Not so, Boomer. Miami Marlins officials were "outraged" the Red Sox sent only JBJ and Lavarnway after they sold "premium" tickets to see the World Champs. This article sums up my feelings pretty well.

The Miami Marlins, who won 62 games last season and routinely trotted out a regular season lineup featuring players like Jeff Mathis, Donovan Solano and 37-year-old Placido Polanco, are apparently in a tizzy over the spring training lineup the Red Sox put together for Thursday’s Grapefruit League game in Jupiter, Fla. That’s according to the Sun-Sentinel‘s Marlins beat reporter Juan C. Rodriguez, who wrote that team executives were “outraged” over the squad of minor leaguers that Boston sent to Miami’s Roger Dean Stadium to play a team that will feature 36-year-old Rafael Furcal at second base in games that actually count.

 

Rodriguez also notes that Boston’s lineup was especially galling given that the Marlins had instigated “super premium” pricing for tickets to Thursday’s game against the defending World Series champion, only to watch “organizational filler in Red Sox batting practice jerseys with numbers befitting an offensive line” face a team that, in 2013, charged its fans to watch Ed Lucas compile nearly 400 plate appearances for a team that finished 34 games out of first place in the National League East.

 

The Marlins, meanwhile, had a lineup that featured seven of their likely Opening Day starters, including Furcal, who has not played in the majors since 2012; third baseman Casey McGehee, who spent all of 2013 in Japan; and shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria, who was the worst player in baseball last season by WAR (-1.9).

Thursday’s game between the Marlins and Red Sox was called after eight innings due to rain with both teams tied at zero. Boston’s lineup out-hit Miami’s, 7-2.

 

 

Since the beginning of the PITCHf/x era, researchers have calculated framing in several different ways. We are presenting a new method that we will call the "Regressed Probabilistic Model" of framing (RPM for short). In brief, RPM works by calculating the combined probability (and associated run value) that each pitch will be called a strike; summing those probabilities (and run values) across opportunities; attributing those values to a player (catcher or pitcher); and regressing "career" values to the mean.

We will freely admit: If you haven't seen the results of previous framing studies, it can be tough to wrap your mind around the size of the impact of a good or bad framing catcher. These effect sizes are not out of line with what has been reported in the past, but they're still obscenely large. Everyone agrees that Mike Trout was either a deserving MVP or a deserving runner-up in each of the past two seasons, which the stats say were worth close to 10 wins apiece. Our data suggest that over the past five years, the teams that have employed good framers like Jonathan Lucroy, Brian McCann, and Jose Molina have received essentially "free" MVP-caliber seasons from framing alone. (Each of those catchers has been worth about two extra wins per season over that span). This is a staggering amount of value. Add in the fact that these wins are almost assuredly not properly priced into the free agent market, and the difference between having a good framing catcher or a bad framing catcher can make or break a cost-conscious team.

I realize this post likely ensures he'll be injured by nightfall, but it's getting hard to not be at least a little excited at what we might have here.

Are they considering the Boras Plan of Drew staying, with Bogaerts at third ?

If so, either they let Mike go and give first to  Middlebrooks,or

maybe you sweet-talk Drew into a platoon once in a while to take advantage of his RHP career split of .274/.341/.447, and

keeping Mike because Bogaerts and Middlebrooks are still untested,  rotate them both through short, third, and second--like last night.

"We’ll decide to sit down and talk," Lester said on WEEI. "I assume it would be some form of communication, I would imagine hopefully in Spring Training. Obviously, Boston is my home. This is all I’ve known, all I’ve come accustomed to and all I want to know. My family enjoys it up there I enjoy it up there. There are a lot of factors in it.

 

"But at the same time, there’s a business side of it. Kind of like Jacoby, I have to do what’s best for me and same thing with the Red Sox. Sometimes you have to part ways, hopefully that’s not the case when it comes down to us here in the future."

He already signed an extension in 2009, so he's shown in the past that he's willing to forgo top dollar for security (unlike Paps and Ellsbury), but that may be the very reason he tests the market after this year: he gave the Sox their hometown discount and he's now financially set for life regardless of what happens now (security is no longer an issue), so he might as well go for top dollar. He may simply want to see what the market will bear, if only to drive up any Red Sox offer that he ultimately plans to accept.

Lester's not a true ace, but few pitchers are. He's the next best thing, a #1A, and his postseason track record will surely be a factor in any contract negotiations. The baseline seems to be Cole Hamels' contract, per the Herald:

During his daily winter meetings briefing with reporters Tuesday, Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said the club intends to broach the subject of a contract extension for playoff ace Jon Lester later in the offseason or in spring training.

 

And if the sides are seeking a basis of comparison for their negotiations, they need only look to the Philadelphia Phillies' dealings with Cole Hamels.

 

Hamels and Lester have followed almost the same career path, their similarities extending far beyond their status as left-handed pitchers with strong postseason pedigrees. Hamels is only 12 days older than Lester and made his major league debut one month earlier in the 2006 season. Hamels is 99-74 with a 3.38 ERA and 1,509 strikeouts in 1,596.2 career innings; Lester is 100-56 with a 3.76 ERA and 1,237 strikeouts in 1,376.1 career innings. Hamels went 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA en route to leading the Phillies to the 2008 World Series title; Lester went 4-1 with a 1.56 ERA en route to leading the Red Sox to the 2013 World Series title.

 

Then, there's this: In January 2009, three seasons into his major league career and a few months after the Phillies won the crown, Hamels signed a team-friendly, three-year contract extension that essentially bought out his arbitration years for $20.5 million. Two months later, three seasons into his major league career and two years after winning the clinching game of the 2007 World Series, Lester agreed to a team-friendly, five-year contract extension worth $30 million.

 

So, with Lester set to turn 30 next month and free agency looming at the conclusion of next season, he can reasonably seek a contract that resembles the six-year, $144 million deal that Hamels signed with the Phillies in July 2012, when he was 28 and facing free agency.

Is this a valid comp? Discuss.

I looked for a thread to discuss the upcoming rituals of Spring Training.  I didn't find one.  My forensic skills may be less than well-honed.

Perhaps I am over-exuberant in my recent location to Florida, and the anticipation of driving relatively short distances to see Red Sox, Rays, Braves, and others, well, is quite intoxicating.

From past skulking (I refuse to be categorized as a lurker in this matter), I wonder if there are regulars that can share ST tips.

All I know is this:

Pitchers and catchers report Saturday, Feb 15.

First workout is Monday, Feb 17.

Position players report Tuesday, Feb 18.

First full workout is Thursday, Feb 20.

This will be the 2nd year at Jet Blue Park.

And the first taste of resin and tar is the doubleheader Feb. 27 vs. Northeastern and Boston College

Their 2 main catchers are Ross and Pierzynski.  Ross is a very good defensive catcher who played well in the World Series.  Pierzynski is still an above-average hitter, and they make a nice L-R combo behind the plate.  

But they're old.  36 and 37 years old, respectively.  They are not the future.

Many of us thought that Lavarnway was the future behind the plate.  Good power, and improving defensive skills, it does appear that he has lost the confidence of Sox' brass to be behind the plate.  He's played some at 1b this spring, which may simply be to improve his chances of being a MLB contributor (if you can play multiple positions, that's a good thing), but the reality is that they seem disinclined to pursue Lavarnway as a catching option.  

See here for an interesting article on that:  https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2014/03/04/ryan-lavarnway-taking-first-steps-first-base/hW5jT5pZbEkHpFXzY7uuJN/story.html

I don't know much about Dan Butler, but at 27, I can't see him being the future behind the plate either.  Although he did have a pretty good year in AAA in 2013:  .262/.350/.479/.829, with 14 homers in just 282 at-bats.  So he has a little pop and might end up being useful.

The future appears to be Vazquez and Swihart.  

Vazquez (2013):  345 ab, 5 hr, 48 rbi, .287/.375/.391/.766, and is a tremendous defensive catcher with a cannon for an arm. 23 yrs old.

Swihart (2013):  376 ab, 2 hr, 42 rbi, .298/.366/.428/.794, and is solid behind the plate.  21 yrs old.

Each has tremendous upside.  The question is when will they be ready for the majors?  Vazquez' defensive ability may make him ready to go as soon as 2015.  Swihart is further behind.  Could the Sox go with Ross and Pierzynski this year, and then Vazquez and another veteran (re-sign Pierzynski?) in 2015, with the idea being Vazquez and Swihart starting in 2016?  And what of Lavarnway?

Move to wherever this thread needs to be.

SARASOTA, Fla. — Shane Victorino has yet to play a game in spring training for the Red Sox. When he does come back, which should be soon, it may only be as a righthanded hitter.

Victorino largely abandoned switch hitting in August last season because of a strained left hamstring. It proved successful as he hit .300 with an .896 OPS in 115 plate appearances batting righthanded against a righthanded pitcher.

Victorino has been coy about his plans, refusing to say whether he will bat lefthanded again. But he has yet to take a swing batting lefthanded during batting practice sessions on the field.

"It's almost going to be a game-time decision. I think he has his viewpoints on it and where his confidence is," manager John Farrell said this morning. "He hasn't told me that he's eliminating switch hitting."

Victorino is a natural righthanded hitter who learned to switch hit in 2002 when he was in the minors. He has been a better hitter righthanded over the course of his career.

"The right side has always been his strong side," Farrell said. "I think last year his production against righthanded pitching probably has enabled him to be a little bit more open-minded to getting the majority of at-bats from that side of the plate."

Farrell said the Red Sox support the idea.

"We want the most productive player," he said. "If that's what it lends to, we'd be perfectly fine with it if that's what he opts to do."

Batting righthanded Victorino hit a modest .216 in the postseason but drove in 12 runs over 14 games. He had big hits in Game 6 of the ALCS and Game 6 of the World Series.

"You look at the approach at the plate and the overall production and the confidence and you tend to think that has a chance to [continue]," Farrell said. "Time will tell."

Victorino has been held out of games so far for several reasons. He is recovering from surgery on his right thumb and has been doing extra work to strengthen groin muscles that gave him problems last season.

"Hopefully by sometime early this coming week he will be on the field," Farrell said. "All his on-field work has been free, no issues. That's been encouraging."

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2014/03/victorino_may_give_up_switch-hitting.html?camp=misc:on:twit:sox&SREF=Optin&dlvrit=199675

I think this would be a good decision by Victorino. Hopefully he continues to have the same success he had last season, hitting from that side of the plate

Nothing much I can add to that.  I can't fathom the pain he's likely feeling.