What’s Cooking on the Hot Stove for 2009?

10.22.2008
Positions in Much Need of Attention

Catcher

When Akinori Iwamura stepped on second base to record the final out of the ALCS, eliminating the Red Sox from the playoffs, the Rays also ended Jason Varitek’s career in Boston. In previous years, the Sox turned a blind eye to the limited offensive production the longtime Sox catcher provided at the bottom of the order because of his excellent game calling ability. Since signing a four year $40 million contract following the 2004 season, Varitek hit .256 (433-1693) with 64 homeruns, 236 RBIs and 448 strike outs. His best year was back in 2005 where he was 132-for-470 (.281) with 22 homeruns and 70 strike outs but since then he has gone down hill quickly. Varitek finished last season with a .220 batting average, .313 on-base percentage, .359 slugging percentage and a .672 OPS, all well below his career average.

Just like the quarterback position in football, trying to find a catcher who is a good game caller and adds some spark at the plate is nearly impossible. They are hard to come by, which is why there are only three elite catchers in Major League Baseball today, Russell Martin in Los Angeles, Joe Mauer in Minnesota and Brian McCann in Atlanta. And these players are all home-grown talent. The Red Sox have a great farm system but do not have any catchers who are ready or close to being ready to fill in the big shoes left by Varitek.

Heading into the 2008 season, the top catching prospect is Matt Wieters in the Baltimore Orioles organization. There is no way the Orioles will part ways with their number one prospect so the Sox are going to have to look else were. One solution is making a deal with the Texas Rangers’ catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. In the past the Red Sox had already expressed interest in the first year catcher and with Taylor Teagarden waiting in the wings, it makes Saltalamacchia expendable. After being acquired from the Braves for Mark Teixeira at the 2007 trading deadline, the Rangers used the rookie nearly as many times at first base as they did behind the plate (38 times at first, 47 at catcher). To make a deal for Saltalamacchia the Sox would have to part ways with either Clay Buchholz or Michael Bowden, probably leaning more towards Bowden with the way Buchholz pitched this year.

In a perfect world the Sox would sign Varitek to a one year contract to mentor the 23-year-old catcher. But with Scott Boras as his agent I do not see that happening any time soon. The Red Sox are in a similar predicament the Patriots faced in the first week of the season. Go with a stop gap veteran or go with the inexperienced.

Center field

If Jacoby Ellsbury really is the center fielder of the future, then this is the off-season to trade away Coco Crisp. His trade value will not get any higher so if the Sox are really looking into trading Crisp, now is the time to do it. Many expected Crisp to be traded before the end of the season but when the rookie struggled in the post-season was right there to step in and produce. In the post-season, Crisp was the Sox’s best hitter with a .417 batting average,a .517 on-base percentage, .500 slugging percentage and a 1.017 ops in seven games played. On the season the veteran outfielder, had his best season in a Sox uniform, with a line of .283/.344/.407/.751 at least ten points higher than his previous high in Boston (.268/.330/.382/.712 in 2007).

In his first full season in the big leagues, Ellsbury has not impressed the fans like he did in the 2007 post-season. Although he led the league in stolen bases with 50, the rookie hit .280 with nine homeruns, 47 RBIs as well as had an OBP of .336 and an OPS of .730. Not mention his 0-for-20 streak in the ALCS where he was replaced by Crisp in Game Five.

Shortstop

Biggest question here, is Jed Lowrie ready to be the starting shortstop for a full year? In half of season with the big club, Lowrie was just 67-for-260 (.258) with two homeruns, 46 RBIs, 35 walks and 60 strike outs. The first full year in the majors is always tough on young players as we saw with Ellsbury this past year so we do not know how Lowrie will respond with his first full season on a major league roster. After going through four shortstops in the last four years, the Red Sox need to take a different approach at the position. The Red Sox will most likely keep Julio Lugo on the roster and use him as an emergency plan should Lowrie look like he can not keep up with the physical demands of playing a full season in the majors, as what happened with Ellsbury.

#4 Hitter

Kevin Youkilis did an outstanding job as a clean-up hitter for the last two months of the regular season and playoffs but the Sox first baseman is not your typical #4 hitter. The Red Sox should make a concerted effort to sign Mark Teixeira to be their 2009 clean-up hitter. With Scott Boras as Teixeira’s agent, it will be difficult to sign the All-Star free agent but Theo Epstein has a good history with Boras and found ways of making the Super-Agent look foolish (i.e. Daisuke Matsuzaka).

If the Sox acquire Teixeira then the team has so many options. They can move Youkilis back across the diamond, because you do not know what Mike Lowell is going to be like following off-season hip surgery. Or if Lowell is healthy, they might entertain the option of using Youkilis’s low salary as trade bait for pitching. If the Sox do not acquire Teixeira, then all things are status-quo and they will go into the 2009 season with a .289/.385/.472/.857 hitter in Youkilis in the fourth slot in the order.

J.D. Drew does it again in the post-season, Red Sox one win away from ALCS

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RED SOX TOP ANGELS 7-5; SOX LEAD SERIES 2-0
J.D. Drew does it again in the post-season, Red Sox one win away from ALCS

(October 3, 2008) – With six clients between the two teams in the starting line up, Scott Boras was perched in the dugout seats behind home plate for Game Two to watch J.D. Drew put Boston just one win away from reaching the Championship Series for second straight year.

After the Angels scratched and clawed their way back from a 4-0 deficit to begin the game to tie the game at five a piece in the bottom of the eighth, Drew took a 2-2 Francisco Rodriguez offering and deposited it into the batter’s eye in center for a 7-5 lead. David Ortiz’s second hit of the night, set the table for Drew as Ortiz doubled off the wall in right and was pinch-run for by Coco Crisp.

“It was a situation were you battle and try to have a good at-bat,” Drew told TBS’s Craig Sager that all he was trying to do, with two strikes,was put a bat on the ball to drive in Crisp from second.

The Red Sox offense started early as neither pitcher, Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka nor Angels’ starter Ervin Santana, were particularly effective with two outs.

When it appeared as if Santana would get out of the first inning unscathed, the Sox followed a Jacoby Ellsbury pop out and a Dustin Pedroia strike out with five consecutives base hits. Ortiz kicked off the rally with frozen rope single over the head of Howie Kendrick and into right field. Kevin Youkilis followed suit with a single before Drew, drew first first blood with a double to right to score Ortiz.

As Drew jogged into second with the double, the “see I know what I’m talking about” smirk came across the genius agent’s face. But the inning was not over yet as Wednesday night’s hero stepped to the dish. With one swing of the bat, Jason Bay gave the Sox a four run lead with his second career post-season homerun to the rock formation in centerfield.

Before throwing one pitch, Matsuzaka all ready had a 4-0 lead to work with but, to quote legendary Yankee catcher, Yogi Berra, “it was déjà vu, all over again.” After getting Chone Figgins to pop out to short and Garret Anderson to line out to right, another Boras client, Mark Teixeira, lined a base hit into right field. Boy isn’t that nice to see if you are Boras?

Teixeira came around to score Los Angeles’s first run of the game on Torii Hunter’s base hit single up the middle, after the former Dominican cow-herder (Vladimir Guerrero) advanced the first baseman to second. But that was all she wrote for the Angels in the inning as Juan Rivera grounded out to Alex Cora at short to end the inning.

After Ellsbury hit a two-out double to score Alex Cora, from second, for the fifth Boston run, the Angels pitchers did a good job at keeping the Sox off the board as they chipped away at the Sox lead. Los Angeles managed to get Matsuzaka out of the game early, throwing 108 pitches in five innings while allowing three runs on eight hits and walking two and striking out five.

In past years the Patriots, played a “bend but don’t break” defense. All this means is, give up the little stuff, just do not get beat over the top. Essentially “minimize the damage.” But now the Sox have apparently taken the Pats method of defense and applied to their pitching staff.

The Angels never got more than one run in an inning and that is a testament to the Sox’s “Bend but Don’t Break” pitching. Although Los Angeles successfully managed scratch and claw their way back against Sox pitchers, the bullpen as well as Matsuzaka were still able to step up and “minimize the damage” when they needed to.

But Los Angeles still managed to tie up the game in the ninth against closer Jonathan Papelbon, who entered after Figgins led off the inning with the Angels first extra base hit of the series, a triple, off Justin Masterson. Off one of the best closers in the game, Teixeira lifted a sacrifice fly to Ellsbury in center to drive in Figgins, who scored easily, with the tying run.

With the swing in momentum now over to Los Angeles, the Sox had to something to achieve what they set out to do at the beginning of the night and once again in the post-season, it was J.D. Drew who was tonight’s hero.

Can’t you see the ear-to-ear smile on Boras's face right now?

RED SOX 7, ANGELS 5

WIN: Jonathan Papelbon

LOSS: Francisco Rodriguez

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Game Notes:
Scott Boras’s position players were a combined 9-for-20 (.450) tonight with a double, a homerun, five RBIs, five runs scored, three walks and two strike outs.

The 3 Stars of the Game:

1. J.D. Drew, BOSTON ---- 3-5; Double, Homerun, 3 RBIs, 2 Runs-scored

2. Jason Bay, BOSTON ---- 3-5; 3 RBIs

3. Mark Teixeira, LOS ANGELES --- 3-3; 3 Runs-scored