TRADED! Mike Carp

To the Red Sox for a PTBNL

After being made expendable via the Michael Morse acquistion, the Mariner's shipped Mike Carp off to Boston.  Carp posted a .255/.327/.413 line over four seasons with the Seattle Mariners, hitting 18 home runs in just over 600 plate appearances.  While the Boston Red Sox have relatively steep depth at first base, this acquisition makes sense for them.  First off, while Carp's numbers are modest, he has proven especially effective against left handed pitching, hitting a solid .300.  Secondly, Carp was acquired for very little.  The Red Sox can obviously afford to eat his contract if he tanks, and any sort of prospect that could be acquired for Carp is almost guaranteed to have little Major League potential.

Finally, and perhaps most interestingly for the rest of baseball, acquiring Mike Carp makes other Sox players expendable.  That relative interest I mentioned in Carp earlier in the article, belongs to teams like the Astros, Brewers and Twins; which suggests that teams are looking for a good bench bat or first basemen.  The Red Sox signed Lyle Overbay only a few weeks ago in hopes of securing some first base/DH security, but with Carp joining the team Overbay may become disposable.  The Red Sox, recognizing these teams desire for first basemen, could ask a higher-than-regular piece for a player like Overbay.  The Brewers recently lost Mat Gamel to a torn ACL and are waiting for Corey Hart to return from surgery, which makes them a hot target.  The Crew targeted Overbay before he agreed to terms with Boston, but he opted for the American League team so as to get more at bats via the designated hitter role.  With Gamel out, Milwaukee could reasonably be in a position of relative desperation and be forced to send a low-level prospect out in exchange for Overbay's season, effectively paying a price for their own inability to pull the trigger when he was a free agent. 

SIGNED! Lyle Overbay

To the Red Sox on a minor league deal.

Usually I don't write on minor league deals, but Overbay's impact in the Boston lineup could be a pivotal one.  Given the alarming injury discovered during Mike Napoli's contract-dampening physical, having first base depth on the bench is more necessity than luxury. Napoli's ailments aside; at age 37 the team's DH David Ortiz is no spring chicken, Overbay is a more than serviceable back up in case Big Papi needs a day or two of rest. Worst case scenario, Overbay's deal will be a low-risk contract that doesn't pan out to anything significant; but if I had to guess, an American League team that has plenty of veteran players will bring Overbay's bat to Fenway more than a few times this season.

SIGNED! Mike Napoli

One year, $5MM to the Boston Red Sox

You know how every time a player is signed, the details of the contract are always punctuated with "pending physical"? Yeah, that physical cost Mike Napoli two years of job security and about $34 million dollars. Apparently after agreeing to terms with the Boston Red Sox it was revealed via physical that Napoli had been dealing with a hip issue, causing Boston to retract their offer in exchange for something vastly more team friendly. The contract isn't cut and dry at $5MM, incentives could boost the deal up to $13MM.

Napoli's numbers dropped substantially in 2012 from the career season he had the year prior, but he still made the All Star roster and reached 20 homers for his fifth consecutive season. It's a very small sample size, but in 73 plate appearances in Boston, Mike Napoli has absolutely demolished the ball. His line at his new home stadium thus far is .309/.397/.710. While it is just a sample size, those numbers are totally outrageous and probably worth a $5MM risk. It's pretty impossible to say at this point what Napoli is going to do in light of his injury history, but with a team friendly contract and an easier position to stay healthy at (moving from catching to first base) he still looks like a bargain and a chance worth taking.

Catcher Notes: Pudge, Molina, Napoli, Varitek, Molina

Ivan Rodriguez has stated an interest in playing again this season. The former MVP has proven more than durable, carving out a major league spot behind the plate that has spanned more than two decades. Pudge can't hit like he used to, and he is coming off an injury riddled season, but he could prove relevant to a team who wants a decent bat off the bench, or just one looking for some veteran influence.

The Cardinals have extended Yadier Molina to a 5 year $75MM dollar contract. Extending catchers is always risky as it is an oft-injured position but talent like Yadier's is rare and the 3x All Star is still pretty young, and seemingly only getting better. Assuming he hits anywhere close to the way he has been for two or three of these contract seasons, maintains his glove and stays healthy, this contract will look like a bargain. Hopefully the front office told him to stop reinforcing Brandon Phillips' claims that the St. Louis Cardinals are all "little bitches" so he can refrain from flipping out and throwing punches or spitting all over the place every time he gets upset about something.

Mike Napoli was acquired for next to nothing from the Blue Jays (who incidentally acquired him only a few days before for VERNON WELLS. Still blown away by that one.) and flourished in his first year in Texas. In the latter half of the season he hit almost .400, and while that is a complete anomaly, it proves his bat is legit. He announced earlier this week that he wants to test free agency. My guess is that he plays his ass off and earns a four a five year extension with Texas that will see him in a DH role by the end of his contract.

Long time Red Sox Captain Jason Varitek and veteran backstop Bengie Molina announced their retirements earlier this week. I'm just writing this in to say congrats to the two of them on two long lasting careers. I'd be shocked if Varitek didn't stay in Boston and get some sort of front office/managerial position at some point.

Tim Wakefield retires

Tim Wakefield has been in Major League Baseball since 1992. I was six years old when he threw his first major league pitch for the Pittsburgh Pirates. At the time of his retirement, Wakefield was the oldest active player in the majors. The most amazing thing about all of that is that he was drafted to play a position he wasn't good at and wouldn't be able to form a career around. Tim Wakefield was drafted to play first base, and when a scout told him that he wasn't going to last long playing a position he started playing around with the knuckleball.

Think about that. Tim Wakefield's career was basically fated to end when he made the inscrutable decision to start throwing the sparsely seen knuckleball. This decision established the roots of a career spanning two decades, two World Series rings, exactly two hundred career wins, over two thousand strikeouts and one career home run.... yeah that's true! His legacy won't be his domination, he wasn't that dominating pitcher. It will be a testament to determination and endurance. Thanks for a fun, and unlikely career, Tim.

Offseason Review: Boston Red Sox

I know there is a good chance that we'll see some last minute trades and signings, but with the 2012 season just weeks away I figured I'd start recapping the offseason team by team. I'm going do it Eastern, Central, Western, American League first.
 

BOSTON RED SOX

Perennial MVP Candidate Adrian Gonzalez

Last year I picked the Red Sox to beat the Phillies 4-1 in the World Series. WOOPS! This year I predict that the Boston Red Sox are going to beat the Phillies 4-1 in the World Series. Here's why: the Red Sox went all out in acquiring and signing Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford respectively. And while there was a bust in Crawford, Gonzalez did exactly what he was expected to do, and that is smash the living shit out of the ball.  The starting three pitchers should be, at the very, very least competent enough to win games assuming they stay healthy. By my estimation it would be a very reactionary move to identify a team of this caliber with last year's late season collapse.

The Red Sox let iconic fist pumping, death glaring closer Jonathan Papelbon walk and responded by acquiring Mark Melancon from the Astros and Andrew Bailey from the Athletics. They are replacing a mediocre/aging J.D. Drew with possible breakout candidate Ryan Sweeney who is trading in the cavernous Coliseum for the hitter-friendly Fenway Park. There is a weak back two spots in the rotation but Oswalt is a likely candidate to help shore that up, and with the likely departure of (probably former) captain Jason Varitek, a door opens for promising catching prospect Ryan Lavarnway.

THE POWER OF RYAN LAVARNWAY



The only major issue is at short. The Sox...for whatever reason... traded away Jed Lowrie in the Melancon deal and Scutaro for RHP Clayton Mortensen. They have Nick Punto, but I can hardly type that out without wanting to punch a whole in my goddamn computer screen for how goddamn stupid it is to not even trying to rely on Nick goddamn Punto to play the hardest defensive position in baseball... still I'm sure they will figure it out. Worst case scenario, Pedro Ciriaco is in their system and for some dumb reason I have faith in that guy.

Nick Punto in all his wobbly glory

Seriously though, you have my prediction. Boston Red Sox in five.