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This year’s Fielding Bible ratings are out, and the Red Sox infield rates among the best in the Major Leagues.
- Kevin Youkilis finished in a tie with Todd Helton for 9th place at +6.
- Dustin Pedroia finished 5th among second basemen with a +15 score.
- Jed Lowrie was 10th with a +8 at shortstop, despite playing only a fraction of the 2008 season. I’m pleasantly surprised by Lowrie’s fielding prowess; I had thought he couldn’t stick at short for more than a few years, but he’s doing a great job thus far.
- None of our outfielders cracked the top 10 at their positions, but none of them were among the bottom 6. Not terribly surprising, considering so many of them played partial seasons this year. Mark Kotsay was tied for 3rd worst in center with Vernon Wells this year, but that was in Atlanta. No wonder they played him at first base.
For those not familiar with John Dewan’s Plus/Minus system, a trained committee reviews every fielding chance a player has during the course of the season, then gives a +1 score for an above-average play or -1 for a poor play that should have been made. This kind of system is a far better judge of fielding ability than anything using arcane statistics such as putouts, assists and range factor. They don’t address catcher, because so much of what makes a catcher good is not measurable by these metrics.
There are actually a decent number of catchers with “potential” or seen as “on the brink” of making it out there. After perusing the free agent market, I’m looking at potential trade targets and liking catcher Chris Snyder of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Red Sox claimed 26-year old pitcher Virgil Vasquez off of waivers from the Detroit Tigers a couple of days ago. The righthander appears to be a solid pitcher with good control and a fair but unimpressive strikeout rate. He has played at AAA Toledo the past two seasons, winning the Mud Hens’ Pitcher of the Year Award in 2007, when he went 12-5 with a 3.48 ERA and struck out a very solid 127 men in 155 IP. He just appears to be a decent all-around pitcher, and will likely fill a role similar to David Pauley this year.
29-year old Gil Velazquez, who made his Major League debut with the Sox this year, cleared waivers and was removed from the 40-man roster. He chose to become a free agent rather than accept reassignment to the Minor Leagues.
If the sportswriters don’t see it, at least the fans do. MLB fans selected Kevin Youkilis as the player with the best offensive season this year in the AL. He picked up his Hank Aaron Award in Philadelphia yesterday, with the World Series going on around him. He didn’t stay to catch the game.
Youkilis had just a really strong 2008 all around, though he didn’t dominate any particular category. But he’s one of the big reasons the Sox didn’t crumble without a healthy David Ortiz this season.
Under intense public pressure to re-sign his slugger, Dodger GM Ned Colletti may be offering a 2-year deal worth $60M to Manny Ramirez. This is similar to the deal that Los Angeles gave to Andruw Jones last offseason, big money for short years. In contrast, agent Scott Boras has said that his 37-year old-to-be client is looking for a 5-year deal valued at $25M per year, but that’s just not going to happen.
The biggest free agent position player available this offseason is 28-year old first baseman Mark Teixeira. He’s a switch-hitting power hitter with a career .290/.378/.541 line, plays Gold Glove defense and is a team player with no off-field baggage. Who wouldn’t want him? Tony Massarotti writes that “a club source” confirms the Red Sox have had internal talks regarding Big Tex, with any signing requiring a trade of Mike Lowell and a shift of Kevin Youkilis to third base.
This article doesn’t surprise me one bit. People are asking why we should pay Jason Varitek like a superstar when he hit .220/.313/.359 last year, a woeful 27% worse than league average. What is he worth to the Red Sox, exactly?
I’ve already posted my thoughts on what I think the Red Sox need to address this offseason. What’s your take?
