With Mike Napoli re-signing with the Red Sox for 2-years $32 million - the biggest off-season priority for Boston is done. So what is left for Ben Cherington to do at the Winter Meetings? Here's my Top 5:
1. Find a super utility guy - someone who can back-up 3rd, SS and 2nd. Seriously - the pitching staff and the position players are pretty set. As other teams try to fill gaping holes - the Red Sox biggest need is a capable utility guy. Stephen Drew could fit the bill with at-bats shared between Drew, Xander Bogaerts and Will Middlebrooks and there are many who want Drew back but I'd prefer to have Bogaerts play short fulltime and the Red Sox to enjoy the supplemental pick they would get when Drew signs elsewhere.
2. Sign Jon Lester to an extension. He recently said he wants to stay in Boston and would be open to a home-town discount contract like the one Dustin Pedroia signed. Take him up on it before the costs of top shelf starters goes crazy. Say 5-years $100 million? Everyone happy?
3. Trade Ryan Dempster and his $13 million contract. Boston has six starters and only 5 slots. Trading Dempster and his $13 million contract makes the most sense. Of course you could always wait till Spring Training to do this in case of injury.
4. Trade Ryan Lavarnway to a team that needs a catcher. I like Lavarnway but there just isn't roster room either in the bigs in Boston or AAA in Pawtucket. Once again - maybe wait till Spring Training.
5. Sign David Ortiz to an extension. I know both sides agreed to no extension until the current contract was done but that was before Ortiz was World Series MVP. How about 2-years and $30 million?
Chris Lynch's slanted view on sports, politics and entertainment. Please send thoughts or comments to chris.lynch@gmail.com
Showing posts with label Ryan Lavarnway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ryan Lavarnway. Show all posts
Saturday, December 07, 2013
Friday, November 29, 2013
Trade Proposal
There's a trade proposal that's been bouncing around my head for quite some time now. The Baltimore Orioles have said they want to shed payroll and are open to trading both closer Jim Johnson and catcher Matt Wieters. The Red Sox don't need a closer but a catcher like Matt Wieters would certainly be worth exploring.
I know the odds are slim that the Orioles would make a trade to improve a division rival but there has been precedent. Most notably in my mind was the Mike Boddicker trade that sent Curt Schilling and Brady Anderson to the Orioles. It could happen again and I keep thinking this could be a trade could make sense for both teams.
Matt Wieters would be a great fit for the Red Sox. He has two years left before free agency which would be the perfect amount of time for Boston before one of its two stud catching prospects (Blake Swihart and Christian Vazquez) are ready to take the reins. David Ross is only really good for 60 games per year and he's only signed for one more year. Wieters could come in and have a relaxing year for him (he led the AL in games caught last year) and the next year he could mentor Swihart or Vazquez as one of them back him up in his year heading into free agency.
Wieters is perhaps the best defensive catcher in the AL (Gold Gloves in 2011 and 2012). He's hit more than 20 HR in three straight years. He'd be an upgrade over Jarrod Saltalamcchia and salary wise - he would be cheaper with arbitration probably getting Wieters $8.5 million next year and maybe $10.5 in 2015. Salty's probably going to get a 3-year $30 million deal at the least in free agency.
What would be in it for Baltimore? I'd suggest trading catcher Ryan Lavarnway who right now is probably going to catch the majority of the games next year but who would be extraneous with the arrival of Wieters and starter Felix Dubront. Both players are just 26 and both under team control for at least another 4 years. Dubront could be the 3rd starter right away for the Orioles and Lavarnway could be their starting backstop. Both are also very cheap and the two in exchange for Wieters would save Baltimore more than $10 million in 2014 alone when you factor in what a starting pitcher is going for in the free agency market.
It should also be noted that Wieters agent is Scott Boras - so Baltimore knows they are probably going to lose him to free agency anyway. Why not trade him now and get more than just a draft pick for him (especially now when they could use salary relief)?
A deal worth thinking about.
I know the odds are slim that the Orioles would make a trade to improve a division rival but there has been precedent. Most notably in my mind was the Mike Boddicker trade that sent Curt Schilling and Brady Anderson to the Orioles. It could happen again and I keep thinking this could be a trade could make sense for both teams.
Matt Wieters would be a great fit for the Red Sox. He has two years left before free agency which would be the perfect amount of time for Boston before one of its two stud catching prospects (Blake Swihart and Christian Vazquez) are ready to take the reins. David Ross is only really good for 60 games per year and he's only signed for one more year. Wieters could come in and have a relaxing year for him (he led the AL in games caught last year) and the next year he could mentor Swihart or Vazquez as one of them back him up in his year heading into free agency.
Wieters is perhaps the best defensive catcher in the AL (Gold Gloves in 2011 and 2012). He's hit more than 20 HR in three straight years. He'd be an upgrade over Jarrod Saltalamcchia and salary wise - he would be cheaper with arbitration probably getting Wieters $8.5 million next year and maybe $10.5 in 2015. Salty's probably going to get a 3-year $30 million deal at the least in free agency.
What would be in it for Baltimore? I'd suggest trading catcher Ryan Lavarnway who right now is probably going to catch the majority of the games next year but who would be extraneous with the arrival of Wieters and starter Felix Dubront. Both players are just 26 and both under team control for at least another 4 years. Dubront could be the 3rd starter right away for the Orioles and Lavarnway could be their starting backstop. Both are also very cheap and the two in exchange for Wieters would save Baltimore more than $10 million in 2014 alone when you factor in what a starting pitcher is going for in the free agency market.
It should also be noted that Wieters agent is Scott Boras - so Baltimore knows they are probably going to lose him to free agency anyway. Why not trade him now and get more than just a draft pick for him (especially now when they could use salary relief)?
A deal worth thinking about.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Red Sox Options at Catcher
The more I think about it the more I think the Red Sox will be going with a combination of David Ross and Ryan Lavarnway at catcher next season with Lavarnway getting about 3 out of 5 starts. Why do I think this?
I think it is becoming clear that Boston isn't interested in having Jarrod Saltalamacchia back. They could have offered him a qualifying offer of $14.1 million but they didn't do that because doing so would have meant any team signing him would have lost a draft pick. The Red Sox seemingly wanted to make it easier for another team to sign him. The Red Sox have also made it clear they aren't prepared to go beyond a 2-year deal for Salty. With Carlos Ruiz getting 3 years from the Phillies and Brian McCann getting 5 years from the Yankees - Salty is bound to get a 4-year deal from someone. Sticking with the 2-year offer and making that public is akin to begging another team to sign him.
Why do this is they aren't comfortable with Lavarnway?
Some have mentioned Boston making a trade for a backstop. Ryan Hanigan from the Reds? Sure he would probably come cheap and is a very good defender but does that defense improvement mean more than the better offense you'd gain from Lavarnway? Plus even though it would only cost a B-level prospect that's still a cost and then it would put you in a position of still having Lavarnway hanging around waiting to get his at bats. Chris Iannetta from the Angels? Why? He doesn't have the offensive potential of Lavarnway and he will cost $10 million in salary over they next two seasons.
When you add it up - the answer comes back that the Red Sox will be going with David Ross and Ryan Lavarnway next season at catcher. John Farrell has already said he thinks Ross is good for about 60 starts. That leaves about a 100 starts for Lavarnway. They must feel comfortable with him.
I do too.
I think it is becoming clear that Boston isn't interested in having Jarrod Saltalamacchia back. They could have offered him a qualifying offer of $14.1 million but they didn't do that because doing so would have meant any team signing him would have lost a draft pick. The Red Sox seemingly wanted to make it easier for another team to sign him. The Red Sox have also made it clear they aren't prepared to go beyond a 2-year deal for Salty. With Carlos Ruiz getting 3 years from the Phillies and Brian McCann getting 5 years from the Yankees - Salty is bound to get a 4-year deal from someone. Sticking with the 2-year offer and making that public is akin to begging another team to sign him.
Why do this is they aren't comfortable with Lavarnway?
Some have mentioned Boston making a trade for a backstop. Ryan Hanigan from the Reds? Sure he would probably come cheap and is a very good defender but does that defense improvement mean more than the better offense you'd gain from Lavarnway? Plus even though it would only cost a B-level prospect that's still a cost and then it would put you in a position of still having Lavarnway hanging around waiting to get his at bats. Chris Iannetta from the Angels? Why? He doesn't have the offensive potential of Lavarnway and he will cost $10 million in salary over they next two seasons.
When you add it up - the answer comes back that the Red Sox will be going with David Ross and Ryan Lavarnway next season at catcher. John Farrell has already said he thinks Ross is good for about 60 starts. That leaves about a 100 starts for Lavarnway. They must feel comfortable with him.
I do too.
Thursday, August 02, 2012
Flotsam and Jetsam
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
Since Kevin Youkilis was traded every MLB team has been involved in a trade except the Padres, Nationals and Mets. San Diego signed an extension with Huston Street and surprisingly was not a seller, the Nationals got back Jason Werth from the DL which is like adding the best available bat meanwhile the Mets have pretty much done nothing... MLB team Facebook pages get hacked. Tasteless yet amusing... Interesting - according to Peter Gammons if Craig Brelow throws to Ryan Lavarnway - it will be the first Yale battery since the 19th century... Wow - the hubris. Soyndra official referred to the Obama Administration as "Bank of Washington." All that taxpayer money down the drain... The plot thickens. According to Rob Bradford - Will Middlebrooks has not made two errors in one game this season - never mind two in one inning. So what was Bobby Valentine talking about? If that big detail isn't true - then what else was fabricated?... Cool - 24 vintage pictures of Abraham Lincoln... Adolph Hitler's sister-in-law was named Bridget - Bridget Hitler. That just sounds funny. Like it should be the name of an Irish punk band... According to MoneySupermarket - it would cost $282 million to be Batman...
Since Kevin Youkilis was traded every MLB team has been involved in a trade except the Padres, Nationals and Mets. San Diego signed an extension with Huston Street and surprisingly was not a seller, the Nationals got back Jason Werth from the DL which is like adding the best available bat meanwhile the Mets have pretty much done nothing... MLB team Facebook pages get hacked. Tasteless yet amusing... Interesting - according to Peter Gammons if Craig Brelow throws to Ryan Lavarnway - it will be the first Yale battery since the 19th century... Wow - the hubris. Soyndra official referred to the Obama Administration as "Bank of Washington." All that taxpayer money down the drain... The plot thickens. According to Rob Bradford - Will Middlebrooks has not made two errors in one game this season - never mind two in one inning. So what was Bobby Valentine talking about? If that big detail isn't true - then what else was fabricated?... Cool - 24 vintage pictures of Abraham Lincoln... Adolph Hitler's sister-in-law was named Bridget - Bridget Hitler. That just sounds funny. Like it should be the name of an Irish punk band... According to MoneySupermarket - it would cost $282 million to be Batman...
Friday, January 20, 2012
Player Comparison
Take a look at these numbers and tell me who seems like the better prospect:
Player A - 463 AB/ 18 HR/ 67 RBI/ .288 BA/ .348 OBP/ .814 OPS
Player B - 264 AB/ 18 HR/ 55 RBI/ .295 BA/ .390 OBP/ 1.002 OPS
Player A is two years younger than Player B but you cannot tell me that his numbers are better than Player B's. Both players are about the same size and both players play the same position - catcher. Player A is highly touted prospect Jesus Montero formerly of the Yankees and Player B is Ryan Lavarnway of the Red Sox.
What made me think of checking the numbers on this comparison was this Gordon Edes piece about Lavarnway.
EDIT: MLB.com has a list of the Top 10 Catching Prospects - Montero is listed #1 and Lavarnway is listed #8
Player A - 463 AB/ 18 HR/ 67 RBI/ .288 BA/ .348 OBP/ .814 OPS
Player B - 264 AB/ 18 HR/ 55 RBI/ .295 BA/ .390 OBP/ 1.002 OPS
Player A is two years younger than Player B but you cannot tell me that his numbers are better than Player B's. Both players are about the same size and both players play the same position - catcher. Player A is highly touted prospect Jesus Montero formerly of the Yankees and Player B is Ryan Lavarnway of the Red Sox.
What made me think of checking the numbers on this comparison was this Gordon Edes piece about Lavarnway.
EDIT: MLB.com has a list of the Top 10 Catching Prospects - Montero is listed #1 and Lavarnway is listed #8
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