Red Sox designate Julian Tavarez for assignment

The Red Sox designated swingman Julian Tavarez for assignment today. The move was made so the Red Sox could reinstate Sean Casey from the DL.

I think the Red Sox are sadly mistaken if they think Tavarez will clear waivers. So many teams are in need of relief help, or a decent back end start, that Tavarez will almost certainly be claimed, something I'm sure the Red Sox realize. Rumors have been swirling lately about the possibility of Tavarez getting traded to the Rockies to become their 5 starter so they seem the most likely to put a claim on him, with the Brewers another possibility. This trade also seems to make Craig Hansen's stay with the Red Sox a little bit longer so he could perhaps cement a role in the bullpen, and/or could be a precursor to Bartolo getting called up to the rotation, Colon reportedly had reached as high as 97MPH on his fastball in his latest start.

Marlins ink Hanley to longterm deal

This comes as a pretty big surprise to me, mostly because of the fact they haven't signed a player to a longterm deal since signing Carlos Delgado in 2005, and perhaps most people outside of diehard Marlins fans, which I'm not sure there a lot of given the crowds they draw; it certainly isn't a bad move however. The deal is 70 million dollars over 6 years, an annual value of approximately 11.6 million. I'm not sure if all 6 years are guaranteed, but given recent contracts for guys like Fausto Carmona, Troy Tulowitzki, and other talented youngsters, I'd guess the first four years are guaranteed and the final two are option years. The deal will buyout Hanley's first two years of free agency.

Hanley is certainly worth the money, and by the third year of the deal it may be a bargain. He finished only 10th in MVP voting last year despite posting a .332 batting average, .386 OBP, .562 SLG%, .948 OPS, 29 homers, 81 RBI's, and 51 steals, all as a shortstop. He'll probably end up moving from shortstop in the near future due to his terrible defense at the position. Although I love the Marlins deciding to lock their best player up long term, I'd be surprised if he made it through the whole deal with the Marlins. This deal is going to increase the Marlins payroll exponentially and its a deal the Marlins probably won't be able to handle longterm. I think he'll end up getting traded as a deadline deal in the next 3 or 4 seasons at least.

When the trade for Beckett was made during the Marlins firesale a few seasons ago I absolutely HATED seeing Hanley go. The rumors around the deal were that we had to give up either Lester or Hanley to get him, and, looking back on it, Lester definitely would've been the more logical one to give up. With the way Buchholz has begun to develop and the belief that he could be a dominant ace Lester would've been unneeded, Hanley would've stopped the revolving door at shortstop the Red Sox have had since Nomar fell off the face of the earth and was traded, and Lester hasn't been what I think the Red Sox expected him to be. Its not real fair to look back and judge it like that, but I just think that if Jed Hoyer and Ben Cherington, knowing what they know now, could go back and make the trade again they would have traded Lester in place of Hanley.

Something wrong with Papelbon?

After seeing Papelbon blow his second save in a row last night, I can't help but wonder if there is something wrong with him, physically or mentally. The first blown save came Thursday night against Detroit after a Julio Lugo error led to unearned runs and a broken bat single just over Lugo's glove to bring home the game-ending run, the second came last night against the Twins after he put Delmon Young and Carlos Gomez, and both stealing a base to put them in scoring position, and a two run single to left to score the both of them and end the game. He hasn't looked as sharp as he been in the past to me and he already has almost as many blown saves this season (2) as he had all of last season (3). Maybe hes just going through a bit of a slump, God I hope so the way the rest of the Red Sox bullpen has looked this season, but there is a possibility that hes injured, and theres no way these past couple nights haven't affected his confidence. Papelbon had these comments about the past few nights:

"It's frustrating as hell right now, just because the simple fact is I'm throwing good pitches. I'm just not finishing them right now and executing them all the way through the strike zone."

"It's going to be a test for me these next few days to get back on the mound and regain that confidence, finish my pitches, and do a little bit better job of it."

Lets just hope for the sake of the team that I'm wrong and that hes not injured.

Craig Hansen called up

The Red Sox called up Craig Hansen to take Moss' roster spot. My guess is that they added another reliever, instead of a hitter, because Delcarmen has been struggling lately, Hansen has been pitching lights out at AAA (11 games, 16 2/3 IP, 17 K's, 5 BB's, 1.62 ERA at AAA Pawtucket), and the fact that, despite the stats, the Tigers have one of the best lineups in baseball right now, and the added arm could be useful in a four game set against such a powerful lineup. Not to mention the fact that they don't really have any outfielders at AAA that would be a decent Major League fill-in, and the only Major League quality batter at any position, in my opinion, is 1B Chris Carter.

Jones cut; Sheffield to left field

Jacque Jones was cut today, prior to the start of the Tigers first of four games against the Red Sox. Jones had been hitting only .165 with one homer and 5 RBI's in 24 games with the Tigers. Jones had been acquired from the Cubs for infielder Omar Infante during the offseason and is in the final season of a 3 year, 16 million dollar deal he signed with the Cubs after the 2005 season. The Tigers called up Matt Joyce from AAA Toledo, who had been hitting .299 with 5 homers and 21 RBI's in 28 games for Toledo. Joyce started against the Red Sox in right field tonight and batted 7th.

Gary Sheffield, normally the starting DH (a role he was not enjoying), took Jones' spot in left. Excited about returning to the field, Sheffield had the following comments:

"I need to be a baseball player, I'm not a baseball player sitting there,"

Sheffield hadn't played the outfield since last July, when he injured his shoulder in a collision with second basemen Placido Polanco.

A good move by the Tigers in my opinion. Jones was overpaid and is probably headed for a sharp decline as he begins to lose bat speed and power, not to mention the fact that hes average as a BA hitter and has a poor eye that leads to a low OBP. His offensive capabilities don't match up with what you should get from a LF and he isn't what he used to be defensively in RF. He might have a few more decent seasons in him, but his days of .280/20/80 are long gone, as if that needed pointing out.

Coco Crisp staying put..... for now

After Brandon Moss' emergency appendectomy over the weekend that puts the breaks on any possibility of a Coco Crisp trade, at least for the time being, especially with Bobby Kielty's hand injury. The injury comes at a bad time for Moss, as he had been playing well in limited time, hitting .286 with 2 homers in 21 at bats.

During the offseason I was very in favor of a trade of Coco Crisp, and that remains so now. Its painful to watch him at the plate, and its even more painfully obvious that Jacoby Ellsbury is the far superior player. You have to figure sooner or later Ellbsury will be handed the reigns on a more full-time basis, and Coco only occasionally filling in for minor injuries, against certain lefties, as a defensive replacement, etc. Coco's only real value is clearly in the field, at least right now. However, for the time being, it should be good to have him around. They have the personnel around to cover minor injuries (Especially with the walking injury report, J.D. Drew, around), between Ellsbury, Drew, Coco, and Manny, and despite all his shortcomings with the bat he is a Gold Glove caliber defender, at an up-the-middle position. But the sooner Moss comes back the better.

In the mean time, they will need to get some sort of 4th/5th outfielder replacement to fill in off the bench. Brad Wilkerson was recently waived by the Mariners and the Red Sox reportedly had interest in him this offseason. Other options by my estimation could be current Milwaukee, and former Red Sox, outfielder Gabe Kapler, free agent Kenny Lofton, and maybe St. Louis outfielder Juan Gonzalez. Chris Carter could be an internal option, but he is a first basemen by trade. The only outfielder currently on the 40 man roster that is not on the active roster is Jonathan Van Every, and he would not seem to be a viable option.

Introduction!

My name is John Monahan and I am a 17 year old Junior in high school. I enjoy writing and love the game of baseball which led to the birth of this blog. I am a devout Red Sox and while this blog will cover the happenings in Red Sox Nation, it will also cover baseball in general. I'm going to write and update as often as I can. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy what you read and continue to come back!