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  1. #16
    TEAM CUTLER, Chem Forum Leader Sandpig's Avatar
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    Lowrie happy to be healthy for spring training

    BOSTON -- Of late, there has been talk that Jed Lowrie might be able to unseat incumbent shortstop Marco Scutaro with a strong showing in spring training.

    General manager Theo Epstein said last week that competition is a good thing for a club. But prior to Thursday's Boston Baseball Writers' Award dinner, manager Terry Francona seemed to back Scutaro.

    "[Lowrie] comes up and gets an opportunity [last year] because a lot of guys were beat up,'' said Francona, "and he hits the ball all over the ballpark. He has the ability to play four different infield positions.

    "Rather than worry about an infield competition -- Scutaro is our shortstop -- this guy [Lowrie] gives us something that I don't know many teams can say they have. He's a switch-hitter that can play first, second, third and short -- and play it a lot. He can play first base. He can play second base, third, short. He can play it for a week. He can play it for a day. He can play it for two weeks.

    "That, at some point, is probably going to save us . . . And he's a switch-hitter, to boot. There's a lot to really like. Jed is certainly an everyday player, in our opinion. It may not happen in April. But that's not really a bad thing."

    If nothing else, Lowrie is happy to be heading into spring training finally healthy, having been hampered the last two offseasons with a hand injury, then battling through mononucleosis last spring training.

    "The difference is the quality of work I've been able to do,'' said Lowrie, "just because I've had my health, so I can really tell a difference in the quality of work I've been able put in. It seems like it's been so long (since I was healthy).''
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  2. #17
    TEAM CUTLER, Chem Forum Leader Sandpig's Avatar
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    No news today.
    Enjoy.
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  3. #18
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    Buster Olney: Jacoby Ellsbury Makes Rest of Red Sox Lineup More Dangerous Batting Ninth

    Terry Francona continues to ponder how he will structure his lineup this season. He has several hitters that have leadoff experience (Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia and Carl Crawford) and bat cleanup (Kevin Youkilis, Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz). So where should Ellsbury bat in this potent lineup?
    ESPN.com's Buster Olney thinks Ellsbury should bat ninth in the Red Sox line up.
    In 2008, Ellsbury's last healthy season with the Red Sox, 504 of his 624 at-bats were in the leadoff spot, where he posted a respectable .300 batting average.
    However, he had an unimpressive .347 on-base percentage.
    In a career where he's posted more than 50 at-bats in four different positions across the batting order, Ellsbury has the lowest batting average and on-base percentage when hitting first with .279 and .330, respectively.
    In 62 career appearances batting ninth, he has a high .371 batting average and .426 on-base percentage. Even when hitting seventh or eighth, he has a .311 and .415 batting average, respectively. Clearly, he hits best when in the lower spots in the lineup.
    Batting last does not automatically designate Ellsbury as the worst hitter in the starting lineup. It gives him an opportunity to hit in front of the monstrous top half of the Red Sox' roster, which can move him over and drive him in if he gets on base.
    Olney projected the Boston lineup with Pedroia leading off and Crawford, Youkilis, Gonzalez and Ortiz following him successively. Pedroia, who infrequently strikes out and puts the ball in play, can actively move Ellsbury into scoring position or send him home on a single if batting behind him.
    But can't Ellsbury just lead off for that to happen? A lineup should be made so your best players are closer to the top and get the most at-bats in each game.
    Ellsbury is a valuable asset on the base paths, but not a formidable hitter in the lineup, which now consists of tremendous power and an above .300 batting average at the top of the order.
    When Pedroia won Rookie of the Year in 2007, he posted a high .328 batting average and .393 on-base percentage when batting first. Over his career, he has a .305 batting average and .378 on-base percentage when leading off an inning, compared to Ellsbury's .270 batting average and .308 on-base percentage.
    With Pedroia leading off, Crawford can continue to bat second where he's most comfortable. In 500 at-bats or more, Crawford's career batting average and on-base percentage are highest when batting second with .305 and .349, respectively.
    Moving Ellsbury to the ninth hole could be a drawback for the Sox, as they would lose his speed and ability to move around the bases at the top of the order, but batting him there is the best decision to give the more dangerous players more at-bats in the lineup.
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  4. #19
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    Lavarnway provides Sox young catching depth

    BOSTON -- The Red Sox hope that at 25, Jarrod Saltalamacchia is their catcher of the present and the future. But given that the position is so hard to develop, the Red Sox are happy to have Ryan Lavarnway in the minor leagues.

    In 2010, Lavarnway led all Red Sox minor-leaguers with 101 RBI to go along with 22 homers, split between High Single A Salem and Double A Portland.
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  5. #20
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    2011 Red Sox Spring Training


    Boston's spring home is City of Palms Park, which was built in 1992 in Ft. Myers and lured the Red Sox away from Winter Haven, where they had trained from 1966-1992.
    City of Palms Park has 7,290 permanent seats. Attendance figures exceed that capacity because the Red Sox sell tickets for a grass berm down the right field line, plus they offer standing room only admission.


    Reporting Dates
    Pitchers and catchers report to Fort Myers on February 13. Position players arrive on the 17th and the first full team workout is two days later.
    Until exhibition games begin, practices are held at the Player Development Complex each morning from approximately 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. The Complex is located at 4301 Edison Avenue, just two and a half miles from City of Palms Park. Fans can watch practice sessions for free but there is no public parking at the Complex, so shuttle buses are provided from City of Palms Park for $2 per person.


    Getting closer.
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  6. #21
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    Is Salty ready?


    Part 3 of a 10-day series on Red Sox questions that will be answered during spring training.

    BOSTON -- In 110 seasons of playing baseball in Boston, do you know how many 39-year-olds have served as Red Sox catcher, for even a single game?

    Try one: Elston Howard, the former Yankee star who came to the Sox during the Impossible Dream season of 1967 (after breaking up Billy Rohr’s no-hitter while still with the Yanks) and a year later was 39 when he split time at catcher with Russ Gibson.

    Jason Varitek turns 39 on April 11. He will make two.

    How much will Varitek catch?

    a) A lot more than it appeared on the final day of the 2010 season, when the Sox pulled him off the field to give fans a chance to bid what looked like a final goodbye.

    b) That depends in good part on Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who is beginning his first full season with the Red Sox at the same age (26 on May 2) that another switch-hitting catcher did 13 years ago: Jason Varitek. And that worked out OK.

    The Sox, after making a measured attempt to keep Victor Martinez, who signed with Detroit, ended up re-signing Varitek for a bargain-basement $2 million after finding the other free-agent options at catcher wanting. They had interest in John Buck, but not for the three-year, $18 million deal that he received from the Marlins. They passed on the rest of the field -- which included, among others, Rod Barajas, Ramon Hernandez, Gerald Laird, Yorvit Torrealba, Dioner Navarro, A.J. Pierzynski, Miguel Olivo and Gregg Zaun -- to bring back their longtime captain.

    They were committed, it was clear, to grooming Saltalamacchia as Varitek’s successor, and were keeping the veteran around as mentor and backup. Then it wasn’t quite so clear, as the Sox took a run at catcher Russell Martin after he was nontendered by the Dodgers. Martin’s agent termed the Sox interest as “serious,” but Martin wound up signing a one-year, $4 million deal with the Yankees while the Sox reportedly offered no more than a minor-league contract.

    Still, the flirtation with Martin raised some questions about how much confidence the Sox have in Saltalamacchia, who started just five games at catcher for Boston before requiring surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb.

    Like Varitek at a similar stage in his career, Saltalamacchia is seen as something of an underachiever, for different reasons. Varitek was a former No. 1 draft pick whose career got sidetracked at the start when he elected to sit out a year rather than sign with the Minnesota Twins, the team that originally drafted him, then waited almost another full year before finally signing with the Seattle Mariners. Saltalamacchia is another first-round pick, in 2003 by the Braves, who was viewed as the biggest prize in the package of prospects Texas received from Atlanta in the 2007 trade for Mark Teixeira.

    But it didn’t work out that way, even though Saltalamacchia immediately was inserted in the Rangers’ starting lineup after the trade and was the team’s Opening Day catcher in each of the last two seasons. While two other ex-Brave minor leaguers, shortstop Elvis Andrus and closer Neftali Feliz, played huge roles in the Rangers’ road to an American League pennant in 2010, Saltalamacchia was gone by the time the champagne was spilled.

    As eager as the Rangers were to install him as their No. 1 catcher, he unexpectedly struggled at bat and behind the plate, and had injury issues, a bad back knocking him out after the 2010 opener. That would be the only game he would catch for the Rangers last season, as he went to the minor leagues and suddenly developed a problem throwing the ball accurately back to the mound.

    By the time the Red Sox traded three lower-level minor leaguers for him last July, the throwing issue had been resolved but Saltalamacchia no longer figured in the Rangers’ plans, Texas signing veteran Bengie Molina in the interim.

    Saltalamacchia's resume to date raises questions for a team that appears to have assembled all the other necessary components to compete for the World Series this fall. The Sox maintain they are confident Saltalamacchia is up to the challenge, and dispatched bullpen coach Gary Tuck to Florida to work with him in the offseason.

    Still, it remains to be seen how Saltalamacchia responds to the pressure and if he's truly ready to inherit the everyday job. That’s where Varitek comes in. He appeared in just 39 games last season, his fewest since becoming a Sox regular, and made just 27 starts before his season was cut short by a fractured right foot.

    There may be an unintended consequence of his light workload: Varitek told an associate recently that he feels better than he has in the last five years, not surprising when you consider his body didn’t absorb the usual beating last season.

    Varitek’s bat has noticeably slowed -- he struck out roughly once every three at-bats last season (35 in 112). But before he was hurt, he actually put up some good offensive numbers -- .263/.324/.547/.871 -- and did particularly well at home (.283/.323/.567/.890) as opposed to the road (.173/.259/.365/.624). And after opponents stole an American League-high 108 bases when he caught in 2009 (only 16 caught stealing, a 13 percent success rate), Varitek threw out 9 of 43 base-runners last season, a 21 percent success rate.

    At the end of the season, Varitek said he felt like he was moving as well as he had in the previous few seasons, and reiterated his desire to play into his 40s. So, while the Red Sox come into camp hoping that Saltalamacchia stakes out the everyday job, don’t be surprised if the workload is shared, especially at the beginning of the season (Varitek hit all seven of his home runs last year in the first two months). That would give Saltalamacchia more time to learn the pitching staff, and take some of the pressure off.

    So what do you think, how much would you like to see Saltalamacchia behind the plate and how many games would you like to see Varitek play in? Share your thoughts in the comments section of this blog entry.
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  7. #22
    FREAK cook's Avatar
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    Yeah we thought Salty was going to be our answer at catcher but like the article said he got hurt and when he was well we were in a pennant chase and couldn`t afford to wait on him to find his groove so he ended up back in the minors.Hopefully he can get off to a good start with the Red Sox.

  8. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sandpig View Post
    And we let Bagwell go
    And Schilling
    And Hanley Ramirez

    I could go on all day.
    The guy you got for him ended up doing alright though.

  9. #24
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    Beckett is no longer dominate.

  10. #25
    UNBANNED HammerStrength12's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Goodfellas View Post
    Beckett is no longer dominate.
    He won them a world series. Fair trade in my books.

    Even though he's one of the most talented players in the game, Hanley's a prima-donna who'd only bring trouble to the Sox clubhouse IMO

  11. #26
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    he probably is frustrated and the team wont trade him.

  12. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by HammerStrength12 View Post
    He won them a world series. Fair trade in my books.

    Even though he's one of the most talented players in the game, Hanley's a prima-donna who'd only bring trouble to the Sox clubhouse IMO
    Beckett worked out fine, but I'm afraid his best days are past him now.

    Ramirez? I'd love to have him back in a Sox uniform.
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  13. #28
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    id say cya to jeter in a second.

  14. #29
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    What to make of all this shit Cashman's been saying?
    Yankee GM: Red Sox better than Yanks right now

    Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Tuesday that the Red Sox' depth in starting pitching currently gives them the edge over New York, though he's looking to add to his rotation and feels the Yanks have a better bullpen.

    In a question-and-answer session with Yankee fans moderated by WFAN's Mike Francesa, Cashman said the team's lineups -- now that the Sox have added Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford -- are essentially equal. "[You] might want to give us the nod, you want to give them the nod, it doesn’t necessarily matter," he said. He also thinks the Yankees have "a better bullpen."

    But when asked point-blank by Francesa "who’s a better team this morning on paper, Yankees or the Red Sox in your mind?”, Cashman answered: "Red Sox."

    "Their starting pitching . . . they’ve got guys they can run one through six and I’m looking for a fourth," he said.
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  15. #30
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    who are they runnning out there besides lester beckett, dice k, lackey? Please.

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