Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I wonder how many girls Derek Jeter slept with who weren't even born when he made his MLB debut... As a reminder - Derek Jeter's dating diamond... Next season on Game of Thrones a great wizard and conjurer is introduced. Some call him Tim... Tom Glavine had a career batting average of .185 which is 35 points higher than what Stephen Drew is hitting this season for the Red Sox... Weird Al Yankovic Word Crimes. Reminds me of the line, "I'd rather cuddle then have sex." People with proper grammar get the pun... I would so very much prefer to hear Hodor call next year's HR Derby than Chris Berman... Maybe the greatest outfield ever for one game?...

State of the Red Sox

As of this morning the Red Sox are 9.5 games back in the AL East and 8 games out of the Wild Card. That's worse than 2 weeks ago when I did my last State of the Red Sox. In that post I made 5 suggested moves for Boston to make. So far they have made 2 (bringing up Mookie Betts and getting rid of AJ Pierzynski). I can easily see them making the other 3 moves listed (trading Jake Peavy and Jonny Gomes and signing Jon Lester) and that certainly would be a move in the right direction.

Having said the above - here's 4 more moves I would like to see the Red Sox make.

1. Trade Edward Mujica who just hasn't fit in with Boston. He reminds me of Mark Melancon who just couldn't handle Boston but thrived in the NL. Trade Mujiica to some NL team in need of bullpen help and save yourself the $4.75 million he's owed for 2015. Maybe lump Mujica and Peavy together in a package?

2. Trade Shane Victorino. I cannot stress enough how much I want Boston to make this move. Victorino now just bats from the right side and righty bats are in demand. The Red Sox would have to wait till he gets off the DL but I would much rather see the plate appearances go to Mookie Betts or Brock Holt. Victorino is signed through next year at $13 million so that money would come off the books and give Boston more flexibility.

3. Trade Stephen Drew. Probably would have to eat half his remaining salary for the year but most fans would much rather see Brock Holt or Xander Bogaerts at short or even Jonathan Herrera who is Drew's equal with the glove but at this point worth more than 170 points in OPS at the plate.

4. Trade for Troy Tulowitzki. I know this is a long shot but if Tulo is "quietly" letting people know he'd be OK with being traded - that means he wants to be traded. Tulo has a good size contract but that money is peanuts to Boston. Use Xander Bogaerts as the centerpiece of a deal and include a couple of pitching prospects as well. So let it be written - so let it be done!

Stephen Drew

The Red Sox re-signed Stephen Drew and I'm not that happy about it.

Does Drew improve the team? Yes. Is he better defensively at short than Xander Bogaerts? Yes. Did this move cost the team nothing but money? Yes. Is Stephen Drew already well liked in the clubhouse? Yes. So why doesn't this move sit well with me?

The plan going into the season was for Will Middlebrooks to play third and Xander Bogaerts to play short meanwhile Drew would sign elsewhere and Boston would get a compensation draft pick. I liked that plan and hoped that Middlebrooks could stay healthy and show some power and that Bogaerts could handle short at the MLB level. That was the theory. The reality is Middlebrooks hit just 2 HR with a measly .629 OPS and is now out for quite some time with a broken finger. The reality is Bogaerts already has almost as many errors at short (6) as Stephen Drew had all season (8). The reality is the Red Sox were not going to get a compensation pick for Drew signing elsewhere. The reality is the plan was not working. The reality sucks! Like forth place in the AL East sucks.

Another dose of reality is that signing Stephen Drew may signal the end of Will Middlebrooks in Boston. The Red Sox already have top prospect Garin Cecchini at third in Pawtucket so there was already pressure on Middlebrooks. Now with the signing of Drew - Middlebrooks will have to hope someone gets hurt in order for him to get the at bats to prove belongs at the MLB level. Who wants to be in that situation?

I'm not happy with the situation and like many fans I'm transferring those feelings of unhappiness unto Stephen Drew. At least I admit it.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Sex tape pioneer Rob Lowe turned 50 yesterday. He was way ahead of the video curve that guy... Interesting argument from FanGraphs about Tigers better off not signing Stephen Drew... Last time I went to a Waffle House our waitress quit mid-shift before we got half our food or our bill. The manager was nice enough to give us a 10% discount for our trouble. A real prince among men that guy... Heh heh - if you flip a photo of bats hanging upside down - they look like they are having a wicked dance-off... The Phillies are said to be shopping Jimmy Rollins. If Philadelphia chipped in part of Rollins 2014 salary of $11 million - this could be something worth Detroit looking into... Have to wonder if Liam Neeson's Non-Stop was the inflight movie of MH370. Could explain some things... Interesting piece of WWI history I wasn't aware of... Gary Kasparov makes a good point - if Putin really is so popular in Russia why is he so afraid of free elections and a free media?... Very cool - the song of the hummingbird in super slo-motion... If the day after Christmas can be known as Boxing Day why can't the day after St. Patrick's Day be known as Hangover Day?...

Stephen Drew

Jose Iglesias is likely out for the season and immediately the speculation is that the Tigers will turn their attention to free agent Stephen Drew to fill the void. As a Red Sox fan I would like to see Drew signed somewhere and if he signed with Detroit the compensation pick would give Boston the 25th, 32nd, and 33rd picks in the first round of this year's MLB draft. That said - this is hardly a done deal.

First off - Drew isn't the only option for Detroit. Arizona is said to be open to dealing either Didi Gregorius or Chris Owings. Maybe a deal to the Diamondbacks for back-up catcher Bryan Holaday would make it happen? Seattle's Nick Franklin could also be a trade option. Why would the Tigers go the trade route instead of signing Drew? Two words - Scott Boras.

You can be sure that Boras will use this opportunity to start a bidding between Detroit and the Mets and maybe even the Yankees. The Tigers probably want Drew for just one year but that probably won't be enough for Boras who needs to prove he wasn't wrong in having Drew turn down the Red Sox one-year $14.1 million qualifying option.. Two years or more may make the trade route more attractive for the Tigers.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I still really want to see an Olympic ski jump event where all the participants have to make their jumps using those flying squirrel suits... US Marine attacks African immigrant and steals his lunch... Roy Oswalt announced he's retiring. It should be noted that he made $97 million in salary in his baseball career. I'm assuming his family won't go hungry... Chad Finn has a good take on how lucky Boston sports fans have been... Every time you hear a sob story about a free agent player like Stephen Drew who was offered a $14.1 million 1-year qualifying offer but has yet to sign with a team the spin of the story will somehow be how the compensation draft pick is hurting the player and a flaw in the system. What is never stressed is the fact that Stephen Drew was offered $14.1 million AND TURNED IT DOWN!... JRR Tolkien as a 24-year old in 1916 during WWI... The Olympics remind me that people flock to watch Ice Dancing but for some reason at all other times people won't flock to the Ice Capades. I think it is because of the word "capades". If they called it Ice Dancing of the Stars people would flock to it. Ice Capades not so much...

As the Stephen Drew Turns

Today the Hall of Fame will announce the Class of 2014 and once that's done the baseball world can get back to the biggest off-season debate - where will Stephen Drew play in 2014?

Jeff Sullivan has a good look at the market for Stephen Drew. The key line is, "It's a small market because [Stephen] Drew isn't needed by any team with real money to spend." YES! YES! A thousand times YES!

Stephen Drew isn't a superstar. He may be a top 10 MLB shortstop but the difference between him and a team's existing option at short is not that great. In the case of Boston - many think (myself included) that Drew at short in 2014 would be a worse solution that having super prospect Xander Bogaerts at short and 25-year old Will Middlebrooks at third. Stephen Drew? DO NOT WANT!

Drew in Boston doesn't make any sense. Bogaerts and Middlebrooks are young, inexpensive and provide a better offensive combination than a Drew / Bogaerts combo. Plus if Drew signs elsewhere the Red Sox get a draft pick! If Drew signs with Boston it will put them over the luxury tax and most likely force them to immediately deal either Ryan Dempster ($13 million) or Jake Peavy ($14 million).

And please spare me the argument that the remaining free agents are getting squeezed by draft pick compensation issues. It is not a flawed system that is preventing Stephen Drew from signing with a team. It is the fact that Stephen Drew is just not that good and he and his agent Scott Boras greatly over-estimated his value. The current system means the Red Sox had to give Drew a qualifying one-year offer of $14.1 million. That was a risk on Boston's part. What if he accepted? Again - the Red Sox would have been immediately forced to deal a Dempster or Peavy to make that work. Instead Drew MIGHT get a 2-year deal worth $16 million. If that comes to pass who is to blame? The system? Or Drew / Boras for passing up a $14 million one year deal?

As far as the other remaining big name free-agents like Nelson Cruz, Kendrys Morales, Ervin Santana and Ubaldo Jimenez - each has issues not related to draft pick compensation. Santana and Jiminez have to wait on the Tanaka posting lottery to finalize. Cruz is a PED guy and people are afraid of signing the next Juan Gonzalez. Morales is really just a DH with limited appeal. Cruz, Drew and Morales all should have signed the $14 million qualifying offer.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Is it me or do all the "Stephen Drew will add depth to the Red Sox" stories you are seeing smack of desperation leaking by Scott Boras. It's like Stephen Drew is slowly morphing into Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentleman, "I got no where else to go!" I liked Stephen Drew last year but I hope that ship has sailed... Nice article on poker Godfather Doyle Brunson... Would Dolph Lundgren have been a star if he went by Adolph Lundgren instead?... This is me when I drank Zima... When Barack Obama took office there were 37.9 million Americans living in poverty. Today there is 47.1 million - yet you won't see any stories about homelessness until a Republican is once again in the White House... Heh heh - Far Side comics in real life... If Bill Belichick played Ode to Joy on the accordion at his next press conference it would break the Internet... This week I vow to use the phrase, "Good day my jumentous fellow" and smile when saying it. Jumentous means "smelling like horse urine" but if you smile people will take it as a compliment...

Top 5 - Red Sox To Do List

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?

Red Sox Offseason Moves - Position Players

Here's how I see the Red Sox roster for position players going forward for the 2014 season. Pretty long position-by-position breakdown so if you are interested - it continues after the break.