52 replies to this topic

[Rudy Pemberton]

Aviles has been OK, but the difference b/w having him and Tulowitzki wouldn't change this team all that much.

The biggest problem is the pitching; the Red Sox starters have ERA's ranging b/w 4.14 - 5.77; 4 of them with K rates <7; 3 with BB rates higher than 3.5

[Plympton91]

Aviles has been OK, but the difference b/w having him and Tulowitzki wouldn't change this team all that much.

The biggest problem is the pitching; the Red Sox starters have ERA's ranging b/w 4.14 - 5.77; 4 of them with K rates <7; 3 with BB rates higher than 3.5

But the contract situations make it very difficult to fix the pitching; which, incidentally, has been improving. Lester, Beckett, Buchholz, and Lackey are going to be on your starting staff in 2013, with Doubront looking like a keeper as well. You cannot bring in another top of the rotation starter unless you're willing to move Doubront to the bullpen, completely alienate one of the four high priced guys on long-term contracts, or eat money even though you're likely to have to eat far more than performance dictates you should have to (because you don't want to give them to another AL competitor).

I thought about starting a thread titled, "Do the Red Sox Need an Ace Starter," but, I think they're stuck with what they have, and what they have consists of players with, I think, quite a bit of upside relative to their recent performances. Buchholz appears to have straightened himself out and may yet turn into the ace they need, Lester's problems don't seem to have any permanent component, we've seen enough pitchers recover from TJS that I am actually looking forward to Lackey's 2013, Beckett has been fine, and as mentioned, Doubront has outperformed expectations to such a degree that they should be patient and develop him.

Once again, upgrading Aviles doesn't have to easy or imply that Aviles is inadequate. It just has to be the best use of a minor league system that is producing prospects at a rate faster than the team can incorporate them and thus, faster than the team can protect them from waivers or the Rule 5 draft. EV hasn't done his rule 5 analysis yet, but my guess is there are a whole lot of players on the bubble who nobody wants to see the Red Sox trade for $50,000. They are suddenly sitting on both quantity and quality; and, increasingly, are in a use it or lose it position.

[OCD SS]

The prospects on the bubble will not bring back the kind of upgrade you are talking about.