CaliSoxFanViaSWside

QUOTE (LDF @ Nov 29, 2014 -> 04:50 PM) Leake. plus the Cuban closer, Chapman i think. they need some form of salary relief. i was reading where they were saying that a trade for 1 of there pitchers plus minor league prospect for SS and 2 or 3 tier sp prospect, will do. Mike Leake, Mat Latos, Johnny Cueto and Alfredo Simon . Chapman in 2 years. Yes 4 Reds starters entering FA next year.

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Nov 29, 2014 -> 04:40 PM) I was working some crap jobs over the past few years (in my teens and early 20's) but now that I have a steady job, it makes it much easier to pay for the Extra Innings package, plus I can catch many more of the games. I'm honestly amazed at how many Sox fans on this board are in California. Pretty cool to see (also explains the attendance issue at the cell ) All you have to do is go to a Sox game in Anaheim to see a ton of Sox fans out here.

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Nov 29, 2014 -> 04:27 PM) Thanks for the info guys. Been tough the past few years trying to keep up with the Sox since I wasn't able to catch many games with my work schedule. Should be much easier from now on, though. Being a Sox fan in SoCal just means DirecTV is a must . If getting the MLB package on DirecTV is too expensive you can always add a less expensive sports package that includes CSN Chicago for the Chicago sports news every night. There's also plenty of places online like the Sox website, CSN Chicago's website and numerous Sox blogs that offer better coverage than say ESPN Chicago or Yahoo or CBS Chicago sports versions.

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Nov 29, 2014 -> 04:12 PM) My question is: Is Semien really that valuable? Keep seeing he could be the "center piece" to a deal and I'm sitting over here wondering if I missed something or what... Also just to clarify, Montas is the guy the Sox just got for... Dunn? Isn't he projected more as a late inning guy and not a starter? Semien was MVP of the Southern League when he was in Birmingham posting a .420 OBP and solid batting average and power numbers. His early season trial with the Sox didn't go well but he had a handful of game winning late inning hits. He got more seasoning in AAA and when called up in September looked much better. Defense is still a question mark in some's eyes since his error total was not optimal at 3rd or 2nd base. He got time in the OF in AAA but not on his recall and I get the general feeling that the OF might be his future but would've liked to have seen him out there in September but he was never put out there. Avi, Montas and Rondon (low minors defensive whiz of a SS ) came in the Peavy deal.

Wouldn't we all be shocked (understatement) if Hahn emptied the farm of major pieces and we end up with Shark, Upton and Gattis.

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Nov 29, 2014 -> 06:27 AM) No one's going to want Semien, at least not in any meaningful way. He does not have much value right now. Did you just miss that Oakland just traded a guy who was 3rd in MVP voting in 2013 and 8th in 2014 for an injury prone but younger 3rd baseman , 8th and 6th round minor league pitchers and an 18 yr old SS ? Semien has the potential to be exactly what Oakland always wants. Southern League MVP a few years ago with a .420 OBP and 15-20HR power potential. Showed an ability to hit when the pressure was on and showed a lot of improvement in his 2nd call up and years of control. Frankly ,I'd hate to see him go but Oakland is looking for a 2nd baseman but I can also envision him as an every day OF.

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Nov 28, 2014 -> 10:29 PM) Any idea of what they are going to give up? Seems a bit risky w/ a 1 year rental. He'd be a trade candidate with the Sox too if he decides to test FA or draft pick if Sox offered him a QO upon keeping him the whole year. A rental pitcher isn't a terrible idea since Rodon and others are moving up.

QUOTE (JDsDirtySox @ Nov 28, 2014 -> 09:36 PM) I just got a text from someone I trust that says Samardjiza to the Sox is about to happen. Interesting . Hmmm guess on who's sent back ? Alexei ? Semien ? Noesi ? Viciedo pls.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Nov 28, 2014 -> 07:06 PM) Melky Cabrera @TheMelkman53 · 9h 9 hours ago I want everyone to know that I am a baseball player and it doesn't matter to me what surface I play on. I will be the best player I can be. Ha, guess he is disputing what Olney said about him. My bad for assuming Olney knew this to be true.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Nov 28, 2014 -> 07:58 AM) https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN/status/538287338066305024 At least now with Melky saying this it doesn't leave Rasmus alone on an island when he spoke of not wanting to return to that kind of surface.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 22, 2014 -> 11:50 AM) Just typical Bruce Levine is all. All he does is regurgitate what already been written because, for some outlandish reason, people still read his garbage. Even bathroom stalls have the latest rumors written on them before Levine writes about them. Hmmmm, maybe that's where Levine gets his ideas from, s***ty ideas from the s***ter, who knew? An imbicile you are, Levine! Never misspell things when you are calling someone an IMBECILE

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Nov 28, 2014 -> 12:26 AM) He had 2 really solid years, a handful of average years, and 1 really bad year. The dip in velocity certainly is concerning though. 3 MPH is a big drop off which means he either is hurt, or he changed his mechanics and lost speed, and maybe it's something he can change back to. It would be much easier to hate him if he had been losing 0.5-1.0 MPH each season for the past few years. The sudden big drop is confusing. It was a mechanics caused by injury thing: From Paul Hoyne , Northeast Ohio Media Group. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________ In September of 2013, with the Indians driving toward a wild-card appearance, Masterson strained his left oblique muscle. He came back at the end of September and pitched out of the bullpen. In spring training this year Masterson's ribcage area was still tender, but he never told the Indians. He was the opening day starter, leader of the staff and trying to get a contract extension. Randy Rowley, Masterson's agent, said the injury caused a change in his mechanics, which led to soreness in his right knee. Masterson didn't talk to the media about his sore knee until late June. When he did, he said he'd been dealing with it since his second start of the season. In September, after the trade to St. Louis, Masterson had an MRI on his right shoulder and it showed an impingement. The Cardinals gave him a cortisone shot. Rowley said Masterson is finally healthy. If he is and he can pitch back to his 2014 form, the team that signs him will get a 30-year-old proven starter who until last season had pitched 180 or more innings in four straight seasons. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________ I am usually suspicious of injury stories after the fact because , much like a lawyer, an agent trys to limit the perceived damage and spin it in a way that puts his client in a better light. "It was just a series of bad decisions guys based on how much I care about you all. It had nothing to do with I was headed towards free agency and had turned down a 3/$45M offer and was seeking $17M per year." Naive and team oriented is a lot better than greedy. All that being said, he might be the ideal candidate for a 1 year contract to re-establish value and re-enter free agency But he will not likely come cheap with so many teams inquiring on him. Expect somewhere around $10M for him.

QUOTE (Jake @ Nov 27, 2014 -> 09:13 PM) This is a 2-pitch pitcher who lost 3 mph on his main pitch last year, all while pitching like s***. There are a bunch of pitchers I'd like to try before him. Preach it brother.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 26, 2014 -> 02:13 PM) Given that price tag, the Sox either feel they have their money committed elsewhere more appropriately right now or they really did not like what they saw from Tomas. That is a seemingly incredibly reasonable price tag. Oh I don't know about that. Just imagine giving Tank that kind of contract.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 26, 2014 -> 09:18 AM) Scott Merkin ‏@scottmerkin 9m9 minutes ago Jon Garland, Geoff Blum and Tadahito Iguchi have been added to the list of 2005 World Series champion team member attending SoxFest, '15 Lest we forget Iguchi's 3 run bomb in the 2005 playoffs against Boston http://m.mlb.com/cws/video/v36935789/2005-...tadahito+iguchi or his wild 2 HR 7 RBI in the 8th and 9th against Houston in 2006 ( solly no video ). He continued to play in Japan, even last year. Here's a video of a walk off grany. The full AB and the crowd singing and chanting the entire AB just amazes me. All this info courtesy of SSS http://www.southsidesox.com/2014/11/27/729...tadahito-iguchi

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Nov 26, 2014 -> 06:12 AM) Bradley Jr can't hit and would cost us something decent...getting a guy like Victorino isn't a move to make any time soon because you'd obviously like a more long term option, but he's certainly not a bad stop gap option if other plans fall through. I mean we did just sign a 34 year old DH to a 2 year deal...Victorino for 1 year can't seem like too bad of an idea, especially if he costs us little to nothing in a trade. $13M salary is a huge cost.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 25, 2014 -> 11:22 PM) http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/_/id/1...g-spending-ways Putting 2 and 2 together, Bradley, Jr., Cespedes and Victorino are the most likely to move. Cespedes will cost a starting pitcher, so forget that idea. So it's down to Bradley, Jr., and Victorino. Bradley, Jr., and Eaton in the same outfield would be taking a page out of the Royals' book, but not really "dreaming" big. Victorino would be the smarter addition, if there's anything still left in the tank at this point. Bradley Jr. over Victorino any day. Old broken down OF's are a step in the wrong direction. At least Bradley, Jr. has youth , wonderful D which the Sox need badly and speed and the "potential " to hit. Still rather try to pry Holt loose. Maybe he'd cost less than JBJ despite having great value to the Red Sox as a super-utility guy. On that team he will get nowhere near the amount of AB's he had last year. Maybe in a humanitarian gesture the Red Sox let him go to realize his potential rather than keep him as the supersub.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Nov 25, 2014 -> 07:56 PM) Could be a big name pitcher . The lineup already is better with a full year of Avi and LaRoche so it's not like a huge name is necessary at the remaining positions, just a nice little upgrade would do just fine. A more talented roster , if you will, rather than the stars with the stiffs. It's the starting rotation that could have the biggest impact name added to it. Besides KW likes being interviewed and coming up with quotable stuff. The Sox really have nothing to trade with unless Hahn dips into the minors and that would be counter-productive to his original plan. To futhur illustrate my point about more talent in the position players , the Sox hitters had a cumulative 15.5 WAR. Our top players were: Abreu 5.5 Eaton 5.2 Alexei 3.0 Flowers 2.3 Gillaspie 1.5 Beckham 0.6 Semien 0.5 Sierra 0.5 Others below 0.5 but still in positive territoy were Dunn, DeAza and Phegley. The Sox had 8 players either mostly in bench roles or injured for most of the season (Garcia) who either didn't provide enough hitting to offset their bad fielding or enough good fielding to offset their bad hitting or were bad at both. You'll also notice 4 players in postive WAR are no longer with the team (Beckham, DeAza, Dunn and Sierra ). Melky Cabrera had a 3.1 ,Brock Holt a 2.1, Michael Saunders 2.4 playing half a season . Rasmus had a 0.9 despite a bad season of hitting but enough defense to somewhat overcome it. I hold out hope that Avi Garcia has a positive WAR in him when he becomes the hitter he should be and improves enough defensively. Adam LaRoche had a 2.2 which will be hard to duplicate being another year older past his prime and mostly DH'ing but it's a start towards adding more talent to the roster. I'd feel much more comfortable with the Sox having a 20 WAR amongst the position players which means better defense and better offense. The Tigers, Royals and Giants all had 20.2- 20.5. A 4 WAR guy who plays good D and hits well would be wonderful but a 3.0 would still be a huge boost to this lineup. Melky has ranged from 3.1 to 4.7 in 3 of the last 4 years. Saunders best was his 2.4 in his limited playing time last year but is entering his prime. Rasmus had a 4.6 as recently as 2013 and generaly has ranged from 1.5 -3.6 in 4 other years is also entering his prime but we are aware of his problems. The Sox were outscored by 100 runs last year and only have a "Big Two" in Sale and Quintana. A serious contender needs a "Big 3" at the very least. Rodon could be that player but chances are it won't be 2015. Another quality SP and closer will have the biggest influence on wether the Sox contend in 2015. Right now the next move(s) need to be high quality pitching.

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Nov 25, 2014 -> 07:36 PM) I don't think it'll be any of those guys, quite frankly. Mr. Kenny Williams is on record right now stating that when our roster is finally completed, Sox fans will be able to "dream again" about returning to the postseason. With the two, maybe three, remaining big holes to fill in LF, RH starter, and maybe 3B, I don't think adding any of those four outfielders really moves the needle to get us dreaming about anything. Whoever they get for that corner outfield spot is going to be a bigger name than any of those four guys you mentioned. I mean, think of it: you add one of those four guys to play left, then you sign one of the second tier RH starter free agents. Would that get you dreaming about anything, other than maybe a triumphant return to having a .500 ball club? It just doesn't add up. I don't know how they're going to pull it off, but I think they have a splashy move coming our way, maybe even two, that will genuinely have us all excited about our chances both in 2015 and beyond. But again, I don't think it involves the likes of Rasmus, Saunders, or certainly Holt. Maybe, just maybe, Cabrera, but even he, I don't think it's going to be him, either. Could be a big name pitcher . The lineup already is better with a full year of Avi and LaRoche so it's not like a huge name is necessary at the remaining positions, just a nice little upgrade would do just fine. A more talented roster , if you will, rather than the stars with the stiffs. It's the starting rotation that could have the biggest impact name added to it. Besides KW likes being interviewed and coming up with quotable stuff. The Sox really have nothing to trade with unless Hahn dips into the minors and that would be counter-productive to his original plan.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 25, 2014 -> 07:23 PM) Please, anything to get Leury Garcia back to AAA. Actually, I'd prefer Holt to Danks or Saladino as well. But at what cost for "Zobrist Lite"? I was looking at his MiL stats too and in 2012 at AAA for 95 AB's he hit .432 . Can't call him Zobrist lite because he's not a switch hitter , he's LH but since he hits LH's well it's almost like he's a switch hitter. I know you called him that because of his D versatility though

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Nov 25, 2014 -> 07:19 PM) I'm not all that interested in a jack of all trades. Semien can do that. But if he can play a full time outfield, a young OF like him is what I think the Sox need. They can be had cheap, could develop, as the Sox build. We THINK Semien is capable of that but a sure way to upgrade is to get 1 or 2 WAR from reserves and getting rid of negative WAR players ( Viciedo). The Red Sox would be wise to sell high on him. He may never approach what he did last year again but I'd like to find out with him in a White Sox uniform . A crowded OF is exactly how the Sox grabbed Eaton and it now applies in Boston. He won't get a chance to start in Boston and at his age (26) he should be given a chance to find out if he is legit. http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/69622576/v344...riple/?c_id=mlb Single off Danks that Eaton missed a shoestring catch that turned it into a triple.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Nov 25, 2014 -> 06:55 PM) HOlt's kind of interesting -how's his D? I'd take a flyer on Bradley Jr too. However a)I don't think he comes that cheap and b)the odds are he's another Danks/Wise and I've had enough of that. The Fangraphs hilites were all on D plus that 2 War has to mean he had some defensive prowess also . Looks like he was best at SS and RF but since he played so many positions getting a grasp on his D is difficult. But is he the player from the 1st half or the 2nd half when pitchers probably made adjustments to him ? He had never played OF prior to his use by the Red Sox. He had a walkoff hit against Guerra July 9th http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/28898650/v344...right/?c_id=mlb The Red Sox announcers we're saying the "legend of Brock Holt continues because he was just making all kinds of plays where ever they put him and hitting well.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 25, 2014 -> 06:34 PM) Just want to point out that heavy right handed hitting lineups do not always work out against a left handed starting pitcher. Also, the Sox have been starved for quality left handed bats. The only left handed bats that have shown signs of life on a daily basis are Gillaspie and Eaton. The Sox have added LaRoche but could use another left handed hitting outfielder ( preferably with some pop) which is why the names of Ethier, CarGo and Crawford have been mentioned/ rumored. LaRoche is the lone power bat from the left side at the moment and seeing as how the Sox have a gaping hole in LF it makes sense the Sox would look for a left handed bat for LF. Melky, Rasmus and Saunders. I'm also adding Brock Holt to the list (See my post in Red Sox OF's thread for more in depth on him)

QUOTE (Dunt @ Nov 25, 2014 -> 05:56 PM) I find it odd that the Sox haven't really been linked to a RHSP despite everyone saying they are looking for one. Waiting on Maeda? The domino's have to start falling . All the big signings have been posiion players so far. It will be sorted out .

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Nov 24, 2014 -> 11:19 PM) By my count, the Red Sox have 9 outfielders..... Cespedes, Castillo, Hanley, Victorino, Nava, Craig, Bradley Jr., Betts, Holt Their starting rotation is a mess. I can't imagine with this wild spending spree that they don't just go for broke (sound familar? Beckett, Gonzalez, Crawford) and bring back Lester or even add Scherzer. I'd like to see the Sox target Betts to play LF. Even though it may be a slap in the face, I'd like to see us offer Montas + a lesser prospect for Betts. Maybe Montas + Beck. I think Betts would be an awesome fit for this team as he just turned 22, he hits for good average (.346 in 99 games in AA-AAA, .291 in 51 ML games), hits for decent power (11 HR in AA-AAA, 5 in ML), steals a lot of bases (33 in AA-AAA, 7 in ML), walks MORE than he strikes out (61 BB, 50 K in AA-AAA, 21 BB, 31 K in ML), and plays CF and 2B, meaning he should be able to play a good LF for us. I mean, he's a super impressive player who absolutely dominated baseball at age 21. Combine AA-AAA-MLB numbers last year, and he hit about .320 with 16 HR, 40 SB, 42 2B, a 400+ OBP, and he still has 6 years of team control left. I mean, he'd be a pretty phenomenal get, in my opinion. It would probably cost us a LOT more than Montas + Beck if it wasn't for the fact that the Red Sox have so many damn OFers already, and it's certainly possible they will clear other guys in order to KEEP Betts. But I wish Hahn would really press Cherington and try and dangle some of our pitching prospects for him. Surprised no one has said anything about Brock Holt. Extremely valuable . Plays every position except pitcher and catcher. LH, hits and runs well 26 years old. Good option for OF full time, back up CF , 3B, SS, in case of injury. SS by trade I think but so is Boegarts . Heck he might be a good option if Alexei is traded or if Gillaspie's season was a fluke. 2014 Games By Position: PH (1), 1B (8), LF (8), CF (10), 2B (11), SS (12), RF (35), 3B (39) He is what we are hoping Semien becomes , a 2 WAR jack of all trades with starter upside. I've been touting Saunders and many have echoed that sentiment but I'd be pleased as punch with Holt. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/brock-holt-leak-plugger/ Fangraphs highlights of him in various positions. He set the world on fire the 1st half of the season. 2nd half not so much. It wasn't long ago that he was thought to be organizational filler so he may come cheap despite his 2 WAR . BTW he also hit LH's better than RH's . Came in 8th in ROY voting.