jasonpiques.com

Well wow.

McCourt says:

“We love Manny Ramirez,” said Dodgers Owner Frank McCourt, “And we want Manny back, but we feel we are negotiating against ourselves. When his agent finds those ‘serious offers’ from other clubs, we’ll be happy to re-start the negotiations.

“Even with an economy that has substantially eroded since last November, out of respect for Manny and his talents, we actually improved our offer.

“So now, we start from scratch.”

Spring training games have already started, March is two days away, and Manny is turning down an offer for 1 year $25m with a player option for a second year at $20m. Now I could just chalk this up to Manny and Boras playing chicken with the Dodgers, but I really wonder if something is up.

Buster Olney recently said that many teams were staying away from Manny based on his behavior temper-tantrum before being traded from Boston.

ESPN is reporting that the offer was for $10m in 2009 and $10m in 2010 and $25m deferred. I’m still not convinced that the Yankees are out of it either - regardless of what Cashman may say. (He did say the same thing about Teixeira.)

No - not the Josh Fields who plays 3b for the White Sox.

This guy:

You’ve probably never seen or heard of this guy, and with good reason he was drafted by the Seattle Mariners.

And now you’re wondering how that helps the Red Sox out.

Well the Yankees have the 29th pick of the 2009 draft for failing to sign Gerrit Cole - their first round pick in ‘08. And the Sox were locked in at 28th based on their record last year. The only part left was 20th overall pick: Josh Fields. In accordance with the new MLB Draft rules - had the Mariners failed to sign Fields they would have been given pick #20a (or #21) as compensation. That also means the Red Sox would have been bumped up to 30th - but because Fields did accept the $1.75m offer from Seattle the Sox actually leap frog over the Yankees and pick directly in front of them.

What the big deal? “Signability” concern guys who ask for well above slot - often fall further in the draft to big market teams because smaller teams fear they wont be able to meet the player’s demands and that they will return to, (for College Juniors) or attend (High School Seniors) college. This is how players like Rick Porcello - a consensus top #5 talent in 2007 draft fell all the way down to the Tigers at #27.

Now if such a player is around - the Red Sox will have a crack at him before the Yankees do.

Because there is no way I read this correctly.
Lugo traces his woes last year to lactose intolarance.

My favorite part is where Massarotti says:

Lugo said this morning at the Red Sox’ spring training facility, where he revealed that he suffers from lactose intolerance.

Can you imagine that as a press conference - “This piece of cheese on my morning bagel, is the reason I couldn’t handle balls hit directly at me last year. The tummy aches were just brutal. I had to play through a lot of pain.”

The winter is finally almost over. I’m working on my fantasy baseball spreadsheets. I’m trying to figure out my vacation schedule around which ballparks I havent been to that the Sox are playing at this year (Nationals Park - I’m looking at you). I’m figuring out what weekend day trips I should make to Portland and Pawtucket. I’m already salivating at the thought of sitting in the sun - and having a beer and hot dog that cost entirely too much money. Baseball season is almost here.

Is it April yet?
13 days until the 1st Spring Training Game
53 days until Opening Day.

A couple of years ago before hitting Free Agency Andruw Jones told Nick Cafardo of the Globe that he had no desire to play in Boston saying that “It’s too cold there.”

No kidding. And it’s even colder in Portland.

Speaking of Andruw Jones - anyone remember this rumor. The Braves wanted Coco Crisp, Craig Hansen, and Jon Lester for Andruw Jones. Sometimes it is okay to hold on those risky prospects who may never pan out.

Like this turd needed another reason to hate him: link

Who me?

I figured out how to replace Manny Ramirez’s bat in the lineup without having to give up any of our young talent in a trade. Not only that but the guy would be perfect here - his dad grew up a die-hard Red Sox fan, even putting up pictures of Jim Rice and Carl Yazstremski in his room as a child. Put me on the payroll Theo.

You might say: “Well thats fine and good, but I care more about how he hits. We’re talking about the guy replacing Manny Freakin Ramirez here.”

Thats a good point - and fortunately I have those numbers for you. Lets take one step back though first and acknowledge that the Manny Ramirez who was playing for the Red Sox the last two years was very good - but probably not the Hall of Famer you may think he was. In 2007 he only hit 20 home runs - the first time he failed to clear 30 since coming to Boston. His slugging percentage also dipped below .500 for the first time in his career over a full season. His OBP also tied his lowest mark in a year. In spite of all this - the Sox still won the World Series in 2007. 

Before being shipped to Los Angeles - Manny did rebound. However there’s a tempting urge on behalf of Red Sox fans to think that Manny in Los Angeles was the same Manny that left Fenway July 31st. Over the last two years in Boston Manny hit .297 and OPS’d .900 

Of course thats nothing to sneeze at - so you’re probably wondering how much we’re going to have to spend to equal that production. Mark and Leigh Teixeira didnt want $160-170m from Boston. Thats okay though - the guy who should replace Manny would slot in about 7th in payroll for the Red Sox. Even better we have a considerable amount of PA at Fenway Park to know how he’d hit here. 

So who am I talking about? Not Matt Holliday, not Adam Dunn, not Bobby Abreu but:

Compared to the .297/.900 we talked about with Manny, Jason Bay hit .293/.897 after joining the Red Sox. That is what we like to refer to in the scientific community as “Pretty Freakin Close.”

I just honestly don’t understand why some Sox fans and almost the entire Boston media are so slow to realize how good of a hitter Jason Bay is. You’d think he was Shea Hillenbrand the way some people talk about him. Maybe he doesn’t have the slick agent that Manny and Mark Teixeira have. (By the way who thinks Manny is going to play hard if he gets less than the 2 yr $40m he would have if he didn’t force his way out of Boston) Maybe he doesn’t light the world on fire in the Home Run derby (lookin at you Abreu), but he’s a damn good hitter when the game actually counts. And I, for one, am getting a little annoyed with the Red Sox fans who think the only way to better this team is to mimic the behavior they loathe so much from the Yankees - and sign every sexy name out on the market. 

Now if we could talk Francona into actually letting him bat somewhere higher than 6th.