Last week at the Winter Meetings Theo Epstein proved to the rest of baseball why he is so beloved in Boston. He took the Red Sox from potentially being in the
worse shape for over 10 years, after losing Victor Martinez and Adrian Beltre, to being the team to beat in baseball, at least according to John Kruk and Buster Olney. I for one still believe that we're a couple good relievers short of a world
series win but the offseason is far from over.
The Adrian Gonzalez deal is great for the Red Sox. It gets rid of the heartbreak over losing Mark Teixeira. Frankly A-Gonz is a lot like Mark Teixeira, he's young, good defensively, hits for average and power. Best of all is that A-Gonz wanted to play for the Red Sox, something that money honestly can't buy. While giving up Casey Kelly, a possible future all-star, for A-Gonz hurts, the fact is we didn't have to give up Kalish or Iglesias, both players that will probably be starting next year. Also for the see-able future, and likely the rest of Youk's career he can be confident that he will be at third base, which hopefully will get his average back up to MVP numbers. A lot of people have complained that the Red Sox have too many lefties and that will make them susceptible to left handed pitchers. Well you can subtract Gonzalez from that list, he hits just as well against lefties as he does righties, batting .337 against left-handed pitchers last year. Best of all, A-Gonz was the best clutch-hitter in the league last year, hitting .407 with runners in scoring position.
After acquiring Gonzalez, Theo did not stop and
went straight for Carl Crawford. A move that not many Red Sox fans thought would happen. Crawford is a left-fielder that the Red Sox need since we lost Jason Bay to the Mets. In fact I will say that Crawford is better than Jason Bay, while he doesn't hit for nearly as much power he brings speed, something the Red Sox definitely need. He also brings youth, a strong work-ethic, and he is a great defensive fielder, arguably giving the Red Sox the best defensive outfield in baseball. One of the best things about Crawford is that he's played in the AL East his whole career, he's familiar with our club and all the others, although considering the recent mass exodus, probably less familiar with the Rays now. He is susceptible to left handed pitchers only hitting a .256 against them last year. But against the Yankees he's a lot better, in the past 2 years, the best of his career, he batted a .315, that includes excellent averages against their best lefties, .345 against Sabathia and a .438 against Pettitte. In their stadium he went .350 last year, and in Fenway he had a .324 average. Once again Crawford is a great clutch hitter, hitting .359 with runners in scoring position last year. For Crawford I think the best thing is that he's in a town that cares about baseball, unlike in Tampa where they would struggle to sell out crowds even when they were on top of the AL East. Plus he's with a club that has commitment to being a contender, year in and year out.
As I said before, the offseason is far from over and the Red Sox are far from done. The Red Sox still need to shore up the bullpen if they plan to make a run at the World Series, and it seems like Theo has confidence that Young will help revitalize Lackey, Beckett, and Dice-K. Here are the targets I expect the Red Sox to go after and the likely-hood that they will sign them.
Likely acquisitions:
Left-Handed Relief Pitcher Brian Fuentes
He's a little older than we're use to seeing Theo go after but at age 35 he had a 2.81 ERA, held opposing batters to an .181 average, and had a WHIP of 1.063. He played for both the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Minnesota Twins and a year ago got 48 saves as a closer for the Angels.
Right-Handed Relief Pitcher Matt Guerrier
He's 32, which means he still has a good 3-4 years left, played with the Twins
also, he appears to be the Red Sox most serious target as a reliever. He had a
3.17 ERA, with opposing hitters hitting a .219 against him. He had a WHIP of 1.099.
Right-Handed Relief Pitcher Jesse Crain
This 29 yr old is young enough for the Red Sox to show a good amount of interest in him, and yes he also played with the twins. He had a 3.04 ERA and held
opposing batters to a batting average of .215. He had the highest WHIP of the
three with a 1.174.
Catcher Russel Martin
The once beloved catcher of the Los Angeles Dodgers, he had a promising season in '07 but since then injuries have plagued his career. That being said he earned a gold glove for a reason, and at the age of 27 he can perhaps get back to form. Last year he batted .248 in 97 games last season, but in '07 he did bat a .298 and get a gold glove, likely the
Red Sox are betting on him returning to that form.
Left-handed Relief Pitcher Hideki Okajima
Fans of the BoSox are familiar with this lefty from Japan. Okajima for years has served the Fenway faithful well...until last year. When he uncharacteristically had an ERA of 4.50 and a whip of 1.72. That being said, it was uncharacteristic and the Red Sox have been burned on giving up on players after one bad season, I think with a new pitching coach it's likely we give Okajima a second chance.
Unlikely acquisitions:
Right-handed Right Fielder Magglio Ordonez
Now I know he is old, at 36, and far past his prime, but so is Cameron, and the Red Sox have tried to get Ordonez in the past, and if they were to acquire him that would give them a right-handed bat. In 2010 with the Detroit Tigers he batted a .303, with 12 home runs and 59 RBI in 84 games. Acquiring Ordonez gives the Red Sox the
chance to trade Cameron.
Right-handed Starting Pitcher Matt Garza
Word on the street is that the Tampa Bay Rays are shopping around Matt Garza. With the Red Sox potentially in need of a starting pitcher after three iffy performances from Beckett, Lackey, and Dice-K. The 27 yr old pitcher is right down the Red Sox alley, young and a great player. Last year Garza went 15-10 with 150 Ks and a 3.91 ERA. Also the acquisition of Crawford and the familiarity with the AL East should make the Red Sox a potential destination for the young pitcher.
Right-handed Closing Pitcher Rafael Soriano
A free agent this offseason, Soriano is an excellent pitcher, at the age of 30 he still has a good half a decade left of gas in the tank minimum and the Red Sox could see him as a closing pitcher or even a set-up man alongside Bard, we've done it before with other closers so it's not beyond our likelihood and having a plethora of closing style talent is never a bad thing.
Other Unlikely acquisitions:
Carl Pavano
Grant Balfour
Hisashi Iwakuma
Now when the next season starts the Red Sox will need a new line-up to go along with the new offense firepower, heres the line-up I think is best for the Red Sox next year:
1. Jacoby Ellsbury
2. Carl Crawford
3. Kevin Youkilis
4. Adrian Gonzalez
5. David Ortiz
6. Dustin Pedroia
7. J.D. Drew
8. Salty/Varitek/Martin(?)
9. Scutaro/Lowrie/Iglesias
Some may think putting Youk at third after his last season is a bad idea but I see cradling A-Gonz with two good hitters a good idea, it makes teams more likely to be aggressive with Youk and Ortiz, an option that in the past, has burned them, see 2007, 2008. I see Gonzalez as a great way to boost the remainder of Papi's career. Also considering A-Gonz's pension for hitting with RISP and Youks' pension for doing so every year before last 4th for A-Gonz gives him the best chance to get the most RBI and to be honest 2-6 can be shifted around and any order and still give the Red Sox the best line-up in Baseball. The best thing about the signings however is what it brings to baseball. A recent poll by ESPN list 73% of the baseball viewing public as routing either for the Red Sox or the Yankees. This means that when the rivalry between the two is at a year-by-year peak, all of baseball profits.
