Lillian

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 9, 2012 -> 06:35 AM) If Hahn is thinking about dealing De Aza to open up a spot for a guy who was DFA'd by the Padres, they need to fire him before he does it. Perhaps, but not if he intends to acquire a big left handed bat for LF. How would Hamilton look in this lineup vs RHP? CF Tekotte or J. Danks (Defense and OBP are the top priority. If they can't provide that, find someone else) 2B Sanchez (Switch hitting, good bunter, speed, can take a walk) LF Hamilton 1B Konerko DH Dunn RF Rios SS Ramirez 3B ??? (hopefully another LH bat and, or solid defense) C Flowers

What surprises me the most is that Thornton isn't on that list. Hahn appears to be determined to address the low OBP problem on this team. Beckham's sub .300, and Viciedo's even .300 OBP's may bother him, as much as it bothers some of us. I wouldn't be disappointed to see either of them go, if it meant replacing them with guys who can actually get on base, especially if they bat left handed. I think that they really like Sanchez, and they may think that he's ready to take Beckham's place at 2B. Another possibility is Asdrubal Cabrera, who the Indians appear to be shopping: I love de Aza, and have for a long time, but Hahn may think that Tekotte, the kid they picked up from San Diego, is ready to be given a shot at CF. He has a similar skill set as de Aza and also swings a left handed bat. He's probably a better centerfielder, and is 3 years younger. J. Danks is another option, and is still regarded as the best defensive outfielder in the organization. De Aza might be a valuable trading chip for a team desperatly looking for a lead off hitter who can steal bases.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Nov 3, 2012 -> 06:36 AM) If baseball was a left handed game then it would be a right handed game. Thanks. I fixed it, by putting it in quotes.

Do the Sox really expect to have an effective offense with Adam Dunn and de Aza as their only two left handed hitters? The Tigers will have Fielder, Martinez, Dirks, Avila, Boesch and are said to be considering Melky Cabrera as a free agent to replace Young. The Royals will have Moustakas, Hosmer and Gordon. The Twins have Mauer, Morneau, Doumit and Span The Indians have Choo, Hafner, Santana, Kotchman, Cabrera, Brantley and Kipnis. You would be hard pressed to find a competitive offense in the Majors which consisted of just two left handed hitters, especially the caliber of Dunn and de Aza. "Baseball is a left handed game". It favors left handed hitters. At the very least, it dictates reasonable balance of righties and lefties in the line up. The Sox will almost certainly add one left handed bat to their roster, if they don't bring A. J. back. The question is who. Maybe they will do something creative like move Beckham or Viciedo back to 3RD, and find a left handed hitting left fielder or second baseman.

Another reason that I'd like to see A. J. return is that I think he would be a tremendous asset as a left handed DH if Konerko can't play. He could DH, with Dunn at first, vs RHP, whenever Paulie is hurt, or in need of a day off. A. J. was tremendous vs. RHP last season.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Nov 2, 2012 -> 07:44 AM) Dan isn't a viable option at 3B. I like him, but he is best suited to a bench role for an NL team where you utilize pinch hitters nearly every day, or he could be an platoon option at 1B if a team didn't have a good enough full-time guy. I assume that your reservations are based upon your assessment of Johnson's defense at 3RD. That is my big concern as well. He has played very little at that position, and I honestly don't have any idea what level of defense he could provide. Does he have the arm? Do you have any insight into his defensive skill as a third baseman?

Most of you know that I've been advocating some playing time for Dan Johnson. He could be a good fit for the opening at 3RD base. He's a left handed hitter, high OBP, sees a lot of pitches, and is arbitration elligible, with a likely very affordable contract. He should be a cheap option. The question is; can he play good enough defense at the hot corner? I'd like to see the Sox give him a shot vs. RHP. Let a better defender play vs. lefties, and when a late inning defensive replacement is needed. If Morel's back holds up, he would be a possible fit for that role. With the money saved at 3RD, maybe the Sox could bring back A. J. to play vs. RHP. His left handed bat would be missed vs RHP, and he brings a lot of intangibles. He seems to provide more intensity and competitive spirit than anyone in the Sox clubhouse. But then I've always loved his game, so maybe I'm not being objective enough.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 1, 2012 -> 08:28 AM) Supposedly the Royals say they will dump a bat for pitching. Someone on Bleacher Report suggested Floyd for Moustakas. Some people appear to be running with it, although Floyd is a better option for teams than Haren. Moustakas would be a great addition, and provide a left handed bat, but I suspect that it would take a lot more than Gavin Floyd to get him. He is still very young and has tremendous potential, and of course, he will be cost controlled for a few more years, which makes him very attractive.

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ Oct 29, 2012 -> 11:29 PM) The main reason I want AJ back is because he's a LH bat. If they give Tyler the starting job then the Sox are left with De Aza and Dunn as the only LH bats in the lineup and they're top of the order bats. Unless Hahn does some movin and shakin, they need his LH bat....Chase Headley sure would look nice taking his spot from the left side (well both sides actually) I couldn't agree with you more. This team has been overly weighted with RH hitting for a long time. I've said many times that they need to balance the line up with a few LH bats. A. J. helped enormously in that regard last season, and if they don't replace his left handed offense, they better bring him back.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Oct 29, 2012 -> 10:47 AM) Am I the only one here who would pick up Youk's option? No, you're not the only one. I've been advocating that they pick up the option for quite a while. It's only a $12 million marginal cost, after considering the $1 million buy out. There is a lot to be said for not having to make a commitment beyond one year. Then too, he would be playing for a contract during his free agent year.

Regarding trading for Justin Upton; A right handed, 5 tool right fielder is not one of the needs for the Sox. They already have Rios, who is arguably the best position player on the team. The holes are; catcher, 3RD base and a right handed ace to balance the starting rotation. I suspect that management will concentrate on those needs? I'd like to see them bring back A. J., as he not only fills the catching hole, but provides left handed power, which this team needs, especially with the questions about Dunn's unacceptable batting average and high strike outs. Third base is a big question mark. Do they bring back Youk, go after A-Rod or look elsewhere? To fill the need for a right handed ace, I'd love to see them find someone who will be in his free agent year, who is on a noncontending team, and try to trade for his one year services. Are there any good candidates for that?

A-Rod was still a very good offensive player until mid-season last year, when he had arthroscopic surgery on his knee. Since then, his performance has fallen off pretty dramatically. Moreover, he didn't play much the second half of last season. If he has not used steroids since way back in 2003, as he claims, then that issue should not be much of a factor in evaluating his performance capability. He still looks to be in pretty good shape, and is not too old to be productive, for at least a couple more years. Of course, no one would expect him to produce like he did when he was in his prime, but at a reduced price he could contribute. The biggest concern would be those last 2 or 3 years of the remaining 5 years on that awful contract. We can debate what he might be worth at ages 38 to 40, but we might all agree that we wouldn't want him at any cost after that. It will be very interesting to see how much Cashman will be willing to kick in on a trade. Can anyone shed more light on A-Rod's steroid and injury history, over the last couple of years?

How would the money paid by New York, in a trade for ARod, affect their salary cap issues? If the money being paid would not be factored into that equation, that might provide more incentive for the Yankees to dump him, even if they had to pay a large portion of his salary. What are the rules regarding money paid for a player no longer on the team? Could they avoid having that money count toward future season salary caps by giving the receiving team a lump sum?

Perhaps I'm too influenced by the unbelievable number of games in which Youk played such an integral part of wins, during that portion of the season when he joined the Sox. He was arguably our best clutch hitter for the first couple of months he was on the team.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 18, 2012 -> 06:43 AM) Except Youk wouldn't turn down the offer because he knows he isn't getting that amount of money over two years, let alone one, in the free agent market. That would be fine with me. Wouldn't you take him on another one year deal, after next season? How much do you think that arbitration would award him, assuming that he had the kind of year he had this past season?

Exercising the one year option on Youkilis for $13 million makes the most sense to me. Of course, they would likely be overpaying, but the key is avoiding a long term obligation. The marginal cost would actually be $12 million, when taking into consideration the $1 million buy out. Spending 2 or 3 million dollars extra for one season is not that significant. The biggest problem is having a long term commitment to a declining player, on an expensive contract. Moreover, there is always the motivation factor of having a player who is playing in a contract year. Youklis would be giving it 100%. To me this is a no brainer. Forget about trying to sign him to a multi-year deal. Take him for one year, and let him walk at the end of the season. In that scenario, couldn't the Sox offer him arbitration, at the end of next season, and get the draft pick?

I don't understand the almost unanimous desire to trade Rios. He was arguably our best offensive player. Many of us felt that his problem was that awful stance he employed last year. Once the coaching staff got him to alter his mechanics, he became the offensive player that K. W. expected him to be. He was very consistent, and never had a single slump. Moreover, much like his 2010 season, he hit into a lot of hard outs. He is still relatively young, and has a lot of tools. He even seemed to become a pretty good club house guy. I think that he should have been hitting third, which would have likely made him even better, with Dunn, Konerko and A. J. hitting behind him. I'm not saying that the Sox shouldn't consider moving him for the right package, but why are so many seemingly eager to get rid of him?

For those of you who don't think that Nate Jones is a viable option to close, all I can say is I don't know what games your watching. He looks very dominant to me. I'd rather see him face 3 batters in the 9TH. The difference is that he has gotten better as the season has progressed, while Reed has gotten worse. Moreover, he has thrown 10 more innings than Reed, so he has demonstrated more stamina and durability. While he had a couple of appearances where he failed to retire the two batters he faced, he nevertheless has not given up a run in 15 consecutive appearances.

Whatever happened to K. W.'s veiled suggestion that the Sox try to exploit Cabrera's injuries by bunting? I think he called it "playing smarter". I thought that Cabrera appeared to be a little less hobbled last night. Was that true? In fact, you have to wonder if a team couldn't successfully bunt down the first base line, with Fielder over there. I know that he's pretty athletic considering his weight, but he probably doesn't move that well charging a ball and fielding it. We had 3 left handed speedsters in the lineup last night. De Aza, Wise and Hudson all could have tried dragging the ball down the first base line. Still no bunts to either side of the infield. ?????

QUOTE (Cali @ Sep 10, 2012 -> 09:05 PM) Holy crap an Addison Reed 1-2-3 inning! Sox need to take advantage of this momentum! Yep, the first one in his last 19 appearances!!!!! It would have been nice if he had also struck someone out, instead of allowing two guys to smoke balls on the line to right, in almost exactly the same spot. Fortunately, Rios was standing right there. However, at least he didn't give us all one of his typical "heart stopping" finishes.

Left handed hitters are hitting .319 against Guthrie this year. I hope R. V. uses a few of them today, even with Dunn out of the lineup. De Aza CF Wise LF A. J. C Johnson DH The rest of the lineup should include the regulars: Rios RF Konerko 1B Ramirez SS Beckham 2B Youk 3B

QUOTE (sunofgold @ Sep 8, 2012 -> 06:23 PM) Got the job today. Sure it was like riding a big fast upside-down spiraling rollercoaster. But at the end, itsallgood. Sox management cannot afford to be so complacent. I hope that they're not thinking "It's all good", because it's not!!! These kinds of performances are going to cost the team wins. The problem has to be addressed before it's too late.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Sep 8, 2012 -> 02:03 PM) Whenever Lillian makes a thread about replacing someone, they do better. Well, maybe not so much. My suggestion certainly didn't help Reed today, did it?

I rest my case!!!!! Addison Reed needs to be replaced as the closer.

QUOTE (Capn12 @ Sep 8, 2012 -> 05:49 PM) Breaking News: Addison Reed sucks, unsure of meaning of 1-2-3 inning. Apparently, so is Reed!!!