Sox sign Lugo

[scout]

Wow, the new evil empire.

 

[jaychamp]

This makes absolutely no sense to me. Nomar proved to be the weak link because of all the errors. Then we go right back to it with Lugo. If he was playing 2nd, great!! But he won't be, and we're going to have to endure Nomar like fielding again. Plus his offense isn't as good as Nomars. His speed is nice, but his OBP sucks.

The Sox really have rose colored glasses for this guy.

Oh well, it's not my money, and I hope it works out obviously.

 

[Boston Boxer]

Nomar was the weak link because he was injury prone. why are we the new evil empire???? because we filled two needs with players RF and SS, i don't get it.

 

[patriotspride]

since 2004 its been a revolving door at shortstop .we ended up with lugo when we could have signed o cab eckstien alex gonzalez who isnt as good a hitter as lugo but is a unbelievable defensive shortstop.we could have also gave edgar r another chance he rebounded nicely in atlanta after getting traded.out of all those shortstops we ended up with the worst one

 

[TomBrady'sGoat]

Nomar lacked range and made errors. Lugo has range. Big difference.

Shortstops get a lot of balls hit to them and therefore make a lot of errors. Lugo makes a few more than average but gets to more balls than average. guys like Jeter will make fewer errors because they're fielding fewer balls.

As for Gonzalez, he had a career year defensively (as measured by errors alone). There is no way he duplicates it. Adrian Beltre is just as likely to repeat his offensive 2004 season as Gonzalez only committing 7 errors again.

A good lineup needs production 1-9. Lugo gets them one step closer to that.

And I don't get the revolving door comment by the last poster. So if you can't find something you like you should just stop looking? The Sox weren't happy with Nomar, Cabrera (preferred Rent), Renteria, and then Gonzalez. So rather than keep looking they should just say screw it and live with one of them? Thank God Duquette didn't take this approach to centerfield before he signed Damon in '02. He should have just stuck with one of Darren Lewis, Lee Tinsley, Michael Coleman, etc.

 

[patriotspride]

Nomar lacked range and made errors. Lugo has range. Big difference.

Shortstops get a lot of balls hit to them and therefore make a lot of errors. Lugo makes a few more than average but gets to more balls than average. guys like Jeter will make fewer errors because they're fielding fewer balls.

As for Gonzalez, he had a career year defensively (as measured by errors alone). There is no way he duplicates it. Adrian Beltre is just as likely to repeat his offensive 2004 season as Gonzalez only committing 7 errors again.

A good lineup needs production 1-9. Lugo gets them one step closer to that.

And I don't get the revolving door comment by the last poster. So if you can't find something you like you should just stop looking? The Sox weren't happy with Nomar, Cabrera (preferred Rent), Renteria, and then Gonzalez. So rather than keep looking they should just say screw it and live with one of them? Thank God Duquette didn't take this approach to centerfield before he signed Damon in '02. He should have just stuck with one of Darren Lewis, Lee Tinsley, Michael Coleman, etc.

you missed the whole point lol they should have a shortstop already and they could have had one better than lugo .the front office screwed up .nobody said that they shouldnt have filled the whole they had at shortstop .and im sorry how do you know gonzo wouldnt have a year similar to last year .you dont have any idea .gonzo is much better than lugo defensivly even if his errors increase from last year .

 

[scout]

Nomar was the weak link because he was injury prone. why are we the new evil empire???? because we filled two needs with players RF and SS, i don't get it.

How are we the new evil empire? Due to signing anyone at at any cost. The Red Sox just spent $51 million for the opportunity to sign a player which will be at the "ace" rate. They signed J.D Drew for five years at $70 million. Lugo signs for four years, $36 million. They still are shopping for a closer, who they will spend top money. The payroll is not Yankee payroll, but that gap is not nearly as wide. In fact, it would be very foolish to call the Yankees the evil empire as it relates to spending money. Football is the only major league sport which has a fair salary cap and thus, teams from any market can compete for a championship. Unless the Yankees make some huge free agent splashes before the season starts, then the Sox are indeed the new evil empire (provided they sign the gun from the rising sun).

 

[TomBrady'sGoat]

How are we the new evil empire? Due to signing anyone at at any cost. The Red Sox just spent $51 million for the opportunity to sign a player which will be at the "ace" rate. They signed J.D Drew for five years at $70 million. Lugo signs for four years, $36 million. They still are shopping for a closer, who they will spend top money. The payroll is not Yankee payroll, but that gap is not nearly as wide. In fact, it would be very foolish to call the Yankees the evil empire as it relates to spending money. Football is the only major league sport which has a fair salary cap and thus, teams from any market can compete for a championship. Unless the Yankees make some huge free agent splashes before the season starts, then the Sox are indeed the new evil empire (provided they sign the gun from the rising sun).

I didn't realize the sox spending big on free agents is suddenly new. just this decade they've signed Manny, Damon, Foulke, Renteria, and Clement to big FA deals. They've signed Schilling, Beckett, Ortiz, and Varitek to big extensions. They tried to give Nomar 4/$60M and later 4/48. They picked up two $17.5M options on Pedro. All this time they've been able to afford $2-6M filler guys to augment the big stars. And I've probably forgotten some.

The only difference has been that the Sox have used $2-6M filler guys like Belhorn, Millar, Mueller, Walker, Crisp, etc. while the Yankees believe in/can afford a big money star at every position.

In the last few years the Yankees have been backing off of this approach a little with guys like Cano and Melky, both of whom required some patience. This year the Sox have lessened the gap by signing three big free agents (assuming Matsuzaka signs).

There is still a big difference though. The Yankees will still be paying 7 position players (including DH) $12M+ this year. The sox will have 3, with varitek making 10, Lowell making 8 (and he shouldn't really count because he was a poison pill, the sox didn't sign him) and Lugo 9. The guys around 9 are part of the difference though, the Yankees either pay a ton (13M+) or have a guy on a rookie deal. The sox have a spectrum.

So let's not go overboard and pretend that the gap was small enough to be closed in one off-season.

(Don't get me wrong, I understand the sox have an unfair advantage over 28 teams. Let's not pretend though that the Yankees don't have an unfair advantage over 29 teams. Sadly baseball appears to have lost its chance at a salary cap and one does not seem to be in the future.)

 

[patriotspride]

i would be willing to bet the yankees will still have a payroll of 200 mill or more and they dont have to sign anybody .the redsox will still be around 130 mill by the start of spring training .

 

[jaychamp]

Nomar was the weak link because he was injury prone.

Umm, ok, then explain why they would sign Drew? Nomar was an iron man compared to him.

One way or another, the Sox haven't learned their lesson.

 

[patriotspride]

Umm, ok, then explain why they would sign Drew? Nomar was an iron man compared to him.

One way or another, the Sox haven't learned their lesson.

im with you .im done defending the redsox front office

 

[Foley]

Umm, ok, then explain why they would sign Drew? Nomar was an iron man compared to him.

One way or another, the Sox haven't learned their lesson.

Drew has played in 363 games the past three seasons, Nomar has played in 265. I'm no fan of Drew and his injury history is part of the reason, but hes been much healthier than Nomar as of late.

 

[TomBrady'sGoat]

Injuries is another one of those things where recent statistics are more worthwhile than career. In the last 3 years drew has had one injury and that was a HBP on the wrist which would sideline anyone.

maybe he's just blowing hot air but Drew admits to not taking care of his body when he was younger, and says that he is healthier and less injury-prone now. I guess we have 5 years to find out the truth.

 

[Foley]

I know he hasnt spend much time on the DL recently, but hes still had a lot of little hamstring, neck or other nagging injuries that casued him to miss some time. None of them managed to force him on the DL like they did when he was in St Louis, but its still somewhat of a concern.

 

[jaychamp]

Well I hope I'm wrong and he never gets hurt. I'd rather the Sox win and you guys say "I told you so", than have them lose.

Anyway, if Manny isn't traded, it wouldn't be a huge loss if he goes down if WMP is his replacement.

WTH are they going to do with 4 OF's though? Coco and WMP split time? I can't imagine Drew will split time with anyone with that salary. Have a feeling Coco or WMP will be gone

 

[sdaniels7114]

You can't compare how the Sox handled Nomar to how they're handling JD. Nomar should have been a Sox (Sock?) for life. He was anointed by god(Teddy Ballgame) for heaven's sake! I can't tell who did what; but the relationship turned to schit and he had to go. JD will always be a hired gun. Nomar was inside that inner circle that very few players reach. Its like comparing apples to oranges.

 

[TomBrady'sGoat]

You can't compare how the Sox handled Nomar to how they're handling JD. Nomar should have been a Sox (Sock?) for life. He was anointed by god(Teddy Ballgame) for heaven's sake! I can't tell who did what; but the relationship turned to schit and he had to go. JD will always be a hired gun. Nomar was inside that inner circle that very few players reach. Its like comparing apples to oranges.

To be fair Nomar turned down a $60M/4 yr contract. Then when the market took a downturn and Tejada was only being offered $12M a year Nomar was offended by a $48M/4 yr offer.

If he agrees to one of those deals he would have been untradable.

 

[jaychamp]

Whoops, we turned this Lugo thread into a JD thread :singing: :rocker: :singing:

 

[IcyPatriot]

bump......