The New Acquisitions

For the first post back, let's take a look at the new members of the Red Sox:

C - DAVID ROSS
Ross was signed for two years and $6.2 million.  This is probably the best signing of the offseason for the team.  Ross provides veteran leadership behind the plate in a platoon role.  The big question will be whether he platoons with Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Ryan Lavarnway.

1B/C/DH - MIKE NAPOLI
Napoli was signed for one year and $5 million.  He has a bat seemingly tailor-made for Fenway Park and should knock more than a few balls out of the park.  It will be interesting to see if there are any lingering ill will effects from having to renegotiate his original three year $39 million contract.

IF - BROCK HOLT
Holt was acquired in a trade with the Pirates along with Joel Hanrahan.  Holt has had limited Major League experience but has shown a decent eye at the plate.  He could stick in a bench role.

SS - STEPHEN DREW
Drew signed as a free agent for one year and $9.5 million.  This one does not make much sense to me.  Drew blocks Jose Iglesias at shortstop and is being paid too much when his numbers have been on the decline for a couple of years.  Yes he has had injury concerns, but this still does not make a lot of sense.

RF - SHANE VICTORINO
Victorino was signed as a free agent for three years and $39 million.  He is coming off his worst season as a regular which saw the popular outfielder traded from the Phillies to the Dodgers.  He did steal 39 bases, but his other numbers across the board were down.  It will be difficult for Victorino to live up to his contract.

LF/DH - JONNY GOMES
Gomes was signed as a free agent for two years and $10 million.  Gomes has been a journeyman bat, usually off the bench.  He was once a major antagonist in fights with the Rays so it was a little surprising that he signed with the Red Sox.  This is a little bit of a reach in terms of money, but Gomes should provide some power.  He is very capable of hitting 20 home runs.

SP - RYAN DEMPSTER
Dempster signed for two years and $26.5 million as a free agent.  Boston attempted to acquire Dempster a couple of times throughout the 2012 season.  He was traded from the Cubs to the Rangers at the trading deadline.  Dempster's numbers promptly declined coming to the American League.  Boston is hoping he will learn from those mistakes.  He will not be expected to be a top of the rotation starter which takes some pressure off.

RP - KOJI UEHARA
Uehara signed for one year and $4.25 million.  He is a control pitcher from the bullpen, further strengthening what has already become a powerful weapon for the team.

RP - JOEL HANRAHAN
Hanrahan was acquired in a trade with the Pirates along with Brock Holt.  Hanrahan is expected to take over as the team's closer.  He had decent numbers with the Pirates when the team was contending last year, but those took a slide with the team's fortunes.  He should be fun to watch.

The big concern that I have is that a lot of the signings block players that were seemingly ready for the Major Leagues in 2013.  Ross and Napoli block Ryan Lavarnway.  Drew blocks Jose Iglesias.  Gomes and Victorino block Ryan Kalish.  Lavarnway, Iglesias, and Kalish are not expected to be superstars, but they deserve a shot to see if they could stick at the Major League level.

I Have Not Written in Awhile So...

Well last year ended terribly and I just got so frustrated with the team that I gave up on writing.  I still followed the team through to the end, but I just could not stand spending time writing.  I will give it a shot to get back into it.

Red Sox - Dodgers Mega Deal

First the details:

Dodgers get:
Josh Beckett
Carl Crawford
Adrian Gonzalez
Nick Punto
12 million dollars

Red Sox get:
James Loney
Allen Webster
Rubby De La Rosa
Ivan De Jesus
Jerry Sands

Now this is mostly a sign that the Red Sox are blowing up the team and starting over.  Beckett, Crawford, and Gonzalez were their three highest-paid players and potentially all had bad contracts moving forward.  The players the Red Sox received are not stars, though Webster and De La Rosa both have potential.  This was a way for Boston to clear a ton of salary.  The Red Sox will only pay $12 million of the contracts on the four players they are moving, thus saving nearly $260 million through 2017.

This is bittersweet for me.  On the one hand, I am happy they are doing something to move forward.  On the other, I have never seen the Red Sox pull this kind of thing before.  A complete rebuilding without clear replacements for the players lost.  Loney will take over at first, but his numbers are not impressive and he will be a free agent after the season.  Boston does not have a clear first base prospect in the minors after trading Anthony Rizzo for Gonzalez and Lars Anderson earlier this season.  Ryan Lavarnway or Jarrod Saltalamacchia could spend some time there and Mike Napoli will be on the market this offseason.

R.I.P. Johnny Pesky

Mr. Red Sox has passed away recently at the age of 92.  He was a great player for the team in the 1940's and 1950's and he kept coming to Spring Training even up to this year.  Pesky will be missed.

Kelly Shoppach Traded

Backup catcher Kelly Shoppach, who has quietly turned in a nice season for the Red Sox was traded to the New York Mets for Pedro Beato.  Shoppach was rumored to be behind some clubhouse dissension.  He was also ultimately expendable because he was a backup catcher and Ryan Lavarnway has done all he could in the minor leagues.  It is time to give Lavarnway a chance at full-time work in Boston.  Beato is a bullpen arm who was sent to the minor leagues for the time being.

Hall of Fame Worthy? Pt. 16: Carl Mays

The Hall of Fame has inducted many players who were borderline choices, and many players who deserve induction have been on the outside looking in. I want to look at some players to determine if they deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.

Carl Mays comes up in discussions when the Veteran's Committee votes on Deadball Era players. Mays pitched from 1915 through 1929, with his first several seasons with the Red Sox. Mays also pitched for the Yankees, Reds, and Giants.

Mays was a very good pitcher, winning 20 games five times. He finished with a record of 208 -126 with a 2.92 career ERA. Certainly good numbers, but perhaps not quite Hall-worthy.

What really hurts Carl Mays's candidacy however is that one of his pitches killed Ben Chapman. Mays's pitch hit Chapman in the head and he remains the only player to die from an injury sustained in a baseball game. Mays was apparently not remorseful enough about it for this black mark to ever be erased.

THE VERDICT: He is a borderline choice to begin with and the Chapman situation does not help.

Wheeling and Dealing

Boston was not terribly active at last week's trading deadline, but given their record that was probably for the best.  They did make a couple of small moves leading up to the deadline and then made one more move today.

JOSE DE LA TORRE
Boston traded Brent Lillibridge to the Indians for De La Torre.  Lillibridge was acquired in the Youkilis trade but was designated for assignment after not playing well for a few games.  De La Torre is a middle reliever in AAA who has put up some decent numbers this year, but at 26, does not have an especially bright future.  He will probably serve as organizational depth and get a call-up occasionally.

CRAIG BRESLOW
The biggest deadline deal for the Red Sox was sending Matt Albers and Scott Podsednik to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Craig Breslow.  Breslow is a left-handed reliever who previously had a stint with the Red Sox back in 2006.  Breslow allows the Red Sox to move Franklin Morales into the rotation permanently.

STEVEN WRIGHT
Lars Anderson was sent to the Indians to get 27 year-old AA knuckleballer Steven Wright.  Wright has put up decent numbers this year but is old for the league.  He will also likely serve as organizational depth.

DANNY VALENCIA
Today, the Red Sox traded Rookie Leaguer Jeremias Pineda for third baseman Danny Valencia.  I think this likely means the end of Nick Punto in Boston.  Valencia has a lot of power, but not much else.  Pineda is 21 and still in the Rookie League, so he likely does not have a lot of potential despite decent numbers.

Season in Review: 1992

I have no idea what happened between 1991 and 1992.  The offense struggled quite a bit, and that was probably most of it.  Maybe it was the new manager as Butch Hobson took over for the popular Joe Morgan.  Boston finished in last place in 1992.

FIVE FAVORITE PLAYERS:
Wade Boggs:
Boggs had the worst season of his career in 1992, finishing with a career low .259/.353/.358 slash line.  He was still voted onto the All Star team, but his numbers across the board were down.  It may have been the stress of having his contract up after the season.  He left Boston after the season to join the hated Yankees.

Tom Brunansky:
Brunansky had his best season as a member of the Red Sox in 1992, even though it was still a far cry from his earlier work with the Twins and Cardinals.  He did have the only above-average season by a starting Red Sox position player as he hit .266/.354/.445 and lead the Red Sox in home runs (15), doubles (31), and RBIs (74).

Ellis Burks:
Burks was plagued by injuries in 1992, but generally played well when he was in the lineup.  Burks hit .255/.327/.417 with eight home runs and 30 RBIs and five stolen bases in just 66 games.  When he was out of the lineup, Boston had to scramble to find a replacement.

Roger Clemens:
Clemens is one of the few players that really had a good year in 1992.  Clemens finished third in the Cy Young race that year and 14th in the MVP race.  He also was named an All Star.  He finished the season at 18-11 with a league-leading 2.41 ERA and 208 strikeouts.  He also lead the league in shutouts and WHIP.

Mo Vaughn:
Vaughn started to reach his potential in 1992 after a difficult rookie season in 1991.  He was not quite the hitter he was expected to be yet, but he did finish second on the team in home runs (13) and RBIs (57).  He put together a slash line of .234/.326/.400, not great numbers, but he was starting to show some improvement.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Billy Hatcher:
Hatcher was acquired by the Red Sox from the Reds in July for Tom Bolton.  He immediately brought an infusion of speed to the Red Sox and even pulled off a steal of home in 1992.  He hit .238/.282/.311 in 75 games for the Red Sox.

Jeff Reardon:
Reardon broke the career saves record in 1992, one of the first big individual accomplishments I remember as a fan of the Red Sox.  Reardon did not have a great season in 1992, but he did save 27 games.  He was traded to the Braves at the August trading deadline.

Jody Reed:
Reed was another hitter who declined in 1992, but he still lead the team in a number of categories, such as hits (136), runs (64), and stolen bases (7), while continuing to play steady defense.  Reed hit .247/.321/.316 in 1992, with only 27 doubles after three straight seasons of more than 40.

FAVORITE ACQUISITION:
Frank Viola:
Viola came to the Red Sox as a free agent in 1992 from the Mets.  He was a 20 game winner in 1990 but his numbers dipped a bit in 1991.  Left-handers have not historically done well in Fenway, but Viola managed to go 13-12 with a 3.44 ERA and 121 strikeouts in 238 innings to make an effective number two starter to Roger Clemens.

FAVORITE ROOKIE:
Scott Cooper:
Cooper had been a highly-touted infielder for awhile and he made it to the big leagues full-time in 1993.  He split his time between first base and third base and hit .276/.346/.383 with five home runs and 33 RBIs.  He also showed a very strong throwing arm.  He would make a lot of errors but that had more to do with Vaughn's erratic defense than Cooper's.

1991 Topps #21 Joe Morgan

In this series, I look at my first team set: 1991 Topps.  This was the set I started my baseball card collection with.

One of the first things that really stuck out to me about Topps, as opposed to the other brands released in 1991, was the fact that Topps created cards of managers.  Joe Morgan, not to be confused with the Reds great player, was a reasonably successful manager, helping the Red Sox to division titles in 1988 and 1990.  Both years they were eliminated easily by the Oakland Athletics.  1990 was a down year for the offense, but Morgan rode a surprisingly effective pitching staff to the division title.  He got career years from Tom Bolton and Dana Kiecker, as well as good seasons from Roger Clemens, Mike Boddicker, and Greg Harris.

Underrated Player of the Year: 2003

In this series, I look at one player per year from 1991-the present who came out of nowhere or had a great year that no one really noticed or expected. 

Wow did Bill Mueller come out of nowhere to have a great year in 2003. Mueller had always been a solid, if unspectacular player, over the years. He had played with the Giants and Cubs before going to the Red Sox as a free agent in 2003.

His play in 2003 though was completely unexpected. Mueller surpassed expectations and caused Shea Hillenbrand to be expendable. He was a talented defensive third-baseman and set career highs in virtually every offensive category. Along the way, he won the Silver Slugger, the batting title, and hit grand slams from both sides of the plate in one game.

Mueller hit .326/.398/.540 with 19 home runs, 85 RBIs, and 85 runs scored. He finished twelfth in the MVP vote.

Week in Review: July 15-July 21

The week started off reasonably well with a win in the final game of the Rays series, and taking three out of four from the White Sox.  Then the Blue Jays came to town and the Red Sox seem to have massive problems with them.  The Jays won the first two games of the series to close out the week.

Jon Lester's terrible season continues as he looked horrible against the White Sox.  Josh Beckett and Aaron Cook also had trouble with the Blue Jays.

The week started promisingly enough with Carl Crawford being activated from the disabled list finally and Dustin Pedroia came back later in the week.  Brent Lillibridge and Mauro Gomez were jettisoned to make room for them.  Crawford contributed three stolen bases in the loss to the White Sox.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Cody Ross hit three three-run home runs over the course of the week and could be named Player of the Week for the AL.

Underrated Player of the Year: 2002

In this series, I look at one player per year from 1991-the present who came out of nowhere or had a great year that no one really noticed or expected.

Casey Fossum emerged as a full-time pitcher for the Red Sox in 2002. He was never really a top prospect, he just kind of arrived. Fossum was very versatile in his time with the Red Sox and this was the year that he showed this versatilty the most. Fossum pitched in 43 games in 2002, starting twelve, finishing thirteen, and coming in somewhere in the middle in the other nineteen.

Fossum generally pitched pretty well too. He went 5-4 with a 3.46 ERA and 101 strikeouts in just over 106 innings. Decent numbers for someone without a clear role. He did walk a lot of batters and gave up a lot of hits, but he mostly limited the damage.

Fossum would later be the key piece the Diamondbacks got in the Curt Schilling trade, but he never pitched as well as he did in 2002.

Unknown Heroes Pt. 24: Trot Nixon

Trot Nixon was not a completely unknown player. He was the seventh overall pick in the 1993 draft and of course he was a big player on the 2004 World Champion Red Sox. But Nixon did not develop into the player he was expected to be when he was drafted and he was never an All Star. Nixon never received a single MVP vote. He played well, but he mostly played under the radar.

Nixon had a couple of brief stints with the Red Sox in 1996 and 1998 before making the big leagues for good in 1999. He immediately showed the kind of player he would become with a high on-base percentage, some power, and strong defense. Nixon emerged as a very good player in 2001 when he hit .280/.376/.505 with 27 home runs and 88 RBIs. He was one of the most consistent offensive players on the team that year.

He had a similar power year in 2002, but his batting average and on-base percentage dropped. Then in 2003, he had his best season, hitting .306/.396/.578 with 28 home runs and 87 RBIs. He finished in the top ten that year in on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Yet he was not an All Star or received an MVP vote, even though the Red Sox were in contention that year.

Injuries started to take their toll in 2004, though he was healthy by the time the World Series came around and he hit .357/.400/.507 in the Series. He was back to being a regular in 2005, but his numbers were not as impressive and they declined even more in 2006. The Red Sox let him go to Cleveland after the season signing the similar J.D. Drew instead. Nixon was done as a regular though and did not play much with the Indians. He ended his career with 11 games with the Mets in 2008.

Nixon is the original Boston Dirt Dog and he will always be remembered fondly.

Hall of Fame Worthy? Pt. 15: Smoky Joe Wood

The Hall of Fame has inducted many players who were borderline choices, and many players who deserve induction have been on the outside looking in. I want to look at some players to determine if they deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.

"Can I throw harder than Joe Wood? Listen, my friend, there's no man alive can throw harder than Smoky Joe Wood!" - Walter Johnson.

I came across a website recently where a lot of fans were espousing their beliefs that Smoky Joe Wood should be in the Hall of Fame. I have personally never really considered that because his pitching career only lasted seven full seasons and then he attempted a comeback as an outfielder that was ultimately unsuccessful.

Wood was certainly a great pitcher in his time. He finished his career with a record of 117-57, a .672 winning percentage. He also had a career ERA of 2.03, a shockingly low number. Wood was actually a high-strikeout pitcher for a couple of years when that was fairly rare. He struck out 231 in 1911 and 258 in 1912. His other years were more pedestrian. Wood is fifth in career ERA and tenth in career winning percentage.

Wood was certainly a famous player, pitching for the World Champion Red Sox in 1912 and putting together one of the greatest pitching seasons ever that year by going 34-5 with a 1.91 ERA. He went 3-1 in the World Series that year.

Unfortunately, Wood suffered an arm injury that curtailed his pitching career. He was basically done as a pitcher in 1915, though he did pitch well that season. Many of the aforementioned commenters felt that Wood should be in because Sandy Koufax is in. There may be something to that as Koufax had only six great seasons as a pitcher, but Koufax's career as a pitcher last twelve seasons, compared to Wood's eight. I just do not think that is close enough to get Wood in, especially since he was only great for six.

THE VERDICT: I just can not justify putting Wood in with only an eight-year pitching career, no matter how great those years are. His hitting stats were not good and do not rise to the level of getting him in either.

Is Jimmy Collins in the HOF as a Red Sox?

After doing Herb Pennock yesterday, I was looking at plaques and came across Jimmy Collins.  Collins spent seven years with the then-Boston Americans and is likely in the HOF mostly on the basis of those years.  He was one of the best position players in the early years of the American League.

This is his plaque:

There is no cap on his plaque.  The only thing we have to look at is the collar and the tie.  Luckily we also have this online exhibit from Dressed to the Nines.

Clicking on that link will lead you to what the Boston uniforms looked like in the early 1900's and the tie matches that on this uniform.  I think it is clear Collins is wearing a Boston Americans uniform on his HOF plaque.

Season in Review: 1991

1991 was the first season I watched baseball.  I was 10.  I do not remember watching too many games that season.  More than anything, I just collected cards.  The Red Sox finished in second place in the A.L. East that season.  Joe Morgan managed the team in his final season as the team's manager.

FIVE FAVORITE PLAYERS:
Wade Boggs: 
Boggs was my first favorite player.  He was far and away the team's best hitter, even though he did not have a lot of power.  In 1991, he hit .332/..421/.460 with eight home runs and 51 RBIs and 42 doubles.  Boggs finished second in the batting race that year and made the All Star team.

Ellis Burks:
Burks was the best pure athlete on the team in 1991.  Coming off a season in which he won the Gold Glove and the Silver Slugger, Burks slumped quite a bit in 1991.  He hit only .251/.314/.422 with 14 home runs, 56 RBIs, and six stolen bases.  Far cries from his previous seasons.  The talent was still there, he just did not play well.

Roger Clemens:
Clemens was without a doubt the best and most popular player on the team by this point in his career.  Clemens won his third Cy Young award in 1991 by going 18-10 with a 2.62 ERA and 241 strikeouts.  He lead the league in ERA, strikeouts, games started, shutouts, and innings pitched.  He also made the All Star team in 1991.

Mike Greenwell:
Greenwell was no longer the great hitter he was in 1988 and 1989, but he was still pretty decent.  Greenwell hit .300/.350/.419 with nine home runs and 83 RBIs.  He lead the team with 15 stolen bases.  He finished second on the team in most offensive categories.

Carlos Quintana:
Quintana was playing in just his second full season with the Red Sox in 1991 and had already shown himself to be a decent contact hitter and a surprisingly good defensive first baseman.  He hit .295/.375/.412 with 11 home runs and 71 RBIs.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Tony Pena:
Pena was fascinating to watch behind the plate.  He had one of the most bizarre crouches of any catcher I have seen.  Pena was not much of a hitter, but he was a good defensive catcher and won the Gold Glove in 1991.  Pena lead the league in a number of defensive categories in 1991.

Jeff Reardon:
I have long been a fan of closers and that the case from the start as Reardon was the closer for the Red Sox in 1991.  He had his tenth season in a row of 20+ saves and saved 40+ games for his third team.  Reardon saved 40 games, setting a team record that would last several seasons.  He also made the All Star team.


Jody Reed:
Reed was a scrappy second baseman with doubles power and a good eye at the plate.  He was a pesky contact hitter who hit .283/.349/.382.  He was a reliable defender at second base and also had his third straight season of more than 40 doubles.

FAVORITE ACQUISITION:
Jack Clark:
Clark was acquired as a free agent from the Padres prior to the year.  He was the Red Sox's best power hitter, leading the team with 28 home runs and 87 RBIs from the designated hitter position.  He hit .249/.374/.466 in 1991 and lead the team with 96 walks.

FAVORITE ROOKIE:
Phil Plantier:
Plantier only made it into 53 games for the Red Sox down the stretch but he played so well that his cards were on fire.  He hit .331/.420/.615/1.034 with 11 home runs and 35 RBIs.  Unfortunately he really did not have a position as the Red Sox had reliable starters at all three outfield positions and designated hitter.

Is Herb Pennock in the HOF as a Red Sox?

The cap a player wears on his Hall of Fame plaque is important.  It is meant to signify the team the player made his most indelible mark with.  The Hall of Fame takes this very seriously.  But sometimes there are some unusual choices.  Dave Winfield decided to go in as a San Diego Padre instead of the New York Yankees while Nolan Ryan chose the Texas Rangers and Reggie Jackson chose the New York Yankees.  There are some players whose logos cannot be seen at all, such as Catfish Hunter.

This brings us to Herb Pennock.  Pennock pitched 11 seasons with the Yankees, going 162-90 with a 3.54 ERA.  He pitched in nine seasons with the Red Sox over two stints going 62-59 with a 3.67 ERA.  He was on two World Champion teams with the Red Sox and was a decent pitcher, but not a star.

However, let's look at his Hall of Fame plaque:

It is often stated that the reason Pennock is in the Hall of Fame is due to his work with the Yankees, but this plaque seems to show him with the Red Sox.  It is not completely obvious, but it looks like the bottom of a "B" can be seen just above the bill of his cap.  It certainly does not look like an "NY" and the only other team he played for was the Philadelphia A's.  

Then there is this picture, which looks a lot like it might have been the picture, or at least from the same set of pictures as the one used to create the plaque.  

Notice the piping on the uniform shirt and the hat and the facial features.  This looks like it proves that the cap Pennock is wearing on his Hall of Fame plaque is a Red Sox cap.

Underrated Season: Scott Fletcher 1993

A lot of people are saying "what the hell?" right now.  It's true though when you look at WAR numbers, Scott Fletcher had a surprisingly good season in 1993.  His WAR was 4.6 that season.  About half of that is due to his defensive value which was probably his biggest asset at that point in his career.  He was the second most valuable position player on the team in 1993 when looking at WAR.  Only John Valentin was more valuable.  Fletcher was in the top five that year in fielding percentage, total zone runs, and range factor.

Beyond his defense, Fletcher was a decent offensive second-baseman.  He hit .285/.341/.402 with five home runs, 45 RBIs, and 16 stolen bases.  Decent numbers, especially for a middle infielder at the time.  He also scored 81 runs, was caught stealing only three times and struck out only 35 times, compared to 37 walks.

Fletcher was not a big-name player.  He was a complementary part, but he was a particularly valuable one for the Red Sox in 1993.

1991 Topps #14 Dennis Lamp

In this series, I look at my first team set: 1991 Topps.  This was the set I started my baseball card collection with.

This was one of my very first cards.  I got this card in my first pack along with Tom Bolton.  Lamp was a journeyman middle reliever who was one of workhorses of the team.  He pitched in 47 games in 1990, covering 105.1 innings with a 4.68 ERA, going 3-5.  Lamp was 37 that year and he only pitched two more seasons.

Underrated Player of the Year: 2001

In this series, I look at one player per year from 1991-the present who came out of nowhere or had a great year that no one really noticed or expected.

Doug Mirabelli did not start out the season with the Red Sox. The catching platoon was supposed to be handled by Jason Varitek and Scott Hatteberg. And that would have been the case had Varitek not gone down with an injury after threatening to break out in a major way. Hatteberg simply was not a good enough defensive catcher to shoulder the full-time role, he had major problems with stolen bases. Hatteberg would not even be a catcher after 2001.

So Boston had to do something. They traded Justin Duchscherer to the Texas Rangers for Mirabelli. Duchscherer was a promising pitching prospect so it was a difficult move, but they needed a catcher.

Mirabelli played in 54 games with the Red Sox that season and finished in the top ten in assists and runners caught stealing for the year. He was also a pleasant surprise offensively as he batted .270/.360/.518 with nine home runs. Mirabelli would be a very capable backup catcher for the rest of his career with the Red Sox.