Let this be known right away, I am not a Red Sox fan or a Yankee fan. I cannot stand the American League East, or the American League for that matter. So don't think I'm a homer. Since that is now known, I can finally type my story. Theo Epstein has an ok team in front of him, but he really needs to do something else. He needs to address about every part of his roster this offseason. Here's what the Red Sox need to do in order to keep pace with the Yankees next season. Some of these moves probably won't happen, but they can work. ANDRUW JONES: The Braves want to resign. Jones wants to stay a Brave. Does this mean this will happen? No. Could it? Yes. The Braves don't really have enough money to reisgn Jones after this season, and if Jones goes to Beantown, he could make a lot of money. Plus, the Braves could benefit a lot from a trade of Jones. They could trade Jones to Boston for Coco Crisp (to play left field and leadoff), Mike Lowell, Kason Gabbard and Manny Delcarmen. Now, you ask why trade a center fielder for a left fielder? Simple, the Braves need someone out in left that is good. Also, Crisp could be their leadoff man (or Edgar Renteria could take that spot). They just need to bump Marcus Giles from the leadoff spot. He's not comfortable there, and everyone knows it. This could also be beneficial because that will allow the Braves to sign Torii Hunter (if he's a free agent) to play center. Their lineup would get a big boost. Gabbard could be in the rotation for the Braves in the second half of next season (starting at Triple A) and all of 2008. Delcarmen could be out in the bullpen and help out their to bridge the gap to Bob Wickman. Lowell would be good for Chipper Jones. Jones and Lowell are getting up there in age and their play is starting to show it. If you platoon these two, their injuries could be done and both could impact the club. For the Red Sox, they get a great hitting center fielder whose bat has finally come alive in recent years. Jones is also a super defender and is a big boost over Coco Crisp and anyone else that they put out in center. BARRY ZITO: The Red Sox have an ok rotation. They'll have Josh Beckett (inconsistent), Curt Schilling (old and inconsistent), Jon Lester, Jon Papelbon, Matt Clement and Tim Wakefield. All of those pitchers are either young, old, consistent or a combonation of some. Thats not good enough to compete with the Yankees offense (they have a pitching staff other than Wang and Johnson?). They need to add a boost. That's where Zito comes in. Zito can fit in nicely in this rotation as the number one starter. That'll put these pitchers following Zito: Beckett, Schilling, Paplebon and Lester. This lets the pitchers know where they stand in relation to their peers so they can pitch better. If you're told you're the ace of the staff, that can mess with your head if you've never been one before. Schilling can't carry this staff anymore and Beckett is Beckett. Zito is needed to keep this rotation together. This also makes Wakefield and Clement expandable to trade off for some pitching help. They really don't have a closer, unless Keith Foulke or Craig Hansen and take the duty. Look at this bullpen: Foulke, Hansen, Mike Timlin and Julian Taverez. Is that threatening? Not really. They really need to add some people. They can look to teams that have a lot of youth coming up, that way they don't care if they give up some veterens. They could also look to signing Joe Borowski to help build a bridge, maybe even be the closer. Eric Gagne will be available, maybe they could go there. No matter what they do, they need to stock the bullpen along with adding Zito to help improve this offense. GARY SHEFFIELD & MARK LORETTA: Yes folks, Gary Sheffield. Sheffield is getting old, but based on the other night, the guy can still hit when healthy. To help keep him healthy, the Yankees moved Sheffield to first. Well, the Red Sox just traded off Lowell. Remember? The Red Sox really want to move Kevin Youkilis back to third, and thats why they traded Mike Lowell. This allows them to move Youkilis to third and sign Sheffield to play first. Look at that, their defense is almost completed. They just need to resign Loretta. They did have a middle infield combo coming up in Hanley Ramirez and Dustin Pedroia, but they traded Ramirez. This leaves Pedroia, who has and can play second and short. This is big. They can move him to short and keep Loretta to play second and their defense has taken a big leap. Also, their offense has as well. We have one more move, then I'll show you the updated lineup. GEOFF JENKINS: Yes folks, Jenkins. Sure, he's not great anymore, but neither is Trot Nixon. Thaats why I'm letting Nixon go and I'm trading two Single A players to the Milwaukee Brewers for Jenkins. Jenkins, en turn, will play in a platoon with Wily Mo Pena and Manny Ramirez. Pena is good enough to play everyday, but he needs to be kept fresh. With this platoon, he'll play about 100 games (three out of five games he plays) and Jenkins would play about 62 games in right. Then, he'd also be used to give Ramirez a day off. Meaning, he'd play about 20 games in left. He could also be used in the DH spot as well, once in a while. Ok, so here's the new lineup that I would put out there everyday: SS Pedoria RF Pena/Jenkins DH David Ortiz LF Ramirez CF Jones C Jason Varitek 1B Sheffield 3B Youkilis 2B Loretta Thats a pretty good looking lineup right there. Speed and on-base percentage at the top, then comes a very good power supply with the 2-5. Then comes some good hitters with the 6-8. Then, it's your second leadoff man in the ninth spot to get it back to the top of the lineup. Now, that sounds like a very productive offseason. What do you think?
The Cleveland Indians 2006 season is a lost cause. Their only goal now is to not lose to the Royals. So, what the Indians need to do is cut their loses and move on. They have two guys they need to get rid of, and this is the perfect solution for it. They need to make a three way trade between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Why? That's a very simple answer. The Padres have what the Indians want, the Angels have what the Indians want and Indians have what the Padres and Angels want: third baseman. The Padres have been pleading with teams to trade them a third baseman. Well, that's what the Indians have for them, a third baseman. Well, actually, a second baseman. Ronnie Belliard can play third base and second base. He's young, can play third. The Padres are thinking: HIM! YES HIM! The Angels are using Macier Izturis at third base for them because Chone Figgins needs to play center with Darrin Erstad out. The Angles need to cut their loses and find a young guy to play center with Figgins, move Erstad back to first base and find a third baseman until Dallas McPherson gets off the disabled list. So, who better to play third than Aaron Boone? So, here's the deal. The Indians just added Shin-soo Choo from the Mariners. So, there's the left fielder of the future. Andy Marte is the third baseman of the future. Erick Aybar is the second baseman of the future. George Kottaras is the catcher of the future and moving Victor Martinez to first would be a huge benefit. Now, where the heck am I getting Aybar and Kottaras from? The Angels and Padres, respectfully. Now, for the long awaited trade: INDIANS GET: Aybar (Angels), Kottaras (Padres) PADRES GET: Belliard (Indians), Joe Saunders (Angels) ANGELS GET: Boone and Jason Michaels (Indians) The Indians then recall Marte and add Aybar and Kottaras to the roster. This way, the three players get to finish the year with two plus months of Major League experience and the Indians are ready to roll the next year. The Angels get to use Figgins and Michaels in center field, and when Erstad gets off the DL, he can go to first. They also get to use Boone at third until McPherson gets off the DL. The Padres add their third baseman of the future in Belliard and add a fifth starter in Saunders. That also lets them move Chan #### Park to the bullpen and add more depth to their pen with Park. I highly doubt all this happens, but I'm telling you right the Indians, Angels and Padres need to make this deal. Not only for the future, but for the present. The Angels can't get to the playoffs with an injuried Erstad in center and Izturis at third. The Padres need a third baseman for the future.....and for the present. They can't win their divison without Belliard. As for the Indians, who wants to lost to the Royals? KM
I do believe I was right in my last blog. I said the Atlanta Braves made a good move by adding Bob Wickman. I did also say it wouldn't help them much since they don't have the pitching to get the ball to Wickman. Well, guess what? The Braves blew a save today against the Philadelphia Phillies. Do you know what inning it was in? The 8th. I don't mean to brag, but when you're right and people said the Braves had enough pitching to get the ball to Wickman, you have to say something.
Bob Wickman was recently traded to the Atlanta Braves. Wickman is one of the best closers in the game. Lets face it, the Braves need a closer. When you've used five different guys in the closers role and you have 20 blown saves on the year, you need help. Lets face this though, the Braves don't have the guys to setup for Wickman. The Braves have decent pitching. Decent starters and decent relievers. However, they don't have the guys that can hold a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 8th. So, if you don't have the guys to hold on to 1-0 lead, how can they get the game to Wickman? That's right, they can't. The Braves can benefit from this trade, but not much. What they really need to do is go out and add another closer like guy to pitch the 8th and get it to Wickman. Say, like Scott Linebrink? Wilson Betemit has been scouted by the San Diego Padres as an everyday third baseman for them. Of course, they said Linebrink won't be moved, but if the Braves throw in a prospect....you never know. Something could happen. Maybe even Chan #### Park could be traded to Atlanta. He's been used in the closers role before. He could benefit from moving out of the rotation.
Oh my God (sorry for that, but you said it to after you saw that eight player trade). Jim Bowden is a genius! He traded Gary Majewski (who is a very good pitcher and a future closer), Bill Bray (a piece of ####), Royce Clayton (another piece of ####) and two minor leaguers for Felipe Lopez (a great player), Austin Kearns (another great player) and Ryan Wagner (a good pitcher). Why is this huge? Bowden basically added three good players for NOTHING. How good is that? Also, when Bowden was the GM of the Reds, all three of these players were either added to the Major League roster or to the farm system by Bowden. So, he knows how good these players are. Wayne Krivsky was on the other end of this deal. The Reds have a horrific bullpen, so who can blame Krivsky for adding some arms to the pen, but at what price? He traded away three building blocks for the Reds future for a shortstop that is going to retire soon, not to mention he's a piece of #### and a crappy left hander. The only bright spot is Majewski. He and Eddie Guardado are a very nice combo in the 8th and 9th innings. Lets look at this. The Nationals are desperate to get younger and they are basically trading anyone who is over 28 years old. Livan Hernandez is over 28. Instead of recieving the two minor leaguers, they could have traded Tyler Pelland and Camilo Vazquez with Lopez, Kearns and Wagner for Hernandez, Calyton, Bray, Majewski and Jose Vidro. This way, they can use Brandon Phillips at SS, Vidro at 2B and increase their offense. Also, they have better starters. Right now, Bronson Arroyo and Aaron Harang are their only quality starters. You add in Livan Hernandez, that makes three. That also takes the pressure off Joe Mays to be a starter and he can move back to the pen. Gee, maybe that'll help the pen? So, yeah, Bowden is a genius for making this trade. He improves his club and basically trades nothing for it. Krivsky trades everything and adds nothing to hurt his ballclub. Yeah, good job with that one Krivsky.
RECORD GB Chicago White Sox 95-67 -- Cleveland Indians 93-69 2 Minnesota Twins 91-71 4 Detroit Tigers 88-74 7 Kansas City Royals 81-81 14
CHICAGO WHITE SOX The White Sox added Javier Vasquez and Jim Thome. No one knows why, but they work. They had plenty of offense and pitching before...now, they have a surplus. The White Sox will the division hands down.
CLEVELAND INDIANS The Indians added a new and younger setup man, with a more lively arm and one of the best prospects in the game (Mota and Marte) and only traded off one player (basically), Coco Crisp. Their team is great, and probably the best team they've had in a long time, but still can't compete with the White Sox.
MINNESOTA TWINS The Twins didn't do what they wanted to do this offseason, but still have a great team. They'll put up a fight, but they won't get anywhere. I think their reign over the central is offically over now.
DETROIT TIGERS Wow, the Tigers have vastly improved. They have a great team and should go places by 2009. However, it's 2006. They'll end up above .500, but they won't catch up to the top 3 teams until September and will fall 7 games out.
KANSAS CITY ROYALS The Royals did what they could to add depth to their team, but will fall short. They need to develop their minor league system, like the Pittsburgh Pirates did. Kansas City, however, will bounce back to a .500 record.
I'm 18 and I enjoy baseball, as I'll only write about baseball. I'm a business major at Illinois State and I plan on going into baseball for a career. Hopefully one day, beating Theo Epstein's record as the youngest GM ever. My dream job is being the GM of the St. Louis Cardinals.
finally type my story. Theo Epstein has an ok team in front of him, but he really needs to do something else. He needs to address about every part of his roster this offseason. Here's what the Red Sox need to do in order to keep pace with the Yankees next season. Some of these moves probably won't happen, but they can work.
benefit a lot from a trade of Jones. They could trade Jones to Boston for Coco Crisp (to play left field and leadoff), Mike Lowell, Kason Gabbard and Manny Delcarmen. Now, you ask why trade a center fielder for a left fielder? Simple, the Braves need someone out in left that is good. Also, Crisp could be their leadoff man (or Edgar Renteria could take that spot). They just need to bump Marcus Giles from the leadoff spot. He's not comfortable there, and everyone knows it. This could also be beneficial because that will allow the Braves to sign Torii Hunter (if he's a free agent) to play center.
Their lineup would get a big boost. Gabbard could be in the rotation for the Braves in the second half of next season (starting at Triple A) and all of 2008. Delcarmen could be out in the bullpen and help out their to bridge the gap to Bob Wickman. Lowell would be good for Chipper Jones. Jones and Lowell are getting up there in age and their play is starting to show it. If you platoon these two, their injuries could be done and both could impact the club.
either young, old, consistent or a combonation of some. Thats not good enough to compete with the Yankees offense (they have a pitching staff other than Wang and Johnson?). They need to add a boost. That's where Zito comes in. Zito can fit in nicely in this rotation as the number one starter. That'll put these pitchers following Zito: Beckett, Schilling, Paplebon and Lester. This lets the pitchers know where they stand in relation to their peers so they can pitch better. If you're told you're the ace of the staff, that can mess with your head if you've never been one before. Schilling can't carry this staff anymore and Beckett is Beckett. Zito is needed to keep this rotation together. This also makes Wakefield and Clement expandable to trade off for some pitching help. They really don't have a closer, unless Keith Foulke or Craig Hansen and take the duty. Look at this
bullpen: Foulke, Hansen, Mike Timlin and Julian Taverez. Is that threatening? Not really. They really need to add some people. They can look to teams that have a lot of youth coming up, that way they don't care if they give up some veterens. They could also look to signing Joe Borowski to help build a bridge, maybe even be the closer. Eric Gagne will be available, maybe they could go there. No matter what they do, they need to stock the bullpen along with adding Zito to help improve this offense.
first. Well, the Red Sox just traded off Lowell. Remember? The Red Sox really want to move Kevin Youkilis back to third, and thats why they traded Mike Lowell. This allows them to move Youkilis to third and sign Sheffield to play first. Look at that, their defense is almost completed. They just need to resign Loretta. They did have a middle infield combo coming up in Hanley Ramirez and Dustin Pedroia, but they traded Ramirez. This leaves Pedroia, who has and can play second and short. This is big. They can move him to short and keep Loretta to play second and their defense has taken a big leap. Also, their offense has as well. We have one more move, then I'll show you the updated lineup.
now is to not lose to the Royals. So, what the Indians need to do is cut their loses and move on. They have two guys they need to get rid of, and this is the perfect solution for it. They need to make a three way trade between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Why? That's a very simple answer. The Padres have what the Indians want, the Angels have what the Indians want and Indians have what the Padres and Angels want: third baseman.
second base. He's young, can play third. The Padres are thinking: HIM! YES HIM!
third baseman of the future. Erick Aybar is the second baseman of the future. George Kottaras is the catcher of the future and moving Victor Martinez to first would be a huge benefit. Now, where the heck am I getting Aybar and Kottaras from? The Angels and Padres, respectfully. Now, for the long awaited trade:
baseman of the future in Belliard and add a fifth starter in Saunders. That also lets them move Chan 
one of the best closers in the game. Lets face it, the Braves need a closer. When you've used five different guys in the closers role and you have 20 blown saves on the year, you need help. Lets face this though, the Braves don't have the guys to setup for Wickman.
the bottom of the 8th. So, if you don't have the guys to hold on to 1-0 lead, how can they get the game to Wickman? That's right, they can't. The Braves can benefit from this trade, but not much. What they really need to do is go out and add another closer like guy to pitch the 8th and
get it to Wickman. Say, like Scott Linebrink? Wilson Betemit has been scouted by the San Diego Padres as an everyday third baseman for them. Of course, they said Linebrink won't be moved, but if the Braves throw in a prospect....you never know. Something could happen. Maybe even Chan 
Bowden is a genius! He traded Gary Majewski (who is a very good pitcher and a future closer), Bill Bray (a piece of 
pitcher). Why is this huge? Bowden basically added three good players for NOTHING. How good is that? Also, when Bowden was the GM of the Reds, all three of these players were either added to the Major League roster or to the farm system by Bowden. So, he knows how good these players are.
very nice combo in the 8th and 9th innings. Lets look at this. The Nationals are desperate to get younger and they are basically trading anyone who is over 28 years old. Livan Hernandez is over 28. Instead of recieving the two minor leaguers, they could have traded Tyler Pelland and Camilo Vazquez with Lopez, 
Kearns and Wagner for Hernandez, Calyton, Bray, Majewski and Jose Vidro. This way, they can use Brandon Phillips at SS, Vidro at 2B and increase their offense. Also, they have better starters. Right now, Bronson Arroyo and Aaron Harang are their only quality starters. You add in Livan Hernandez, that makes three. That also takes the pressure off Joe Mays to be a starter and he can move back to the pen. Gee, maybe that'll help the pen?
