Also, I kinda think the Sox caught lightining in a bottle last season and will now come back down to earth (and thus play like they appear on paper, a sub 500 team.) Also doesn't help that the Sox lost Ellsbury and Salty and then literally did nothing all offseason.
Only because you're ignoring how strong of a farm system the Red Sox have currently.
Also Salty sucks, he was useless in the playoffs to begin with and everyone could run on him, and I guess adding A.J. Pierzynski doesn't count. Or Edward Mujica who is a [dang] good relief pitcher, and Burke Badenhop who's a solid reliever.
Will see if Grady Sizemore will contribute or not, but now that he's healthy he's a low risk high reward addition.
In all, we've retained most of our roster and didn't break the bank on free-agents, now we'll have to see if we can perform with the solid replacements we have acquired. If it doesn't work, then we have the financial flexibility to get someone going forward supported by a strong farm crop... but this "literally did nothing all offseason" is a bit of nonsense.
Not that I'm expecting the team to be as good as last year, but we'll see... I didn't expect much from the last year either. But even back then I thought that we were moving in the right direction, and that sentiment is even stronger now than previously.
So in all the Red Sox might not be all that good this coming year in particular, or they could be... but this downward spiral talk doesn't apply as the team currently stands.
/enough MLB
I would've like to have seen the Sox add 1 or 2 of Beltran, Granderson and McCann.
I don't think giving McCann a 5 year, 85 million deal at 29 yrs old would've been a bad idea, considering he's one of the best catchers in baseball. Not to mention, you could also have him play 1st and DH.
Also, Pierzynski is 37 years old and Ross is 36. A little long in the tooth for such a defensively demanding position as catcher.
Then, I think either Beltran or Granderson would've been nice to replace Ellsbury's production
I wasn't a huge Ellsbury fan, but the fact is the Sox are a worse team without him and I don't think Jackie Bradley Jr is ready to take the reigns. I am also not even sure if he ends up becoming a full-time center fielder or more of a back-up.
As for Grady Sizemore, I don't see this notion of low-risk high-reward. All I see with Sizemore is all-risk no reward.
He hasn't played since 2011. Why leave such a big part of the outfield in the center field position as such a question mark between a rookie and an injury prone player?
That said, I am ready for baseball mostly because I want the nice weather to get here.
I was very much jonesing for Beltran, but not at his price tag. At most I would've gone for a 2 year deal while overpaying and that was already pushing it, but 3 years is too much.
As for Granderson, he sucks... he really hasn't had a good season since 2008, so I definitely wouldn't be giving him 60 million over 4 years.
The thing is that Shane Victorino is really a center-field by all accounts, but since he was so good in RF last year, maybe you don't want to move him, but the option is there. And we have quite a bit of depth in the outfield.
So considering Grady Sizemore you see him as an all-risk no reward only if you view him as a player you're depending to perform, he wasn't signed as such. The Red Sox didn't sign him with the notion of depending on him. They gave him a low contract, with performance incentives... so don't see what the risk is here at all, unless you're viewing him as the Ellsbury replacement, when he isn't. He's simply capable of replacing him if he manages, but nothing more than that.
As for McCann, well Pierzynski is better than him as recent as last year. So coming into next season Pierzynski seems like the better option still, still batted better than McCann and is a better defensive catcher too. Will he deteriorate this coming season, I don't know, but at the moment Pierzynski is the better option so as it regards next season I would've gone with Pierzynski on a short deal any day of the week.
What does worry me is depending on Xander and Middlebrooks in 3rd and SS. Both are young, but inexperienced, and Middlebrooks in particular struggled last year and seemed to have his confidence shaken. I'm still hoping that there's a better option out htere for any of those positions who can play alongside Xander.
My other worry is starting pitching. We have a lot of big names there, but I have my doubts on how dependable they're going to be next season. I was intrigued by Garza who at 4 years $50 million would've been a great move for the Red Sox if they had pulled it off.
I'm crossing my fingers we might be able to land one of Santana or Jimenez, though I'm not enamored with any of them and worry about the price tag. Also A.J. Burnett being the last option, he's had 2 good seasons in a row, but he struggled with the Yankees prior to that, so not sure there... plus he's old. There's also Arroyo, but again, not sure... but any of these would strengthen our SP depth a bit, which I think we need.
In all we'll see.
Topic: How soon 'til we contend again? (Read 10885 times)