Archive for the ‘Josh Beckett’ Category
Three Pivotal Players for Red Sox in 2012
Josh Beckett
Josh Beckett is the most pivotal player to Red Sox success in 2012.
Beckett is supposed to be the pitching staff leader – on and off the field.
A role he failed in last season.
And remember 2011 was going to be a bounce-back year for Beckett after he failed miserably in 2010 by delivering only six wins.
With a couple of World Series rings, Beckett shows all the signs of a player who just doesn’t have the “fire in his belly” any longer.
Boston’s starting staff has a bunch of question marks.
- Can Clay Buchholz comeback from a back injury?
- Will Daniel Bard make the transition to starter?
- And will someone nail down the fifth starter role and hold it consistently through the season? Or will the Red Sox have a revolving door?
The Red Sox don’t need Beckett adding to the question list.
Boston needs Beckett – along with Jon Lester – to answer the bell strongly in April and carry the rotation all the way through the end of the season.
AL East competitors New York and Tampa Bay have excellent starting staffs. Boston needs to match them to compete for a playoff spot.
Kevin Youkilis
Here’s the stat that tells the Kevin Youkilis story:
- In the last three seasons, Youkilis has played in 358 games, compared to J.D Drew who played in 357.
Youkilis will be 33 years old this season – can he bounce back from two mediocre seasons?
Or is Youkilis in an irreversible decline?
The Red Sox need the Youkilis of 2009 – when he delivered .305 AVG., .413 OBP, 27 HR, 94 RBIs.
His offensive performance is pivotal – providing a righty, power bat every day in the middle of heavily left-handed lineup.
Andrew Bailey
Getting Andrew Bailey was a good, low-cost pick-up by GM Ben Cherington.
But Bailey is a question mark – in the pivotal closer role.
He has never been a closer in a pennant race – never mind under the AL East spotlight.
And Bailey has had trouble staying healthy the last two seasons.
For instance, Oakland only got 41.2 innings from Bailey last year while Boston got 64.1 innings from Jonathan Papelbon.
Sure, the Red Sox have Mark Melancon who can slide into the closer role if Bailey gets hurt. But that move shortens Boston’s bullpen.
The baseball season is a grind.
Delivering throughout the 162 game season is this year’s challenge for Beckett, Youkilis and Bailey. And we won’t know if they are up to it until October 3 when the regular season ends.
And the Red Sox fortunes may rise or fall based on these pivotal players.
It’s Not That Red Sox Have Turned Cheap – It’s They Bet Big on Wrong Guys
It has become fashionable for pundits to pick on the Red Sox for their lack of action in free agency this off-season.
For instance, Jon Heyman threw out the theory that ownership’s attention to Liverpool is the reason Boston hasn’t spent big this off-season.
Red Sox brass quickly shot down Heyman’s perspective, saying the Red Sox and Liverpool are run as separate enterprises.
And Larry Lucchino publicly spoke out, noting Boston will have the second highest payroll in baseball.
Jeff Passan wrote in the previous five off-seasons, Boston spent $514,475,500 on free agents, compared to only $7.35 million this off-season.
I agree with Tim Britton who noted calling the Red Sox cheap is unfair.
A more apt description – learning the lessons from the past.
Over the last few years, Boston has spent big on free agents with not much to show for it.
Daisuke Matuszaka ($52 million over six years), John Lackey ($82.5 million over five years) and Carl Crawford ($142 million over seven years) have not paid off – at least so far.
Let’s add in 12-game winner (and September disaster) Josh Beckett ($68 million over four years).
The issue is not the amount of money the Red Sox are spending. It’s who they have spent it on.
Also factor in, the Red Sox farm system has not produced an impact player since Clay Buchholz arrived in 2007.
Lack of farm system results has driven free agent spending – which is not a long-term winning proposition.
Especially when AL East competitors Tampa Bay and Toronto have top farm systems (ESPN subscription required), closely followed by New York.
The Red Sox farm system strength is in the lower minors.
This coming season should provide an indication whether young players – like Xander Bogaerts and Blake Swihart – will move into the elite prospect category.
If they do that may bring some balance to putting a team together – with player development leading the way and free agency filling in the holes.
How Red Sox Can Fill Out Starting Pitching Rotation
Job one for new Red Sox GM Ben Cherington is shoring up the starting rotation.
A big part of the September collapse was Boston ran out of quality pitchers down the stretch.
Some of that was the result of massive performance failure by “aces” Josh Beckett and Jon Lester – and injury to Clay Buchholz.
For purposes of this post, we will assume the team gets the “big 3” into shape for 2012.
Every season, we see successful teams typically need at least 6 or 7 starters to get them through the season.
Boston can’t count on John Lackey. And shouldn’t count on Daisuke Matsuzaka – anything he delivers in 2012 is an unplanned bonus.
It’s time to thank Tim Wakefield for his service – and move on. He is no longer a quality major league starter.
And while Andrew Miller may be worth inviting to Spring Training – he showed nothing last season.
A Look at Starter Options
Alfredo Aceves. What a find. While Aceves was super-valuable in the bullpen, he deserves a shot at starting in 2012. Don’t forget – Aceves has a 24-3 career record.
Yu Darvish. It’s tough to offer an opinion on a player I have never seen. Darvish is ranked the top Asian pitcher potentially (it is not official – yet) looking to come to America. Mark me down as skeptical on Darvish’s impact. Dice-K was supposed to be a sure thing – and the combination Japan baseball not big league caliber (so a star there doesn’t equal an MLB star) and the cultural aspects – from training to media scrutiny – make it a tough transition. So today – Darvish is not in the plan.
Farm System. There is no sure thing among starters in the Red Sox minors. Closest to the majors are Felix Doubront – who between injury and conditioning issues wasted 2011 – and Kyle Weiland – who was not impressive in his big league trial. And who knows if Junichi Tazawa is now – or will be ever – ready to contribute. Doubront is the best pitcher among the 3 – pencil him as starter #7 either working out of the bullpen or rotation in Pawtucket.
Trades. The Red Sox should play to their financial strength – and pursue starters that are pricing themselves out of the reach of small market teams. And buy low.
Potentially on this list: Anibal Sanchez (Miami), Gio Gonzalez (Oakland), Brandon McCarthy (Oakland) and Joe Saunders (Arizona).
And then you have pitchers moving up in price on teams with the money but that just may not want to pay – Jair Jurrjens (Atlanta) and John Danks (White Sox). You can add Francisco Liriano (Minnesota) – but I would pass on him. I would love to add David Price to the mix – but don’t see Tampa Bay talking with Boston.
And then you got players with bad contracts. Top of that list are Wandy Rodriguez and Brett Myers (both on Houston). (Side note: How does Ed Wade keep his job?)
Boston should be able to grab at least one player from the above list – without having to give up too much in return (if the team is really looking to avoid the 2012 salary).
My top 3 choices: Sanchez, McCarthy and Rodriguez.
Free Agents. I don’t see Boston going big on C.J. Wilson or Mark Buehrle. The team has 4 starters locked into long-term deals already – don’t expect them to make that 5.
Roy Oswalt is a possibility – depends on the medical reports. Right now, I would pass. The team has enough medical issues on the staff.
Paul Maholm looks like a good starter for the back-end of a rotation. He was been decent on a poor team. Had some injury issues last season – those would need to check out. Bruce Chen is a comparable alternative for a lefty in the #5 slot in the rotation.
So how do the Red Sox get to 7 starters?
- Lester
- Beckett
- Buchholz
- Aceves
- Sanchez, McCarthy or Rodriguez (less likely Rodriguez if Maholm or Chen signed)
- Maholm or Chen; maybe Oswalt
- Doubront
Albie Jarvis
