Kuzul

Some potential Hall of Famers have had a hard time finding work this winter, while others have had to settle for rather humbling deals.

The Minnesota Twins signed 40-year-old DH Jim Thome to a 1-year, $3 million deal, and Tampa Bay came to terms with 38-year-old DH Manny Ramirez on a 1-year deal for just $2 million. Ramirez made $45 million over the past two seasons, so that’s quite a pay cut.

Thome had 25 homers and a 1.039 OPS over 340 plate appearances last season. Ramirez had a .298 average and an .870 OPS over 320 PAs.

The Oakland A’s signed 36-year-old DH Hideki Matsui, to a 1-year, $4.25 million deal. Matsui batted .274 with 21 homers and 84 RBI for the Angels last season. Though not a HOF candidate, Matsui can still produce, and the A’s got him at an affordable price.

Meanwhile, 35-year-old free agent DH Vladimir Guerrero is still seeking a job.  Of the 11 players last season who hit at least .300, had 25 homers and 100 RBI, Guerrero had the fewest strikeouts (60). Yet no one wants him?

On the other hand, David Ortiz had an .899 OPS over 600 PAs last season and received a 1-year, $12.5 million extension from the Red Sox. 

After two years of precipitous decline, the 35-year-old Ortiz brought his average back up to .270 in 2010 and led the team with 32 homers and 102 RBI. 

Yet, given the recent developments in the DH market, it looks like Ortiz held a gun to the Red Sox and robbed them blind.

Remember those stories about him possibly being upset about having to take a 1-year deal? That seems highly doubtful now. To the contrary, he must feel like one very lucky man.

From 2005-2008, Ortiz had a strikeout percentage of 16.4 and a home run percentage of 6.2. However, over the last two seasons, Ortiz’s strikeout percentage leapt to 22.6 percent, while his home run percentage dropped to 4.9 percent.

Ortiz struck out a career-high 145 times last season, eclipsing his previous career-high of 134, set in 2009. Setting career highs in strikeouts in back-to-back seasons, at his age, is an ominous sign.  Over his first five seasons in Boston, Ortiz batted .302. But those days are now long gone. Over the past three seasons, his batting average has dropped to just .257.

Without question, Ortiz is a player in decline, and he will be grossly overpaid this season. He is probably worth $5 million per year at this point, but the Red Sox didn’t want to deal with a malcontent in their clubhouse or on their bench this season.

If Ortiz has another year that mirrors the last, the Red Sox will feel satisfied with his high price tag. If he underperforms though, they will have to take solace in the fact that it’s only a 1-year deal. 

Ortiz should feel grateful for his current pact. Never again will he merit a contract with such a high annual value. He will be lucky to make half his $12 million salary in 2012. 

Plus, the slugger’s place in Red Sox history seems quite secure, another reason for him to feel content.

With 291 homers as a member of the Red Sox, this season Ortiz will join Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice and Dwight Evans as the only Red Sox players with 300 home runs. That’s some pretty fine company. And, with 932 RBI with Boston, he could become just the sixth player to drive in 1,000 runs with the team (joining Yastrzemski, Williams, Rice, Evans and Doerr).

Additionally, with 349 career homers (as a member of the Twins and Red Sox), Ortiz has a reasonable shot at 400 for his career. He needs to average about 25 homers over the next two years to reach the mark, which is certainly possible.

Unlike his contemporaries at the DH spot, Ortiz didn’t have to take a pay cut and resort to 1-year deal with a new team this winter. 

The pay cut will come in 2012, but hopefully it will be with Boston. If Ortiz performs up to par, that would be the best thing for both him and the Red Sox.

Sean is a freelance writer and creator of Kennedy’s Commentary, a dedicated Red Sox blog. He has written for Baseball Digest and other magazines, newspapers and Websites.

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The 2010 season for the Boston Red Sox was riddled with injuries and inconsistency. The club struggled to an 89-73 record and a third place finish in the competitive American League East. 

The Sox front office looked to revamp their rosters, and create a buzz around Boston, with an offseason spending spree. With the additions of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford the Red Sox will enter 2011 with the highest payroll in all of Major League Baseball.

It is only natural that a payroll of that magnitude comes with serious expectations. By many peoples count the Sox are the pre-season favorite to with the American League pennant. But pennants aren’t won on paper and they certainly arent won in the off-season.

If the Red Sox expect to make a run at a World Series in 2011 then they will need a lot of production and even more luck. However, if they are able to mesh everything together then they could stand to be the most dangerous team in the entire league.

This list is not to say these players are the best players on the Red Sox. Rather it is a realization that if the Sox are to win the World Series then these players are going to have to play a prominent role.

Without further delay here are the ten most important Boston Red Sox for the 2011 World Championship run.

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In the blitzkrieg of high-profile signings that has been the Red Sox’ offseason, too easily have nagging questions escaped our rose-colored tunnel vision. As star-struck as Boston fans are right now, we’d be sealing our own fates if we hitched our hopes to two free agents and threw caution to the wind.

One important decision yet to be made is who mans the shortstop position in 2011. As critical as the starting pitching is to the Red Sox’ fortunes, it seems highly unlikely that any additions or subtractions will be made at this point. That hand has been dealt.

But Terry Francona can still improve the Red Sox in small but significant ways if he makes the tough decision to start Jed Lowrie over Marco Scutaro. Here are six reasons why…

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Manny Ramirez is without a doubt one of the most powerful and productive hitters to ever play the game of baseball.  Manny has a career average of .313 and has hit 555 home runs in his colorful career.  Manny is a 12-time All-Star and has won the Hank Aaron award twice.  He has won two World Series rings with the Boston Red Sox (2004,2007) and was the World Series MVP in 2004.  

Despite his hitting success, Manny Ramirez has been a serious cancer to any team that has taken him in.  His immature antics, his laziness, and his lack of passion has irritated every team he has ever played for and has resulted in him switching teams on more than a few occasions.  Manny Ramirez has also been plagued by the accusations surrounding his usage of steroids.  

The past couple of years have been a struggle for Manny as he has dealt with a ton injuries and a lot of criticism.  On the occasions that Manny has played, he has hit for a high average but has been dealing with a serious power outage.  Whether it be age, injuries, or the lack of a certain performance-enhancing drug, one thing is certain, Manny is not the same Manny he once was and it appears as though retirement is not far away.

Manny would still like to play and buzz was generated when he spoke to ESPN Deportes about how he liked the Toronto Blue Jays and how he has always wanted to play with them.  Ramirez has had very few suitors this offseason and is hoping that a team will take a chance on him.  I believe that Manny Ramirez and the Toronto Blue Jays would be a perfect match for 10 reasons……

Please note that the slides are not ranked, just numbered.

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The Designated Hitter—home of the offensively talented and the defensively challenged players. By not having to play the field many players have been able to prolong, or even make, a career through offensive contributions alone. 

American League teams use the DH position for a variety of different reasons: from protecting a player’s health to finding a role for an aging player and everything in between. Despite the variety of reasons a particular player is used as a DH most of these players have a common trait—they can all hit but, usually, they are also a major liability in the field. 

Unfortunately, NL teams are not afforded this luxury; since there is no DH in the National League every player in the lineup must be on the field (so instead of a DH, who takes the place of the pitcher, in the NL, the pitcher must hit for himself). Because of this, NL teams must be more judicious in deciding which players to carry on their 25-man roster. 

Even if a player can undoubtedly contribute offensively he may not make a NL team because he will either not get many at bats (if he is used solely a pinch-hitter so to avoid him playing the field) or he becomes a major weakness in a team’s defense (if he is put in the field—either as a starter or to play more than a few innings…Pat Burrell started for the Giants in 2010 but when the Giants had a lead past the sixth inning Burrell would usually be pulled from the game for a defensive upgrade).

While some NL teams opt to have these type of players on their roster (Prince Fielder of the Brewers and Pat Burrell of the Giants, for example) most of these type of players are found in the American League. 

To help us look at fielding abilities, I use the sabermetric stat of Range Factor Per Nine Innings (I use this stat, rather than Range Factor Per Games so playing nine innings versus playing one inning is waited more equal). 

Let’s take a look at some American League players who could not, and should not, play for a National League team because their poor defensive would hurt the team more than their offense would help. 

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Baseball is one of the most unpredictable sports in the world.   

Before the season starts, predictions are made of who will do this and who will do that.  But, the truth is, that there are so many different things that can and will happen.  Every season, the unexpected happens.

Whether it be in the form of a young player having a monster year.  A mediocre player who suddenly becomes a star.  A veteran having one last kick at the can, or a perennial all-star having an off year.

Either way, these things are hard to predict.  But, I have created a list of players  of whom I believe will fall under one of the four categories mentioned above during the 2011 MLB Regular Season.

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Picture a young kid, no older than 12, hitting hundreds of baseballs into a ragged net, or throwing them at a makeshift backstop. They grow up with huge dreams, living in an impoverished nation of less than 10 million people.

Aside from the location, their dream sounds none to different than the one we all had, right? Bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, two out. The pennant on the line. With one swing, you win a ring, the love of a city, and secure financial stability for your family.

Of course, these two things aren’t really alike at all.

Picture that young kid again. Except this time he’s the target of a scout, or as they’re called locally: a buscon. The kid can run like the wind. He’s tall and strong. His parents, like so many here, are poor. Or, perhaps his parents aren’t around at all.

So, instead of being in school like we were when having these dreams, the kids are at a makeshift academy, ran by buscones. They live here, eat here and learn baseball here all under poor conditions. They’re sometimes honing their baseball skills under the direction of former prospects who went through the same situation.

There are lots of stories to be found about buscones. The large chunks of the signing bonus some take in return for the training. The way some of them help the kids lie about their ages and pump them with drugs: often of the performance enhancing variety.

Like anything, this isn’t always the case. One report from MLB identified Dominican imports committing identity fraud at a clip of 60 percent in 2002, but had that number reduced to 25 percent by 2009. So, progress has been made.

And, there are some success stories. From David Ortiz to Hanley Ramirez. Miguel Tejada to Vladimir Guerrero. Considering the size of the country, some big name players have emerged. Big money is going to players who are unpolished and untested, but have real athletic ability.

Like the steroid problem in the ’90s, when bad PR comes out, MLB moves fast and hard with corrective actions. Sandy Alderson was tasked with cleaning up some of the mess. Drug testing, identity verification, better facilities for training, English lessons and other steps have been taken within the academies ran by MLB clubs. Twenty-eight of the 30 clubs now have an academy in the DR.

There are less and less instances of exploited prospects being trust into American culture with added pressure to perform well at their craft. The kids are being taken care of better now. So, are the risks lower for teams?

Word came out on Monday that the Seattle Mariners have signed 17-year-old shortstop Esteilon Peguero, with a signing bonus of $4.9 million. Only three players in Mariners history have received bigger bonuses: Dustin Ackley, Ichiro Suzuki and Jeff Clement.

I asked Dave Cameron, co-founder of USSMariner.com and editor at FanGraphs.com if Mariners fans should be even a little stoked, regardless of how little we can possible know about Peguero, considering the size of the bonus. “These kids are lottery tickets,” he said, “but when they hit, they can be a big deal.”

It seems there is still quite a bit of risk involved. Peguero could be the next diamond in the rough, or he could be a sunk cost that returns home to poverty after several years of performing below expectations.

The good news is that regardless of the outcome, they’re being better taken care of during the process. They aren’t being told to lie about who they are. They’re living and training better. They’re even being offered an education outside of baseball by some teams. They aren’t just being treated as a future payday anymore.

The system still isn’t perfect. Neither for the teams or the players. There’s still some corruption and millions of dollars might still be sunk on a kid who never makes it to the show. But if they’re not just glorified slaves sold off to the highest bidder anymore, it’s a gamble much easier to live with.

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It’s official: free agent catcher Victor Martinez has signed a 4 year, $50 million deal with the Detroit Tigers, leaving a noticeable void behind the plate for the Boston Red Sox.

Let it be known that Martinez did not want to leave. He wanted to know where he would likely play out the remainder of his career, and where he would likely retire. He wanted to know where his son, Victor Jose, would be going to school. He wanted to know where he and his family would be calling home for the foreseeable future. The Red Sox provided no certain answers to any of these questions, so V-Mart had to leave.

Some people have blamed the Red Sox for letting one of the most important pieces leave. Others have applauded it, saying that most catchers decline rapidly once they hit their 30s, so Martinez won’t be worth the money.

I don’t think letting Victor leave was a good idea, and here’s why; without further ado, I present “10 Reasons Red Sox Will Regret Losing Him.”

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It is not crazy to say that without injuries to almost every major player, Boston would have made the playoffs last season. The team was a lot stronger offensively than people predicted and if Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Jacoby Ellsbury, Victor Martinez, Jason Varitek and Mike Cameron had been healthy all year, they would have made a serious run at the Rays and Yankees in the AL East.

But they weren’t, and they didn’t. Now, with free agency leaving holes in their lineup, and the tantalising prospect of signing Adrian Gonzales next year to be taken into account, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the 2011 lineup.

Gonzalez’ agent has said the slugger will test the free agent waters after next season and it is almost certain the Red Sox will be interested. That does create a rather awkward situation at first or third for 2011, depending on where Kevin Youkilis plays, and whom the Red Sox get as a bridge to Gonzalez.

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I won’t go as far to say that candidates like Ron Gardenhire, Ron Washington, and Joe Maddon aren’t deserving American League Manager of the Year recipients. Far from it.

However, it’s become clear that Boston Red Sox skipper Terry Francona doesn’t get as much respect from the Baseball Writers Association of America as one might think.

Before I get into any analysis, let’s examine the facts:

Francona is currently the third longest tenured manager with any one Major League team (only Ron Gardenhire of the Twins and Tony LaRussa of the Cardinals have been with their respective teams longer). 

Francona has won and managed the most playoff games of any Red Sox skipper, and has the best postseason record since Bill Carrigan went 8-2 from 1913-1916. He and Carrigan are the only Red Sox managers with multiple World Series titles on their resume.

His record of 565-407 (.581), is second only to Joe Cronin (1,071-916; 1935-47) in terms of games managed in Red Sox history.

Francona has led the Red Sox to the playoffs in five of the seven years he’s been with the team, despite having to battle the ever-present New York Yankees, and newly emerging Tampa Bay Rays.

You can legitimately make the case that Terry Francona is the greatest manager in the history of the organization. 

It was under his watch that the Red Sox broke the 86 year curse that had filled Red Sox fans with agony and despair for decades. His World Series championship in 2004 single-handedly changed the way the Boston Red Sox were perceived. No longer were they the lovable losers who couldn’t manage to get over the hump. No longer was a successful season judged by whether or not the Yankees won the World Series that year.

You might think that a manager with a resume like Francona might be a valid candidate for the AL Manager of the Year. Yet, this is not so. In his seven years with the team, Tito has never won the award, nor has he ever finished above fourth place.

In fact, he’s never even received a single, solitary first place vote.

The irony of the situation is that Francona’s history with the award is representative of his style of management. Francona receives little credit for the team’s success, yet often bears the majority of blame for when things do go wrong. This is just how Francona likes to do things.

Terry is the consummate players manager. He has never, ever thrown any of his player’s under the bus publicly, for any reason, large or small. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, the Boston Red Sox clubhouse has and always will be filled with could-do-no-wrongers. 

When the team plays poorly, or when a questionable decision is made, Francona is the first one to sit down with the media and take accountability.

This is just his style. It might not make him the most flashy or popular manager in the eyes of the outside world, but rest assured, he has the ultimate respect of his players, which is what counts the most when it comes down to winning.

Part of the knock on Francona is that he does little to actually bring the team to success. People have sometimes accredited the recent Red Sox success to the teams ability to spend on high caliber talent. People have often took the “team wins despite him” approach.

I say bologna.

If any year has been indicative of Francona’s ability at the helm of a Major League team, it has been 2010.

Many Sox fans had high hopes for this season, yet a rash of injuries put a damper on title aspirations and ultimately kept the Red Sox from a playoff berth.

Boston was without leadoff man and gold glove caliber outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury for virtually the entire season. Three separate rib fractures limited the high flyer to just 18 games.

The Sox were also without former MVP Dustin Pedroia, who missed the last two months with a fractured foot, and all star first baseman Kevin Youkilis, who missed the last two months while recovering from thumb surgery.

Oh, and catchers Victor Martinez and Jason Varitek, outfielders Mike Cameron and Jeremy Hermida, infielder Mike Lowell, and starters Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett, and Clay Buchholz all missed time due to injury during the season.

By the end of the year, about two-thirds of the everyday starting lineup was made up of minor league journeymen, young kids, and fill ins. Names like Daniel Nava, Bill Hall, Ryan Kalish, and Darnell McDonald quickly became household names.

This, coupled with inconsistencies from the starting rotation (John Lackey, Josh Beckett, and Daisuke Matsuzaka never quite put it together), and one of the worst bullpens in baseball (4.24 ERA, 12th in the AL) might lead fans to think that they had a very poor season. 

But they didn’t. They went 89-73 (.549)

To put this in perspective, the Sox won one less regular season game than the AL Champion Texas Rangers, and three less games than the NL Champion San Francisco Giants.

Injuries to key players + inconsistent pitching + a poor bullpen + playing the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays eighteen or so times a year shouldn’t equal 89 wins. But it did. Terry Francona made it happen.

He kept his players motivated, and got more than anyone expected from an injury-riddled team.

However, like every year, Francona went mostly unnoticed when it came time to dole out the regular season awards.

With many deserving candidates, maybe 2010 isn’t quite the season to put the BBWAA on trial. But rest assured, it doesn’t sit well with me that he’s never gotten any serious consideration during any of his seven seasons in Boston.

He most certainly deserves better.

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