twballgame9 {l Wrote}:EagleNYC {l Wrote}:I have been asleep when it comes to the Sox this offseason, other than the official moves (Victor gone, Gonzo in, Beltre probably gone). Is there more going on re: free agency for them? Youk goes to 3rd, Gonzo at 1st. Who catches?
Saltalamachia at this point. But really, who cares?
With respect to the rest of FA, expect them to sign a power arm for the pen and make at least a run at Crawford. Otherwise, they are pretty much set.
Thanks for the update.
I asked about catcher because, in theory, losing Victor could really be a blessing for the pitchers, not even taking into account all of the SBs. Someone back there who can contribute marginally on offense (read: hits 40 points higher than Varitek with 12-15 HR, 65 rbi) is obviously nice, but given how shaky Dice K, Beckett, and Lackey were last year, in think a veteran catcher's impact could be significant.
I'll put it another way. I'm guessing that there are many Sox fans that reason thusly: Lackey, Dice and Beckett all had bad years. What are the odds they all do again? Putting aside the fact that this assumes that Lester and Clay repeat their success to a large degree (though I agree this is fairly likely), I think the strength of these 3 pitchers has been greatly inflated. Lackey saw his WHIP and ERA soar last year (about a half-run higher than his career average, about .2 higher WHIP as compared to his previous 3 seasons), and despite his durability (33 starts), he never really put it together. Dice K turned into a marginally effective 6-inning pitcher. Beckett, after returning from the DL, posted an atrocious stat line dotted with AJ Burnett-like performances. In short, I think the chance of 2 out of these 3 guys really turning it around are less than 50%.
Can a catcher "solve" any of these problems? I think it is possible. And it is certainly worth a try.