Union4Sox wrote:

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Yirmiyahu wrote:

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Union4Sox wrote:

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Ellsbury has likely lost favor with the Sox brass.

We all know the FO views his defense as sub-par.

On what basis do you say this? I haven't heard anything of the sort, but I could have just missed it. I would be totally in favor of including Ellsbury in a trade for Adrian Gonzalez or Hanley Ramirez or Joey Votto, etc. But it would have nothing to do with disliking Ellsbury.

Sorry, that was too strong of a statement. Maybe "lost favor" wasn't the correct phrase. I just think they grade him out as an expendable piece of the overall puzzle.

On what basis do you say this? I think Theo LOVES Jacoby. I don't think Theo is looking at one year of Ellsbury's UZR and drawing large conclusions. I don't think Theo is looking at UZR. Theo has said publicly that he thinks Jacoby can be a good center fielder and that he believes he will continue to improve his hitting. This is what I believe because it is all I have to evaluate what Theo thinks about Jacoby (well, that and reason -- Jacoby is a good player).

In short, I think you are wrong.

This is not to say they won't trade him for the right price, but I absolutely think they value him highly.

edit: Softened my language. There's just too much baseless speculation going on.

Union4Sox wrote:

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I respect your view. But, seeing as both of our views are based purely on speculation, I don't think there is merit (but perhaps a bit of irony) in you saying I am "very wrong". For the most part, I take Theo's comments with a grain of salt. He keeps his true opinions close to the vest. I didn't mean to insinuate that the Sox have a low value of him, I just meant to say that he quite possibly is expendable.

I love Ellsbury, he has been someone I have followed since he was drafted. If I am in fact very wrong, I will admit it. I'm just speculating that when Theo looks at his team and views the opportunity cost of potential transactions, I don't see Ellsbury as the one who gets in the way of a deal being completed.

I don't think there is any irony, you picked up on exactly what I meant to say. I carefully stated that my speculation is that your speculation is wrong. I wasn't putting my opinion above yours. What bothered me is that you seemed to take your speculation as fact.

I didn't mean to insinuate that the Sox have a low value of him, I just meant to say that he quite possibly is expendable.

That's now what you said. You said:

We all know the FO views his defense as sub-par.

Followed by:

I just think they grade him out as an expendable piece of the overall puzzle.

This very clearly means, "they think his level of play is such that he is expendable."

I don't take Theo's public comments with a grain of salt. Personally, I cannot remember a time when he did not stand by them or when his actions later contradicted his public words. I know that you are not alone in your opinion. Many people seem to think Theo tries to game the system by saying what he wants people to believe. I don't believe this is true at all. I think Theo says what he says to try and reassure the fanbase. He wants you to believe that JD Drew is good so you stop booing him. He wants you to believe that Jacoby has a good chance of becoming an excellent player one day so that you have patience with him when he struggles.

I don't see Ellsbury as the one who gets in the way of a deal being completed.

I don't think he's untouchable by any means, but that player needs to be pretty good.