Comments on: Report: Red Sox have made offer to David Ortiz

By: dan1111

dan1111 — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:51:17 +0000

@bobwsc – Beckett “hasn’t put together solid back-to-back seasons”? Actually, he only had one poor season out of the last 5. The others were all nicely above average. It’s true that he hasn’t always lived up to his reputation as an ace, but that’s far from being bad.

Both Beckett and Ortiz were outstanding last season, so they are poor choices for a “housecleaning”.

By: dan1111

dan1111 — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:39:40 +0000

Ortiz has had two good seasons in a row, the most recent of which was outstanding. He is a risk because of his age, but I’ll bet that another team would be willing to pay him $25 million. I’m not sure whether I want the Sox to do it, though.

By: dan1111

dan1111 — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:29:54 +0000

Agreed. I think signing him to a $50m+ contract would have been more of a PR disaster for the Sox.

By: bigharold

bigharold — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:42:34 +0000

I wouldn’t trade Beckett either because as you point out the RS need pitching. But, they also let Papelbon walk without much fuss. Now they’ve only two decent pitchers in the pen and the Nation is clamoring for one of them to go to the rotation, Aceves, which would be a mistake.

If Ortiz gets anything near 20 mil/ 2 years he should jump on it with both feet because I don’t see anybody coming close to that. Outside the RS he’s looking at VaId Gurreraro money, 6-8 mil per maybe two years. I could see the RS giving him a take it or leave it offer that he might try to wait them out on. It’s kind of their MO. And, as you point out, going with Beltran would make sense for it’s own reasons. Of course that’s assuming he can stay off the DL which he has a hard time doing when he’s not in a walk year.

The point is that I don’t think it’s beyond the realm of possibility that the RS decide to do some major retooling rather than tweak the current team. If they can fix the holes in the rotation and the pen one could argue that the keeping the offense essentially intact, getting a RFer with a bit of pop would make sense since they did score a lot last year. If they aren’t confident that they can address the pitching deficiencies than why pay Ortiz big money? Why not sell Beckett coming off a good year when his value is high?

I’m pretty sure that the RS are a much better team than they showed in September but they have a lot of holes in their pitching. Far more than last year. If they can’t straighten them out they will not be able to compete effectively next year. If that’s the case, why not rebuild?

By: uyf1950

uyf1950 — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:38:35 +0000

bobwsc, had the opportunity to see Aceves when he was with the Yankees. Very good out of the pen but he’s not a starter. Just my opinion.

By: bobwsc

bobwsc — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:23:51 +0000

they’ve told Aceves to plan on starting and the rumors are already starting that they’re going after the Braves surplus starting pitchers. doesn’t mean it’ll happen, but Beckett hasn’t put together solid back-to-back seasons since he’s been in Boston. just because a prediction isn’t favorable, doesn’t mean it’s baseless. the talk radio goons are already teeing it up. again, doesn’t mean it will/won’t happen, but no one has been happy with his extension and performance, save for 2/3 of last season.

By: uyf1950

uyf1950 — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:12:04 +0000

Actually it’s the fact that’s it’s Popeye’s chicken that bothers fans.

By: Ari Collins

Ari Collins — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:24:54 +0000

Most fans I’ve talked to are pretty happy (rightly or wrongly) that Papelbon’s gone. Don’t think it’s a PR disaster.

By: Ari Collins

Ari Collins — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:23:01 +0000

Right. Excellent prediction, because the Sox definitely need less pitching. They have two rotation slots open, but they should trade their best pitcher from last year to make it three slots and get… what, prospects? Why would they do that?

Oh, right. Because you can’t have someone on your team who eats fried chicken.

By: Ari Collins

Ari Collins — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:19:25 +0000

Sounds like a fair guess to me. I’d slightly prefer they get Carlos Beltran, who would give them a lot more positional flexibility, but those numbers would be fine.

By: deathmonkey41

deathmonkey41 — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:13:10 +0000

And he needs to get paid by the Red Sox- as Manny found out- once you leave Boston, the drug tests are a lot more stringent.

By: deathmonkey41

deathmonkey41 — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:11:39 +0000

Big Papi needs get paid- those designer PEDs that avoid detection don’t come cheap!

By: bobwsc

bobwsc — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:06:28 +0000

prediction: low ball offer and he bolts, which is their intention. Beckett will be traded out of town in the same timeframe as the housecleaning continues.

By: pisano

pisano — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:04:20 +0000

You’ve been drinking way too much beer. I’ll go with uyf1950, if the Sox give him 2 yrs.@ 25mil. he better jump all over it, no one else would give him that much.

By: beerjunkie

beerjunkie — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 13:12:29 +0000

I’d guess Ortiz signs for 2 years/$30 million.

By: psousa1

psousa1 — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:48:31 +0000

Look what happened when they played I believe it was 6 straight (might have been 8) at NL parks without the DH. Their offense went south. He is the enforcer for Gonzalez. They need him back.

By: henryd3rd

henryd3rd — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:48:52 +0000

Big Papi is sitting pretty. He’s one of the most popular guys on that team and the Sox can’t afford another public relations disaster after loosing Paplebom. Don’t be too greedy, take their money and enjoy your two year swan song. Do me a favor and stop breaking out of slumps when you play the Yankees

By: uyf1950

uyf1950 — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:32:35 +0000

I’m guessing the Sox and Ortiz settle on a 2 year deal $25M total. The Sox can’t afford to lose Ortiz at least not this year.

By: toosoxy

toosoxy — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 07:45:48 +0000

Awesome! I really hope this works out.