Apparently Casey Kotchman is headed to Seattle in a trade that would bring 3B/OF Bill Hall to Boston, along with cash and perhaps a minor leaguer. The cash is because Hall will earn roughly twice as much as Kotchman in 2010. Hall is a lifetime .251/.309/.441 hitter, a super-utility player who can play a pretty strong 3B and man the corner outfield spots, and even play CF or middle infielder in a pinch. He is yet another right-handed, low-OBP guy with some power (is it just me, or did Theo kind of go crazy with these types all of a sudden?). He does strike out about 30% of the time; if you thought Jason Bay struck out a lot, you ain’t seen nothin yet.
This. Is. Awesome. I have written disparaging things about the Sox getting Adrian Beltre, but that was when I thought it would take a four-year deal to get him. Instead, the Red Sox have signed him to a one-year contract at $9M with a $5M player option with a $1M buyout for 2011. Basically the way it works is the player can opt out if he thinks he will be worth more than $5M on next year’s free agent market.
Given Beltre’s injury woes and questions surrounding his age, I think this is a dream deal for the Sox, and I am utterly shocked that Scott Boras allowed Beltre to sign this small of a deal. There are rumors suggesting that Beltre turned down significantly more money from at least two other clubs (thought to be the Angels and A’s) in order to play for Boston.
Jon Lester was voted the Red Sox pitcher of the year by the Boston chapter of the baseball writers association. No argument here. Also, congratulations are in order for Jacoby Ellsbury, who MLB.com This Year in Baseball fans voted the best defensive player in baseball last season. Great compilation of his web gems, but it’s the routine plays that matter more in the long run. As much as I like Ells, I would never claim that he’s the best gloveman in the Majors. Fans love the highlights, though.
The Mike Lowell trade should be worked out or fail by the end of this weekend, writes the ProJo. That thumb is a big factor for a team like the Rangers. If the Sox are truly seeking to sign Adrian Beltre, it won’t happen before this situation is laid to rest one way or another.
Adrian Gonzalez thinks he will be traded to the Red Sox in the next ten days, claims Jorge Arangure of ESPN.com. Ken Rosenthal says that the Sox are “working hard” to land the first baseman, but the talks don’t seem to be going anywhere as of now. He suggests that Jed Hoyer wants a package including Clay Buchholz and one of Casey Kelly or Ryan Westmoreland back in any deal, and that latter demand has been a sticking point for Theo Epstein. John Tomase says that the rumors are way overblown at this point, and I think I agree that this deal may not happen until July.
As I’ve detailed here, we have a pretty strong team as currently constituted. But this early in the offseason, could Theo Epstein already be done? We’ve improved the pitching and the defense, and filled the LF vacancy, but are we going to trade Mike Lowell and just stand pat? Will we really move Kevin Youkilis to third base in order to start Casey Kotchman at first? I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Buster Olney tweets that the Sox are now looking into signing a right-handed outfielder “such as Xavier Nady”. Isn’t the fourth outfielder usually the kind of thing you deal with after everything else is set? Or maybe Nady is not a fourth outfielder at all, and this is setting up a trade of Jacoby Ellsbury, with Cameron moving to CF (Cameron has stated that he wants to play centerfield). Scutaro’s .360 OBP is good enough to bat leadoff, and he and Dustin Pedroia would give pitchers fits with their long at-bats.
Yesterday was like a whirlwind, as the Red Sox pounced on two veteran free agents in one afternoon. Seemingly out of nowhere, they signed both SP John Lackey and OF Mike Cameron. Lackey is a workhorse who has learned how to pitch well, despite losing ground in some areas, such as batter contact rate. He pounds the corners with a heavy fastball and features a knee-buckling curveball. With his knowledge of pitching plus his large frame, he figures to age pretty well; that must be why the Sox were willing to go five years with him.
With the surprise signing of John Lackey today, the Sox may have decided to freeze out Matt Holliday and agent Scott Boras altogether. A signing of that magnitude would suggest no room to add someone with Holliday’s salary requirements. Ken Rosenthal now says that the Sox are in serious talks with CF Mike Cameron about a two-year deal. The power-hitting Cameron has maintained that he wants a full-time job in centerfield, and UZR suggests that he would be a huge upgrade (+10.0 runs in 2009) over Jacoby Ellsbury (-18.6 runs in 2009) there, even at age 37. Ellsbury would certainly be a dazzling defender in left field, and his limitations with judging balls would be minimized there.
The weekend was not kind to the Red Sox in terms of their negotiations with free agent Jason Bay. Agent Joe Urbon said that they have rejected Boston’s 4-year, $60M offer and are ready to “move on” to other suitors:
“It hasn’t changed much…We’ve been talking with them for 10 months. We’ve got to a point where based on the offers we’ve received from other clubs, we needed to make it clear where we stand, and they’ve made it clear where they stand. If they want to re-engage at some point in this process but we’re not going to wait. We can’t wait. We have to go at the pace of the other clubs. I’m sure the Red Sox will have other avenues that they will pursue or they are pursuing.”
The Red Sox lost two prospects through today’s Rule 5 draft. 3B Jorge Jimenez went to the Marlins via the Astros with the 8th pick, and LHP Andrew Zerpa went to the Dodgers via the Rays at number 15. Neither player is projected to be of much use, but you never know what they might turn out to be. Regardless, I think we needed the room on the 40-man roster because:
The Red Sox traded a PTBNL to the Twins for RHP Boof Bonser today. It is likely to be a single-A or double-AA player that goes to Minnesota. The 27-year old showed some promise early, but has been unable to make the Twins’ rotation and struggled in recent years. He throws in the low 90s and also has a pretty good slurvy slider and a curveball. Bonser gives up gopher balls with regularity, which has led to unimpressive ERAs. Still, he’s managed a decent 7.28 K/9 and a respectable 2.87 BB/9, mostly as a starter (4.60 FIP). As a reliever and swingman just entering arbitration, he’s of value to the Sox. Rebuilding that bullpen gets easier by adding a free, somewhat legitimate Major League arm.
If the trade of Mike Lowell goes through, the Sox could stand to add a corner infielder. With Max Ramirez added to a slew of players to fill the C/1B/3B/DH roles, the Sox don’t NEED to make a move, yet they probably should. My logic goes like this: Ramirez is labeled as a catcher, but is he our catcher of the future? No. He’s poor defensively. Victor Martinez can catch maybe 60-70% of our games, but we need a good defensive guy to complement him. Do we see Ramirez as our future 1B or DH? Possibly, but at 5-11, 180 his ceiling might not be what we’re looking for. He looks like a trading chip to me.
