Pedroia may move to shortstop

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buffs44444

#41

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12/02/09 10:55 AM

raftsox wrote:
I've been trying to find a reason that Beltre's offense would improve playing half his games in Fenway, but I just can't. The only stretch I can find that gives me hope is is very low career BABIP playing in pitcher friendly home stadiums; but his BABIP and LD rate have almost no correlation throughout his career. A higher BABIP might result in a 0.02 improvement in batting average, but his IsoD has always been poor. I'm thinking that offensively he'd represent little improvement over Lowell.
Defensively though he'd be a boon to a range-limited, newly converted SS. But, were that the case then jettisoning Lowell would mean that we have roughly $15M devoted to left side o' the infield, infielders that no longer play for us. It's just money, but that's the equivalent of a very good 3B or SS.

The reports on Beltre are that his swing is tailored for Fenway. A quick glance at his spray chart backs that up, which is why I believe most people are pushing a Beltre acquisition.

Madness is like gravity....all you need is a little push.

terriblehondo

#42

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12/02/09 11:15 AM

Yes Beltre would be a great pick up if we can get him to use the SUPPLEMENTS he used in 2004

Yirmiyahu

#43

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12/02/09 11:17 AM

raftsox wrote:
I've been trying to find a reason that Beltre's offense would improve playing half his games in Fenway, but I just can't.

Here's one. 3-year road splits for various third basemen:

	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Adrian Beltre	0.287	0.331	0.488	0.819
Scott Rolen	0.298	0.363	0.434	0.797
Russell Branyan	0.225	0.317	0.455	0.772
Mike Lowell	0.280	0.337	0.430	0.767
Chone Figgins	0.281	0.366	0.363	0.729

Of course, Rolen isn't available right now, and Branyan isn't a full-time third baseman.

Last Edited By: Yirmiyahu 12/02/09 11:22 AM. Edited 1 time.

jdb

#44

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12/02/09 11:28 AM

To top it off in 2009 he had some nagging injuries and had a much lower road OPS of .717 bc of it. In 2008 and 2007 his OPS was .862 and .858. With his D he is a huge upgrade and they're not many FA 3B in the next few years besides him and Figgens.

flap1919

#45

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12/02/09 8:24 PM

I would definitely like Beltre to sign here if the Sox also signed Holliday. Holliday/Beltre/Polanco just seems like a big improvement in the the lineup and IF/OF over Bay/Lowell/AGon. I think the Sox have to suck it up and spend the money this year on the offense/defense. As much as I'd rather keep Pedroia at 2B, I was never that in to Scutaro to begin with. There are at least 3 2B that seem like decent options that won't cost you a pick or a 3 year commitment. Pedroia can hold SS down until Iglesias is ready for the 9 hole in Boston.

I don't think it's an unrealistic lineup

Ellsbury
Pedroia
V-Mart
Youk
Holliday (upgrade for Bay)
Ortiz
Beltre (upgrade over Lowell)
Drew
Polanco (upgrade from Gonzalez)

That's a pretty solid lineup from top to bottom and you could drop Ellsbury or Ortiz in the lineup and not skip a beat. On days when Martinez sits you just bump everyone up a spot and deal with Tek's bat.

lovethesocks

#46

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12/02/09 9:30 PM

Even with moving Dustin to short stop and a decent second basemen, probably Polanco I still feel the Red Sox need to sign either Bay or Holliday, obviously, and make a big splash for preferably Gonzalez
That would leave us with
CF Ellsbury
SS Pedroia
1B Gonzalez
C Martinez
3B Youkilis
LF Bay/Holliday
Dh Ortiz
RF Drew
2B Polanco
Now that looks like a line-up and a DEFENSE that could win the world series.

Last Edited By: lovethesocks 12/02/09 9:32 PM. Edited 1 time.

qutennis5

#47

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12/02/09 9:39 PM

buffs44444 wrote:

raftsox wrote:
I've been trying to find a reason that Beltre's offense would improve playing half his games in Fenway, but I just can't. The only stretch I can find that gives me hope is is very low career BABIP playing in pitcher friendly home stadiums; but his BABIP and LD rate have almost no correlation throughout his career. A higher BABIP might result in a 0.02 improvement in batting average, but his IsoD has always been poor. I'm thinking that offensively he'd represent little improvement over Lowell.
Defensively though he'd be a boon to a range-limited, newly converted SS. But, were that the case then jettisoning Lowell would mean that we have roughly $15M devoted to left side o' the infield, infielders that no longer play for us. It's just money, but that's the equivalent of a very good 3B or SS.
The reports on Beltre are that his swing is tailored for Fenway. A quick glance at his spray chart backs that up, which is why I believe most people are pushing a Beltre acquisition.

Not that i disagree with the notion that Beltre could do well in Fenway, but i think of the reasons this team struggles so much on the road is because they may too often target players with "good swings for Fenway" rather than just "good swings", so the moment they step out of Boston their swings are exposed.

jdb

#48

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12/02/09 10:02 PM

Qutennis look at Yirmiyahu's post a few posts back. Beltre has a superior road OPS to guys like Lowell and Figgens. Thats on top of having a swing made for Fenway and being one of the top Defensive 3B in the game. To me he would be a huge signing bc we dont have many options out there for 3B in FA the next few seasons. I think Youk would be fine for a year or so but towards the end of his contract I would prefer him on 1B.

Pantera

#49

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12/02/09 11:41 PM

I remember that when Pedroia came up, he really didn't look like a SS. He just didn't have the arm to complete tough plays and he didn't seem particularly quick. He's been in the majors a long time now, and likely knows the hitters better so maybe he can position himself out of problems.

I still think that if he can show he's healthy, Jed Lowrie is the SS by summertime. In the meantime they could plug in with Pedroia and an Adam Everett, or sign a guy like Mark Derosa to be a super utility guy.

Harold Reynolds had an excellent piece on the potential move on MLBTV. Reynolds is at his best when he has a glove on and is explaining infield play