Red Sox 2012/2013 Offseason Thread

[a700hitter]

Originally Posted by seabeachfred

If anyone thinks Iglesias is going to hit anywhere above the Mendoza line, I have some great beachfront property for sale in Kansas. Ain't gonna happen, and comparing him to what Pedroia did in his third of a season back in '06 is one giant canard. First of all Pedey came to the Red Sox after hitting 305 at Pawtucket after a slow start due to rehab from injury and he had hit in the minors consistently. Iggy has shown nothing of the sort anywhere to speak of. Besides, I don't like the idea of Salty back at catcher. Good God, do the powers-that-be need to be hit with hammer blows to the noggin to get it through their heads that the pitchers' ERA jumps over a run whenever he catches; plus he can't throw worth shit, has a piss poor arm and except for hitting some homers has a miserable OBA. Give Lavarnway a full shot and this time let him bat plenty in ST to groove his swing.

How about Steven Drew at short for a season or two? At least we'd have a bat of some kind there.

Good call on Drew. I guess the FO agrees with you on Iglesias.

[a700hitter]

Originally Posted by SoxSport

just left that Patriots game. A ridiculous game in weather that isn't fit for polar bears.

The next guy that says Iglesias can't hit has to sit in the end zone seats the 2nd half of the Patriots game--without an umbrella.

I guess Luchinno and Cherington will be in your seats for the next Pats home game. LOL! It looks like they have little confidence in Iglesias' offensive ability.

[jung]

Well now like it or not they have made their decision on Iggy. He is officially trade bait. They had this year to give him and they took that away. So with one of the B's flying up his butt hole, they have no choice but to trade him now in some package or another.

The Sox will likely do that without regret as Iggy was never going to be a classic Red Sox SS. Not that the classic Red Sox SS is all that much to write home about but he is not Iggy.

[seabeachfred]

Originally Posted by jung

Well now like it or not they have made their decision on Iggy. He is officially trade bait. They had this year to give him and they took that away. So with one of the B's flying up his butt hole, they have no choice but to trade him now in some package or another.

The Sox will likely do that without regret as Iggy was never going to be a classic Red Sox SS. Not that the classic Red Sox SS is all that much to write home about but he is not Iggy.

Any scout will tell you that it is hard to project whether a good minor league hitter will hit in the Big Leagues where pitchers put it where they want and can throw a good off speed pitch in a 2-0 and 3-1 count instead of getting a fat fastball in those counts down on the farm. I preface what I want to say by that because this is just MY opinion as one who coached and did some scouting for friends in my salad days. To me Iglesias doesn't look the type to ever develop into a hitter. He has a slow bat, is tentative on pitches, has poor plate control and gets late jumps on pitches. He could develop but from watching him on the tube he seems like a long drawn out project.

Drew gives us a year's grace with someone who can hit from the left side since we now seem too righthanded and can pave the way for Boegarts to take over in 2014 hopefully. I think the Red Sox came to that same conclusion---that Jose simply did not have the ability to consistently hit a baseball.

[SoxSport]

Originally Posted by jung

Well now like it or not they have made their decision on Iggy. He is officially trade bait. They had this year to give him and they took that away. So with one of the B's flying up his butt hole, they have no choice but to trade him now in some package or another.

The Sox will likely do that without regret as Iggy was never going to be a classic Red Sox SS. Not that the classic Red Sox SS is all that much to write home about but he is not Iggy.

There are a number of good field no hit SSs on good teams in the majors. The trouble with the Red Sox is they prefer the good hit, no field type. That's one of the reasons why they suck.

[SoxSport]

Originally Posted by seabeachfred

Drew gives us a year's grace with someone who can hit from the left side since we now seem too righthanded and can pave the way for Boegarts to take over in 2014 hopefully. I think the Red Sox came to that same conclusion---that Jose simply did not have the ability to consistently hit a baseball.

That's not what his manager, Arnie Beyeler, said. The kid is only 22, and he has yet to get a fair chance at becoming a decent hitter. The discussion about his hitting has been way overdone in the media. As I've said, it's best that he go to another team--trade him.

Quick. Name the World Champion Giants' SS. And it's not Scutaro. He plays 2B.

[a700hitter]

Originally Posted by SoxSport

That's not what his manager, Arnie Beyeler, said. The kid is only 22, and he has yet to get a fair chance at becoming a decent hitter. The discussion about his hitting has been way overdone in the media. As I've said, it's best that he go to another team--trade him.

Quick. Name the World Champion Giants' SS. And it's not Scutaro. He plays 2B.

Crawford. If we had the Giants pitching where they could put Lincecum in the bull pen, I would much care if our SS could hit. But we have terrible pitching, so we will need to bludgeon people.

[SoxSport]

Originally Posted by a700hitter

Crawford. If we had the Giants pitching where they could put Lincecum in the bull pen, I would much care if our SS could hit. But we have terrible pitching, so we will need to bludgeon people.

You got it. good field, no-hit. The Giants are better than the Dodgers because they are smarter. And still have better pitching.

The Red Sox? They have nowhere to go but up.

[NZSox]

Originally Posted by seabeachfred

Any scout will tell you that it is hard to project whether a good minor league hitter will hit in the Big Leagues where pitchers put it where they want and can throw a good off speed pitch in a 2-0 and 3-1 count instead of getting a fat fastball in those counts down on the farm. I preface what I want to say by that because this is just MY opinion as one who coached and did some scouting for friends in my salad days. To me Iglesias doesn't look the type to ever develop into a hitter. He has a slow bat, is tentative on pitches, has poor plate control and gets late jumps on pitches. He could develop but from watching him on the tube he seems like a long drawn out project.

Drew gives us a year's grace with someone who can hit from the left side since we now seem too righthanded and can pave the way for Boegarts to take over in 2014 hopefully. I think the Red Sox came to that same conclusion---that Jose simply did not have the ability to consistently hit a baseball.

With that said, would you expect the FO to trade Iggy then? Bearing in mind Ciriaco can cover for Drew.

[seabeachfred]

Originally Posted by NZSox

With that said, would you expect the FO to trade Iggy then? Bearing in mind Ciriaco can cover for Drew.

I don't know what the Red Sox have in mind for Iglesias my friend, but if you'll permit me a little sarcasm, I don't think the Red Sox what to do with him or what to do PERIOD!!!! To me it is astounding just how inept our front office has gotten the past four years. I do believe they think Boegarts can take over in 2014 and be a decent enough defensive shortstop with a lethal bat to go with it. It would take care of the left side of our infield for a decade. Those who want to trade Iggy must know that he alone will not bring us much in exchange; he would have to be part of a package due to his woefully weak bat.

Consider this too. You have Iglesias at SS but late in the game you have a tie and two on and two out and he is at bat. You would most likely have to pinch hit for him or see the rally die. Then what? You put an inferior fielder in to take is place. Better to have a SS who can both field and swing a bat---and I hear Bogie can do that very well.

[jung]

Boegarts is the B I was referring to that is crawling up Iggys butt for the SS job which is why I contended that the Sox had this year to finally figure it out on Iggy and thats it.

As I posted in the other thread my view of it is that Iggy will not improve significantly going back down to AAA. He spent most of his 2012 ML stint employing a slap hitting style that was either tolerated by the AAA club or possibly resulted because Iggy was so completely overwhelmed by the difference between ML pitching and AAA pitching.

The slap hitting style became very popular with college ballplayers playing in the era of the early metal bat design. In fact many pro baseball careers foundered on the rocks of change to an all wooden bat league.

I have no idea what the genesis was for Iggy adopting it. However Iggy only started to make modest improvements late in 2012 when he finally abandoned the slap hitting style. Whether it was tolerated in AAA by his AAA coaches or whether Iggy adopted something of a defensive swing, simply overwhelmed by the dif in AAA and ML pitching I cannot say. On that score alone I think that Iggy is the kind of hitter that will only improve at this stage against ML pitching. Sending him back down will not help him develop as an ML hitter. He has to learn to stand in and hit against ML pitching. Either the Sox give him that opportunity or they don't. I have contended for more than a year now that whether I think it right or not, I don't believe the Sox will give him that chance as he will never be the prototypical Sox SS. Not to say that there is anything so admirable in being a prototypical Sox SS but he is clearly not Iggy. Boegarts stands a much better chance of filling that slot and may even have a better glove that we usually find patrolling SS for the Sox. Boegarts will remind nobody of Iggy out there but this is the Sox, a team fully willing to put a utility infielder at SS on an everyday basis hoping that his bat makes up for his fielding inadequacies.

To me 2013 represents a year when they could afford to finally figure out players like Iggy but that it not to be. If I had Iggy in the 2013 lineup I would not pinch hit for him late in games. Again unfortunately from what I can see if he is to develop further as a hitter it will have to be against ML pitching.

[BSN07]

Six months after extending Andre Ethier, the Dodgers are considering trading him. The Dodgers are shopping Ethier, and could be a suitor for Nick Swisher if they complete a trade, Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News reports (on Twitter).

Any interest here?

[Dojji]

Hope so. Ethier>Victorino AINEC

[SoxSport]

I'll say it a again. The kid comes up and plays 25 games on a dysfunctional team at the end of the year, when everybody has quit trying to win. And now everybody is quitting on him?

Not quite. One year of Drew probably means a year in AAA for Iglesias. That will cost them another $2 million. They are paying $12 million for Drew. For a team that has little chance to make the playoffs. It makes no difference. They could have played Ciricao at SS for peanuts. He deserved it from his showing last year.

[Dojji]

Just because they have little chance doesn't mean they shouldn't sieze at the chance they have.