David Ross, a 31-year old catcher, was released by the Cincinnati Reds last week and promptly signed a minor league contract with the Red Sox. He’ll be up in September to serve as the third-string catcher.
Get used to his presence behind the plate, you could be seeing him as the starting catcher for the Red Sox next year. Think that Ross is too bad to be our starting catcher?
Much like Tim, I detest the Player A/B comparisons. Much like Tim, I will now do one.
PLAYER A: .223/.310/.437
PLAYER B: .222/.314/.371
I won’t hold the suspense any longer. Player A is David Ross and his career line. (For posterity, his 2008 line in 134 at-bats is .231/.381/.366.) Player B is Jason Varitek’s 2008 line.
Ross doesn’t look so bad now, does he? Granted, in 311 at-bats last year (he most at-bats he’s received at the major league level in one year by about 50 at-bats) he hit .203/.271/.399 with 17 homers. The year previous in 247 AB, he hit .255/.353/.579 with 21 homers.
Dusty Baker’s incompetence is our gain.
Ross would sign for dirt cheap next year, a palatable alternative to to-be 37-year old Jason Varitek and his agent of death, Scott Boras. You just know Boras will wheedle the Detroit Tigers or New York Mets into tossing Varitek a three-year, $30 million commitment. With Ross’ renowned defensive ability and a similar offensive profile to Varitek (circa 2008, mind you), it may make it easier for the Sox to pass on Varitek’s price tag this offseason.
And no, Kevin Cash wouldn’t back him up. The honor of being the knuckleball catcher would go to 26-year old Dusty Brown. Brown is hitting .286/.377/.470 for Triple-A Pawtucket. Catchers often mature later than most players, so 26 years is by no means ancient. He also calls a great game and could take over as a starter the following year. (That’s probably stretching it, but Brown profiles to be a fantastic backup.) Then there’s Texas and their plethora of catchers — I’d be surprised if Theo doesn’t try to swing a trade in the off-season for one of them.
I have no idea what Scott Boras will ask for. I have no idea what motivated Theo to sign David Ross. I profess to have no special insight. All I am doing is pointing out that perhaps, just perhaps, it may be smarter to start David Ross next year rather than Jason Varitek once you factor in the price tags of each player. Who would you take?
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I think Luis Exposito is our catcher of the future…excellent behind the plate, great arm and hit very well in Greenville and Lancaster. I was a Teagarden fan but would not give up anything for him as Dusty Brown has hit as well as him recently, is also very good behind the plate and is only 16 months older. I’m hoping to see Jason signed to a one year extension at about 6.5 mil and have Dusty play 40-60% of the time based on performance and see how Exposito does in Portland next year regarding his ability to be our future catcher. The only thing missing from Luis Exposito’s game is the ability to draw walks…but I’ve seen Josh Reddick make that adjustment in pretty short time this year.
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Luis%20Exposito&pos=C&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=458701
http://www.soxprospects.com/players/exposito-luis.htm
Making a deal with Texas would have been a lot easier if Clay hadn’t morphed into Suckholz this season. They always want pitching and if Clay had pitched to his potential it would have made Bowden easier to trade. Now with Clay looking like he belongs in Greenville Bowden becomes much more important to the organization. If I had any confidence in Clay I would say go ahead and trade Bowden for Teagarden or Max Ramirez, now I’m not so sure it’s prudent.
Kelly Shoppach is hitting: 260 .333 .506 for OPS+ of 117, it’s so great we traded him for Crisp.
All that is hindsight. And, Jc, by that logic we lost Hanley for an injured Mike and Josh. But that trade got us the World Series in 2007 and Jed Lowrie in 2008.
Coco won alot of games for us last year, and this year he allowed the Sox to win through injuries to Manny and Drew. We can’t forget that after the sliming by Manny being Boras, Coco also served as insurance to trade Brandon Moss for Jason Bay. And he helped us win the last two series with glove and bat.
For this offseason, IMO, the three areas of weakness are the exact same as last offseason: replace Santana, replace Gagne, find a new Tek. I like Ross as a backup, but think that Dusty could be mentored by Tek into the starter. Maybe we should go all out: Russell Martin and Joe Torre are butting heads (he still owes us for Manny); Salty should be available . Fuentes or Street could be available now. They would thrive at Fenway. Oswalt, Sheets or even CC to the rotation? Unless we’ve ruined him, Buchholz will be back next year with Bowden and Masterson, but we will still need another healhy, established Ace.
We will have $40 – 50M off the books next year with Manny, Schill, Julio and others gone, including the $20M we didn’t spend on Santana. Time to make a deal.
I think Ross is a good insurance policy, but nothing more. I see one of two things happening in the offseason:
– Varitek is willing to sign a one- or two-year deal for relatively short money.
– The Sox let him go and make a trade for either a Teagarden type or a run-of-the-mill veteran.
If management is confident in one of their prospects, they’ll acquire an established vet to fill in for a year or two (Tek or a reasonably priced alternative). If they are not sanguine about Brown, Esposito, et al, they’ll try to acquire a top catching prospect from another organization. The brain trust is undoubtedly pursuing a number of avenues. Ross is one of those. At the very least, he’d be a better backup than Cash.
Don’t rub in Shoppach Jc, it’s cruel. Of all the texas catcher’s I’d like to have Ramirez the most personally. A bat like his is uncommon for the position and whatever defensive deficiencies he has can be worked out with a year behind Tek. Brown projects as an excellent backup, but probably not an everyday catcher, still he should be given every shot at the backup spot next year provided Theo doesn’t try to wheel and deal some.
I think that Tek is gone. Someone will offer him more than 2 years and he will take it. Loyalty to the Red Sox might allow them to get him for the same # of years for less money, but I doubt they’re going to want him for anything more than 2 years. The other consideration is with his pending divorce he’s going to want as much money as he can get. I think the way that everything is adding up he’ll be playing for the mets next year.
Tek to the Mets, Brian Schneider to the Sox as a veteran stopgap?
Said it before and will say it again: Sign Tek for a Wakefield like deal with an annual team option to bounce him into a managerial role when the time comes. Pay him below his asking as a player, but put it in writing that he’ll help develop young pitchers and possibly work his way to the majors either as a bench or pitching coach for a fixed period of time at above market salary for a coach.
That would be great if he agreed. But with the divorce and Boras unlikely to happen
I think Dusty would be a very good back-up but I am not ready to say he could not carry some of the load or be a good stop-gap for a couple of years if Exposito or someone else in the system is thought to be a long-term option. He has gotten better with the bat almost every year that he has advanced through the system and it is routine for catchers to develop offensively a little later in their careers. I think he would be an excellent back-up and wouldn’t be surprised if he hit .250 -.260 with 15 homeruns and a solid to good walk rate given a chance to play 80% of the time in addition to very good defense. I wouldn’t mind adding a catcher like Max or Salty but I think Exposito could be the real deal and would not be willing to give up Bowden for another catcher. I would give up Bowden for Mat Gamel which makes sense since Milwaukee may lose their two best pitchers…Gamel could play third (he sucks in the field but has been improving and his bat could play at a corner outfield position).
Looking at potential landing spots for Varitek that would make sense and that could pay him a lot of $$$…the mets make some sense. Detroit is reportedly looking to cut payroll by 30-40 mil so I think there out. I don’t see him getting more then 5-7 mil. unless it is from the Mets
I don’t know if Bowden for Gamel makes sense for either team. Taking Gamel would mean blocking either Lars or Reddick which I don’t think the organization would do. I think Theo looks at those two as the players who will carry the team in the future. Bowden would play well in the NL, but remember even with CC and Sheets gone (they might resign one of them) the Brewers have Gallardo to build their rotation around.
Gallardo is going to be a stud but he is coming off an injury and there is not much behind him. Jeremy Jeffress has great stuff but is at least three years away and has struggled in a ball this year. I was just throwing out Gamel because he is a very high end bat. Outside of Lars our system is comprised of a lot of young toolsy guys who are far from a sure thing. I dont think you worry about blocking Reddick at this point if you can get a bat like Gamel…and I like Reddick quite a bit. By no means am I eager to deal Bowden either, just saying that if he was to be moved that I would prefer a high end bat then a catcher that may or may not be better then what we have in our system.
I would put money on Tek going to the Mets.
Gamel would be an intriguing add, but there are more pressing issues than getting someone like Gamel.
I highly doubt the Tigers will sign Varitek. They already have their starter for next season, and I believe they learned their lesson on acquiring declining OLD players such as renteria, sheffield, and re-signing jones.
I know Gamel is not a pressing need but a 22 year old who can hit .360 in more then 400 at bats in double-a with a 1000+ ops will fit in somewhere. Either way, not going to happen and Bowden’s prospects makes me happy as well.
The Mets do make sense since they have a need and seem to lack any clubhouse leadership but you always got to consider Ivan Rodriguez as well when we are talking about Omar Minaya calling the shots (assuming the Yanks don’t pick up his option). Of course Pedro could probably tell Omar to get Jason and it would happen.
Why do we need Tek?
1. Because, as Evan says, he should retire in a Sox uniform.
2. Because we have some very good young pitchers in need of his wisdom (Lester, Masterson, Buchholz, Bowden, Pauley, Smith, Zinc, Jones, etc.)
3. Because we have some very good young catchers in need of his mentoring, as mentioned above.
4. Because he will make a great coach and manager, and because of his history with the Sox . . . he can spend the rest of his entire life in an honored position on one of the winningest teams in baseball. In 30 years he could be doing Aflac commercials as one of baseballs most beloved and trustworthy characters.
5. Because in 2009 and 2010, he will still be one of the best catcher-quarterbacks in the game, and will help the Red Sox continue to win.
6. He is showing he has learned to compensate at the plate, and is hitting again.
The problem will be Boras, of course. But Tek and Jacoby and others have seen how truly rotten Boras is and Tek is a class guy, and the Navajo’s are honorable people. If the Sox offer him what MR suggested above, in a fair deal respecting who he is and what he has and will accomplish, he might tell Slimey Scott to take a hike, and help lead the Sox for a couple of decades more. C’mon, Jason. Drop the creep.
I wouldn’t fault Tek for taking the money somewhere else. He’s been on a decline since 2005, his peak year as a hitter was 2003. He’s realistically got only about a year left as a productive hitter (if you call what he’s doing now productive). If someone offers him 4 years he’d be stupid not to take it. He could make great money sitting on his ass. Even if he goes elsewhere it probably will be on good terms and when he’s done as a player I’m sure there will be some type of job for him with the Red Sox should he decide to take it (think Gabe Kapler).
I did not realize Varitek filed for a divorce from his wife a few weeks back. Kind of surprising, as surprising as it can be for a MLB ball player’s marriage to not work out. Wonder how much of that has weighed on him this year.