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The Red Sox acquired 25-year old right-hander Wes Littleton from Texas a couple of days ago for two PTBNLs. Littleton throws a sinker in the high 80s as well as a slurve that clocks in around 75 mph, making him tough on right-handed hitters. He has a half-decent changeup that he can mix in against lefties as well.
The good is that Littleton gets around 60% ground balls; but while he’s struck out a good number of hitters at the Triple-A level, but hasn’t been able to replicate that in the Majors. I expect him to provide bullpen depth at Pawtucket, but he could see some significant time, should Justin Masterson stick in the rotation. He was out of minor league options, so they won’t have to give up too much for him.
It appears that Junichi Tazawa has indeed agreed to sign with the Red Sox, if you believe these reports out of the Japanese media. He is slated to begin at Double-A Portland next year; let’s hope he develops.
Rob Bradford at WEEI.com says that the Sox have tendered a one-year offer to Jason Varitek that is not the kind of money agent Scott Boras had in mind. They certainly won’t take this deal, but I’m beginning to wonder if Tek has that many other options out there.
Nick Piecoro reports that the Sox have been poking around about young catcher Miguel Montero. So far, they have not been able to match up on a deal, so to get this done, a three-way deal would be needed. The Dbacks need middle infielders, but the only tradeable piece we have is Julio Lugo, unless we want to trade Jed Lowrie.
I’d like to try a thought experiment. Let’s examine what the Sox lineup, rotation and bullpen looks like for next year, and figure out where we really need help. Can we realistically expect to be as good as last year?
Some good reading available here:
- Michael Silverman says that the Red Sox “lust” after Mark Teixeira, who was seen on the sideline at the Georgia Tech game with Jason Varitek this past weekend. He is definitely the prototypical player they love.
- Junichi Tazawa may become an unrestricted free agent in about a week’s time, but will the Red Sox risk offending Japan baseball to get this one player?
- Coco Crisp was almost traded to the Cincinnati Reds, according to Walt Jocketty. Certainly a better choice than Corey Patterson, last year’s Opening Day starter in centerfield.
- Peter Bendix likes the Coco trade for the Red Sox, but Dave Cameron doesn’t.
- A cool article at The Hardball Times profiling Dayton Moore’s obsession with trading away relief pitchers for prospects and semi-useful players.
- Does experience matter in the playoffs? David Gassko thinks so. Most statheads would say no, but I think that’s a big reason we made it as far as we did in this year’s playoffs.
With the Rule 5 draft coming up, today was the deadline for teams to set their 40-man rosters. The Red Sox added three players to protect them from being draftable by other teams: left-handed reliever Hunter Jones, left-handed pitcher Felix Doubront, and catcher Mark Wagner. Boston now has 37 players on that roster, meaning they also have space to take available players when the Rule 5 draft happens on December 11. Those slots are also necessary for any free agents we might sign before then.
The Red Sox have signed 1B/LF Paul McAnulty to a minor league contract. The left-handed McAnulty has a lifetime .304/.395/.493 minor league line, but has scuffled at the Major League level, hitting .208/.324/.330 in limited duty. He had a huge year at Triple-A Portland (Oregon) in 2008.
The Red Sox are said to have serious interest in free agent pitcher A.J. Burnett, who is also being pursued by the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays, among others. A.J. opted out of $12M/year in Toronto, so we are looking at a big financial commitment here. Should Boston blow away the righty and ink him to a 5-year deal in the $75-85M range?
