by chipbuck | Jan 23, 2012 | Boston Red Sox, Edwin Jackson, Hanley Ramirez, Marco Scutaro, Roy Oswalt
As Charlie mentioned in his column yesterday, the Marco Scutaro trade provided the Red Sox with $6M in salary relief. While it might seem strange to many of us that a high-revenue club with a payroll consistently hovering around the luxury tax threshold could need...
by charliesap | Jan 22, 2012 | Boston Red Sox, Clayton Mortensen, Jose Iglesias, Marco Scutaro, Mike Aviles, Nick Punto
It sounds weird to say that the Sox have made a move in order to clear salary, but that’s essentially what they did on Saturday when they sent their former starting shortstop, Marco Scutaro, to the Colorado Rockies for 26-year-old righthander Clayton Mortensen....
by aconvery | Jan 21, 2012 | Boston Red Sox
“If spring training opened tomorrow we would be comfortable where we are with our pitching depth.” ~General Manager Ben Cherington Spring training will bring many decisions. The Yankees have to decide between Phil Hughes, AJ Burnett, and Freddy Garcia to be their...
by chipbuck | Jan 20, 2012 | Alfredo Aceves, Boston Red Sox, Carl Crawford, Daniel Bard, David Ortiz
If you heard a loud thumping noise a few minutes ago, that wasn’t your imagination. It was me bashing my head against the desk as I was reading Dan Shaughnessy’s latest opus. Like all Shaughnessy articles, he channels his most emotional nerves to...
by chipbuck | Jan 20, 2012 | Andrew Bailey, Boston Red Sox, Jacoby Ellsbury, Luxury Tax, Mark Melancon, Roy Oswalt
In a two part series written last month, I discussed in detail the Red Sox’s current luxury tax situation for 2012, 2013 and beyond. Now that the vast majority of slots on the 25-man roster have been filled, and arbitration figures have been shared, I thought...
by Troy Patterson | Jan 19, 2012 | Boston Red Sox, Clay Buchholz, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jon Lester, Josh Beckett
This offseason has seen the insults, comments, questions and general malaise come from all angles. The team hasn’t had much to be positive about after the worst regular season collapse of all time and the resulting flight of both the manager and GM. If that...
by aconvery | Jan 17, 2012 | Boston Red Sox, Jacoby Ellsbury
It’s easy to forget that Jacoby Ellsbury only played in eighteen games two years ago. It’s easy to forget that in his last full season before 2011, his defense cost the Red Sox runs. It’s easy to forget that many, including Kevin Youkilis, questioned his toughness. In...
by guest | Jan 16, 2012 | Ben Zobrist, Boston Red Sox, Dustin Pedroia, Robinson Cano
This guest post was written by Mark Smith of The Platoon Advantage, It’s About the Money Stupid, Chop ‘n’ Change, and The Outside Corner. This is his first guest post for Fire Brand of the American League. It’s the elephant in the room. It’s the...
by chipbuck | Jan 16, 2012 | Boston Red Sox, Hiroki Kuroda, Jesus Montero, Michael Pineda, New York Yankees
The 2011-2012 off season sure has been a strange one. Let’s quickly recap it. Ryan Madson went from being on the cusp from signing a four year $44M contract to remain with the Phillies, only get to get spurned at the last second. The Phillies signed Jonathan...
by Troy Patterson | Jan 15, 2012 | Boston Red Sox, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Quick Post
In a somewhat odd deal, the Red Sox have avoided arbitration with Jarrod Saltalamacchia by agreeing to a one year deal worth a reported $2.5 million. While he was worth an above average 2.5 fWAR in 2011, this is his second year of arbitration and the amount seems more...
