The balance of power in the AL East seemed to swing late Wednesday night, as the Red Sox and Carl Crawford made an announcement that they had agreed to a 7-year/$142MM contract pending a physical. From what I understand, Crawford's decision was based upon the players attitudes towards the game. The tough nosed, gritty style of play that the likes of Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Jason Varitek and others. That is an uncommon thing to come from a player regarding why he chose a certain place to play, and a good one for Red Sox fans. There are intangibles that go with certain guys, and they can be infectious. Not only does Crawford bring his rare and unique skill set to a team that had been getting progressively older and slower, he brings an attitude that will make everyone around him better.
From seeing Crawford over the years, I can tell you that he is a special player. The amazing part is that even though most others in New England have seen him and how he plays the game, they were still sort of enamoured over Jayson Werth because of his power/RBI potential. Most used the argument that none of his stats (aside from the obvious steals) jump out at you, and how could he possibly be worth $20MM/season? If you were to look deeper however, there is really no comparison between the two. There are aspects to total production that put miles between the two of them. For those who do not really understand the difference, an easy way is to look at a typical fantasy league and use a player comparison to see the intricacies. Amazingly, Crawford had 5 more RBI (90) than Werth (85). Werth was higher in slugging, walks, doubles and HR's with 46 less AB's. Seems like I don't know what I'm talking about, right? Not so fast.
Werth was the crucial right handed compliment to the Phillies lineup. He saw an incredibly better amount of RBI situations and better pitches to hit. He hit in a ballpark that is made for him, and is an injury risk. He also has only had two years of real evidence that he can put up these kind of numbers. Numbers which did not start to surface until he was mixed in the Philly lineup, and in that ballpark. Crawford has hit in many different spots in the lineup, and used in different ways than Werth. His consistent production is something you can contribute to his hard work ethic. Now he will no longer be the man along with Evan Longoria, he will be mixed into an all-star lineup that will be relentless against RHP. He will likely see an incredible amount of better pitches to hit due to the mix of players hitting behind him, no matter where he hits in the lineup. He has less holes in his swing, and is more likely to hold his value through the end of this deal than Werth.
One thing to watch now that the Red Sox lineup got even more left handed is the value of Brian Fuentes and Scott Downs. It is almost a certainty that they will be given a bigger deal than they had anticipated with the Yankees now in more need of their services. Word is that Damaso Marte will not be healthy enough to start the season, and even he is climbing in age. Both Downs and Fuentes have shown that they can get righties out, but if I had to choose between the two I would go with Downs. He has a variety of off-speed stuff that I think would play better in Yankee stadium in terms of giving up the long ball. They are both very effective against left-handed batters and one of them is almost certain to sign with NYY.
The Cliff Lee saga continues, as both the Rangers and Yankees dig a hole deeper than they would like. It's really sad, because at 7-years, one of these teams are going to likely regret overextending themselves. However, I have written previously that I feel that Lee will age well. He has always been able to locate and aside from the mistake to Edgar Renteria, he rarely makes mistakes that hurt him. His WHIP over the past 4 seasons is astounding. The most exciting thing to consider is what all this means to Albert Pujols. The best hitter in the game must be watching this very closely. As Bobby Cox was quoted as saying "if Ryan Howard gets $25MM/year, then Pujols should get $50MM/year because he is twice as good as anybody out there".
Friday, December 10, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Sox acquire Gonzalez, other moves as the Winter Meetings begin
The Boston Red Sox put together the final touches on a trade that had been in the works for over two years to acquire 1B Adrian Gonzalez. Gonzalez is an extremely talented hitter that should have no problem adjusting to the AL East due to his plate recognition and ability to work with a pitch rather than force it. He has been scouted as to have issues with inside fastballs, but this should be an adjustment he can make rather easily without having to cheat too much. He lets the ball travel very deep into the strike zone and seems to really see the ball, and rarely overswings. He is a rarely gifted lefty, in that he handles left handed pitching rather well. Despite playing in one of the most pitcher friendly parks in baseball, he has managed to put up both power and average numbers consistently since being dealt to San Diego from Texas. Gonzalez had his $6.5MM option picked up by San Diego previous to dealing him to Boston, and weather or not that contract will be erased by a new 7-year/$154MM deal is yet to be seen. As of the time of this writing, Gonzalez has not put the pen to paper on a new deal. Rumors are that him and the team have agreed to wait until after the first game of the season to avoid an extended luxury tax penalty. The rumor that the Red Sox ownership are trying to do this in order to spend more money on free agents this offseason is laughable. If they want somebody they will go get the player if they feel it is within reason and value, regardless if they save a couple million in luxury tax penalties.
Out the door to San Diego are three top flight talents from the Red Sox system. Kelly, Rizzo and Fuentes who have yet to see MLB action, thus their countdown to a raise has yet to begin. This was very important, and the difference between Fuentes and Ellsbury being the players swapped. Even if San Diego had coveted Ellsbury, he is about to hit his arbitration years and is expeted to get a hefty couple of raises. He is also represented by Scott Boras, and judging by how grossly overpaid Jayson Werth just got via free agency and an open market, you can guarantee that Ellsbury will be doing exactly the same about 3 or 4 years from now. There are may scouting reports available for all three of these players available, so I won't go into major detail about them. However, Kelly will substantially benefit from playing in Petco Park. That is something that I wrote about previous to Jason Stark's tweet that surfaced up today as Gonzalez was officially introduced. Seeing as how Kelly was made available recently to San Diego, I think that once he was able to be had that SD had to make the move. They received a significant offer from CHW, and I am assuming that Tyler Flowers was part of the deal, possibly Chris Sale also came up in discussions. Judging by the fact that AJ Pierzynski was resigned by CHW, I think that the ChiSox may be losing faith in Flowers as a big league backstop and SD most likely saw the same thing.
Later on this afternoon I learned that Mark Reynolds was traded to Baltimore for pitchers David Hernandez and Kam Mickolo. Hernandez is the most polished of the two, and had some success as a closer/setup man for Baltimore after being bumped out of the rotation. He has good movement on his fastball and mixes in a slider to keep hitters off balance. I have been hearing that ARZ will use him in a relief role, where his stuff tends to be more sharp and he is more effective when he is not going through the lineup three to four times a game. Mickolo is the guy with the bigger stuff, but less command and polish. He has had a tough time in the AL East, but what pitcher doesn't at some point? He will certainly have a better time getting by hitters in the weakest division in baseball, but watch out for the long ball.
Baltimore now gets the corner infielder with power that they lost when Aubrey Huff left to the champion San Francisco Giants. Between losing Huff and most likely Ty Wiggington, they looked to get some of those RBI's back with a gamble. I am not under the impression that this will work out however, and think Baltimore should have folded this hand and kept onto their live arms. Simply put: Reynolds will be overmatched in the AL East.
Hot stove is burning at the moment, rumor is that a possible Greinke deal could net KC a huge return. Rumor was that they asked for Kyle Drabek. Travis Snider and two prospects from Toronto in return for Greinke. That would be essentially Roy Halladay and Travis Snider for Greinke.. doesn't sound so good if you're a Jays fan when you put it that way.
Out the door to San Diego are three top flight talents from the Red Sox system. Kelly, Rizzo and Fuentes who have yet to see MLB action, thus their countdown to a raise has yet to begin. This was very important, and the difference between Fuentes and Ellsbury being the players swapped. Even if San Diego had coveted Ellsbury, he is about to hit his arbitration years and is expeted to get a hefty couple of raises. He is also represented by Scott Boras, and judging by how grossly overpaid Jayson Werth just got via free agency and an open market, you can guarantee that Ellsbury will be doing exactly the same about 3 or 4 years from now. There are may scouting reports available for all three of these players available, so I won't go into major detail about them. However, Kelly will substantially benefit from playing in Petco Park. That is something that I wrote about previous to Jason Stark's tweet that surfaced up today as Gonzalez was officially introduced. Seeing as how Kelly was made available recently to San Diego, I think that once he was able to be had that SD had to make the move. They received a significant offer from CHW, and I am assuming that Tyler Flowers was part of the deal, possibly Chris Sale also came up in discussions. Judging by the fact that AJ Pierzynski was resigned by CHW, I think that the ChiSox may be losing faith in Flowers as a big league backstop and SD most likely saw the same thing.
Later on this afternoon I learned that Mark Reynolds was traded to Baltimore for pitchers David Hernandez and Kam Mickolo. Hernandez is the most polished of the two, and had some success as a closer/setup man for Baltimore after being bumped out of the rotation. He has good movement on his fastball and mixes in a slider to keep hitters off balance. I have been hearing that ARZ will use him in a relief role, where his stuff tends to be more sharp and he is more effective when he is not going through the lineup three to four times a game. Mickolo is the guy with the bigger stuff, but less command and polish. He has had a tough time in the AL East, but what pitcher doesn't at some point? He will certainly have a better time getting by hitters in the weakest division in baseball, but watch out for the long ball.
Baltimore now gets the corner infielder with power that they lost when Aubrey Huff left to the champion San Francisco Giants. Between losing Huff and most likely Ty Wiggington, they looked to get some of those RBI's back with a gamble. I am not under the impression that this will work out however, and think Baltimore should have folded this hand and kept onto their live arms. Simply put: Reynolds will be overmatched in the AL East.
Hot stove is burning at the moment, rumor is that a possible Greinke deal could net KC a huge return. Rumor was that they asked for Kyle Drabek. Travis Snider and two prospects from Toronto in return for Greinke. That would be essentially Roy Halladay and Travis Snider for Greinke.. doesn't sound so good if you're a Jays fan when you put it that way.
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