283 replies to this topic

[Corsi]

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. –The Red Sox are in on starter Anibal Sanchez, who after Zack Greinke is the consensus second-best starter available on the free-agent market.

The Red Sox are one of several teams, according to a source, who have expressed interest in the 28-year-old right-hander, who has strong links to the Red Sox and general manager Ben Cherington.

http://www.bostonher...anibal-sanchez/

[Savin Hillbilly]

Beyond the Box Score with a good piece on Anibal Sanchez, and how he's bounced back nicely since the 2007 shoulder surgery.

And they're projecting 4/50. At that price, I would jump headfirst, and without a parachute.

Edited by Savin Hillbilly, 08 November 2012 - 03:39 PM.

[SoxScout]

And they're projecting 4/50. At that price, I would jump headfirst, and without a parachute.

Most everything else is guessing 5/$65M, though.

[Corsi]

Morosi:

Hiroki Kuroda receiving interest from teams other than #Yankees and#Dodgers. #RedSox have reached out as well

https://twitter.com/...644813695299584

Last offseason, many observers did not expect Hiroki Kuroda to leave#Dodgers. He did. #RedSox loom as an intriguing possibility this time.

https://twitter.com/...645230697205760

Edited by Corsi, 08 November 2012 - 03:57 PM.

[Rudy Pemberton]

Never say never, but why would Kuroda leave the Yankees to go to the Sox?

[Rasputin]

Most everything else is guessing 5/$65M, though. [For A. Sanchez]

I'm pretty sure I'd be okay with that.

Never say never, but why would Kuroda leave the Yankees to go to the Sox?

If the Yankees are serious about getting under the tax threshold, the Sox might actually be in a position to offer more money.

[Papelbon's Poutine]

Didn't they give him a qualifying offer? No thanks. One year guy not worth a 2nd round pick. Drive his price up a bit for Ny and move along please.

(null)

[RedOctober3829]

Kyuji Fujikawa, who was Hanshin Tigers closer is drawing interest from Red Sox. He's 32 years old.

https://twitter.com/...649902170382338

Cafardo

[Corsi]

Fujikawa’s numbers in Japan are amazing. In eight years he’s never had an ERA higher than 2.01 and this season, at age 32, he posted a 1.32 ERA. He has 220 career saves and 914 strikeouts in 703 innings.

http://hardballtalk....luding-rangers/

[Yaz4Ever]

http://hardballtalk....luding-rangers/

But can he throw a gyroball?

Didn't we trade for a closer last offseason? Bailey was hurt last year, but shouldn't he be back this year?

[Edelpeddle]

Most everything else is guessing 5/$65M, though.

I would jump at that. Five years is always risky for a pitcher, but it's almost impossible to get a quality top of the rotation starter without going four or five years. Fangraphs has him worth $17+ million in each of the last three years.

Didn't they give him a qualifying offer? No thanks. One year guy not worth a 2nd round pick. Drive his price up a bit for Ny and move along please.

(null)

I imagine Kuroda will be looking for multiple years now that he's been battle tested in the American League East. I wouldn't give him that draft pick or not.

[Corsi]

Rosenthal:

Kuroda may not be bluffing on possibility of leaving #Yankees for another club. Remember, few thought he would join Yankees in first place.

https://twitter.com/...672661239844864

[Corsi]

Kuroda, a source said, is fine with a one-year deal. But a team would have to "significantly" beat the qualifying offer.

https://twitter.com/...671650865573888

Is Kuroda worth $16M+ on a 1-year deal?

[Corsi]

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- According to an industry source, the Red Sox have shown "strong interest" in the possibility of signing right-hander Hiroki Kuroda. After spending the first four years of his career with the Dodgers, Kuroda excelled in 2012 as a member of the Yankees, going 16-11 with a 3.32 ERA with 6.8 strikeouts and just 2.1 walks per nine innings while pitching a career-high 219 2/3 frames.

Though Kuroda refused a potential trade to the Sox in the 2011 season, he reversed course after the conclusion of that campaign, and expressed interest in playing for Red Sox last winter. However, while the Sox remained in contact with him throughout the offseason, the team -- which was nearing its payroll limit -- could not match the one-year, $10 million offer to which he eventualy agreed with the Yankees.

The Yankees have made clear their interest in bringing back the right-hander. New York extended a one-year, $13.3 million qualifying offer to the 37-year-old last Friday; presumably, any offers by other teams would need to be better than that standard. Moreover, if Kuroda declines the qualifying offer to sign with another team -- a decision that needs to be made by this Friday at 5pm EST -- the signing team would need to sacrifice a draft pick.

However, the Sox' first-round pick this year is protected, and so the team would lose no higher than its second-round pick for signing Kuroda (or any other free agent who received a qualifying offer) to a deal.

http://www.weei.com/..._medium=twitter

Edited by Corsi, 08 November 2012 - 05:50 PM.

[Edelpeddle]

https://twitter.com/...649902170382338

Cafardo

Just to put those numbers in context, we're talking about the Pacific League where the league average ERA was below 3.00 in 2011 (can't find it for 2012). And he does pitch his home games in the Petco Park of Japanese stadiums. Koshien Stadium is the same park Kei Igawa lead the league in ERA pitching his home games in.

[Edelpeddle]

I would be alright with Kuroda on a one year deal. He showed no signs of slowing down last year with career bests in innings pitched and ERA+ while posting better than career averages in K/9, BB/9 and H/9. If we're going to be competitive next year without mortgaging our future, we'll probably have to get creative given the free agents available. Perhaps we go back to the pitching and defense type bridge year we attempted in 2010. Cherington was supposedly a strong supporter of signing Beltre. The amount of money we have to spend would allow us to sign Kuroda and a guy like Anibal Sanchez.

Iglesias, Pedroia, Ellsbury are pretty strong defensively up the middle. Middlebrooks had a reputation as a strong defensive player in the minors, we could fill out the remaining corners with guys like Torii Hunter and Loney/Pena. Lavarnway was voted best defensive catcher in the International League last year.

[mabrowndog]

I also like the idea of removing a valued asset from a division rival, and the Yankees in particular. They won't easily replace Kuroda without committing major dollars over multiple years to another FA (and the bulk of those available carry some frightening risk) or trading some of their young studs.

[Corsi]

Morosi says Anibal is currently asking for 6 years/$90 million.

http://msn.foxsports...110812?m_n=true

[mabrowndog]

6/90? Somebody needs to tell Fernando Cuza that his client is not Pedro Martinez.

I'll be really surprised if any of the free agent pitchers gets more than 4 years guaranteed this winter. Nearly every one of them, including Anibal, has an injury history ranging from concerning to downright frightening. Then again, MLB front offices are chock full o' stupid.

[StuckOnYouk]

What happens if we sign multiple FA's who have been offered arbitration? Do we still only lose one second rounder? Do we lose a second, than a third, etc?

[mabrowndog]

The latter.

And just to be clear, FA's are no longer offered arbitration by their former teams. It's a one-year contract at a salary equaling the average of the 125 highest-paid players in the previous year. For this season it's $13.3 million.

Edited by mabrowndog, 08 November 2012 - 11:16 PM.

[StuckOnYouk]

The latter.

And just to be clear, FA's are no longer offered arbitration by their former teams. It's a one-year contract at a salary equaling the average of the 125 highest-paid players in the previous year. For this season it's $13.3 million.

Sorry, that's what I meant, just couldn't think of the right terminology.

So if that's the case, do you think the Sox would bother signing more than one FA who's been given the qualified offer? Would they risk a 2nd and 3rd to get say a Kuroda and a Laroche, for argument's sake. Or would they limit themselves to just one FA who's been qualified?

[mabrowndog]

Without the ability to rack up multiple sandwich picks as compensation for losing their own FAs, every draft pick a team has is even more valuable. The new draft rules and slotting system pretty much eliminates the stockpiling of upper-tier prospects.

However if there's going to be a year where they sign 2+ such free agents, it's this year while they have the protected first rounder. Also, their success in last year's draft, where they not only had two supplemental first rounders but were also able to sign their first 12 selections and 24 of their top 27, provides some cushion where missing a couple of picks this year won't hurt the depth as much. But I doubt they'd sign more than two.

Edited by mabrowndog, 09 November 2012 - 12:51 AM.

[Edelpeddle]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but only eight players who received qualifying offers remain on the market and I don't see the Red Sox having much interest in most of them at the contracts they'll be asking for. They are: Bourn, Hamilton, Kuroda, LaRoche, Lohse, Soriano, Swisher, Upton.

[Papelbon's Poutine]

They're not signing Kiroda. Everyone get over him. If they do then Ben needs to be fired. Giving up a high 2nd for a one year deal on a 37 year old pitcher when your team is marginally possible of contending for a WC is the definition of piss poor GM.

I don't care if he signed for the minimum - they should have zero interest in him.

Edited by Papelbon's Poutine, 09 November 2012 - 02:43 AM.

[maufman]

They're not signing Kiroda. Everyone get over him. If they do then Ben needs to be fired. Giving up a high 2nd for a one year deal on a 37 year old pitcher when your team is marginally possible of contending for a WC is the definition of piss poor GM.

I don't care if he signed for the minimum - they should have zero interest in him.

If the Sox are out of contention, but Kuroda pitches well, the Sox could probably get something comparable in value to a second-round pick for a half-season rental on Kuroda. I agree that the Sox shouldn't go there, but it's a closer call than you suggest.

[Corsi]

#RedSox have checked in on free agent Joakim Soria. He should be ready to pitch by late May or June.

https://twitter.com/...946098063634432

[Corsi]

anibal sanchez's price going up? he asked 1 team for $90M, 6 yrs, and another about $100M, 7 yrs.

https://twitter.com/...951803202056192

[SoxScout]

Even after adding 1B/OF/SP we will still be well under the tax threshold. I'd like to to get at least one, if not both, of Soria and Madson.

If they are DOA, so be it. If they come back hot, we will either have a ridiculous bullpen that's helping us win or great assets to move at the deadline. If healthy they will also reject a qualifying offer next year and move on for a closing/longer deal.

[Rudy Pemberton]

anibal sanchez's price going up? he asked 1 team for $90M, 6 yrs, and another about $100M, 7 yrs.

Why would he be asking for different contract lengths / amounts based on team? Seems odd.

Even after adding 1B/OF/SP we will still be well under the tax threshold. I'd like to to get at least one, if not both, of Soria and Madson.

How would you convince one of, never mind both of, those guys to sign here, though? Are you going to hold a competition for closer? If the best they can get is a 1-year pillow contract, they'll want it to be with a team where they can rack up saves and then get paid next year.

[SoxScout]

How would you convince one of, never mind both of, those guys to sign here, though? Are you going to hold a competition for closer? If the best they can get is a 1-year pillow contract, they'll want it to be with a team where they can rack up saves and then get paid next year.

1. Teams that need closers (Who is this, the Mets....?) will want someone that can pitch the first month or two of the season, or I would imagine trade for Perez. 2. Money, we can presumably overpay. 3. What's better for a new deal than succeeding in the ALE?

Edited by SoxScout, 09 November 2012 - 01:57 PM.

[Doctor G]

Another guy to consider as a 5th starter swingman who might be available on a one year deal is Scott Feldman, Good write-up in fangraphs
http://www.fangraphs...andon-mccarthy/

[maufman]

1. Teams that need closers (Who is this, the Mets....?) will want someone that can pitch the first month or two of the season, or I would imagine trade for Perez. 2. Money, we can presumably overpay. 3. What's better for a new deal than succeeding in the ALE?

A pitcher looking for a one year, make-good contract is not going to come to Boston, for obvious reasons.

If there's value to be had here, it's in recognizing that recovery from TJ surgery is a relatively routine thing nowadays, and that throwing a 3-year contract at someone like Ryan Madson is therefore not as crazy as it might seem. I wouldn't take that risk on Madson, but it's potentially an inefficiency that could be exploited.

Edited by maufman, 10 November 2012 - 03:50 PM.

[Greg29fan]

Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_Rosenthal
Sources: #Brewers, #RedSox, #Angels among teams expressing interest in Dempster. Seeking three-year deal.

[Savin Hillbilly]

A guy whose 36th birthday will come in early May, and who will be moving from one of the weakest divisions in baseball to one of the strongest, is not a guy I give three years to. Not unless the third year comes with the word "option" attached to it in some form.

With that caveat, Dempster would be interesting. I think we can do better, but we could also do worse.

[Red(s)HawksFan]

Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_Rosenthal
Sources: #Brewers, #RedSox, #Angels among teams expressing interest in Dempster. Seeking three-year deal.

Gotta think that this mention is just another instance of the Red Sox being the mythical "mystery team" for every agent in baseball. With their situation, every agent is going to say the Sox are in even if they're not. At least, that's what I'm going to believe in this case. Any deal for 36-year-old, never pitched in the AL East Dempster would be an ill-advised one for the Red Sox.

[Ramon AC]

Gotta think that this mention is just another instance of the Red Sox being the mythical "mystery team" for every agent in baseball. With their situation, every agent is going to say the Sox are in even if they're not. At least, that's what I'm going to believe in this case. Any deal for 36-year-old, never pitched in the AL East Dempster would be an ill-advised one for the Red Sox.

Not to mention that Dempster got crushed in August and September, with an ERA around 5 despite a spike in K/9.

[The Gray Eagle]

I'd much rather give 6 years to Sanchez than 3 to Dempster (and 6 years is definitely too much for Sanchez.) I'm sure Dempster is seeking three years, but we'd better not be offering him that. He'll probably get his three years from some dumb team too.

[Cellar-Door]

I'd much rather give 6 years to Sanchez than 3 to Dempster (and 6 years is definitely too much for Sanchez.) I'm sure Dempster is seeking three years, but we'd better not be offering him that. He'll probably get his three years from some dumb team too.

I really doubt anyone goes 3 years on Dempster.

[Yaz4Ever]

I'd much rather give 6 years to Sanchez than 3 to Dempster (and 6 years is definitely too much for Sanchez.) I'm sure Dempster is seeking three years, but we'd better not be offering him that. He'll probably get his three years from some dumb team too.

Well, the rumor for Gomes was that he was seeking $3-4M/year, wasn't it? Rumor has it we paid $5M/year. The point is, players can seek what they want and writers can guess what they want, but I'll reserve judgement until I see what we actually pay for any of the above. I do, however, fully agree that I'd rather go longer with Sanchez than Dempster, but I'd prefer to stay in the 3-year range even with him. For someone Dempster's age, I'd prefer to go with a Beltre-type deal. None of my preferences are likely to match what really happens, though.

[dynomite]

Gotta think that this mention is just another instance of the Red Sox being the mythical "mystery team" for every agent in baseball. With their situation, every agent is going to say the Sox are in even if they're not.

Exactly. And it's impossible to prove a negative. What does the Red Sox being "in" mean? That someone spoke to the agent? That some intern is doing due diligence and compiling data?

[Edelpeddle]

Dempster's statistics are remarkably similar to those of one Anibal Sanchez over the last three seasons.

Sanchez - 587 IP, 3.63 xFIP, 3.67 SIERA, 19.5 LD%, 45.3 GB%, 35.2 FB%, 21.1 K%, 7.3 BB%
Dempster - 590.2 IP, 3.74 xFIP, 3.76 SIERA, 19 LD%, 45.1 GB%, 35.9 FB%, 21.9 K%, 8.7 BB%

Sanchez is much younger and has more pitches, however, which in my opinion would make him less risky pitching in the AL East on a multiyear deal.

Edited by Edelpeddle, 29 November 2012 - 05:29 PM.

[maufman]

Dempster's statistics are remarkably similar to those of one Anibal Sanchez over the last three seasons.

Sanchez - 587 IP, 3.63 xFIP, 3.67 SIERA, 19.5 LD%, 45.3 GB%, 35.2 FB%, 21.1 K%, 7.3 BB%
Dempster - 590.2 IP, 3.74 xFIP, 3.76 SIERA, 19 LD%, 45.1 GB%, 35.9 FB%, 21.9 K%, 8.7 BB%

Sanchez is much younger and has more pitches, however, which in my opinion would make him less risky pitching in the AL East on a multiyear deal.

How do you define "less risky" here?

I don't know if I'd rather have Dempster at 3/30 or Sanchez for 6/100, but the former deal is, by far, the less risky of the two.

[JimD]

Any thoughts on going after Jair Jurrjens if the braves non-tender him as expected?

[SoxScout]

Flyball pitcher, generally a 2.0 K/BB guy, never a strikeout pitcher with major declining trends in K% and SwStr%. His awesome 2011 was fueled by BABIP and LOB%. A guy who threw 97 topped out at 91 last year.

I am much much more interested in Hochevar.

[Rovin Romine]

Maybe worth a flyer, but I'd be concerned with the NL/AL jump. He had 2 good years - 08, and 09, when he was 22/23 years old. Since then he's been injured and has lost some velocity, resulting in him getting tagged by lefties. His 2012 campaign was pretty bad, although he beat the Sox when he faced them.

On the "bright" side, his DL trips have been leg related, not arm related, which might explain the loss in velocity. I don't know how leg/knee recovery projections might be better or worse than arm/elbow recovery projections, but I think that's the issue to consider here.

[Edelpeddle]

I wouldn't give Jurjjens anything more than a minor league deal. He's lost almost 3 mph on his fastball since 2010, he was a complete disaster last year and had been a consistent 4.20+ xFIP pitcher the previous three years in the NL.

[Edelpeddle]

Federico Muñoz J. ‏@fmunozj
#RedSox sign Mexican pitcher Oscar Villarreal.

30 year old righthanded reliever with a career 3.86 ERA, 4.60 xFIP in 336 major league innings. Pitched last year in the Mexican league (2.80 ERA in 45 innings) and AAA (2.88 ERA in 68.2 innings) with poor peripherals.

[Clears Cleaver]

man, this offseason so far has felt a lot like the Lou Gorman era. Platoon outfielders who can't play D, random pitchers from the Mexican league. Interested in every average FA pitcher out there...


edit: yes, I know its early

Edited by Clears Cleaver, 30 November 2012 - 01:15 PM.

[JakeRae]

man, this offseason so far has felt a lot like the Lou Gorman era. Platoon outfielders who can't play D, random pitchers from the Mexican league. Interested in every average FA pitcher out there...


edit: yes, I know its early

Villareal is a minor league signing. It was already mentioned by SoxScout in that forum and should have absolutely no bearing, positively or negatively, on how people feel about this offseason.