The Red Sox shuffled their lineup yesterday, playing Adrian Gonzalez in right field to create space for Kevin Youkilis and Will Middlebrooks. Here's the latest on the Red Sox as the club prepares to resume its series with the Orioles…
- Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said on WEEI’s Dennis & Callahan show that he doesn’t anticipate trading Youkilis. “He's making up for a lot of deficiencies that have presented themselves at other positions,” Valentine said. “Trading him — I don't see that." (transcript by Jerry Spar). The Phillies and Indians were eyeing Youkilis earlier in the month.
- GM Ben Cherington said David Ortiz deserves recognition for his work on and off the field, Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald reports. “I feel pretty good about our relationship with David,” Cherington said. “We certainly support him and have a lot of respect for him and want him to be on our side, and I’m glad he is.” Earlier in the week the DH spoke of a lack of respect from the front office.
I guarantee that they’re going to trade Youkilis immediately after he proves that he’s healthy again. If Sweeney is back in seven days from the concussion, then I wouldn’t be shocked at all if they pulled the trigger on a Youkilis deal.
I also wouldn’t be shocked to see Youk get traded. I have no clue when it’d be since it probably depends on how much the Sox are looking to get, and who’s looking (and how desperate that team may be).
There’s nowhere for Youk to play regularly. I can’t see how they’d retain him without putting Gonzo in RF on a semi-regular basis.
Lack of respect? Seriously David?
I actually agree with David. In his eyes, the front office could have handed him a fair 4 year deal, 3.5 years ago and it would have been both deserved and fulfilled in terms of production.
The media dragged him through the mud when he struggled. I’m a die hard Sox fan, but David went through and what Beckett is currently going through is absolutely ridiculous.
They DID hand him a fair 4-year deal, just before the 2007 season. How could they have given him another one in the middle of that?
Then in 2008 and 2009, his numbers were way below what a) he had been playing, b) his contract merited, and c) his team expected and needed.
2010 got off to a terrible start, when he put up a .143/.238/.286 line in April.
In short, he did not really live up to the expectations of his extremely fair 4-year deal. Boston was 100% right in treating him year-by-year for the two contracts he’s had since then.
Now, in retrospect, we see that for the rest of 2010, in all of 2011, and so far this year, he is playing much better. Some would say that he’s playing for his contracts, and that would explain his blah performance in the middle years of his last mega-deal. Some would say that he went off the juice in 2008, and perhaps now he’s back on it. Some would say that he just had a couple off years.
I would say that he’s on the wrong side of 35, he’s a defensive liability, and although he’s proven that he can perform, he’s also proven that he can struggle. Personally, I think he’s incredibly well respected in both words and dollars. He should shrug off the criticism he doesn’t like and embrace the support he gets. He’s doing a lot better than most of baseball, let alone most of the world.
All big name players in big markets will get criticized for when they struggle. Heck anytime Mariano Rivera blew consecutive saves there were all articles about him being near the end and how he’s finished, and he didn’t let it bother him at all.
If Papi wants to consider himself a leader, then don’t go whining because the media said something about you. If you have to go to tell people you’re a leader, then you shouldn’t be one.
“media dragged him through the mud when he struggled”
That’s neither here nor there.. The NE media drags/dragged everyone threw the mud, unless there last name is Kennedy..
They did it to Yaz and Williams also.. Why wouldn’t they do it to ortiz who has only played for them a “measly” ten years, gotten caught up in HGH scandal, and won’t ever get a sniff of the HOF?
And I assume when you say 3.5 years ago you mean in the 2008 offseason?
In 2008, his Batting average droped 70 points, OBP dropped 80 points, slugging dopped 110 points (but was still fairly high), and he also only played 109 games that year. If you’re referring to the 2009 offseason, his percentages were even worse for 2009.
Yup. Instead of giving him a 2-year deal like he wanted (and certainly deserved, not even considering his legacy in Boston), the Boston FO did their usual smear campaign through the Globe, and even threatened to go to arbitration over the matter of a few million. This, when it’s paying noted schlubs Dice-K, Lackey and Crawford millions upon millions to do nothing.
Not saying that should force them to pay Ortiz more, but Ortiz certainly gets to feel upset that other players are making more than him, while he’s the one who’s actually kept on producing.
Ortiz is absolutely in the right to feel a lack of respect, especially considering all he’s given the team over the years.
Getting offered a 1 year deal instead of 2 at the age of 36 is not getting a lack of respect, at all. Look at what happened with Lance Berkman who had a better year than Ortiz did And played defense. He took a 1 year deal immediately from St. Louis And it was still during the regular season.
This has been going on for quite some time with Ortiz. He seems to always refuse the Red Sox first offer even when the $ is a respectable $14 mil a year.
The last 3 seasons, Ortiz has averaged only a 2.2 WAR. And all he does is demand more money or a multi-year deal after each offseason. In no way whatsoever is the front office disrespecting him. It’s ridiculous.
The media might be a differnet story, but certainly not the front office.
And that all depends on who these other players are, that you are talking about. I will say Ortiz deserves to be the highest paid DH (and he already is and rightfully so), and the Red Sox continue to offer him an amount which still puts him at the highest paid.
‘And played defense.’
I guess that is what you could call it.
Touche
Well you get my point. Ortiz is already the highest paid DH. The Red Sox not giving him the money he wants is not a lack of respect. I’m sorry.
But I don’t blame the Sox for being wary of offering Ortiz a multi-year deal at his age.
Tell that to andrew who thinks that’s a lack of respect
They didn’t go “threaten to go to arbitration” over a few million dollars. They offered it in the hope that some team would sign him as a free agent and the Sox could get 1-2 draft picks in return. When Ortiz decided to accept arbitration (which I think was a good call for a DH of his age), the Sox offered him a bit more than what the minimum would have been in arbitration just to avoid the bad feelings that could arise during the arb process.
On the whole, Ortiz made out VERY well this year. Sure, he didn’t get a multi-year deal. But if he’d tested the FA waters this past winter, he’d have been lucky to get a 2 yr deal making what he’ll make in a single year with the Sox this season.
Is the idea still to trade Youk for a starter? I heard Philly and Blanton’s name mentioned as one possibility.
God, I hope not…. Blanton is yesterday’s news.
Yeah, sports writers mention him every time, but ignore them. There’s no way Boston trades Youkilis for a pitcher who isn’t any better than what they already have.
Blanton, IMHO, is not as good as a few guys the Sox have down in Pawtucket at the moment.
At the very least I would say that he isn’t appreciably better than Cook or Matsuzaka.
sadly, some a’s fans ACTUALLY think a youkilis for mccarthy trade is even, or a cook for youkilis trade…thank god they don’t run the a’s
a cook for youkilis trade
Holy service time, Batman. That is all.
Papi has officially kicked off his campaign to get his current 1-year contract extended, hopefully for another two years. If he keeps himself in the shape he is now in (30 lbs. lighter than 2011) he should be given an extension and Cherington should be talking to his agent right now. As things stand, Ortiz is done with the Red Sox in four months. He wants job security…and who can blame the man for speaking out…
Youkilis can play some LF, 1B, DH and 3B. They can move him around to keep his bat in the lineup “IF” he ever starts to hit with authority on a consistent basis… He was 1-4 last night and looked good at 1B….where mobility isn’t as important as at 3B…
Valentine might even be thinking about playing Middlebrooks at SS and or 2nd on occasion tp give Aviles/Pedroia a break…. There are enough options available to keep everyone happy “and” to continue to have Middlebrook’s and Kevin’s bat in the lineup ar the same time… as long as none of the affected players get pig headed about where they are assigned to play on a given day, a rotation approach could work….. flexibility is the byword here…
I wish that the Sox put more value on training players to be positionally flexible in the minor leagues. That is, train them to play multiple positions. There’s no reason that a guy with Middlebrooks’ body shouldn’t know how to play the corner OF positions and 1B, as well as his normal 3B position.
Being very good at one position is more valuable to a MLB team than being decent at several.
Not saying Middlebrooks shouldn’t know how to be an emergency OF or emergency/backup 1B (and I bet he could play there for a few innings if there were an emergency), but being good at one position is more valuable to the team, ESPECIALLY when its considered a premium defensive position like 3B.
Melonis, I’m not saying that the players should split their time evenly between a number of positions. Not at all. But why do you think that Agon played RF while Middlebrooks stayed at 3B? Because AGon has played some RF in the past (during winter ball)!!!
Learning to play multiple positions doesn’t mean learning to be gold glove caliber. It just means learning the basics. Maybe how to turn a double play for SS/2B, or how to track fly balls for an outfielder.
So I’m sorry, but I have to disagree with you. I don’t think that learning to be very good at one’s natural position precludes one from learning the basics of a couple other positions, just in case you need to play one of those other positions in an emergency. Or what the heck, maybe circumstances will occur that block the player from getting the the majors on his team at his normal position, but being able to play another position may still allow him to make the big club… like Kevin Youkilis for example?
Middlebrooks was signed out of high school by the Red Sox as a shortstop. They converted him to 3B, according to the literature, because he grew to be bigger than the Red Sox prototype of a shortstop. He was voted a Texas high school American in baseball, at the shortstop position. Certainly, in a pinch, he could slide over to his left 4-5 steps and play as well defensively as he plays at 3B.
BTW, I am watching Youkilis play 3B v. Tampa, tonite. The man has slimmed down noticeably! He looks lean and hungry and agile on his feet…Now if he an only get his stroke back.
Youk has won gold gloves at 3rd and 1st.
V. Martinez, when with the Sox, caught and played 1st.
Aviles has played every infield position.
Etc, etc… Sooo, I am just saying.
Carrying 12 pitchers, 2 catchers a DH, and a 4th OF’er only leaves 9 roster slots for the the 8 players assigned regularly to defensive positions on the field. Not too much flexibility there…so some players have to be multi-positional, in order to make things work …from game to game.
IMHO, taking the DH into account, the fact that quality starts from pitchers accrue if they last 6 innings, the expanded schedule (from 154 to 162…I know,years ago), all the travel, etc… rosters could justifiably be expanded by one or even two additional roster slots. In the 25-man scheme of things…. much flexibility is taken away from the manager, save and except, the ability to remove or bring in new pitchers during the course of a game, give the signal to steal a base. etc.
No late inning secret weapons on the bench like some teams had in the old days, to keep the level of drama up until the end of a game.
“Earlier in the week the DH spoke of a lack of respect from the front office.”
Meh. “Lack of respect” is just Dominican for “I want a long-term contract”.
LOL. I think that it’s also American for “I want a long term contract” as well. 🙂