red sox alert

[3kings]

Does anyone know anything about the players the Pirates got? The usual crap or a couple of descent prospects?

[dalakhani]

Originally Posted by 3kings

Does anyone know anything about the players the Pirates got? The usual crap or a couple of descent prospects?

Hansen was the sox number 1 pick in 2005. Yeah, I would say he is a decent prospect.

The other guy might start right away.

Boston gave up a lot.

[SCUDSBROTHER]

Atleast the Dodgers get to try him out before paying him anything.

[2Hot4TV]

Originally Posted by SCUDSBROTHER

Atleast the Dodgers get to try him out before paying him anything.

That's the only good part. I was really happy to hear the the Red Sox were going to dump Manny(because I cant stand watching him when the Angels play the Red Sox), now I have to see his big old downs syndrom head with the Dodgers. What make the Dodger think that Manny is going to help when he is going to be seeing pitchers he has not faced before in the N.L.

[dalakhani]

Originally Posted by 2Hot4TV

That's the only good part. I was really happy to hear the the Red Sox were going to dump Manny(because I cant stand watching him when the Angels play the Red Sox), now I have to see his big old downs syndrom head with the Dodgers. What make the Dodger think that Manny is going to help when he is going to be seeing pitchers he has not faced before in the N.L.

Manny has destroyed National league pitchers during interleague play

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by dalakhani

Hansen was the sox number 1 pick in 2005. Yeah, I would say he is a decent prospect.

The other guy might start right away.

Boston gave up a lot.

Not really. Boston has better and younger prospects than either of these 2 guys. Moss wasnt going to be more than a 4th OF for them and Hansen is replaceable.

[dalakhani]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Not really. Boston has better and younger prospects than either of these 2 guys. Moss wasnt going to be more than a 4th OF for them and Hansen is replaceable.

i hear you. I am just saying that they gave up:

two prospects

7 million dollars

and one of the most feared hitters in baseball

for


Jason Bay

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by dalakhani

i hear you. I am just saying that they gave up:

two prospects

7 million dollars

and one of the most feared hitters in baseball

for


Jason Bay

He has 20 HR's not 40. He isnt driving in 140 runs a year anymore and his conduct has been deplorable even for him. as a yankee fan I'm sure you rarely watch the pirates but until bay had an off year in 07 he was regarded as good as guys like Matt Holiday. He was rookie of the year in 04 and an All star in 05 and 06. it isnt like they got Dave Roberts for him

[fpsoxfan]

Take it from a Sox fan......this was a divorce that was waiting to happen.
I certainly appreciate everything that Manny has done for the organization.
Let's face it, without him we don't win in '04 or '07. The problem is, Manny was never the type of guy who you could completely embrace. He's always been a headcase and as long as he was putting the numbers up, the Sox fans were always willing to look the other way. He's a desperate man right now. He's getting older and he's not going to get the contract he's banking on for next year. I'll always remember the big hits and the "Manny being Manny" moments, but in the end, he's just another very talented athlete who thinks he's bigger than the game.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by fpsoxfan

Take it from a Sox fan......this was a divorce that was waiting to happen.
I certainly appreciate everything that Manny has done for the organization.
Let's face it, without him we don't win in '04 or '07. The problem is, Manny was never the type of guy who you could completely embrace. He's always been a headcase and as long as he was putting the numbers up, the Sox fans were always willing to look the other way. He's a desperate man right now. He's getting older and he's not going to get the contract he's banking on for next year. I'll always remember the big hits and the "Manny being Manny" moments, but in the end, he's just another very talented athlete who thinks he's bigger than the game.

well said

[dalakhani]

Originally Posted by fpsoxfan

Take it from a Sox fan......this was a divorce that was waiting to happen.
I certainly appreciate everything that Manny has done for the organization.
Let's face it, without him we don't win in '04 or '07. The problem is, Manny was never the type of guy who you could completely embrace. He's always been a headcase and as long as he was putting the numbers up, the Sox fans were always willing to look the other way. He's a desperate man right now. He's getting older and he's not going to get the contract he's banking on for next year. I'll always remember the big hits and the "Manny being Manny" moments, but in the end, he's just another very talented athlete who thinks he's bigger than the game.

But his numbers arent really off from his career averages. He is on pace to put up BETTER numbers than last year. He will hit 30 something homers and hit low 100's RBI and bat 300. Thats what he does.

More importantly, for his career, he always hits better the second half of the season. More importantly than that...he kills the yanks.

From many accounts, most of his teammates have said that they enjoy playing with him...except Youkilis.

[docicu3]

Originally Posted by fpsoxfan

Take it from a Sox fan......this was a divorce that was waiting to happen.
I certainly appreciate everything that Manny has done for the organization.
Let's face it, without him we don't win in '04 or '07. The problem is, Manny was never the type of guy who you could completely embrace. He's always been a headcase and as long as he was putting the numbers up, the Sox fans were always willing to look the other way. He's a desperate man right now. He's getting older and he's not going to get the contract he's banking on for next year. I'll always remember the big hits and the "Manny being Manny" moments, but in the end, he's just another very talented athlete who thinks he's bigger than the game.

I couldn't agree more ......The part of this that I am most curious about is how the rastaman will do without Ortiz in front of him and the guys that hit behind him all these years.

The crazy stint with the assault of the 60 year traveling secretary prior to the all star game was the beginning of the end for the front office and when it became clear Manny was going to treat the team and fans to 5.4 second 90 foot "sprints" and refusals to play when the club went to war, the Sox would have given him away for less. I have no idea how good this Pirate is but the outlaw just left town IMO. Say hello to the rest of former Sox Manny, the national league is entirely different and does not play to your skill set. A bigger left field in LA, no wall to allow you to cheat shallow, and a different offensive philosophy will expose you for the limited player and declining hitter you have become. The Sox are playing better already and don't play until Friday..

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by 3kings

Does anyone know anything about the players the Pirates got? The usual crap or a couple of descent prospects?

La Roche is a top prospect who is ready now (14th best prospect in baseball coming into the year and most of the guys ahead of him are already major league regulars)
Morris was a number 1 pick in the 2006 draft, had Tommy John surgery and missed last year. Had a good comeback year at class A and is a good prospect but is a few years away.
Moss is a ready for majors player who may develop into a .280 20 HR 95 Rbi guy. He turns 25 in a month.
Hansen is a number 1 pick as a RP who hasnt panned out yet but has great stuff.

They got 3 guys who should be playing in the majors soon and one potentially good pitcher down the road. For one guy who was probably only going to be there one more year anyway they got 2 starters at 3b and LF and a potential future closer. Not bad

[3kings]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

La Roche is a top prospect who is ready now (14th best prospect in baseball coming into the year and most of the guys ahead of him are already major league regulars)
Morris was a number 1 pick in the 2006 draft, had Tommy John surgery and missed last year. Had a good comeback year at class A and is a good prospect but is a few years away.
Moss is a ready for majors player who may develop into a .280 20 HR 95 Rbi guy. He turns 25 in a month.
Hansen is a number 1 pick as a RP who hasnt panned out yet but has great stuff.

They got 3 guys who should be playing in the majors soon and one potentially good pitcher down the road. For one guy who was probably only going to be there one more year anyway they got 2 starters at 3b and LF and a potential future closer. Not bad

Thanks Chuck I appreciate the input. The local media ( because of advertising $$$) doesn't always paint a clear picture.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by 3kings

Thanks Chuck I appreciate the input. The local media ( because of advertising $$$) doesn't always paint a clear picture.

The Pirates seemingly did pretty good though I dont underestimate thier ability to srew them up

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by 3kings

Thanks Chuck I appreciate the input. The local media ( because of advertising $$$) doesn't always paint a clear picture.

from baseball prospectus

PITTSBURGH PIRATES

"Traded OF-R Jason Bay to the Red Sox; acquired 3B-R Andy LaRoche and RHP Bryan Morris from the Dodgers; acquired RHP Craig Hansen and 1B/OF-L Brandon Moss from the Red Sox; assigned Morris to Low-A Hickory; optioned MI-R Brian Bixler to Indianapolis (Triple-A); designated CF-L Chris Duffy and RHP Franquelis Osoria for assignment. [7/31]


If the trade with the Yankees was a tentative sort of thing involving the exchange of veteran mediocrities for an off-blue, chambray sort of blue-chipper and three nondescript upper-level hurlers, and the sort of thing that might have caused alarm, Pirates fans can take solace in this deal. This time, Neal Huntington and company got two much better prospects, better than anything they got from the Yankees, not to mention a pair of useful-enough filler types for an organization that needs bodies in every shape and size. While it cost them Bay, it brought them their new best player on the team, because LaRoche will be an All-Star-caliber hitter at third base now that he's free of a Dodgers organization that wasn't treating him at all fairly. Morris is a nifty add as well, a 2006 first-rounder coming back from a 2007 Tommy John surgery who's done good work with the Loons in Low-A, flashing low- to mid-90s heat, a new sinker, an improved change, and a nasty curve. He's been on a workload almost as monitored and structured as Clayton Kershaw's in his comeback, averaging less than five innings per start, but with 72 strikeouts and 31 walks in 81 2/3 IP and a GB/FB ratio of 1.7, he's flashing a live arm, and as a 21-year-old stripling, that's something to take an interest in.

The ballast from the Red Sox doesn't hurt, either. Hansen throws hard and heavy, and maybe an escape from the franchise that promoted him too aggressively will get the former St. John's closer his best shot at carving out a career for himself. Moss should make a nice enough fourth outfielder type on a team that should now be promoting Andrew McCutchen to take over in center, providing the pitching staff with the added benefit of getting a quality center fielder in place while shunting Nate McLouth to a corner and the defensive chores he's better equipped to deal with.

Again, to recap, if getting Tabata was a matter of taking a chance, then getting LaRoche is a case of swapping out an expensive, aging outfielder for a quality everyday player just at the start of his big-league career at a position of organizational need. Morris may well be the second-best prospect he acquired between the two deals, they added some elements of cost control by shedding Bay's contract, and perhaps more fundamentally they addressed their defensive inadequacies by bringing in a better third baseman and making room for a better center fielder (once McCutchen's up). That's the sort of broad-stroke improvements you have to tip your cap to when they're achieved. Huntington warned people off about his not making deals just to make them over the winter—having made this trade, it was clearly worth the wait."

[Mortimer]

Manny being Manny.



Watch him turn triples into singles...as a hitter---not an outfielder.



Watch him turn singles into triples...as an outfielder---not a hitter.



Watch him whizz.....in the outfield....not the clubhouse.



Watch him look like a vacuum cleaner...in the clubhouse---not the outfield.














e

[dalakhani]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/column...son&id=3513865

From Espn:


The eviction of Ramirez is a story with so many levels that it's impossible to sum them all up with a one-word label such as "winner" or "loser." We recognize that. There's also a value to subtracting a selfish, disruptive, divisive knucklehead like Manny from an otherwise-harmonious, purposeful clubhouse. We recognize that, too.

And Jason Bay is a heck of a player, one who can stick around and patrol left field in Fenway next year, too. We recognize all of that. Honestly, if the Red Sox went out now and won another World Series, it wouldn't shock us a bit.

[+] EnlargeOtto Greule Jr/Getty Images

The Dodgers, second-to-last in the NL in homers, could use Ramirez's bat.
But they still find themselves dumped into the Losers column of this opus because this trade marks the end of a special era in the life of their team. They have a different aura now than they had a week ago. And the reaction of folks all over their division to Manny's unceremonious exit -- an exit subsidized with $7 million of those hard-earned Red Sox dollars, we should note -- told us all we needed to know:

It felt like Mardi Gras for the rest of the AL East.

"Don't get me wrong," said an executive of one AL East club. "The Red Sox do a great job. They utilize every advantage they have, and they use all their resources as well as anyone. But sometimes, I don't think even they realized what they had in Manny. When Manny comes up, you feel like you have to pass out ex-lax to your whole team because everybody gets a sick feeling in their stomach -- especially when he had [David] Ortiz there in the middle with him.

"Look, Jason Bay is a great player. But he's not Manny. You're talking about one of the greatest right-handed hitters in the history of the game. I've seen so many situations where you'd think you've got a game, and then all of a sudden that guy came up and everything changed. I've seen what he does to pitchers. I've seen how he changes games. They'll miss that. That's all I can say."

[Gander]

As a Sox fan, we cant win with him so how much worse can it be w/o him? I mean whats our record been since the all star game? Terrible. We've lost 8 of 9, 6 in a row to the Angels. Too many to the Yankees.
At least he goes to a team I can root for.

I'm as sick of this story as I am of the Brett Favre thing. Both need to go away.

[SCUDSBROTHER]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

La Roche is a top prospect

You're on dope or cough syrup. WTF you think we got Blake for? This guy couldn't hit. That's why. Go get gone. ROACH VAMOOSE. Let him hit .220 over there. Let him hit .300 there. I don't care, cuz he was never gunna hit for L.A.