WINTER MEETINGS!

Yes, it's time for the Winter Meetings and I'm moist, nay, DRENCHED! I love this time a year, as free agents, players, and GMs meet to decide the future of their teams going forward. There are trades, big signings, and rumors swirling for an entire week. Now we are already midway through with the week and there have already been some trades and deals done.

Now everybody knows the big names available on the FA market (Jason Bay, Matt Holliday, and John Lackey), but I want to take this opportunity to take a look at some free agents that are a little off the radar. These guys can be had for fairly cheap and offer good value. Now these may not be fits for the Sox, but it's my damn blog and I can write about whatever I want. For this, I am thinking of a Small Market team that can have a shot at making the playoffs but need a couple more pieces to make that happen and need to do it for cheap (if you need a real frame of reference, think the SF Giants). They are generally risks based on age, performance, or health, however to win a World Series, you need to take risks.


Kyle's Intriguing Free Agents


Nick Johnson

Yes, let's start with Nick. There's a lot not to like about Nicky. He's a 1st baseman that doesn't hit for a lot of power. He's only eclipsed 600 Plate Appearances once in his career, making him a durability/injury risk. His career average is under .280.

Then again, there is a ton to like about him. He gives you top-level (though not Gold Glove) defense at the position. His CAREER On Base Percentage is over .400! He walks more than he strikes out. And he's only 31 years old giving him a few more years of prime before the decline.

The beautiful thing about NJ is this - stick him in the #2 spot in your order, and you have a guy on base 40% of the time, leading up to your two big hitters. Naturally, you need a team who has those hitters to make him worthwhile in that slot. That said, he should come pretty cheap to any team who is willing to give him 5 years. I think 4-5 years at $7M/yr should nab him. If you were more frugal you might try a deal laced with incentives based on Plate Appearances.


Mike Cameron

This guy might be the most underrated CF of his generation. The guy has posted an OPS+ (which is OPS/League OPS) over 100 (better than average) EVERY YEAR of his career. At the same time, he has given elite (GG) defense EVERY year. So you're getting an above average hitter who takes runs away.

Now he is 37 years old, but his production has continued and hasn't dropped off. There are plenty of guys who continue to produce into their late 30's, and so far it looks like he is one of them. What is there not to like about a guy like Cameron. In short, he makes almost any team instantly better and can come at a short price. For a guy this old, don't you think 2 years for $6M/yr gets him?


Ben Sheets

Ben sat out all of last year with an elbow injury after throwing 198 innings in 2008. In that season, he was too hurt to throw in the playoffs, taking out the second best pitcher in the Brewers rotation crippling them. The last time he tossed over 200 innings was 2004. He is as injury prone as pitchers come: inner ear infections, bulging discs and the aforementioned arm trouble all appear on the radar.

But man does he have stuff and control. He can locate his fastball and has a back breaking curve. Sheets is also only 31. Really, he wants to nab himself a one year deal with incentives to prove that he is still effective. Once he does that, he should be able to nab a 4-5 year deal for guaranteed money. Also, since he is not throwing beforehand, he needs a one year deal. If you are a team that is close to the playoffs and needs a bump up in the rotation, Sheets could come in and be your #2 guy.


Rich Harden

I could pretty much say "see Ben Sheets" and end it here. But there are differences between the two. First off, Harden is more talented as a pitcher, period. Second, Harden has NEVER pitched over 200 innings. In fact, he's only gone over 150 once (2004) when he was 22. Third, he's younger. He'll be 28 next year, making him three years younger than Sheets, but that's 3 years he'll be in his prime, while Sheets is nearly out of his.

So what with Harden. His skill requires you to pay him a lot of money. His durability is really going to put teams off. So where does he fall? Some team has got to take a chance on him, and I would consider it. The pricetag is so hard to pin down, but how do you not at least kick the tires on this guy? He's got to be the most talented pitcher on the market.


Jim Thome

Should it be a hard sell for a guy who has hit 564 career homeruns? Well Thome is going to be 39 last year and is coming off of his first EVER season with 100+ games an a slugging percentage under .500. Thome is a slugger at heart - a lot of walks, a lot of strikeouts and a lot of homeruns. Also, Thome is strictly a DH at this point. So there's got to be an AL team looking to take him on.

To be honest, I think Thome wants to get to 600 HRs. If he goes one more full season, he's got a fair chance of hitting that. If he gets regular at bats then he should be able to get 30+ HRs this year and that will put him right there. I'm sure he'll play for the highest bidder, but at this point I think he'd play for free.



Well that's it for now. I might revisit this later with Justin Douchebaggererererer, Carlos Delgado, Pedro Martinez, Coco Crisp, Brett Myers, and Mark DeRosa.


Joke of the Day: What's the difference between an SUV and a Nike Golf Ball? Tiger can drive a Nike Golf Ball 300 yards without hitting a tree - BOOM!

Sox Offense for 2010

A lot of todo is being made and will continue to be made about the Red Sox offense this year. And such will be the subject of my return-to-the-blogosphere post. Now, in a series where the Red Sox offense and bullpen really let them down, you can only expect the "experts" and pundits to clamor for a revamping of the offense. The bullpen really had a great year and I don't see much being made of that. That said, I am also not a believer in the "one closer" thing. But that is a discussion for another time.

The offense looked suspect down the stretch and played awful in the playoffs. So where do we upgrade. I'd like to take a quick look - position by position - by the numbers for this season.

Catcher

The catcher duties were split between Varitek and Martinez. However, going into next season we can probably expect V-Mart to be the (nearly) every day catcher with Varitek and Lowell splitting the extra time. Let's look at V-Mart's numbers:

Martinez: 588 AB; 178 H; 88 R; 23 HR; 108 RBI; .303/.381/.480

Where an OPS of .861 is nothing to write home about, for a catcher you are not going to find better. Also, I would bet that we won't be paying $5M for 'Tek for next year. There's a decent chance that we go with V-Mart and Kottaras, however if we are going to let Tek catch two games out of the rotation and on those days shifting Youk over to third and letting Mart playing 1st, that makes sense. You could do worse than that. That said, we are not going to get an improvement for split time if we believe that Martinez cannot catch every day. Of course, after this year, Mart is done in Boston and we'll be trying to sign Mr. Mauer.

First Base

Youkilis has been manning both infield corners for the Sox over the last couple of years. Let's just take a quick look at his stats:

Youkilis: 491 AB; 150 H; 99 R; 27 HR; 94 RBI; .305/.413/.548

Youkilis is signed through 2012 with an option for 2013 so Youilis is not going anywhere. Besides, his OBP ranked 2nd in the AL (behind Mauer), 5th in slugging, and 2nd in OPS. So let's just move right along.

Second Base

Dustin Pedroia had a bit of a hangover after his MVP year in 2008. However, the scrappy second baseman did not put up shabby numbers. Let us take a quick look.

Pedroia: 626 AB; 185 H; 115 R; 15 HR; 72 RBI; 20 SB; 8 CS; .296/.371/.447

Pedroia's numbers were fine this year, though not quite as good as last year. He is signed for a fair price through 2013 with an option for 2014. So we could end this conversation here. But I can't let this go without a little more analysis. Pedroia was 2nd in OBP among AL second basemen and 4th in OPS. This is in a league that featured studs like Ben Zobrist, Robinson Cano, Ian Kinsler, Brian Roberts, Aaron Hill, and Alberto Callaspo. That said, we are not moving away from Pedey.


Third Base

So we are looking at Mike Lowell here.

Mike Lowell: 445 AB; 129 H;, 54 R; 17 HR; 75 RBI; .290/.337/.474

Where these numbers aren't bad, there are some things working against Lowell here. First, those are not great corner infield numbers. They are not bad, though, and plenty of teams wouldn't mind having him, but probably not for the $12M he is slated to make next year. However, that will be the last year of his contract, and if the right deal comes along, the Sox might find some space to upgrade.


Short Stop

Shortstop for the Sox has been a bit of a revolving door this season. We went with Nick Green for a while, but he is not of Major League Caliber, offensively or defensively. He has no place on the roster next year. Jed Lowrie looked nothing like a major league hitter this year, hitting .147 in 68 at bats, and is average-ish in the field. Alex Gonzalez fared much better, with a respectable line of .284/.316/.453 although those numbers belie his true hitting ability. His career average is .247 and OBP an unsightly .294. Does he earn it with his stellar defense? Probably. However, here is another place we can afford an upgrade however there are few names out there. Orlando Cabrera, and Miguel Tejada head the list. Cabrera might be the most obvious name here, and with a career OPS of .720 (.275 BA) he has the combination of offense and defense that could fit in here.

You'll notice the lack of true stats here. This is the toughest call to make and I am not sure how to call it yet. The Sox getting Cabrera I think would make the most sense, but we will revisit this later in the offseason.

Outfield

The outfield this season was manned by J.D. Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Canadian Jason Bay. Bay is in the last year of his contract and didn't sign an extension. Here are the numbers:

Drew: 452 AB; 126 H; 84 R; 24 HR; 68 RBI; .279/.392/.522
Ellsbury: 624 AB; 188 H; 94 R; 8 HR; 10 3B; 70 SB; 12 CS; .301/.355/.415
Bay: 531 AB; 142 H; 103 R; 36 HR; 119 RBI; 13 SB; 3 CS; .267/.384/.537

I have so much hatred here. Mostly, I hate J.D. Drew and yet his end-of-the season numbers look pretty good. His .392 OBP is good enough for 9th in the AL, and his OPS is 10th. Jason Bay checks in 9th in OPS in the AL, while Ellsbury lead the league in steals while batting over .300. So where do we deviate here? We could let Jay-Bay walk and go after a Matt Holliday. However you'll note that Holliday did not fare well in Oakland. I think we'll end up seeing Bay resign, for lack of better options and get Drew money.


DH

David Ortiz struggled mightily this year from the DH slot and got off to a super-slow start. Let's see where his stats ended up:

Ortiz: 541 AB; 129 H; 77 R; 99 RBI; .238/.332/.462

The OPS under .800 is a big no-no for a DH in a big-market city. Now everyone has been hearing "Papi is done" all year. But let me throw some numbers out there. Here are his numbers from June 1 to the end of the year:

351 AB; 93 H; 27 HR; 78 RBI; .264/.356/.555

Those numbers look pretty good. If he could pull that through the whole year he would have had more than 40 HR, and more than 120 RBI while boasting an OPS over .900. No one would talk about getting rid of THAT guy, who is only on the books for $12.5M. He seems to be fully healed from wrist surgery and I would be surprised if they replaced him. Epstein is clever enough to know this and we won't get rid of Papi. This isn't a loyalty thing, this is a talented hitter who will continue to get the opportunity to hit.

So Where Do We Upgrade?

Well, the only question marks are at SS and at the corner infield. At SS, there is too much to worry about and taking a strong defender would be the best play. In fact, I would like to see them hang on to Alex Gonzalez. At corner infield, we would have to replace Lowell.

Lowell: 445 AB; 129 H; 54 R; 17 HR; 75 RBI; .290/.337/.474

Those numbers really aren't bad. If he played a full season he is probably a 20+ HR, 100+ RBI guy. Furthermore if he could manage to run still, he'd have some more infield hits and ground into fewer DPs. His speed is killing and affecting his defense, too. To upgrade here in the free agent market (http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/12/2010-mlb-free-a.html) we would be looking at a guy like Chone Figgins or Adrien Beltre. Neither of those are huge upgrades over Lowell at the plate, though Figgins is intriguing. To upgrade at First Base there is Adam LaRoche - but not a great upgrade.

Through the trade market, it is known that Prince Fielder and Adrien Gonzalez are on the block. But the question of cost to obtain these guys is crazy. We could package a deal with Casey Kotchman, Mike Lowell, Michael Bowden, and cash and that wouldn't be enough. Then who do we add? Lars Anderson is coming off a tough year and not looking great against advanced pitching. Trading off Tazawa in this deal would zap the major-league ready minor league pitching talent (which is replaceable via free agency, given).

I just don't see the Sox making any offensive moves this offseason. Once they sign a LF (Bay, most likely) they will just look to round out the bench and perhaps address the pitching... but more on that later.

VendorBall is Back - New Information

To all who may read this blog. I am coming back. Dan Z. has been off doing some of the awesome design things he does and has been quite busy, and I have been on and off busy with work, moving, and various other things. However, I am missing digging into sports. My fan-hood demands a vehicle to make sure I am doing my diligence work - checking rosters, running stats, and staying on top of rumors. And so, heavy-hearted at the loss of Dan as co-owner*, I return to write about the Boston Sports Scene. I plan on focusing my attention mostly on the Red Sox, but you can expect some Bruins, C's, and Pats (especially for my love of Mr. Thomas Brady).

WE'RE BACK, BABY!

VendorBall is announcing its official return today!

Stay tuned as articles will start to flow this afternoon!

FOUR DAYS.

The truck is on its way to Fort Myers...

The weather is slowly warming up...

VendorBall is almost back. See you Friday.

Checking In on Inauguration Day

We hope you all have enjoyed today's festivities surrounding the inauguration of our nation's 44th president, Barack Obama. We're also giving you a reminder that VendorBall is returning in under four weeks.

We'll see you in 24 days as the Boston Red Sox report to Spring Training!

VendorBall's Going HD

Over the next few days/weeks until our relaunch at Spring Training, you'll see VendorBall undergo quite a facelift. We're in the process of streamlining the experience for you, our sexy readers. We're converting everything to a widescreen, high-definition format. You'll start to see the appearance of video and other forms of multimedia that will tingle the senses...and the loins.

Stay tuned, and we hope to see you at the start of Spring Training!

Off Until Baseball Returns

Baseball has an off-season, so why can't we? Since we're both in the middle of moving soon, we thought it best to hold off VendorBall until our beloved Sox are back in action. That'll give us time to recharge our batteries and make sure we can devote the proper amount of attention to this blog.

We'll see you when Spring Training rolls around!

Lucchino Confirms Uniform, Logo Changes

From WEEI's Dennis and Callahan Morning Show this morning:

Jon Meterparel: Big announcement tomorrow night. A new uniform? Is that correct?

Larry Lucchino: Well there’s an adjustment to the road uniforms that will touch upon Red Sox tradition. It’s a little back to the future kind of thing and there will be some adjustments to the logo as well so both items are going to be announced tomorrow (Thursday, December 11).

This may bring true the rumors that they'll be going back to navy lettering on the road uniforms, similar to the look the team sported in the 1980s. I, for one, am not happy about it. We'll see what happens tomorrow night at 6:00.

Reports: Bruschi Headed to IR

Is there anyone left?

Reports are surfacing that the injury Tedy Bruschi suffered during the Patriots' 24-21 win in Seattle is not by any means major, but serious enough to end his season and land the linebacker on the IR list. His reported recovery time would be around four weeks, but with the team's shortage of bodies and necessity for wins, they can't afford to wait this one out.

Bruschi will join other Patriots stars such as Tom Brady, Adalius Thomas, Laurence Maroney and Rodney Harrison on Injured Reserve.

Breaking News: Pedroia Re-Signs with Sox

The Red Sox and Dustin Pedroia have agreed on a six-year, $40.5 million contract that will keep him in Boston through at least 2014. There is a 2015 club option worth $11 million. Here is a breakdown of the contract, per Boston.com's Tony Massarotti:

Signing bonus - $1.5 million

Base salaries
2009 - $1.5 million
2010 - $3.5 million
2011 - $5.5 million
2012 - $8 million
2013 - $10 million
2014 - $10 million

Club option
2015 - $11 million (or a $500,000 buyout)

This is a great move by the Sox, keeping the MVP in town for the foreseeable future.

Sox Make an Offer to Tek?

So there have been some conflicting stories as to whether or not the Sox have made an offer to Captain Jason Varitek. Where Rob Bradford of WEEI said that the Sox offered Tek 1year/~$6M deal (not nearly the $13.1M+ for 4 years Boras was expecting). Boras, however, denies vehemently that the Sox made such an offer. But we know Boras, don't we? He's lying. No doubt. The thing is, if the Sox make a lowball offer, then no other team will blow it out of the water. Even if he starts a bidding war here, he's likely not to get more than 2 years at 7.5-8M/yr. Which is about what Tek should make. The Sox are the team that is perceived to need the veteran catcher most, and such an offer does a lot to hurt Tek's value (read: Boras' profits).

Now you might be asking yourself, "Gee, Kyle, we like your speculations, but they are just that. What more evidence do you have, cause I'm not sold that Boras is lying." Well I can do that in one sentence:

Peter Gammons confirmed that the Sox made a one-year offer to Tek.

This is the word of Gammons, Amen.

Sources: Sox Make Offer to Teixeira

Various sources are reporting that the Red Sox have indeed made a contract offer to free agent 1B Mark Teixeira.

Teixeira is considered the top position-player on the market this off-season, and is garnering attention from several other teams including the Nationals, Orioles and Yankees. He is originally from the Baltimore area and is said to be favoring an east coast club. Most baseball analysts suggest that clubs may need to offer as much as $200 million over eight years to acquire the slugger.

Teixeira split the 2008 season between the Braves and Angels.

Breaking News: Utley Out Until June

Various sources out of Philadelphia are reporting that Chase Utley, second baseman for the 2008 World Series champion Phillies, is having off-season hip surgery that will keep him out of action until June 2009. We will have more on this breaking story as it becomes available.

Sources: Mussina to Retire

Various sources around the baseball world are all reporting that Yankees right-hander Mike Mussina has opted to call it quits after 18 seasons in the big leagues.

After a stellar career, the question remains: Is Mike Mussina a Hall-of-Famer?

VendorBall will provide that answer in the coming days as we will present a thorough analysis of the Moose's tenure in Major League Baseball.

Coco Crisp Trade Analysis

The Meat

So Covelli "Coco" Crisp has been traded for a middle reliever. Now, as some of you may or may not be aware, I am generally of the mindset that middle relief is the bottom of the barrel when it comes to trade returns. Middle relievers are a dime a dozen, and in any given year, your 8th inning guy can go to waivers, and a journeyman can become shut down. That's the problem when you only have a small sample set and so much depends on routine, and confidence.

But I like this trade. Part of me thinks I shouldn't, because of what Crisp brings to the table game in and game out, but I think this is a good move. The logic is a little winding and a little long, but try and follow a long. By bolstering the bullpen, we are giving Justin Masterson the chance to go into the starting rotation. I have said from the beginning that I like him in the rotation better than in the 'pen. Now, by moving him there, our rotation becomes: Beckett, Dice-K, Lester, Masterson, and Wakefield. The Sox are also in the market for starters Derek Lowe and A.J. Burnett. We also have Clay Buchholz in the minors, along with prospect Michael Bowden, knuckleballer Charlie Zink, and a slew of other arms both in the bullpen and the rotation.

Now, we have extra arms, as well as an unneeded shortstop in Julio Lugo, and a package can be thrown together for Texas in order to acquire one of their catchers. Once Varitek's price comes down to reality (2-3 years ~$8 M/yr), we have our captain back as well as an heir apparent to him for when he is hurt, not hitting, or too old to play. I cast my vote for Jarrod "Salty" Saltalamacchia. Now I know Texas doesn't need a shortstop but there are plenty of teams that do, and they'd probably be willing to give the Rangers a pitcher or two for him (though the Sox might have to bite some salary).

A Little Dessert

The Sox are now in need of three players: starting catcher, utility infielder, and fourth outfielder. Well, let me dream about Salty, and 'Tek, and let's focus on the fourth outfielder and backup infielder. I would love to say: bring in the hometown Rocco Baldelli! However, we'll need an everyday guy when J.D. Drew takes his yearly trip to the DL, and with Rocco's well published metochondrial disease, he's not our guy. Jim Edmonds would be a nice fit, but might come with a big price tag given his performance in limited action last year. Bringing back Mark Kotsay makes a lot of sense, especially since he plays a solid first base, too. If not these guys, I (like all the women in Red Sox Nation) would love to see the Sox bring back Mr. Gabe Kapler.

For an infielder, Willie Bloomquist is on the market, but his lifetime OPS+ is 75, OBP .322 and that's not a guy I want (for an explanation of the OPS+ stat, feel free to contact Kyle Baxter). Again, I'd love to bring back an old Red Sox player in Mark Loretta - nice OBP if not a great OPS guy. Bringing back Alex Cora would be great, but I think an upgrade is in order this offseason, and with the economy we might be able to find one at a discount. I think trying to bring back one Nomar Garciaparra would be ok, but we know how he is in the clubhouse, so maybe not. Juan Uribe, Pablo Ozuna, and Nick Punto might be other options in this case, but I won't pretend to know what the hell they're going to do.


The weather is growing cold, and the stove is heating up - stay tuned into VendorBall for all the updates and expert analysis*.

*Yes we are.

Breaking News -- Coco Traded to Royals

Reports are surfacing that Red Sox OF Coco Crisp has been shipped to the Kansas City Royals for right-handed relief pitcher Ramon Ramirez. More details to come shortly.

Breaking - PEDROIA WINS A.L. MVP!

CONGRATS, LITTLE PONY!

Here are the full voting results:

Player	Club	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	Points
DUSTIN PEDROIA	BOS	16	6	4	1	—	317
Justin Morneau	MIN	7	7	6	3	3	257
Kevin Youkilis	BOS	2	4	4	9	2	201
Joe Mauer	MIN	2	8	1	3	4	188
Carlos Quentin	CWS	—	1	4	8	4	160
Francisco Rodriguez	LAA	1	2	6	1	6	143
Josh Hamilton	TEX	—	—	2	2	3	112
Alex Rodriguez	NYY	—	—	—	—	1	45
Carlos Pena	TAM	—	—	1	—	2	44
Grady Sizemore	CLE	—	—	—	—	—	42
Evan Longoria	TAM	—	—	—	—	—	38
Cliff Lee	CLE	—	—	—	1	1	24
Miguel Cabrera	DET	—	—	—	—	—	17
Vladimir Guerrero	LAA	—	—	—	—	—	16
Jermaine Dye	CWS	—	—	—	—	1	14
Aubrey Huff	BAL	—	—	—	—	—	12
Milton Bradley	TEX	—	—	—	—	—	9
Jason Bartlett	TAM	—	—	—	—	1	6
Mike Mussina	NYY	—	—	—	—	—	3
Raul Ibanez	SEA	—	—	—	—	—	1
Ian Kinsler	TEX	—	—	—	—	—	1
Ichiro Suzuki	SEA	—	—	—	—	—	1
Mark Teixeira	LAA	—	—	—	—	—	1

KG Suspended Tonight vs. Knicks

The Big Ticket will have to buy a ticket tonight. Celtics' big man Kevin Garnett has been suspended one game for his altercation with Bucks' center Andrew Bogut this past Saturday.

Garnett will sit out tonight's meeting with the Knicks at the TD Banknorth Garden, and should be back in the lineup Thursday night when the Celtics host the Pistons.

Breaking News -- Pujols Wins N.L. MVP

In the exact opposite of a "shocker," Albert Pujols has been named your 2008 National League Most Valuable Player. The full voting went as follows:

1. Albert Pujols, STL (369)
   
2. Ryan Howard, PHI (308)
   
3. Ryan Braun, MIL (139)
4. Manny Ramirez, LAD (138)
   
5. Lance Berkman, HOU (126)
   
6. CC Sabathia, MIL (121)
   
7. David Wright, NYM (115)
   
8. Brad Lidge, PHI (104)
   
9. Carlos Delgado, NYM (96)
   
10. Aramis Ramirez, CHC (66)

And coming in last, Nate McLouth of the Pirates with one vote. Nate McLouth, makin' momma proud!