Tim Federowicz: Rising up the prospect charts

Tim Federowicz, 22, was drafted in the seventh round of the 2008 draft. He made his debut in low-A Lowell last year before splitting time between mid-A Greenville and high-A Salem this year. For Greenville, Federowicz hit .345/.393/.562 in 226 at-bats. Moving up the ladder, Federowicz struggled when tasked with splitting playing time. In 187 at-bats, he hit .257/.276/.390. All told, he cranked 14 home runs. SoxProspects.com likes Federowicz's build as catcher and sees him as a very good major league defensive catcher. The one knock on him to date is poor plate discipline. It hasn't prevented catchers from getting big league jobs, namely Miguel Olivo. Federowicz sat down to answer some questions with Fire Brand about his experiences in his first full professional season and what the road ahead looks like.

Progress, Thy Name Is Replay

Two more blown calls, this occurring last night in Game 2 of the World Series. Bud Selig has been adamant about the fact that the current iteration of reply will be the only iteration until the day he dies. After this abominable playoffs sure to go down in history as the sports postseason affected by umpires the most -- and consistently -- it's clear that something has got to change.

Coveroo TRIVIA: No-hitter in Yankee Stadium post-Rohr

What Red Sox pitcher after Billy Rohr took a no-hitter into the ninth inning of a game in Yankee Stadium before it was broken up? (Bonus half point for the year.)

The 2009 Shortstop Free Agent Market

One of the more pressing issues facing the Red Sox this offseason, the shortstop position can be considered the number two need for the team, behind the gaping hole in left field. But shortstop may actually be the more challenging option of the two, as the position features few legitimate major league options to fill gaps. As Evan outlined earlier, there are a bevy of quality left field options available on the market, headlined by Jason Bay, Matt Holliday, and Bobby Abreu but also including upside buys in Jermaine Dye and Rick Ankiel, as well as plenty of depth. Come December, no team will be left wanting for a left field option. Teams seeking shortstops will not have this luxury, however. Cot’s Contracts lists just 12 free agent shortstops among this class; 2 of whom have club options. And, no, David Eckstein won’t be considered for the position either. He’s a second baseman now, can’t hit, and has a declining glove. Here are the candidates:

Does Hoyer hiring help or hurt Adrian Gonzalez trade?

With now former assistant GM Jed Hoyer departing to become the head honcho in San Diego, how does this affect a potential acquisition of Adrian Gonzalez back in Boston? I've heard more people than not say that it will only become easier. I'm here to burst your bubble and say it will be harder. Whatever is gained from a working relationship between Hoyer and Epstein is lost in three major factors, which we'll cover today.

Brad Mills heads to Houston… was he man behind curtain for Francona?

Little late on this, but worthy of mention. The Sox bench coach, Brad Mills, has departed to Houston for two years plus a club option. All the platitudes out of Sox camp you expected to hear were said. Houston owner Drayton McLane said that -- and Francona verified -- Mills was given a lot more responsibility than your average bench coach. He ran spring training and handled most of the player communication. That's great, and it makes Mills doubly qualified to be a big league manager. But it worries be from Francona's perspective. All along, we've heard that he's a player's manager and players love him. How do they know that if it's Mills doing most of the talking all season? And if it's Mills doing the bonding monotonous exercises in spring training? Has Mills been the man responsible for what Tito supposedly excels at? Is Tito more the game manager, and Mills the player's manager? If true, maybe you start hearing about how Tito's become more stern over the years. All conjecture, but it crossed my mind.

Fireside Chats #65: Where we analyze the blueprints and lay out all the options

This week is a podcast of never-ending possibility. There are no wrong ideas, only bad ones, as Paul and I work through Evan, Mike and I's three part offseason blueprint to turn the 2010-2014 Boston Red Sox into multiple World Series winners. Oh...and as if it needed to be said, Paul tells us why he hopes the Phillies sweep the World Series. All that and more on this episode of Fireside Chats after the jump.

Seeing Straight on Aroldis Chapman

When any new phenomenon arrives, it takes a while for people to adjust their lifestyle and accommodate these changes. Cell phones are the most recent example. The Internet was another. In the baseball world, free agent-prospects are the newest slang, which, understandably, are forcing major league teams to adjust - with varied results. Baseball's newest free agent-prospect phenom, Aroldis Chapman is expected to visit Boston today, on the heels of a visit to New York on Monday. A world-class talent, he is turning baseball economics on its head. On the one hand, he is a prospect – a lean, projectable lefty at a young age, 21. On the other, he will command the salary of a major league free agent – not what you'd expect of a “prospect”. The newest “It Kid” from overseas, Chapman comes fully loaded with everything that makes scouts salivate more than Pavlov’s dogs: a ferocious fastball clocked as high as 102 mph and a long 6-4 frame. As a result, the young Cuban is considered the best prospect to reach the MLB this side of Stephen Strasburg – and he’s a lefty to boot. But there’s a problem with taking this position; mainly, the fact that he’s even labeled a “prospect”. Sure, he has all the traditional markings of one. He’s got exceptional tools, he’s projectable, he’s raw, and, most importantly, he’s young. However, under the modern economics of baseball, with escalating salaries and widely varying budgets, there are two nonnegotiable criteria that give value to and create the allure of the “prospect”...

Coveroo TRIVIA: No-hitter in Yankee Stadium

What Red Sox pitcher took a no-hitter into the ninth inning of a game in Yankee Stadium before it was broken up? (Bonus half point for the year.)

Could Creative Thinking Lead to Beltran?

Sometimes the best trades are the one's that weren't the most apparent to the public prior to them going down. Like the deals that brought Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling to Boston previously or the deadline deals that sent Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez out of town for positive gain, the current Red Sox front office's ability to think creatively around trade options has done them well. The fact that Theo and team made a compelling offer at the deadline for Felix Hernandez only cement the point that the "obvious" trade, at that time Halladay, isn't always the only, or the best, option. The hard think about writing about "those kind of deals" is that until they are whispered, it is complete conjecture. Without inside information on the other team involved, it would be hard for anyone in our shoes to lend credence to any particular move. That said, one whisper that caught me thinking this weekend comes from Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald.