The Red Sox, Tigers and Phillies are seen as the most serious suitors for Jayson Werth, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The Red Sox met with Werth and agent Scott Boras yesterday, according to ESPNBoston.com. However, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reports that the sides did not discuss contract terms yesterday. Instead, Werth, GM Theo Epstein and manager Terry Francona got to know each other.
The Rangers haven't ruled out pursuing Werth, but the White Sox are not pursuing him, Morosi reports.
Jeez, first the white sox, why is everyone so serious?
hot stove is serious stuff!
No! Not Werth! Please not Werth! He is going to be the bust of the offseason for the money and years Boras will milk out of whatever team signs him.
I’m praying that we don’t sign Werth! The money he’s going to get is so over the top (not that all of them aren’t) its crazy! F**K Scott Boras…IMHO Selig needs to step up and make some type of salary cap so that Boras can’t hold the league hostage every offseason. But Selig is blinded by the money he’s making so we all know that won’t happen soon!
True the money an years for Werth will be over the top. But the guy is an amazing player. Came in 8th in MVP voting this year- would be the new cleanup hitter and can play amazing defense, speed, an amazing arm, hits for average, OBP, OPS… as a player he won’t disappoint.
Dear Theo/Terry,
Stay away from Werth.
Sincerely,
JD Drew’s contract
Acutally, Drew has out performed his contract so far but there is still one more year left.
please don’t tell me your using those Fangraphs value measures…
If there’s any other way to objectively evaluate that contract, feel free to share.
So what’s the cheesy headline in the local paper of whichever city he goes to gonna say after he signs? “Let’s Hope He’s Werth It!” “(Team A) Pays Free Agent What He’s Werth”…what else?
on the outside chance that the Rangers pick him up… “Welcome to Fort Werth, Texas”
The Red Sox should forget about Werth and go hard after Crawford if they are going to pursue an outfielder. It’s not every day the Yankees aren’t in on the bidding for top of the line free agents. The Red Sox should take advantage of that and get the best they can.
What does Boston do if Werth, Beltre and Crawford go elsewhere?
Claim it’s a bridge year, somehow do better than expected, don’t make the playoffs, ratings drop more, and then offer Fielder/A-Gon/Pujols a billion dollars next year.
They either:
1) play Ells/Cameron/Drew as their outfield and Lowrie at 3rd
2) play Kalish/Ells/Drew as their and acquire AGon to play first and shift Youk to 3rd
3) Play any of the other AAAA players that were able to hold down the fort in the outfield this year and still kept the Sox in the hunt until the last week of the season and sign another slugging first baseman.
4) there are way too many other options to list them all here but they could always play some of their highly touted prospects and expect to win anyway. They had the second most productive offense in the league last year even with all of the injuries.
Cry?
Probably try very hard to trade for Upton/Rasmus/A-Gonz/Fielder
I’m sure they will take the field and try and win ball games. Not like they just throw the towel in on opening day.
Red Sox – They are in on Crawford, if they sign him Werth is out.
Tigers – Probably will sign Ordonez, if they do, Werth is out.
Phillies – They are looking for a complimentary player for D. Brown. Werth turned down arbitration, so he is out.
Bottom line: Werth should jump early at a good offer.
Make no mistake, Ordonez is the backup plan for the tigers if they don’t get Werth.
I’m torn between Werth and Maggs. Werth is more athletic but his away splits aren’t that good. Plus he only had 81 RBI’s in a stacked Phillies lineup so it makes me question his run producing ability. Maggs, I believe, is the better all around hitter but if we sign him we are going to be one slow azz team. Not to mention Werth’s contract is going to be way over priced. If I had my way I would try to convince Upton to waive his DNT clause to the Tigers or go for Rasmus. If not just resign Maggs 1yr/8mil maybe plus some incentives and hope Boesch/Wells steps it up or a trade presents itself.
The Phillies lineup was not very “stacked” last year. They were without Jimmy Rollins for most of the season, and when he was around he wasn’t the same player as he was in ’07 and ’08. Victorino was more of a power hitter and didn’t get on base a lot. Utley had a down year, and Ibanez was awful for 1/2 of the season. Werth was a real offensive force for the Phillies. His walk-off homer against the Nationals late in September was huge in their ability to come back and overcome the Braves for their 4th consecutive NL East title.
Although, his awful batting average with RISP is a concern. But, who knows. I’d give him 4 years, $75 million. But, he wants more than that. So, I would probably say, “no thanks.”
I think the red sox are just trying to avoid putting all their eggs in one basket. I believe Crawford is who they really want. I, too, would prefer them to sign Crawford. Werth is the consolation prize to a team that loses out on Crawford.
I think the moves necessary are simple. Sign Crawford (Werth if we cant get him). Aquire a 1B; there are many names out there. Personally, I wouldnt mind them picking up Konerko for a year or 2. last, and most important, sign relievers. good, solid relievers.
I hope the tigers sign him. so their 1st round draft pick wont go within the al
I’d rather have werth for 5 years than Crawford for 8.
I’d rather have Crawford for 10 then Werth for 3.
I dont necessarily agree with you. For one, while Crawford is looking for 8 years, Werth is looking for 6, rather than five. Werth is also almost 2 years older than Crawford. So, they will be about the same age when there respective contracts run out. With Crawford being a more athletic type player, I would think he would sustain his abilities better than Werth. Crawford has also put up consistent numbers for a longer period of time than Werth, and has been doing it in the AL East rather than the NL.
I’d rather have Crawford for 8 than Werth for 5.
Crawford’s best asset is speed. That declines quickly as guys age. His slg% is not worth 8 yrs and 18 mill a year. Werth has more pop and I doubt he’ll get 6 years. Six yrs would be a stretch. 8 years for a sexier version of ellsbury is not wise. I’d Crawford could play CF then maybe it would be worth.
I think most female Red Sox fans will tell you there isn’t such a thing as a sexier version of Ellsbury…
Joking aside, I think Crawfords defense, mild pop in his bat, and great contact skills will not deteriorate as badly as his speed, and those are all valuable assets that will still bring something to the team in his later years. Besides, many speedsters -have- been able to maintain speed in the later years, such as Juan Pierre, the great Rickey Henderson, Podsednik to a point….its an all or nothing kind of skill I think. If he slows down, he’ll start slowing down dramatically. But its also possible he stays fast for a long time.
I’d rather have 5-6 years of Werth than 2 years of Magglio and three years of some random dude to be named later.
If Detroit signs Werth, Red Sox sign Crawford, and the A’s sign Beltre, the Red Sox would end up without a first-round pick in next year’s draft.
Maybe some extra impetus for the Sox to sign Werth rather than Crawford, if only to keep him away from Detroit.
The Red Sox will see little impact if Werth re-signs with the Phillies. However, a signing with the Red Sox or the Tigers has these consequences:
— if Werth signs with Boston, the Red Sox lose their No. 24 first-round pick in the June 2011 draft (unless the Red Sox also sign a higher-ranked free agent, which would drop the pick to the second round)
— if Werth signs with the Tigers, Boston’s compensatory draft pick for the Victor Martinez signing drops from Detroit’s No. 19 first-round pick to Detroit’s second-round pick in the range of No. 70-80*. The Red Sox would still receive a sandwich-round pick on top of Detroit’s pick.
* because Jayson Werth is ranked higher than Victor Martinez in the Elias rankings
Detroit needs to work something out with Magglio–like it or not, he’s so insanely popular, he helps put fans in the seats there. Raburn/Clete Thomas/Casper the friendly ghost/Boesch do not get fans to the park. They then need to turn and focus on finding one more reliever and settle the questions surrounding the rotation.
I get what your saying, but if the fans are what you’re worried about, I’m pretty V-Mart and Werth would put plenty of fans in the seats.
That said, I agree with you that their focus should be on pitching and Ordonez, and not Werth so much, although I wouldn’t mind having Werth and going into the season with the rotation and bullpen the Tigers already have.
I’m not worried about the fans, personally. However, a lot of Tiger fans don’t follow other teams, sad to say. I can only imagine the “Werth, who?” comments, before they run to google to wikipedia him. But, understand, I just speak from my experience.
With the hair and the walk off homerun in ’06, Maggs is a hero to the city. Sign him and concentrate on other things. Phil Coke in the #4 spot in the rotation is not the answer-he of one starting experience in the minors, and one in the majors. Schlereth is unproven. Brad Thomas=the new Jason Grilli. Who knows about the health of Zumaya. Will Perry and Porcello mature and develop more command? Is Galaragga going to come back and earn that 5th spot and bounce back, or are we going to test the waters with some kind of combo of Oliver/Furbursh/Turner/etc. And with Peralta and perhaps Guillen at 2B (Leyland is saying he is in the mix for the job), my confidence is shaky in the defense, and the pitching will have to be top notch. That’s why I say spend on Maggs and the pitching, and not Werth…
Signing Werth will not help me get over the fact that the Red Sox didn’t sign Vmart
I’m with you. Neither would signing Crawford.
Or picking up Ortiz’ option.
V-Mart was a mistake on the Sox part. So was not signing Beltre. That being said, I think the Sox should sign Werth and not Crawford. The LF in Fenway is not suitable for Crawford. He needs a field where you can use his speed. Werth is more like Jason Bay, but I would not give him Crawford money, more like Bay money.
Actually a decent amount of Werth’s game is based upon speed as well. Bay is a stiff. Not a good comparison besides the fact Werth will be overpaid like Bay. However, I have to say the difference between Werth and Crawford based on that Crawford will get more years and money isn’t as dramatic as red sox fans are making it out to be.
Bay wasn’t a stiff agains’t the Yanks 2 years ago. In fact, he carried the Sox the first part of the season when the Sox beat the Yanks brains in.
He’s speaking defensively and on the base paths I believe.
Bay wasn’t a stiff agains’t the Yanks 2 years ago. In fact, he carried the Sox the first part of the season when the Sox beat the Yanks brains in.
V-Mart never made sense with Boston at the years he wanted. He’s going to be a fulltime 1B/DH in a year or two, and Boston couldn’t have another player like that on their team, making it even harder to get an A-Gon or Fielder or something.
I doubt the Sox will sign Ortiz next season so if anything Vmart can be a more versatile DH than Ortiz down the road. He destroys left handed pitching, can play first base or catcher if God forbid anyone gets hurt. This was their only mistake but great job on the Gonzalez/Crawford signing!
V-Mart would -not- be a better DH. Better than Ortiz in a couple years? Sure. But that’s why we picked up the option, so that we can replace him after 2011. But V-Mart’s hitting value is only so high because he can catch; otherwise he’s on the low end of average in a very crowded 1B/DH market. Sure, he can hit left-handed pitching, but I can’t put enough value on that to justify weakening what is so usually a power position at DH. Especially when there are likely going to be many other, better choices.
Please trade Raul and sign Werth. Eat the money.
With the sox signing of adam Dunn,Detroit must really try for carl crawford, im not sure werth is a good fit for the tigers,what other big bat could help ?
The big negitive with signing Werth is his agent Boras. You are going to over pay for him.
I got what your saying slider,… you know teams like the tigers have to talk too these players an find out if they would really like too play for the tigers, an not talk to a money hungry agent. People like boras are leaches.
Bringing back Magglio is the best option in my opinion. Werth will be too expensive, same with Crawford and he is seeking an 8 yr deal.
You know I like Mags too,I think he would make a great placement hitter, but is he up too the task, can he have another year like 06,07. I think he would have too make a great comeback this season an lose alittle weight.
Bringing back Magglio is the best option in my opinion. Werth will be too expensive, same with Crawford and he is seeking an 8 yr deal.
For about they same money as vladdy I would rather see the Rangers get Werth. He would be an up grade, because he can still play the field and Vladdy suxs.
I think you have hit on something, Werth would be a perfect fit for the Rangers.
Disagree, Rangers should just focus on Cliff Lee, or trade for Greinke, and save the money on the players they need to extend players in their core later on like Cruz, Kinsler, Hamilton, Andrus
I think you have hit on something, Werth would be a perfect fit for the Rangers.
If the Rangers are going to spend 5 mil on Vladdy, strickley a DH than an extra 2 or 3mil will get you an OF/DH in Werth. Clear choice is Werth, no question. You get a 2 for 1 in Werth, pop and defense.
Werth is going to go for a lot more than $8M a year.
Tigers just need to sign Magglio, JJ Putz and JC Romero in the bullpen, and an innings eater like Aaron Harang. I think that would be good enough to make the playoffs, if Magglio stays healthy this year. I would also like to go after Corey Patterson as he will add speed and fit perfectly in our OF. Those moves, along with signing VMart and Benoit, will make Detroit a favorite. With the big OF that Detroit has, it makes sense to go after a fast OF, although, I would’ve prefered Rajai Davis when he was available.
CF- Austin Jackson
LF- Corey Patterson (2 year, 8 million)
RF- Magglio Ordonez (1 year, 8 million)
1B- Miguel Cabrera
DH- Victor Martinez
SS- Jhonny Peralta
2B- Carlos Guillen (for now)
3B- Brandon Inge
C- Alex Avila
When VMart catches, Ryan Raburn will play RF and Magglio will DH
SP- Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Aaron Harang, Rick Porcello, Phil Coke
RP- JJ Putz, Ryan Perry, JC Romero, Daniel Schlereth, and others
SU- Joaquin Benoit
CL- Jose Valverde