SB Nation - Michael Bowden

Rival Hot Stoves: Red Sox

jscape2000 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:00:31 -0000

by Stew Milne - AP

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The Red Sox are chasing the Yankees again, and once again both front offices are looking at the same assets.

1. The Lineup Right Now:

Martinez

Youkilis

Pedroia

Lowell

Lowrie

Anderson

Ellsbury

Drew

Ortiz

Beckett

Lester

Matsuzaka

Wakefield

Buchholz

Bard

Okajima

Ramirez

Papelbon

2. Prospects to Watch:

Josh Reddick- an outfielder with the speed to play all 3 spots, Reddick's bat didn't perform well in his September call up. HIs high batting average has carried him quickly through the minors (only 18 games at AAA and less than 90 games at AA). He's a see it- hit it type, and I wonder if his defense is strong enough to make Jacoby Ellsbury a trade chip in the quest for a certain high profile pitcher from North of the Border.

Michael Bowden- the 23 year old compares to IPK- high 80s to low 90s fastball, plus command of fastball and curve. He saw 16 innings of work in Boston (8G, 1 start), be he pitched very well in AAA Pawtucket (24 starts, average 5.1IP, 106H, 44BB, 88K). As a trade chip or as the first replacement starter, Bowden is a part of the Red Sox future.

Lars Anderson- the big first baseman had a terrible season in 2009, hitting a Jose Molina-esque .233/.328/.345 in 119 games in his second year at AA. He'll need a big bounce back to put his career back on track.

Matchup with the Yankees:

Victor Martinez's defense as a full time catcher will make Posada look like Bill DIckey. The right side of the infield will stand up with anybody in the league, but the Sox suffered through a season of near replacement level on the left side, so it's no surprise that the front office has wondered if their Gold Glove 2B might not play a good enough SS to sign or trade for a strong second baseman.

At the moment the Red Sox have the stronger rotation. Adding Halladay, or adding Lackey and seeing Halladay go anywhere but New York, would make the Red Sox the AL favorites.

The Quick ReLoad:

The Red Sox took $12M off the books before the start of the 2009 season. Another $40M came off at the end of season. If Boston has only $30M to spend, that's enough to make the second best team in the AL even more imposing.

A left fielder is a must-have, but there are a slew of available left fielders, and all of them could handle the small patch of grass in the shadow of the Green Monster.

Either the Red Sox have to acquire a shortstop, or they have move Pedroia and choose from the relatively stronger crop of second basemen.

Wrap-up:

The Sox got basically nothing from Matsuzaka, and replaced his quality with Brad Penny and John Smoltz. Even if a trade for Halladay weakened the Red Sox for a decade, it would make them a frightening team to face in 2010, both over the regular season and in a playoff series.

My sincerest hope is that Theo learned nothing from his lightning in a bottle 2009 approach. Another season of Nick Green at short and Tim Wakefield as the #3 pitcher would make me a happy Yankee. My fear is that the $50M that have come off the books in the last 2 seasons is on its way back into the payroll.

Braves Sign Billy Wagner, Sox Nab 20th Pick

Ben Buchanan — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:08:50 -0000

More photos » by Chris O'Meara - AP

3 months ago: Boston Red Sox pitcher Billy Wagner delivers to Tampa Bay Rays' Carl Crawford during the seventh inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009, in St. Petersburg, Fla. Wagner struck Crawford out. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

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Ken Rosenthal is reporting that Billy Wagner has reached a preliminary agreement to sign with the Braves.

For Sox fans, this is the end of a fairly lengthy drama involving Elias rankings, arbitration, and draft picks. At first it looked like the Sox would have to agree to forgo arbitration and give up the draft picks to finalize the Wagner trade. Then it looked like Wagner might accept arbitration if it was offered.

Things seem to have worked out well for Boston now, though, as Wagner's signing would secure the Sox the Braves' first round pick (number 20) and a supplementary pick between the first 2 rounds. The first rounder is not a sure thing, as the Sox would have to settle for a second rounder if the Braves signed a higher ranked free agent, but they have yet to be linked to any other, bigger names. Essentially, the Sox bought a few late-season innings of Wagner, and turned Chris Carter and Eddie Lora--two prospects entirely unlikely to contribute to the Sox--into first round picks. Not a bad deal.

The Red Sox have acquired quite a bit of talent thanks to compensatory picks over the last 5 years, including Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholz, Daniel Bard, Jed Lowrie, Michael Bowden, and Nick Hagadone.

Minor League Update -- 11/23/09

Ben Buchanan — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:17:48 -0000

First, a weekly reminder to join in on voting for the OTM Top Prospects list here.

Arizona Fall League

Luis Exposito: 3-7, 2B, BB, 2 K -- .314/.364/.431

-A solid showing for Luis Exposito, if not quite as good as he did in Portland. Expo kept his strikeouts down and earned as many walks as he did in AA in about half as many ABs. Not a big step forward, but also not a step back.

Jose Iglesias: 1-8, 3 K -- .275/.324/.420, 3/3 SB

-Iglesias ends on a down note, but once again the story is that he wasn't completely overwhelmed in the small sample size (73 plate appearances) against higher-level minor league competition. This showing may have cleared the way for Iglesias to start in AA next year, which would be nice if only to keep him with buddy/interpreter Exposito. Also of note is the 2 home runs, which hopefully indicate some unpredicted power potential.

Ryan Kalish: 3-11, 2B, BB, 4 K -- .301/.384/.384, 6/7 SB

-While Kalish didn't exactly carry his hot streak from late in the year over to the AFL, he put on another good OBP performance. The power was a bit lacking, but this is coming on the tail end of a year in which he hit 18 home runs during the regular season—far more than he ever had before. Kalish also put on a good show on the basepaths, as he has done in years past (for instance, stealing 12 bases in 13 attempts in the 2008 winter leagues while getting under 100 plate appearances).

Casey Kelly: 0-12, 6 K -- .171/.261/.244, 1/1 SB

-Kelly keeps moving towards full time pitching. While the level of competition was predictably way over his head, he struck out in nearly half of his at bats, which is a bit too much no matter how advanced the opposition. This performance may have cleared the way to full-time pitching in 2010.

Randor Bierd: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K – 6.04 ERA, 17:12 K:BB, 1.47 WHIP

-An uninspiring performance by an uninspiring pitcher.

Richie Lentz: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 HR, 1 BB, 3 K – 4.11 ERA, 16:3 K:BB, 1.04 WHIP

-Lentz ended the year very poorly, giving up 6 ER over his last 2 appearances to squander a great start to the AFL. But the huge improvement in K:BB shouldn't be overlooked, and if nothing else maybe this will help him be ignored in the Rule 5 Draft.

Chris Province: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K – 3.46 ERA, 9:5 K:BB, 1.08 WHIP

-Not too bad for Province, if not as good as his year in Portland. Would have liked to have seen some K:BB improvement.

Dustin Richardson: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K – 5.40 ERA, 18:10 K:BB, 1.97 WHIP

-Certainly not as good as his regular season performance, which brought Richardson back into the picture as a prospect. Should still get a shot for a bullpen spot during spring training, though.

Columbian Winter League

Reynaldo Rodriguez: .255/.360/.394

-The CWL does not have the best record keepers in the world, let it be known.

Dominican Winter League

Neither Navarro nor Wagner have played in a long while. I'm guessing their years are over.

Jose Capellan: 6.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 HR, 9 BB, 4 K – 3.86 ERA, 8:19 K:BB, 1.67 WHIP

-Well, if ever there's been an example of unsustainable results, it's Capellan. Even if he has a 3.86 ERA, this has been an awful winter league for him. 8 strikeouts to 19 walks? Awful!

Mexican Winter League

Robert Coello: 2.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K – 2.70 ERA, 30:16 K:BB, 1.35 WHIP

-This is Coello's first real chance against competition that's close to being age appropriate since he became a pitcher, and he's actually done a pretty good job of it. This last outing sort of sucked, but still, something to be said for the righty getting his first shot at starting (he's gone 5 or more innings 4 times so far).

Puerto Rican Winter League

Reymond Fuentes: 1-5, 2 K -- .200/.200/.200

-I can't imagine this is going to be a good stint for Fuentes. He played in the GCL last year and is playing in the same league as Jimenez and Bates. I don't exactly know what level this league is supposed to be at, but it's certainly over his head.

Jorge Jimenez: 2-3, 2B, BB -- .400/.538/.800

Ken Roque: 2-6 -- .333/.333/.33

-Roque very quietly put up a .317/.400/.520 line in his 3^rd year in the GCL, finally breaking through into the A-levels where he put up 32 nice ABs in Lowell without looking too overwhelmed. Roque falls into that "sleeper middle infielder" crowd with guys like Derrik Gibson.

Andrew Dobies: 2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K – 13.50 ERA, 2:0 K:BB, 3.00 WHIP

-After missing 2008 due to injuries, Dobies put up a fair 2009 in Portland. This, so far, has not been an extension of that...

Sydney Winter League

Boss Moanaroa: 0-3, BB, K -- .393/.485/.571

Moko Moanaroa: 2-4 -- .308/.419/.385

Venezuelan Winter League

Yeiper Castillo: .2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K – 5.14 ERA, 5:6 K:BB, 2.00 WHIP

Leandro Marin: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K – 2.25 ERA, 4:1 K:BB, 1.25 WHIP

40-Man Roster Finalized, Rule 5 Draft

MLB teams had to finalize their 40-man rosters on Friday, leaving some tough decisions for teams as to which minor leaguers to protect. For the Red Sox, Jose Iglesias, Michael Bowden, Junichi Tazawa, Dustin Richardson, Mark Wagner, Aaron Bates, and Dusty Brown comprise the Minor League contingent. The most notable unprotected players available in the upcoming draft are Kris Johnson and Richie Lentz.

11/15 - Values, Defense, and Financial Planning

bs.uf15bosox9bears23 — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 10:00:17 -0000

Still trying to catch up. Hopefully, I'll have a short night of homework sometime this week and I can post a bunch of links. Anyways, here's a bunch of more recent links (I'll save the still-relevant ones from earlier this week for later).

First, since I promised it to ferret:

Criminals of WAR - THT

I'm guilty of several of these offenses. Good reminder that it's not the end-all stat.

And now, some fielding fun:

How the Gold Gloves Work - Inside the Book

Try to avoid puking.

2010 UZR Projections - Beyond the Box Score

And guess who's projected as the worst CF?

With the Jumping and the Diving and the Whole Thing - The Baseball Analysts

Web Gems counting, for giggles.

Why Jason Bay is still unsigned - Extra Bases

Kinda old, but it still applies; it's not like he's signed somewhere yet.

After the jump, money, plans, and the minor leaguers.

Most of the Money Has Already Been Spent - Fenway West

Depends if Theo really is planning to go up to the CBT, but even then, the majority of the budget has been eaten up.

The Red Sox Are Cheap Bastards. Acquire Jeremy Hermida Now Pursuing Hideki Matsui - Masshole Sports

Red Sox fans should be asking what the hell is going on? Lord knows Im baffled.

Just thought I'd sum up this link for y'all.

Report: Yankees Trademarked 'Yankees Suck' Chant In 1996 - The Onion

Someone with an education in intellectual property, can you tell me if acronyms are considered the same as the words they represent? Not completely related, just wondering if "MFY Suck" would count, when the MFY finally do this.

Pay the price for Gonzalez - Chad Finn's Touching All The Bases

Well written and pretty convincing.

Mariners launch new online matchmaking service for sharing season tickets - Mariners.com

Very well run club, and now that they have a good GM, the team should start catching up to the fans.

Trade Market: Closers - MLBTradeRumors.com

The Matsuzaka Plan takes shape - Extra Bases

Dusty got him to attend the Atheletes' Performance Institute. I'd imagine a short, angry man doesn't have that much trouble convincing people do things.

Here’s a thought: Votto, Harang to Boston? - Fire Brand of the American League

This idea sounds amazing now - but how much would it cost? It would push Vic to the bench on his off-days, but I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

Hideki Matsui: An Ageless Talent - Arn Tellem - The Huffington Post

An agent has taken to the web to get his client signed; had to happen eventually. Now if someone would just publish the entire copy of one of Boras' small novels, we'd be entertained for weeks.

All-Aughts Team of the Decade C: Jason Varitek - Fire Brand of the American League

Damn, I thought Mirabelli had it locked up.

All-Aughts Team of the Decade SP5: Tim Wakefield - Fire Brand of the American League

And he'll only be on the team for one year next decade. That's going to be an emotional year for Timmeh, now that he's made it clear it will be his last. (Although I'd laugh if he manages to get the record this season by some crazy twist.)

Michael Bowden May Still Have Something to Offer Red Sox - NESN.com

Most people remember Bowden's short-lived stint with the Red Sox in 2009 by his performances against the Yankees, which included the good, the bad and the ugly. But no one's ability and talent should be judged on just three outings, even if they were against the world champions.

Well, duh.

A look at Red Sox prospect Casey Kelly - THT

Nothing groundbreaking, but a good look from outside OTM. Same goes for these two links:

Scouting Report : Jacoby Ellsbury - Bleacher Report

Scouting Report : George Kottaras - Bleacher Report

Interesting take on Kott's defense.

Over the Monster Top 20 Prospects Voting: #1

Ben Buchanan — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:03:20 -0000

Lars Anderson, last year's consensus #1, has likely fallen. Who will take over in his place? via

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It's that time of year again, folks. This year, we're going to be compiling the top 20 prospects in the farm system according to you, the Over the Monster readers, and it will likely be somewhat less cut and dry this time around given the rather seismic nature of the minors this year. We're trying out a new Google Docs based system to make the voting more open. I've provided write ups of 15 of the Sox' best prospects, but voting is not limited to them by any means. Just type in a name and submit.

Lars Anderson

Age: 22 | Position: 1B | Level: AA

2008: .317/.408/.513 (A+) | .316/.436/.526 (AA)

2009: .233/.328/.345

Considered by most to be the Red Sox' top prospect at the beginning of the year, Lars Anderson's stock has dropped significantly following a dismal 2009 campaign. Still, Anderson remains a top name in the farm system. He has huge power potential which he had displayed in earlier years, which combined with great plate patience should be the recipe for a top offensive player.

Michael Bowden

Age: 23 | Position: SP | Level: AAA

2008: 2.33 ERA, 101:24 K:BB, .92 WHIP (AA) | 3.38 ERA, 29:5 K:BB, 1.13 WHIP (AAA)

2009: 3.13 ERA, 88:47 K:BB, 1.21 WHIP

If Lars was first last year, Michael Bowden was almost always second. Like Lars, Bowden has also had something of a discouraging year, but unlike Lars, Bowden's problems came at the major league level, where he was pounded, giving up 17 runs in 16 innings. Still, Bowden is young and impressed at AAA, where for much of the year he was outshining Clay Buchholz. The righty has a low-90s four-seamer, a high-80s two-seamer, a curve with a lot of movement, a very good circle change, and a recently added mid-80s slider which has yet to come along.

Felix Doubront

Age: 22 | Position: SP | Level: AA

2008: 3.67 ERA, 118:24 K:BB, 1.21 WHIP (A)

2009: 3.35 ERA, 101:52 K:BB, 1.41 WHIP

After a breakout 2008, Prince Felix has been rocketing through the Sox system at an impressive pace. Almost entirely skipping advanced-A and making a seemingly seamless transition into AA, Doubront is poised to start 2010 at AAA—something nobody could've predicted when he posted an 8.93 ERA in Greenville in 2007. Doubront is a 3-pitch pitcher with a fastball that sits in the high 80s, a good change, and a curveball. Though his fastball is nothing special, his unique delivery can fool batters.

Luis Exposito

Age: 22 | Position: C | Level: AA

2008: .283/.328/.508 (A) | .301/.331/.509 (A+)

2009: .274/.332/.427 (A+) | .337/.371/.489

Providing much needed hope for the Red Sox behind the plate, Exposito has displayed a great deal of talent both at and behind the plate. At the plate, Expo is an above average power threat for his position, with a good power swing. He makes a fair deal of contact, but doesn't have the speed to make too much use of it. Instead, Expo would likely be better off working on his discipline, which has netted him only 48 walks in over 800 plate appearances over the last two years. Behind the plate, Luis has great defensive catching skills, but needs to work a bit on the mechanics of his throw to translate arm strength into caught baserunners. Exposito is a clubhouse favorite, notably acting as combination best friend and interpreter to fellow prospect Jose Iglesias.

Reymond Fuentes

Age: 18 | Position: CF | Level: Rookie (GCL)

2009: .290/.391/.379

The new kid on the block, it's hard to mention Fuentes without drawing comparisons to Jacoby Ellsbury. Lots of speed, little pop, not much of an arm, with a tendency for the spectacular. Fuentes is currently lacking in discipline both on the basepaths, where he stole 9 bases in 14 attempts, and at the plate, where he managed only 7 walks in over 150 appearances. Still, both are areas that are likely to improve with professional experience, and Fuentes already has one key advantage over Jacoby: his ability to make good reads.

Derrik Gibson

Age: 19 | Position: SS | Level: Short Season

2008: .309/.411/.394 (Rookie) | .086/.233/.086 (Short Season)

2009: .290/.395/.380

A hidden gem of the Sox system, Derrik Gibson is an absolute on base machine. His plus speed nets him a high average along with a very good number of stolen bases (28 in 33 attempts last year), and his discipline keeps him on the basepaths. Gibson is a plus defender in the middle, and projects to remain at short or second throughout his career. The one obvious knock on Gibson is that he seriously lacks power, and may well not hit more than 2 or 3 home runs in an average year—he has yet to hit one in the minors.

Jose Iglesias

Age: 19 | Position: SS | Level: ? (A-AA)

The newer kid on the block, Jose Iglesias is already drawing attention in Arizona, where observers say there's a lot to the hype Iglesias had coming in as a top defender. Descriptions like "MLB ready" "plus" and even "Ozzie Smith like" have done nothing to lower expectations. The question with Iglesias remains if he will be able to perform offensively. While there is no doubt he is still raw, so far Jose has performed surprisingly well in a limited sample size against the elite Arizona Fall League competition, where he's currently batting .286/.344/.446 with two homers. While speed is not the reason why Iglesias is such a remarkable defender, he does bring a bit to the table, and is 3-for-3 in attempts so far.

Ryan Kalish

Age: 21 | Position: CF | Level: AA

2008: .281/.376/.356 (A) | .233/.305/.397 (A+)

2009: .304/.434/.504 (A+) | .271/.341/.440

One half of 2009's pair of breakout outfielders, Kalish started the year on fire as his power emerged for the first time. Kalish hit 5 homers in 115 at bats in Salem before being promoted to Portland, where he experienced a decent post-promotion slump. Kalish was not to be kept down, though, and ended the season making AA look as easy as A+, even if the season totals seem unremarkable. Kalish has great patience at the plate, consistently managing high OBPs, and is an above average fielder, showing a good arm, range, and glove. Kalish could pan out as either a center fielder or right fielder. One underrated aspect of Ryan's game is his speed, which has regularly netted him about 20 stolen bases a year with a high success rate.

Casey Kelly

Age: 20 | Position: SP/SS | Level: A+

2008: .173/.229/.255 (Rookie) | .344/.344/.563 (Short Season)

2009: .214/.290/.464 (Rookie) | .224/.305/.313 (A)

2009: 1.12 ERA, 39:9 K:BB, .85 WHIP (A) | 3.09 ERA, 35:7 K:BB, .87 WHIP

Perhaps the greatest source for angst in the Sox' farm system is Casey Kelly's position decision: shortstop, or pitcher? It would seem an obvious choice through 2 years, as Kelly is already pushing AA as a starter, but is clearly not ready to leave A-ball as a shortstop. Unfortunately, Kelly has stated his personal preference for shortstop a few times, and so the angst continues. As a pitcher Kelly mixes in a plus curveball and good changeup with his low-90s fastball. He's got great control over all his pitches and is not going to give up a lot of free passes or high meatballs as a result. As a shortstop, Kelly is a plus defender who has shown some potential for good power, but has yet to consistently get on base.

Yamaico Navarro

Age: 22 | Position: SS | Level: AA

2008: .280/.341/.412 (A) | .348/.393/.508 (A+)

2009: .319/.373/.543 (A+) | .185/.270/.304 (AA)

A solid defender with a potentially big bat, Navarro makes solid contact with regularity and has enough power to make a few of them leave the park. Not a hugely disciplined hitter, Navarro is going to have to continue to hit the ball or refine his approach if he wants to be productive at higher level, as his average speed will not bail him out. Navarro is not a plus defender, but will not make you uncomfortable if slotted in at second, short, or third.

Stolmy Pimentel

Age: 19 | Position: SP | Level: A

2008: 3.14 ERA, 61:17 K:BB, 1.08 WHIP (Short Season)

2009: 3.82 ERA, 103:29 K:BB, 1.39 WHIP

With a signing bonus of just $25,000, Stolmy Pimentel is looking like one of the Sox' best international bargains. The tall righty has a fastball that can reach the mid 90s with a potentially plus curve and change. Pimentel has the ability to generate swings and misses without offering up a lot of walks, which should serve him well as he moves up through the organization

Josh Reddick

Age: 22 | Position: CF | Level: AAA

2008: .340/.397/.491 (A) | .343/.375/.593 (A+) | .214/.290/.436 (AA)

2009: .277/.352/.520 (AA) | .127/.190/.183

The Sox' most MLB-ready position prospect, Reddick has cut through the Sox' farm system in a mere 3 years' time. Reddick is a versatile outfielder likely to end up in either center or right depending on who you ask. In center, Reddick would likely have around MLB average range—maybe less, given the recent rise of the position defensively speaking—but would be capable none-the-less. Reddick also has a cannon arm with great accuracy. At the plate, Reddick makes good contact and brings a good deal of power to the table with the potential for more as he matures. Josh has struggled with discipline in the past, but seems to be coming around some, improving to a BB% of around 10 last year.

Anthony Rizzo

Age: 20 | Position: 1B | Level: A+

2009: .298/.365/.494 (A) | .295/.371/.420 (A+)

After missing much of 2008 following a diagnosis of Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Rizzo has stormed back from his illness and established himself in the upper echelon of Sox prospects. Rizzo brings an advanced approach to the plate and combines it with a strong bat that, while currently being more of a doubles threat, has shown the potential to be a home run threat. Rizzo is a plus defender at first, with a great feel for the game and good range. Given his strong arm, it's not inconceivable that Rizzo could move to third down the line, though for now he projects much better as a first baseman.

Junichi Tazawa

Age: 23 | Position: SP | Level: AAA

2009: 2.57 ERA, 88:26 K:BB, 1.08 WHIP (AA)

Red Sox fans got to see a lot more of Tazawa than they expected to this year. After being predicted to start anywhere from high A to the MLB, Tazawa settled in at AA Portland and pitched very well. Shortly after being called up to AAA (where he pitched 2 games looking much like he had in Portland), Tazawa was rushed to the majors as injuries and mediocrity took their toll on the Sox' rotation. Things did not go well for him there, where he was pounded for 23 runs (21 earned) in 25.1 innings. So he's not ready for the MLB yet. Tazawa still looks every bit like he's got what it takes to be an MLB starter. His fastball sits around 90 MPH with some plus potential, but it's his wide assortment of off-speed pitches that makes Tazawa special. His curveball, slider, and forkball are all above-average pitches, the last 2 with plus potential. Unlike his Japanese compatriot Daisuke, Tazawa has a tendency to attack the zone and as a result does not walk a lot of guys. Future success in the majors will depend on if he can generate swings-and-misses on his secondary stuff.

Ryan Westmoreland

Age: 19 | Position: CF | Level: Short Season

2009: .296/.401/.484

The official Wunderkind of the Red Sox system, Westmoreland is an amazing all-around player. Offensively he brings an advanced approach to the plate resulting in a BB% of over 15, a power bat good for 7 home runs this year with potential for a good few more, and intelligence and speed (perhaps the fastest player in the entire system) on the basepaths that allowed him to steal 19 bases without being caught once. That speed is also a big part of what makes him a great defensive center fielder. So far Westmoreland has had some injury troubles—a torn Labrum last year, and a broken collarbone this year—but neither are the sort of injury that makes you think he's inherently fragile.

Saturday a.m. Rangers things

Adam J. Morris — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:52:52 -0000

What do we have today...

Evan Grant takes a closer look at the Rockies' performance with Clint Hurdle as their hitting coach over at the DMN blog, with some interesting data on, among other things, how Ks and walks changed once Hurdle took over the job.

In not-really-Rangers-news, but interesting anyway, Tony Massarotti says the BoSox were in on J.J. Hardy before he was dealt to the Brewers, with the Brewers asking for Clay Buchholz or Daniel Bard for Hardy, and Boston only being willing to part with Michael Bowden.

This is interesting to me because there's been some discussion about whether the Rangers (and Ranger fans) were undervaluing Bowden when talking about deals with Boston this past offseason. The fact that the Red Sox apparently have him slotted behind Bard, and that the Brewers decided they preferred Carlos Gomez to Bowden, suggests that the bud may be off that particular rose.

MLB Trade Rumors: Carlos Beltran to the Red Sox?

raygu — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:15:22 -0000

More photos » by Henny Ray Abrams - AP

3 months ago: New York Mets' Carlos Beltran singles in the seventh inning of the Mets' 6-3 loss to the Florida Marlins in a baseball game at Citi Field in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)

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Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald wrote yesterday that he thinks the Red Sox should trade for the Met's center fielder Carlos Beltran to improve their outfield defense. A trade for Beltran would move current CFer Jacoby Ellsbury to left field, thus eliminating the Sox chances of re-signing Jason Bay.

If the Mets do look to rid themselves of some big contracts, Beltran could be on the block, and the Mets could get a pretty good return for Beltran since his contract doesn't run out until 2011.

Ia m sure the usual names would be involved in any deal for Carlos Beltran-Clay Buchholz, Michael Bowden, Josh Reddick, and so on.

Poll

Should the Red Sox trade some major league ready prospects for Carlos Beltran?

Yes, he's better all around than Jaspn Bay-do it.

119 votes

No, keep the prospects and sign Bay or Matt Holliday.

257 votes

376 votes | Poll has closed

Wednesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:40:04 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

I'm hoping we'll have a picture of Rick Peterson without a Mets hat soon.

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Some things to read while earning your cat-holding privileges.

The Brewers made Rick Peterson's hiring official yesterday, and he immediately turned his sights to Yovani Gallardo and Manny Parra.

Peterson also tweeted about his new gig, and was welcomed into the fold by Seth McClung (more on McClung later today). Miller Park Drunk also welcomed Peterson, and started him off with a cheat sheet on Brewer pitchers.

Now, perhaps the Brewers will get started on the task of acquiring some pitchers for Peterson to coach. Dave Cameron of USS Mariner has the Brewers trading J.J. Hardy to the M's for Brandon Morrow, and Matthew Pouliot of Circling the Bases has a hypothetical trade sending Prince Fielder to the Red Sox for Jacoby Ellsbury and Michael Bowden. Meanwhile, over in Speculationville, Roguejim wonders if J.J. Hardy might be a fit for the Pirates.

Could Jody Gerut end up as a bargaining chip in a trade? Amazin' Avenue lists him as a player who may be undervalued this winter due to a low BABIP in 2009. Gerut posted a .230/.279/.376 line last season, but hit a much more respectable .272/.341/.447 in August and September.

Wherever pitching help might come from, there doesn't appear to be much of it on the horizon in the minors. Baseball America has their final minor league pitching leaderboards up, and the only Brewer mentioned (Evan Frederickson) is among the leaders in a category you don't want to lead (walks allowed). Frederickson, a sandwich pick in the 2008 draft, walked 82 batters in 97.1 innings for Wisconsin this season, and has posted a 5.22 ERA in the minors.

Perhaps Josh Butler will be the exception, though: After playing all over the minors and in the majors this season, Butler is blogging from the AFL (FanShot) His first post covers his wild season, AFL teammates, food and weather.

We've covered the list of reasons why Felipe Lopez should be offered arbitration and the opportunity to return, but Miller Park Drunk has the counterpoint: the list of reasons why Lopez doesn't fit into the Brewers' plans and will almost certainly not be back.

Around baseball:

Braves: Pitchers Buddy Carlyle, Jorge Campillo and Vladimir Nunez have been removed from the 40-man roster and will become free agents. (h/t Rowland's Office)
Mets: Released reliever Ken Takahashi.
Pirates: Reliever Chris Bootcheck rejected an outright assignment and is now a free agent.

Because of the arbitrary nature of the cutoff line for Super 2 players, there's good news for the Diamondbacks and bad news for the Giants today. Slugger Mark Reynolds fell three days short of the service time required to be a Super 2, will not be arbitration eligible and will remain under team control for four more seasons. Tim Lincecum, on the other hand, was over the cutoff by about a week and will be arbitration eligible this offseason.

Three managerial vacancies remain, but at least one team has eliminated Ned Yost from contention: The Indians are believed to be conducting second interviews with four candidates, but Yost is not one of them. Manny Acta is the only finalist for the Indians' job that is also a candidate for the Astros' job.

Over the last few seasons, baseball has shifted heavily toward emphasizing young players and prospects, but here's a reminder on the importance of not looking too far ahead: Lookout Landing has a list of 44 players who appeared for the Mariners in 2008. Less than two full years later, only ten of them are still with the organization. Things can change pretty fast.

Livan Hernandez spent the end of the 2009 season with the Nationals, and despite the fact that he's long past the prime of his career, he'll likely be looking for work again this offseason, because he needs the paycheck. Hernandez reportedly has serious financial issues that could lead to the foreclosure of his home in Miami.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that the postseason has had some pretty exciting games and interesting storylines, the top story once again is terrible umpiring, and a call Big League Stew is calling "the worst call of all time." I keep hoping that maybe, someday, Major League Baseball will be shamed into action on this issue, and do something to either correct inept umpires or put effective umpires in their place. It's likely a pipe dream.

I've spent a fair amount of time lately discussing the Arizona Fall League, partly because there's not much baseball being played lately but also because I find it fascinating. If you're having a hard time getting into it, maybe you should check out Geoff Young's look back at the 2001 AFL, which featured a bunch of future productive major leaguers...and Bill Hall.

Speaking of prospects and development, Derrick Goold has a nice conversation starter about age as it relates to prospects, and when one becomes too old to be considered one (h/t BBTF). In last year's Community Prospect Rankings, we ranked a couple of older players (Brad Nelson and Tim Dillard), and I'm guessing Adam Heether might sneak into this year's list as well.

Finally, this link isn't really baseball related, but I'm dropping it in today because I think it's important, and if you or someone you know coaches youth or high school sports I hope you'll read it: Driveline Mechanics has a look at overtraining in high school sports and its consequences.

Happy birthday today to Gabe Gross, who posted a .797 OPS over 2+ seasons as a Brewer and turns 30 today, and to Franklin Stubbs, who was virtually worthless as a Brewer and turns 49.

Drink up.

Pitch F/X: Michael Bowden, 9/28/09

bs.uf15bosox9bears23 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 03:03:32 -0000

More photos » by Charles Krupa - AP

I'd hide my face too.

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Statline: 3.0 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 2 HR, 37 strikes in 67 pitches, 4 groundouts, 2 flyouts

Okay, there's not a lot there to like. I mean, he did get some good results - strikeouts, only 1 walk, good groundball/flyball ratio. Of course, we need to look past the results, and into the process - and that's what Pitch F/X is here for. So let's dive right in.

Pitch Type	Avg Speed	Max Speed	Avg H-Break	Avg V-Break	Count	Strikes / %	Swinging Strikes / %	Nibbleness	Time to Plate
FF (Four Seam Fastball)	91.71	93.3	-1.99	10.66	50	28 / 56.00%	1 / 2.00%	8.37	0.415
CH (Change up)	84.48	85.2	-6.19	8.93	5	3 / 60.00%	0 / 0.00%	11.82	0.447
SL (Slider)	83.92	87.2	2.05	2.95	10	4 / 40.00%	1 / 10.00%	8.74	0.452
CU (Curveball)	80.00	80.4	1.44	-2.85	2	2 / 100.00%	0 / 0.00%	6.25	0.473

Not great velocity or differential, but that isn't exactly Bowden's game. He did throw a LOT of fastballs - and not for a lot of strikes either. Very few swinging strikes is an indication that his stuff wasn't fooling many batters.

Now let's look at the pretty graphs - after the jump, of course.

First, the tracks:

via www.brooksbaseball.net

Good tailing action on his changeup (which got rocketed by Hill in the first inning). Pretty straight curveball and lots of break on the slider. Now for the side view:

The changeup drops about a foot and a half, as does the curve and slider. The latter takes longer to seperate from the fastball, while the curveball starts above the fastball and falls sharply before crossing the plate.

Even though Bowden didn't throw a lot of pitches, we still got to see how he did after throwing a lot of pitches with little time to recover inbetween. His velocity didn't seem to drop too much, looking at this graph:

Of course, that's not exactly the clearest picture of his stamina, since it doesn't show what each pitch was. This one does though:

His fastball kept it's velocity up consistently; none of his other pitches dropped much either. So he's a healthy young buck.

Wow... So, umm.... That's a lot of fastballs up and gloveside. There's also a grouping in the middle of the zone , which isn't exactly a safe spot. Perhaps there's some trends in the batter's handedness.

Stayed away from lefties, mostly. He did have a couple sliders that came into batter's knees, and the only changeup was up and away.

Stayed away a LOT more from the righties - odd, considering the common logic of matching hands with the batter for a better matchup. The curveballs were mostly away, but there were a couple in the middle of the zone. Oh, and I'd wager that single yellow dot in the middle of the zone was the one Hill crushed. Lots of high fastballs isn't a good sign either, although the grouping down and away probably helped the groundball numbers.

Quick mechanics check, for Keith Foulke, Jr:

The sliders came out a bit further than the rest of the pitches - might be the product of the grip and his delivery.

And now the stuff graph. The changeups move a lot more horizontally than the fastball, which we saw was straight as an arrow. The curves don't move a lot horizontally either, making it the text book example of a 12-6 change. It definitely seems like he needs to add some more horizontal stuff - perhaps a mechanics change could facilitate that?

Yanks remind critics who the real team to beat is, batter Boston 9-5 in series opener

CrazyYankeeChick — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 05:08:47 -0000

More photos » by Paul J. Bereswill - AP

ARod regards Alex Gonzalez quizzically, after swiping his 3rd base of the night: "Are you actually really trying to sell this tag?"

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For the last few days, all I've been hearing about is how afraid we should all be. How very afraid. Our pitching is billed, as usual, as questionable. The Red Sox are billed, as usual, as the indestructible wild card.

Talk is cheap. This year's Yankees aren't cutting corners to sneak wins in. They're where they are not because of any one player, but because they adapt their game based on the challenges they face. Our team demonstrated that tonight when they left Boston reeling with an unrelenting attack that barely gave their division rivals a chance to come up for air.

It took me about 4 innings to realize what was going on with the pitching performances. Joba Chamberlain and his unprecedented unpredictability were zipping through innings with such economic deftness that I was starting to think he either had a date waiting for him, or just really needed to use the bathroom. Conversely, Jon Lester was uncharacteristically awkward, uncomfortable, and stilted. I think it's pretty obvious what happened here...

Other game notes:

Michael Kay waited a whole 3 innings before he broke out the "perfect game" jinx. My Red Sox buddy noted this and texted me: "I almost feel bad for Yankee fans. Girardi should just pull him now."

Though I wasn't listening to the 880 broadcast, I can only imagine the rampant application of "You know, you just can't figure baseball" observations from Sterling, once Lester was literally knocked out of the game from a screaming liner off the bat of Melky Cabrera, into the knee cap of RSN's noble ace. But it was the reaction of posters on the game thread that really struck me: immediate, unqualified concern for Lester spilled out in droves. Indeed, we truly have the best fans in baseball.

Pitching lines for the night:

Joba--6 IP, 5H, 3R, 5K, 1BB

Lester--2.1 IP, 8H, 5R, 3K, 3BB

If I hadn't seen the game and read that in the next day's paper, I'd honestly think the writer accidentally flipped the names.

Bullpen lines for the night:

Yanks--2.3 IP, 3H, 2R, 3K, 2BB

Sox--5.2 IP, 6H, 4R, 5K, 6BB

You gotta give our pen credit; they've been the subject of an unfaltering dismissal of their legitimacy for what seems like forever. And like ARod's non-clutch reputation, this preconceived notion becomes less and less substantiated with every game.

Jonathan Albaladejo (still can't spell that right in one try) gave the Sox their only respite of the night, giving up 2 runs in about 45 seconds of work. Alfredo Aceves, Damaso Marte, Phil Hughes, and Phil Coke were all remarkably effective out of the pen. I guess old habits die hard. Even with Joba going 6, everyone under the kitchen sink was brought in to fill in the remaining innings. I'm not complaining--I think Girardi handled it perfectly. (Did I just actually say that?)

Boston's bullpen is like a freaking clown car at a circus. I really thought I had seen all of em during the 15-inning marathon last month. But tonight, some guy named Hunter Jones relieves Lester, then Michael Bowden after that. My sister texts me, "Who ARE these pitchers? Did they Jorge Bogey? That sounds like a name dad would make up. Like 'Yeah Frank Staboonch is coming in next.'" (Jorge Bogey=Michael Bowden)

Stat of the night: Yankee batters saw 213 PITCHES. This is one of my proudest moments of the season. Lester threw 78 pitches in less than 3 innings. Joba threw 86 in 6 innings. Unbelievable.

2nd best stat of the night: 7 STOLEN BASES. In 7 tries, off Jason Varitek. The most SBs in a game since they stole 8 in 1996. (At what point is "stolen base" no longer an automatic cue to cut to Dave Roberts reels?) They never stopped running, and the Sox were constantly left scrambling on defense.

The Sox offense was spotty, at best. Their only highlights were a solo shot from Victor Martinez (to "break up" Joba's perfecto, just like Kay wanted) and a 2-run bomb from David Ortiz (who's the king of meaningless homeruns now, RSN?)

No element of their game was underplayed. The pitching was tremendous, the running game was extraordinary, defense tight as always, and offense was overwhelming. 14 hits, only 1 of which was a long ball (the record-breaking 127th ding of the year was off the bat of Alex Rodriguez, who went 3-for-3 with 4 RBIs). The Yankees manufactured runs all. game. It was like they never stopped to look at the score, just put their heads down, hit, got on base, and kept going. The Sox never knew what hit 'em.

No one who watched that game can say that this meant nothing. I've been seeing them play all season, and this showing even took me by surprise. They chased one of the best pitchers in the league, they asphyxiated one of the best line-ups in the league. They exploited the Sox's weaknesses, and maybe tomorrow, people will be less quick to lionize Boston, and more inclined to recognize how strikingly stalwart the 2009 Yankees really are.

-CYC