December 8, 2009

Casey Kelly Will Pitch

Twenty-year-old pitcher-shortstop Casey Kelly, one of the Red Sox's top prospects, has decided to work exclusively on the mound (as the team had hoped). Theo Epstein:
He could, if everything breaks his way, force his way on to the major league radar screen sometime in the next year or two.
Terry Francona met with the media and talked about Jonathan Papelbon, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Marco Scutaro, Manny Delcarmen, and the search for a left fielder:
I'm sure when we head down to Fort Myers we'll have a left fielder. We always do. They're really good about that.
The Red Sox signed RHP Scott Atchison to a one-year deal ($420,000), with club options for 2011 ($440,000) and 2012 ($600,000). Boston also inked LHP Fabio Castro.

Good news for NESN viewers everywhere! Dave Roberts has been hired by the Padres as a special assistant in baseball operations.

17 comments:

9casey said...

Granderson....hmmmmmm

Seems like they gave up a lot for a .250 hitter

Rob said...

Old Hickory is leaving ESPN. :(

http://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2009/12/gammons-ends-hall-of-fame-run-with-espn/

allan said...

Seems like they gave up a lot for a .250 hitter

Well, every single Sox and MFY fan at SoSH is saying it's a steal for New York:

"a freaking steal"
"unreal"
"brilliant"
"a coup"
"a terrible, terrible deal for the non-Yankee teams and it's a tremendous steal for the Yankees"
"It seems like every year the Yankees get some team to give up their best player for organizational filler."
"I cannot believe how good of a deal this is for the Yankees, or that Arizona thought Ian Fucking Kennedy had value."

Fangraphs: "From the Yankees perspective, this deal is almost too good to be true. Heading into his age 29 season, Granderson is a legitimate +4 win center fielder signed to a bargain contract for the next four years."

Look where Granderson hits his dongs.

Zenslinger said...

He's coming off a down year offensively, and Austin Jackson was definitely one of the Yanks' bigger pieces. But, yeah, this is good for them.

johngoldfine said...

I'm always impressed to hell by Francona's droll wit--he's very funny a la 'Not the Greek god of anything' and here as well!

9casey said...

redsock said...
Seems like they gave up a lot for a .250 hitter

Well, every single Sox and MFY fan at SoSH is saying it's a steal for New York:





Once again numbers don't lie, he is a .250- .270 hitter hitter I assume he will replace Damon in the order...and this trade would be the equivalent of us giving up Lars Andersen, Michael Bowden and Manny Delcarmen for Curtis Granderson, would you do that deal .....

allan said...

I'm just quotin' people!

To temper the praise, here is a SoSHer from Detroit, posting about a month ago:

Grandy is heavily overrated by both the Tigers and the fan base. The thing with Curtis is, he's the most professional, well-behaved, likeable baseball player imaginable. He's the kind of guy you'd want your daughter to date. He hustles all the time, catches the ball with both hands and runs out every ground ball, no matter how futile. He's clean-cut, well-groomed, articulate, modest, respects his elders and the coaching staff, gives time and money to local charities; the list goes on.

As a ballplayer, he has nice range in CF, but he misplays the occasional ball and sometimes turns a routine fly-out into an adventure. He has a so-so arm. He can draw walks and he strikes out a lot. He has good speed and power. Combine that with the ballpark he plays in and you understand how he had the 20/20/20/20 season a couple years ago.

The problem is, Curtis Granderson cannot hit a curve ball. At all. I've watched him play for 4 years now, and I can honestly say I don't ever recall him really making solid contact with a breaking pitch. He obviously has recorded a few base hits, but it's a miracle if he really connects with one.

The only reason Granderson is still in the major leagues is most pitchers still throw him an occasional fastball, usually on the first pitch. He hits a lot of those out of the park, at least against righties. I guess they reason that even when a batter has a big hole like that, you still have to mix it up once in a while. I disagree; I don't think he could hit breaking balls even if he received a 100% diet of them. I wouldn't even mix in an occasional fastball until he proves he can consistently hit a curve even when he's sitting on one."

***

allan said...

I'd gladly throw Bowden and MDC into a deal.

Not sure if Lars and Jackson match up though.

Jackson seems like he is yet another over-hyped MFY. He was meh in both AA at age 21 AAA at 22 (last year), with an OPS around 760-780 and not much power.

Lars was a beast in Adv A and AA at 20 before sucking last year (also in AA). But Lars is also about eight months younger.

9casey said...

redsock said...
I'm just quotin' people!



Well, quote ones who say bad shit.....:)

In my opinion if he replaces Damon, it is a downgrade..

9casey said...

Some good pics on Boston.com of Papi's Golf tourney

Rob said...

Welcome home, Old Hickory!

Amalie Benjamin tweet: Gammons will be joining NESN and NESN.com in 2010. Just got the press release.

Unknown said...

In the last 3 years, Grandy hit .277, with 25 homers and 20 stolen bases a year. He's a good defensive center fielder. That said, he's terrible against lefties, hitting .210 against them for his career (vs. .292 against righties). They really should platoon him, but neither Melky nor Gardner hit lefties very well.

Honestly, I think this is probably best for Detroit. Scherzer is a really good young pitcher, and is under team control for at least 5 more years. Austin Jackson should be a pretty good player, he could end up as more, but I doubt it. I think he ends up as a pretty average center fielder, but that's not much of a step down from Grandy, anyway, and they'll have him for 6 years in the majors.

I don't know what the fuck Arizona was thinking.

Patrick said...

My initial reaction was, the Yankees got Granderson for role players.

My second look at the situation is, the Yankees got Granderson for role players.

For all of Theo's brilliance, some how Cashman makes amazing trades every year. They got Swisher for basically nothing, and now Granderson.

A lot of questions go through my head about the methodology of Cashman and Epstine.

9casey said...

Patrick said...
A lot of questions go through my head about the methodology of Cashman and Epstine.



Really, I believe Cashman has been given a blank check , with pretty much complete control, and Theo
Has become cost conscience, and very safe over the last couple of years, Keeping an eye on who he brings in here, this team has become pretty vanilla, in its players and overall attitude, I know alot of you will poo-poo that but I believe personality has something to do with baseball....

Bartman said...

What "search for a left fielder"?

I don't come here enough in the off season, it seems. Didn't Jason Bay play left?

allan said...

Didn't Jason Bay play left?

Yes, he did. But as a free agent, he is no longer a member of the Red Sox.

Bartman said...

"But as a free agent, [Bay] is no longer a member of the Red Sox."

So, this is Tito playing with Bay a little?