Quick Musings on the Latest Sox Rumors

Billy Wagner

According to MLB Trade Rumors, Billy Wagner is considering accepting an arbitration deal from the BoSox because he “loved his experience with the Red Sox enough that’s it’s now a possibility.” That is an MLB Trade Rumors quote, not Wagner directly from Wagner’s mouth. However, it’s hard not to be skeptical of his sudden change of heart, as no one could love a city enough from four short weeks to make a complete 180 in their opinion of the team and their place within it…

Varitek’s Player Option Due at Midnight

***UPDATE: Varitek has officially picked up his $3 million player option.

As we continue to follow the Jason Varitek story, his contract is undergoing more flip-flopping than a Brett Favre retirement or Florida in the 2000 presidential election. Is he or isn’t he? We’ll find out before the end of the day, though the verdict is still out as to whether it would be better for him to re-sign…

Mauer Extension Talks Begin

While all of Boston awaits the man of our dreams… er, catcher of our dreams leaving Minnesota for our nightly NESN living room broadcast, agent Ron Shapiro is beginning to discuss a contract extension for his all-world catcher…

Reaching into the MailBag

This one courtesy of James, aka “jgr jgr”. James submitted a few puzzling questions, though this one made me think the most:

“Is there some hitter or pitcher out there under the radar that you think will be wearing a new Boston uniform in 2010?”

Well, going off this question, we’ll avoid talking about the likely suspects, including Bay, Holliday, Harden, or Scutaro who have all received a great deal of coverage not only on this site, but on Sox discussion boards ‘Nation’ wide (Yes, that was a pun. No, I won’t apologize.)

As for truly under the radar names, we must look really deep into the free agent roster, probably to the point of back-end bullpen types or bench hitters. While these moves may not be exciting to the average layman, these are the transactions that make championships. Depth and injury/slump insurance is perhaps one of the most underrated aspects of building a championship team. John Henry could grab any fan off the streets to build a team that could win 100 games if everything were guaranteed to go as planned. However, the true talent and meddle of a front office is tested by their contingency planning.

When a team has the type of financial resources the Sox have, it’s difficult to pick a truly “under the radar” name that will make an impact, as the players the team is likely to sign are usually the top free agents, too big to fly below the hard deck.

But there is still value to be that the rest of the baseball world is not discussing. Here’s a few that I think the Sox may settle on before the off-season ends:

Value at Starting Pitcher

Assuming that the Cubs re-sign Rich Harden, while Ben Sheets and Erik Bedard find other suitors, I would love to see the Sox sign Carl Pavano. Though his 5.10 ERA left much to be desired, Pavano actually turned in quite a season in 2009, with a 4.00 FIP ERA to go along with a 3.77 K:BB rate. While his 6.64 K/9 was merely average, a 1.76 BB/9 rate is more than adequate.

If you have burning questions about Red Sox Baseball, please submit your questions to Mike_Silver_FireBrandAL@yahoo.com. We’d love to hear what’s got you thinking!

Here’s a thought: Votto, Harang to Boston?

MLB Trade Rumors wrote a piece yesterday on the Cincinnati Reds looking to pare payroll. The two logical candidates to be moved given their salary and previous availability in trade are Bronson Arroyo and Aaron Harang. MLBTR theorizes that first baseman Joey Votto could be packaged in a deal to entice a buyer, because the club has Yonder Alonso in the minor leagues.

That got me thinking. Joey Votto, just finishing up his age-25 season, cranked 25 home runs while hitting .322/.414/.567. He’s under automatic club control through 2013. He’s definitely a great, young intriguing option at first. Perhaps Boston would be willing to take on Aaron Harang and his $12.5 million salary for 2010 in order to get Votto.

Harang, 32, is entering his final year of his contract and is coming off a 4.26 ERA in 26 starts. He’s been known as a workhorse, but has stumbled the last two seasons after two straight years of 230+ innings pitched. He’s rather prone to home runs, although that could be a product of Great American Ball Park. His walk rate is rather steady, but his strikeout rate is declining although his fastball velocity is consistent at 90 mph.

I think this is definitely a deal worth exploring. On a one-year deal, is Harang worth it to get Votto? How is he not?

All-Aughts Team of the Decade SP5: Tim Wakefield

He’s certainly not the ace of the All-Aughts Team of the Decade, but Tim Wakefield has himself a spot in the rotation as the No. 5 starter (there are five rotation spots that will be named) as he is the only pitcher to play for Boston every year from 2000-9.

In 2009, Wakefield hovered around a mid-4 ERA for the seventh straight year, leading the American League in victories at the halfway point while being named to the All-Star team. (Fire Brand archive: Mr. Reliable, 3/14/09.) It all went to hell in a handbasket after that, as he made just four starts the rest of the way before undergoing back surgery in the offseason. (Fire Brand Archive: Wakefield set to return, but for how long? 9/21/09.)