Comments on: ALDS Coverage: That’s a Wrap for Boston

By: Dirty Water

Dirty Water — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:44:30 +0000

I wouldn’t trade Paps for Werth. Paps has great value as one of the 3 best closers in baseball, and Werth has more holes in his swing than a dancing quadriplegic. And he’d also be overkill in Fenway’s LF (which is where he’d play). No NL ‘stars’ for me, thanks.

The Sox need a Manny. Not an Agon, not a King, not a Hedley (that’s HANLEY!), not a replacement for their entire team because of year cut short. Just a Manny will do, thank you; a killer bat who would make those around him better.

By: M.A.

M.A. — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:30:07 +0000

Astute Boston fans foresee a trade between Philadelphia and Boston, exchanging Werth for Papelbon. See MLB trade rumors for the gory details.

By: Nick Smith

Nick Smith — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:29:10 +0000

It all depends on the details. If it’s 4/60 then jump on it; if it’s 5/90, then you’re better off saving your money for Beckett, Mauer, VMart, Halladay, Vazquez, Felix, Prince, Pujols, Gonzalez, Verlander, Reyes, and Crawford — truly elite players who will be free agents within the next two years.

By: John

John — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:35:49 +0000

The Red Sox pitching was worth nearly 24 WAR this year – best in the AL. Doesn’t seem like Lackey is a good use of their resources.

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:21:47 +0000

“Of course, it is Boston, so there’s always the probability of them raiding some of the market’s more undervalued talents too.”

yeah, they could do that. or they could stop trying to prove how much smarter they are than everyone and just sign someone who is actually good at baseball. like say, John Lackey.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:03:22 +0000

Oh no…

Now that the Sox got swept there won’t be any more content…

Anyway, to mattymatty:

Obviously, Hanley would be a great addition to any team. That isn’t exactly rocket science.

“With Ramirez in the fold the Sox could acquire a stop-gap for left field without having to break the bank for Bay or Holiday”

Except you’ll have to — in terms of prospects. Prospects have value. They may not be cold hard cash but are more like stocks. The Red Sox will have to give up tons just to even open the negotiations for the Marlins franchise player.

The question isn’t whether Hanley would help; the question is: how can they get him? In all likelihood, they won’t.

By: Rob in CT

Rob in CT — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:53:19 +0000

Is Abreu a FA again this year? He could probably handle LF at Fenway. He’s a stop-gap solution, to be sure, but getting Holliday is no sure thing (I’d expect the Cards, Yanks and some other teams to be in on that).

By: mattymatty

mattymatty — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:45:11 +0000

The guy I keep thinking the Red Sox should put all their effort into (re)acquiring is Hanley Ramirez. Ramirez solves the dual problems of adding offense and finding a shortstop. True, he’s not a great fielder (UZR150 of 0.0 this season), but he’s improved (UZR150 of -20.9 two seasons ago, and -0.6 last season) if not fantastic.

With Ramirez in the fold the Sox could acquire a stop-gap for left field without having to break the bank for Bay or Holiday.

Of course, acquiring Ramirez is much much easier said than done.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:43:21 +0000

I don’t mind being the guy who bitches about the math in an article. Why not point out that the Red Sox runs in the first 20 innings could have been cubed and then doubled, or raised to the 10th power and then doubled, or the 4,356 power, or the -pi/3 power and then doubled. It’s silly to talk about squaring run totals when those run totals are 1. If you point is that they scored few runs we get that 1 run is not very much, attempting arithmetical sleight of hand just seems over the top.

By: Kevin S.

Kevin S. — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:43:15 +0000

I was. There probably was a more appropriate place to ask the question.