer himself but not sure there is a direct comparison between Bauer and the 2009 and 2010 Beckett.

[DocHolliday]

Originally Posted by jung

Hindsight was not required to see that there were issues with the Beckett extension when it was signed. Don't think hindsight is an issue as there were plenty of folks on the forums that were very much against that extension.

Not sure there is a direct comparison to Bauer though. Not really commenting on Bauer himself but not sure there is a direct comparison between Bauer and the 2009 and 2010 Beckett.

I'm comparing the current Bauer to the pre-03 Beckett. The guy who was a raw talent with no postseason success who was widely thought of as a great talent with a need to harness control and with a competitive, but arrogant and, at times, dogmatic outlook on work ethic and what needs to be done to compete at the highest level.

Despite all of those perceptions, Beckett, for a time, was able to step to the next level- largely because of his young age, his immense talent, and his drive to win. Once he won in Boston, I feel he lost a lot of that drive, and that loss coincided with his aging and dismissing talent. Coupled with some injury plagued seasons, we all witnessed the fall from the top at the end of 07. The FO saw the same thing, but decided to extend him in hopes that he would return to something similar to the '07 form or transform him into a pitcher capable of getting hitters with pinpoint control and execution, ala Curt Schilling.

Many of us were against the extension at the time, and it turned out to be worse than even the most negative views could have expected.

Luckily, he's the Dodgers problem now.

[jung]

OK that I get Doc. Did not see that you were going back to that era of Beckett but i probably should have.