Strat-O-Matic Baseball 365

The Red Sox apparently don't believe Bradley will ever adequately hit or that Mookie Betts can adequately play center field. They have signed Cuban Cf/2b/3b Rusney Castillo to a 7 yr/70 million contract to presumably play CF next to Cespedes. He's very fast, and has a little pop, so the Sox are hoping he can at least be an Austin Jackson-type and hopefully the player Brett Gardner has become. However, like Jackson, his swing is long, and some scouts don't think he will hit well enough to be more than an utility player.

It's definitely more of a gamble than the Abreu and Cespedes signings. Those two had produced more, and there was greater scouting consensus on their likely success. However, considering Bradley has looked awful at the plate this year, and not much better in AA-AAA, and Betts is more comfortable at 2b, I think it's a solid gamble.

If Bogaerts doesn't start hitting better maybe Boston should try Betts at SS. When will Boston cut their losses with Middlebrooks and just put Holt there full time?

For 2015 where will they play Allen Craig? Supposing that Napoli is at 1B and Ortiz at DH you then have Cespedes in LF, Castillo in CF and Victorino (if he is over his hamstring issues) in RF where does that leave Craig? Nava is a good hitter, too bad he will be a bench player.

I think Cespedes will move to RF, and Craig will be in LF next year. Victorino's been injury-prone and is more suited to a utility role at this point anyway. I'm sure at least one or two of the guys you mention will be traded in the offseason...Middlebrooks, Nava, Holt, or Betts...although Nava will be 32 next year, and has only 1 good season under his belt. Middlebrooks may blossom somewhere, but has been so weak with the Sox that they may not get much for him anyway. So only Holt and Betts could garner decent returns.

Of course that's crossing fingers that Castillo is the real deal. I also think I'd rather see Bogearts at 3b and Betts at SS, but then the question mark is Holt and where does he play.

the question mark is Holt and where does he play.

everywhere else

Betts' arm is still a reach at SS. At this point his best future with the Sox is either a super-utility guy or (more likely) trade bait for pitching. The Sox still seem committed to Bogaerts at short for next year, and with his arm and hitting potential, he's still a better option there than Betts.

Also, another player in the shortstop mix could be Deven Marrero, their 2012 first-round pick out of ASU, Pedroia's Alma Mater. His defense is superior to both Betts' and Bogaerts'. And if he hits in AAA like he did in AA this year, they could give him the job, hope he hits as well as Brandon Crawford, and move Bogaerts back to third.

keyzick wrote:I think Cespedes will move to RF, and Craig will be in LF next year.

If they are planning to use Cespedes in RF next year why aren't they playing him there this year? Nava or Craig can play LF and Cespedes' arm is put to better use in RF.

That seems like a lot of money if all they are expecting is Austin Jackson.

blue turtle wrote:That seems like a lot of money if all they are expecting is Austin Jackson.

I didn't say they were "expecting" Austin Jackson. I said they were hoping "he can at least be an Austin Jackson-type and hopefully the player Brett Gardner has become." If he ends up as good as the player Gardner has become, it's a great deal. If he ends up being Austin Jackson at worst, it's hardly a disaster.