With Spring Training just starting, I thought I would take the time to write about how I would put together a baseball team. For those of you who don't know, I'm a huge Red Sox fan so most of this will be centered around them.
First things first lets talk about the makeup of lineup, there are many different thoughts about this, but I will give you mine. I like the first 2 spots in the lineup to be guys that have speed and get on base frequently. They need to get on base, so when the 3 to 5 sports in the lineup come up, they have runs they can drive in. These hitters should have good power and RBI numbers, think of guys like Albert Pujols, Price Fielder, Adrian Gonzalez, etc. The 6 through 8 spots can be a mixture of both, but when it comes to the 9th spot in the lineup, I really like to have another batter with speed and a good on base percentage just like the top 2 spots in the lineup. This helps turn the lineup back around and helps have more guys on base when the big hitters come up again in the lineup. Ideally you would like to alternate back and forth with left and right handed batters, but this isn't always necessary. You just don't ever want more than 2 same handed batters in a row. Some people worry that a lineup is too left-handed or too right-handed, but if you have hitters that hit both lefty and righty pitching, that doesn't matter.
So when it comes time to assemble a team, the general thought is you want 12 pitchers (5 starters and 7 relievers) and 13 hitters. This is the standard but if I was running a National League team, no DH, I would like maybe 14 hitters and 11 pitchers. If it was an American League team, with a DH, I would want an extra pitcher giving me 12 hitters and 13 pitchers. Now this all matters on what talent you have on a team, the Red Sox would like to carry a third catcher, which rarely happens, so they would probably end up carrying only 11 pitchers, so they can use the extra hitter. Man, I hope that actually made sense, let me know if you want me to explain this further.
People often think they know more than the person who makes the decision and this couldn't be more true when it comes to baseball general managers. This is especially true in Boston, where if you turn on talk radio you can pretty much hear people calling in to complain how the team is run year round. I'll try to make sense of some of the moves the Red Sox made this last offseason.
1. Let Jonathan Papelbon leave in free agency. I'm sure the Sox would have liked to have him back, but they didn't want to give him the ridiculous amount of money the Phillies did. They signed him for 50 million over 4 years which is crazy to give to a reliever. Even though he is a really good closer, he was a little crazy and the way last year finished, the Sox could do with less of that.
2. Traded for Andrew Bailey. They gave away Josh Reddick, a player who probably had no future in Boston with the prospects behind him and got a very solid closer in return. If Bailey can stay healthy, which is a big question mark, he can be one of the better closers in the game. If that wasn't good enough they also got Ryan Sweeney in the trade, who is regarded as a good outfielder who would probably play fit well in Boston. They also signed Cody Ross, who will probably platoon (share the same position in the lineup) with Sweeney.
3. Traded away both of their shortstops from last season, Jed Lowrie and Marco Scutaro. This was the big one in Boston, as fans are worried they have no shortstop. Before people go jump of the Tobin Bridge, it's a saying in Boston, I believe they did this to create room for star prospect Jose Iglesias to make the opening day roster. His offense still needs work but his defense is good enough to justify this move. They didn't get much in the Scutaro trade, but they did give up an aging shortstop who was overpayed and will give them more money to spend next offseason when there will be some good pitchers on the market next year. In the Lowrie traded, they acquired a really good young pitcher in Mark Melancon, that should really strengthen the end of the bullpen this season.
Finally I want to propose a trade, just to show you what I think goes into making a trade. This trade would be with the Tampa Bay Rays, a team the Sox don't usually trade with, but I believe this trade would benefit both teams. The Red Sox would acquire Wade Davis, a good starting pitcher but the 6th man in a 5 man rotation, which means they wouldn't mind moving him if they got a good offer and here's that offer. The first guy in the trade is Luis Exposito, a good young catcher, who is probably MLB ready, but really has no fit in Boston. The other guy would be Lars Anderson, a good young first baseman who is also ready to play in the majors, but with Adrian Gonzalez locked up in a long term deal, he also has no place in Boston. These 2 players would give the Rays players they could use, because while they have some of the best pitching in the game, they are really lacking when it comes to their offense.
Thanks for reading!!
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