Daisuke Matsuzaka had his best outing of the spring against the Tigers today, allowing two hits and a walk in five scoreless innings, striking out five. Here's the latest on the AL East, as the Red Sox and their fans gain a little confidence in the back of their rotation…
- Victor Martinez, who was playing against his former team this afternoon, told the Boston Herald that he "loved" Boston and has no hard feelings toward the Red Sox. V-Mart added that he thinks the Red Sox are offseason winners because they improved their pitching and offense.
- Alex Speier of WEEI.com wonders what might have happened if the Red Sox had re-signed Martinez. A team source tells Speier that the Red Sox thought there was a chance the backstop would return. But as we heard earlier in the offseason, the Red Sox had doubts about Martinez's ability to catch long-term.
- If Martinez had returned, Speier hears that the Red Sox would have had the resources to pursue either Carl Crawford or Adrian Gonzalez, but not both.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports hears that Yankees right-hander Romulo Sanchez has been impressing scouts (Twitter link). The out-of-options 26-year-old could fit on a team looking for relief help, according to Rosenthal.
So the RS can only give 280 million+ to 2 players? Oh..
Long-term commitment =/= yearly commitment obviously
$280M/14yrs. = $20M/yr./each player (Gonzo & Crawford at prime age throughout)
…. VERSUS ….
$275M/10yrs. = $27.5/yr. for A-Rod covering age 32yrs. to 42yrs.
Boston wins, hands down!!!
That is, unless A-Rod hits ave. of .320/60hrs/200rbi/200runs/60sb….per season/throughout…
Verlander gave up no walks, and the only hit was a solo homer. That game today was a bit of a nail biter
Verlander looked good but that is expected. Fans literally have no idea what to expect when Dice-K pitches…at this point, I could see him throwing a complete game shutout or a 7-run 2-IP game and wouldn’t blink either way.
Victor was pretty good last season, but ask any baseball fan which two they would rather have out of Crawford, Gonzelez, and Martinez and almost all would pick the first two, simply better baseball players. Hopefully the Red Sox can develop a young catcher, either Salty works out or they have some promising young options in their system. And I think during the season Theo can trade for a solid veteran catcher if needed for not too much.
I think the Sox will be able to get away with a full season of Salty/Tek and so AAAA catcher like Kevin Cash. All else being equal the Sox have a great offense, they’ll be fine with the catcher hitting 8th.
Kevin Cash isn’t AAAA good. He isn’t even little league good.
Ok, I was stretching that to extremes. But I can see the Sox trading for him and using him in emergencies.
“In case of emergency, use Cash.”
Sounds like the government 🙁
Don’t go mixin’ politics in with my baseball.
fair enough, was just first thing to come to mind….
Sounds like what the NFL should do 🙁
“Sounds like the government :-(”
“Sounds like what the NFL should do :(”
What happened to your frowny faces nose?
Like the NFLPA, I cut off my nose to spite my face.
They already have 1 useless catcher in Hoover to sit around at Pawtucket. Lets not go out and get another.
If a good defense, no hit catcher is needed for injury replacement (likely at some point), I’d just bring up Wagner.
over the past two seasons, crawford has been better than martinez at everything except catching (and that last part may only be because crawford hasn’t had a chance)
VMarts also better at hitting right handed….. or is he?
Well, all else being equal, but V-Mart will cost 12.5 million a year and Crawford 20 million a year. Jayson Werth said the Red Sox made him a 5 year offer but he was looking for 6 and the Nats offered 7. If true, Crawford was the Red Sox 2nd choice.
The reason is because Crawfords defense in Fenway is wasted a bit, and he will have to curtail his running game batting 3rd in the Red Sox lineup. He won’t be able to run on Posada and Varitelk this year either. Offensively, his OBP ability is only above average, and he does not have much power. His power numbers will be hurt with Fenways RF, and he does not hit many FB to LF so won’t be able to take advantage of the wall (unless he can change his approach). He does not work the count any better than league average, and struggles against LHP’ers.
So while he is still a very good player, he is not worth 20 million now, let alone at the end of his contract when he slows down a bit.
Why would you think Theo could trade for a solid veteran catcher if needed when he could not or would not do so last year.
I don’t think Crawford was necessarily a second choice. They probably just expected the Angels to go harder for him than they did. I can’t see Theo making someone with as crappy a BA/RISP as Werth his first choice.
Hold on, you mean to tell me that Ken Rosenthal did a story on the Yankees? When did this start?
were you born today? he’s been butt-kissing the junkees all along.
Starting a sentence with “Hold on, you mean to tell me…” is a good indicator of some heavy sarcasm headed your way.
Were you born today?
I was born today, 19 years ago…. 🙂
Happy Birthday.
I don’t know about Mr. Magorphenger but I for one was not born today…. I was born yesterday thank you very much.
/sarcasm WOAH MLBTR
I like that Martinez is a classy guy towards the Red Sox. I respect him more than most baseball players.
Funny…the Red Sox have essentially the same pitching staff as they did in 2010… with improved defense behind the plate, in left field, center, and, overall, in right.
The 2011 roster is also stronger up the middle with the veteran Scutaro, a healthy Lowrie, Pedroia and Inglaises (sp) waiting in the wings, along with an overabundance of speed on the basepaths.. And yes, the middle of their lineup brings more power to the plate
Victor, you would never have seen a $50M contract in Cleveland….so, yes…. what Theo, eyc…did for your career makes you a very lucky “good” hitter…
at least half the bullpen will be new… I don’t see that as ‘virtually the same’
The bullpen cant be any worse than it was last season. Thats why I’m excited about the Red Sox, they won 89 games without Ellsbury, Youkilis, and Pedroia for much of it, a crappy bullpen, and mediocre-to-poor performances from Beckett/Lackey. On paper, they look much better, if the health can hold up.
Where can I find the moderators email address?