Smoltz could sign with Red Sox

What Boras said he wanted was irrelevant. All they had to do was beat New York's offer and they refused to budge from their highest offer. I understand why Boston's front office doesn't want to get in bidding wars, but when you make a "final offer" type ultimatum it just makes it easy for other teams to beat you in free agency. This isn't the first time that has happened to the Red Sox.

 

It certainly is relevant. Teixiera was willing to take less to play for the Yankees. He would have had to have been blown away (to the tune of $220 over 10 years, i.e.) to go to the Sox. You make it sound as if the Sox could have simply offered $5 million more than the Yanks to get him signed. If that were true, why doesn't Boras didn't make the same ridiculous vesting option demands he placed on the Sox?

It's beyond me how you can blame the Sox for not wanting to play on such an uneven playing field.

 

Tex's contract is going to look like shit in 5 years.

 

Tell me one Boras client who has ever taken less money to play on a certain team.

Only if he gets hurt or the economy brings down salaries significantly. In five years Teixeria will only be 33. Meanwhile Ortiz and Lowell will both be out of the league by then, and I don't think Lars Anderson deserves his hype.

 

He's 41 years old, coming off soldier surgery and already had Tommy John. Good luck to you, Smoltz and the Red Sox. You all seem like nice people.

The Braves wouldn't give one of the most popular players in franchise history 5 million. That should tell you something right there.

 

it tells me the Braves are cheap. there's nothing wrong with taking a flyer on smoltz. for the sox and a handful of other teams, that's what signing a guy like Smoltz is: a flyer. Let's say Smoltz and Penny share duties as the fifth and spot starters and win 15 games between them (not an unreasonable possibility). The Sox will gave paid $10 million for those 15 wins, a bargain by today's standards.

Epstein could have gone out and paid big bucks for an established, younger starter who he could keep for three of four years. But that's not in the team's plans. They want to add pitching depth on a very short-term basis for the next year or so until some of their younger home grown starters (Masterson, Bowden, Buccholz, Bard) are ready to join the rotation. It's why they signed Colon for one year last season and Smoltz for one year this season. Pus, having that depth gives them flexibility to trade one or two of those young starters for the catcher they need.

 

I suppose you have some, like, reasons for thinking that. (other than grasping at straws as a way to prop up you lame argument)

Anderson's 21 and last year between lancaster and portland he hit .317 with 18 homers and 80 RBIs with a .417 on base percentage and 934 OPS. the year before he was 292/11/78 (.393/,839) between Greenville and Lancaster so he's shown he has upside. scouts are saying he could break in with the sox this year and that he'll definitely be in Boston in 2010.

he's the 25th-rated prospect in all of baseball (minorleaguebaseball.com) and the top-rated sox minor leaguer in the sox organization (Baseball America and collegebaseball.com). But I guess compared to a guy who writes for an obscure fantasy footall rag, those folks don't know shit.

 

They weren't cheap in signing Lowe. John Smoltz is over the hill. The AL East will treat him like batting practice. But hey, 5 mill is loose change to you, just like the 8 mill or whatever you gave to Curt last year. Glavine is still available. Please take him too.

 

FYI, Bard hasn't been a starter since 2007. Some guys like Masterson might initially pitch as relievers in the major leagues while eventually transitioning back to being a starter, but if a guy switches to relief in the minor leagues, he almost never goes back to being a starter. According to what I've read, the Red Sox have no intention of trying Bard as a starter again and instead envision him as a dominating reliever.

Note that Anderson's numbers got better from '07 to '08 even though he advanced levels (also true for his GRE/LNC split in 2007). I know you're not as into baseball as I am, so you wouldn't have much reason to know this, but Lancaster and Portland are both notorious hitters' parks (Lancaster and High Desert in the California League are two of the worst in the minor leagues). You cite Baseball America's ranking, but perhaps you haven't been reading what they've said over the years about Anderson or Lancaster. For instance, last season in Anderson's profile they said "The next step is the launching pad at high Class A Lancaster, where Anderson could put up crazy numbers in 2008."

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Anderson will be a bust. He's a very good defender while showing above average plate discipline and solid contact skills, but I don't think his power potential is what people sometimes hype it to be. Instead I imagine that he'll end up as a Sean Casey type who hits for a good average, but usually ends up with 18-25 home runs per season. That's obviously still valuable, but with Manny gone and Ortiz aging fast, it won't be long before Boston has something of a power shortage in its lineup. Clearly you can still score runs without hitting it over the fence, but you'd prefer to have a legitimate power threat or two.

And fyi, I know most of the guys over at Baseball America. It's the best baseball publication in my opinion and I do put a lot of weight into whatever they say about prospects, but they're not much into the statistics side so they can get suckered in by optimistic scouting reports like the ones that had them list Franklin Morales as the #8 overall prospect last season.


barry49s:
Atlanta actually offered a one year contract to Smoltz that could have been worth more total money than Boston's offer, but it would have been dependent upon him pitching 180+ innings. He gets $5 million from the Red Sox even he doesn't throw another pitch, plus I think he actually wanted out so that he could take another shot at pitching in October.

 

Yes I know, neither the Braves or Smoltz has much confidence that he's going to to be able to contribute. That's why the Braves wouldn't give him 5 mill up front. And that's why Smoltz took Boston's offer. He knows he may not be effective anymore. And yes, everybody likes to play for a team that has the potential to make the playoffs. I like Smoltz. He's smart and well-spoken. He'll be a good tv commentator/analyst. Those guys don't make chump change. If he ends up helping Boston win the World Series, I'll be the first to admit I was wrong. I just don't see it happening. Bucholtz or whatever his fucking name is must suck.