Red Sox Memoirs - Spiderman and The Rocket (1996 - )

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

RED SOX RE-SIGNINGS

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

BREAKING NEWS

SOX AND GIANTS COMBINE FOR HUGE TRADE
BONDS TO BOSTON

The Red Sox and Giants combined to make one of the biggest trades in Major League Baseball since Babe Ruth was sent from the Red Sox to the Yankees in 1918. The trade will send Barry Bonds to Boston in exchange for seven players. Top Sox prospects CF Michael Coleman and C Jason Varitek will be going to San Francisco, along with LF Mike Greenwell, 1B Juan Diaz, SP Jin Ho Cho, OF Troy O'Leary, and RP Steve Ontiveros.

The Giants finished 1996 67-95, which put them last in the NL West. They're trading a huge bat, but they're obviously in a rebuilding stage, and they're getting some of the Red Sox best prospects, so this works out to a fair deal for them. The Red Sox finished 98-64, and made the playoffs as the Wild Card. They were bounced out after the first round however, and this trade is seen as a precursor to a Mo Vaughn trade. They were unhappy with Mo's defense at first base, but were unwilling to trade him without first getting a big bat to replace him.

(Since I already wrote all the player ratings and shiz out in the trade approval thread I'm just gonna copy and past them over here instead of posting eight screenshots and making this page way longer than necessary)

LF Barry Bonds (94), 32 years old, 3.65M until Free Agency (1998)
85 contact/96 power/83 speed/99 eye
78 arm/76 range/87 fielding/83 health

for

CF Michael Coleman (67/92), 21 years old
69 contact/64 power/80 speed/73 eye
73 arm/73 range/62 fielding/75 health

C Jason Varitek (73/92), 24 years old
67 con/75 pow/62 spd/74 eye
74 arm/75 hand/72 field/88 health

1B Juan Diaz (71/86), 22 years old
76 con/68 pow/68 spd/77 eye
73 arm/69 rng/68 field/76 health

LF Mike Greenwell (81), 33 years old, 2.15 mil until Free Agency (1997)
88 con/80 pow/73 pow/82 eye
81 arm/72 rng/76 field/77 health

SP Jin Ho Cho (65/88), 21 years old
79 end/71 con/62 pow/63 mov
54 fastball/75 curve
69 def/71 hit/76 health

OF Troy O'Leary (79), 27 years old, 950K until arbitration (1996)
78 con/81 pow/70 spd/74 eye
76 arm/74 rng/90 field/80 health

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

BREAKING NEWS

RED SOX AND JAYS SWAP FIRST BASEMEN
VAUGHN FOR OLERUD

Today the Red Sox completed their sign-and-trade deal of Mo Vaughn. Throughout the season it had been widely speculated that the Mo would not be returning to the Red Sox for the '97 season. They were reportedly unhappy with his defense, and with Nomar locked in at DH that wasn't an option. After trading for Barry Bonds from the Bay Area they were able to send Vaughn packing to Toronto for Toronto's first baseman John Olerud straight up.

One of the Red Sox main goals this off-season was to improve upon the defense, which ranked as one of the worst in 1996. They accomplish that beautifully by ridding themselves of Vaughn's concrete glove and acquiring the much more sure-handed Olerud. Olerud doesn't possess quite the bat Vaughn had, but it's still very solid, and the recent acquistion of Barry Bonds makes up for the loss of Vaughn's bat and then some.

THE NEW BLUE JAY


THE NEW RED SOX

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

BREAKING NEWS

RED SOX NOT DONE DEALING
ACQUIRE DEFENSIVE WHIZ CIRILLO

The Red Sox make their latest in a flurry of deals that has already brought Barry Bonds to Boston, and sent fan favorite Mo Vaughn to Toronto. This deal brings defensive-minded third baseman Jeff Cirillo to Boston from Cincy. In return the Reds acquire C Scott Hatteberg and 1B Morgan Burkhart.

Cirillo's bat isn't anything to write home about, but his glove, however is. He's got one of the best gloves at third base in baseball, and his bat is good enough to warrant a starting job at the Major League level. The Red Sox had major issues getting production of any sort out of third base in 1996, and with Cirillo they should get some, and even if he doesn't hit well he'll keep runs off the board with his glove.

THE NEW REDS





THE NEW RED SOX

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

AMERICAN LEAGUE AWARD WINNERS

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

No big surprise that this award goes to Manny, as he was on a whole different planet this season. He led the league in batting average and home runs, and finished third in RBI's, behind only A-Rod and his teammate Albert Belle. Additionally he finished fifth in OBP, first in SLG%, and first in OPS. He also helped lead the Indians to the best record in baseball and a trip to the ALCS (which they lost against the Yankees). If he hadn't gone down with a broken jaw for four weeks he probably would've won the Triple Crown and broken some records.

CY YOUNG AWARD

Again, not a big surprise. Johnson finished first in strikeouts, ERA, opposing batting average, opposing on-base percentage, opposing slugging percentage, and opposing OPS. He was on a whole different stratosphere, the only one who came remotely close to him was Clemens, who finished second to Johnson in most of the categories mentioned above. He helped his team to a five game ALDS defeat at the hands of the eventual World Series champion Yankees.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

I'm shocked this didn't go to Nomar. The only stats Jeter finished ahead of Nomar in were hits, runs, steals, batting average, and OBP (and even then they were pretty close in all those stats). Jeter's team did win more games, however, and did win the World Series, and I think that probably has a lot to do with why this award went to Jeter over Nomar. (Just for comparison, Nomar's season).

GOLD GLOVES

P - BOS Brad Radke (1)
C - TEX Ivan Rodriguez (5)
1B - DET Tony Clark (1)
2B - NYY Chuck Knoblauch (1)
3B - DET Travis Fryman (1)
SS - BAL Cal Ripken (3)
OF - KCR Johnny Damon (1)
OF - BAL B.J. Surhoff (1)
OF - SEA Ichiro Suzuki (1)

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

NATIONAL LEAGUE AWARD WINNERS

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

Larry had a monster season for the Rockies. He helped them to tie for the second best record in the National League by tying for the NL lead in homers, third in RBI's, second in batting average, and first in OPS. His team made it to the playoffs, but was knocked out in the first round by the Houston Astros, who went on to lose to the Dodgers in the NLCS.

CY YOUNG AWARD

Harnisch managed to win this in spite of his team, the Mets, finishing dead last in the NL East (given it was a very tight race). Pete finished tied for second in the league in wins, second in ERA, and either first or second in all of opposing batting average, opposing on-base percentage, opposing slugging percentage, and opposing OPS.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Berkman wins this award by helping his team to the playoffs in his first season in the bigs, and posting a very respectable line of .301/.405/.451 with 12 homers and 93 RBI's. His team played in the NLCS, but lost to the Dodgers.

GOLD GLOVES

P - ATL Greg Maddux (7)
C - COL Charles Johnson (2)
1B - STL John Mabry (1)
2B - COL Eric Young (1)
3B - NYM Edgardo Alfonzo (1)
SS - PIT Jay Bell (2)
OF - PIT Orlando Merced (1)
OF - SDP Tony Gwynn (6)
OF - FLA Gary Sheffield (1)

[mattynokes]

Quite possibly because Jeter played the field is why he won the award over Nomar. The Yankees winning the World Series shouldn't have anything to do with since the judging should come solely from the regular season.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Quite possibly because Jeter played the field is why he won the award over Nomar. The Yankees winning the World Series shouldn't have anything to do with since the judging should come solely from the regular season.

Yeah, I was gonna mention that too. But I forgot about it as I was typing the other stuff, lol. Still, Nomar got robbed .

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Quite possibly because Jeter played the field is why he won the award over Nomar. The Yankees winning the World Series shouldn't have anything to do with since the judging should come solely from the regular season.

Also, the fact that Jeter played defense shouldn't have put him over the hump against Nomar. If anything the fact that Jeter played defense hurt his value, considering he made 20 errors .

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS
OFFSEASON - MONTH #1

CAL RIPKEN AND CARLOS BAERGA TO LA
Ripken signs at 3.25 million for three years, Baerga gets 2.65 million for four years

Definitely solidifies them up the middle, though Cal is getting old.






GORDON SIGNS ON WITH SEATTLE
5 years, 2 million per season

I'm not sure about giving a FIVE-YEAR deal to a reliever that had an ERA over 5.00 last season. But hey, what do I know?




500 CLUB MEMBER MURRAY TO MIAMI
2 years, 3.1 million per season

Pretty good deal for the reigning NL East champs, in my opinion. If nothing else, he'll puts fans in the seats.




ERIC YOUNG HEADED TO THE MOTOR CITY
4 years, 2 million per season

This really doesn't make any sense to me. A lotta years and a lotta money for a guy who didn't even manage a .700 OPS last season? This is why the Tigers are at the bottom of the barrel in the American League.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS
OFFSEASON - MONTH #2

AVERY TO MILWAUKEE

SP Steve Avery (81), CF Jerome Walton (67) to Milwaukee
SS Jose Valentin (80) to Atlanta

Good deal for both sides. Atlanta is stacked with pitching (Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, and Schmidt all rated 90+) so they didn't really need Avery, and they were badly in need of a starting shortstop. Milwaukee gets a solid starter to help them compete.


DURHAM HEADED SOUTH TO ATLANTA

RF Jermaine Dye, RP John Rocker, SS Jeff Blauser, RP Chad Fox, P Mike Cather, RF Dwight Smith to Chicago
2B Ray Durham, CF Chris Singleton to Atlanta

Originally this trade didn't include Dye going to Chicago, but when I saw the trade I didn't think it was fair so I forced Dye to Chicago to make it more fair for both sides. I'm still a bit iffy on it, but I think it's close enough. This trade probably makes Atlanta the favorite to win the NL East going into next season.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

BREAKING NEWS

SOX TRADE STANLEY
BRING IN GOLD GLOVE CATCHER AUSMUS

The Red Sox made another move, trading catcher Mike Stanley, along with a million dollars, to the Padres in exchange for another catcher, the 27 year old Brad Ausmus. Stanley put up a solid .267/.363/.456/.819 with 21 homers and 75 RBI's last season, but he struggled mightily on defense, allowing almost a steal a game and throwing out only 23% of would-be basestealers. Ausmus wasn't nearly as effective with the bat, barely managing a .700 OPS, but he is much more proficient with the glove.

The Padres needed a guy with a little pop, and Stanley provides that. Not exactly in spades, but he's a solid home run threat, and he's a fantastic on-base guy. We've been aiming to improve our defense all-around this off-season, and Ausmus is such a good defensive catcher there was no way we could pass up the opportunity to acquire him. We also feel the rest of the line-up is good enough to make up for the loss of Stanley's bat.

THE NEW PADRE


THE NEW RED SOX

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

BREAKING NEWS

COMMISSIONER'S OFFICE ANNOUNCES REALIGNMENT
MOVES MADE IN EFFORT TO SUPPORT COMPETITIVE BALANCE

Today the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, Bud Selig, announced that some realignment will be taking place for the upcoming baseball season. He said the moves were made in an effort to maintain the competitive balance baseball currently has, restore any it has lost, and to improve it moving forward. The commissioner also stated that he was concerned about the amount of 100+ win teams this past season (2), and the number of 95+ loss teams this season (5, 3 of which were 100+).

The new divisions will look as follows (last seasons record in parentheses):

AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST

CLEVELAND INDIANS (102-60)
BOSTON RED SOX (98-64)
BALTIMORE ORIOLES (87-75)
TORONTO BLUE JAYS (74-88)
NEW YORK METS (73-89)

AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL

CHICAGO WHITE SOX (84-78)
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS (84-78)
PITTSBURGH PIRATES (76-86)
MILWAUKEE BREWERS (72-90)
MINNESOTA TWINS (60-102)

AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST

SEATTLE MARINERS (98-64)
CALIFORNIA ANGELS (94-68)
COLORADO ROCKIES (88-74)
TEXAS RANGERS (73-89)

NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST

NEW YORK YANKEES (104-58)
FLORIDA MARLINS (84-79)
ATLANTA BRAVES (83-80)
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES (79-83)
MONTREAL EXPOS (76-86)

NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL

HOUSTON ASTROS (91-71)
CHICAGO CUBS (83-79)
CINCINNATI REDS (82-80)
DETROIT TIGERS (67-95)
KANSAS CITY ROYALS (62-100)

NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST

LOS ANGELES DODGERS (88-74)
SAN DIEGO PADRES (83-79)
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (65-97)
OAKLAND ATHLETICS (59-103)

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

PRESEASON PREDICTIONS

With the off-season now over and the regular season ready to start, lets see what the computer is projecting for the league. I've highlighted the teams that would make the playoffs, based on these predictions, in blue.

Well the computer's got us pegged for 100 wins, which is a bit on the high side in my opinion. We added a big bat in Bonds, but we didn't do much (anything) to improve the pitching staff, besides acquiring a more defensive-minded catcher, and that's where our problems tended to lie for most of last season. Though a full season of Brad Radke should help, and the improved defense infield defense should help everyone. We probably lost a little bit on offense, too. We added Bonds, but traded Vaughn, Greenwell, and Stanley, all of whom made up a huge portion of the offense. I also expect Cleveland to win more than 89 games, and I'm sure we'll be neck-and-neck with them all season.

I also don't think the AL Central will be nearly as bad as the computer seems to think, especially without Cleveland to compete with. I highly doubt the only team to finish above .500 will be the White Sox. I think the Cardinals, Pirates, and White Sox will all battle it out pretty this season.

Similar situation in the west. I think Seattle will be as good as ever, especially with A-Rod getting another year under his belt. I think this division is going to be highly competitive with the addition of Colorado, and subtraction of Oakland.

I think the computer is really off with the predictions of Atlanta and New York here. They're both looking really good going into the season, but the likelihood of them both winning 100 games while they're gonna be beating up on each other and playing in one of the better divisions in baseball? Slim to none. I think Atlanta wins the division, as predicted here, but they won't win 108, and this division will be extremely competitive.

I doubt Houston blows this division out of the water like the projection suggests. Cincy and Chicago were both solid last season, and Kansas City and Detroit's win totals will benefit from not competing with the likes of Cleveland and the White Sox.

Now the NL West I'm not sure about. Oakland, San Diego, and San Fran' will all benefit from playing in a less competitive division. Los Angeles does have a very good team, however. One of two things happens here. The Dodgers absolutely kick the sh*t out of the rest of the NL West and blow this division out of the water, or the division is extremely, extremely competitive.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

OPENING DAY ROSTER

It's almost time to start the new 1997 season! But first let's take a look at what the team is gonna be putting on the field for the season

THE LINEUP + BENCH

Well it's different from last year opening day line-up in just about every way. The only hold over from last year's line-up is Nomar. Clark, Hosey, and Frye were on the opening day roster last year, but only Frye started and he's not starting this season. Anyways, this line-up should really be able to put up some runs.

THE OFF-SEASON ACQUISITIONS
BONDS, OLERUD, CIRILLO, AND AUSMUS

Bonds will really help this offense, so long as he stays healthy, and he's probably even a marginal upgrade defensively over Vaughn. He should make up for the losses of Vaughn, Greenwell, and Stanley offensively, and even then some a little bit. Olerud was mainly acquired for his glove, but he's got a solid bat and should be capable of .280/.380/.450 with 20 or so homers and possibly 100+ RBI's. Our other two off-season acquisitions, Cirillo and Ausmus, really aren't anything to get excited about offensively, but they're magicians defensively. The pitchers will be happy to have Cirillo at the hot corner, and to have Ausmus behind the plate calling the game.

THE HOLDOVERS
NOMAR, NIXON, LARKIN, AND WHITE

Nomar and Nixon were both rookies last season, and put together fantastic seasons in spite of that. Nixon put up a .790 OPS, and Nomar's was around .850. And they should both improve upon that even more this season. Nomar should hit .300, as he did his rookie year, and he could hit as many as 30 homers. The addition of Bonds as protection in the line-up should really help his numbers. Nixon should add a bit of power and a bit of contact. I'd say he's good for .270/.350/.480 with 20 homers this season. Our two big mid-season acquisitions from last season. Larkin put up a .318/.369/.504/.873 line with us after coming over from Cincy last season. This season I would expect a little less power and a little more on-base percentage from him. He also stole 17 bases with us, and I think with a full season that number could get as high as 30-35. White showed huge power with us last season, hitting 25 homers and managing a .542 slugging percentage. I doubt he repeats that, but he should still be a solid bat in the #2 hole.

WHERE'S SANCHEZ?

If you find yourself asking the above question in red, the answer is he's in AAA. Originally I had plans to play Sanchez at second base for this season, but I decided that another season at AAA would be beneficial. Boone is also an excellent offensive and defensive player and is the better option for us at this point.

THE BENCH

I think this team has excellent depth. Frye had an excellent season last season as the starting second baseman and should do very well coming off the bench. Phil Clark did well filling in for Nixon against lefties, and he'll be doing so again this season. Oliver was an excellent back-up catcher for us, and the other two probably won't see the field much, but they're nice too I guess .

THE STARTING ROTATION + BULLPEN

THE ROCKET

Roger had a Cy Young caliber year last year, and if not for Randy Johnson's monster season in Seattle he probably would have won the award. It would be reasonable to expect more of the same this season, especially with roughly the same talent on offense, and a vastly improved defense. Some of those balls that were hits down the third base line or through the right side of the infield will turn into outs this season.

BRAD RADKE AND JEFF SUPPAN

We should greatly benefit from a full season of these two guys, especially Radke. These two guys should be happier than anyone about the improved defense as well. They rely heavily on the hitters putting the ball in play, and having those balls in play turning into outs. Last year the team we had wasn't suited well to their pitching styles, and this year we are.

MOYER AND HENRY

Moyer and Henry were a couple of unlikely heroes for us last season. They combined to go 21-16, and were pretty reliable on a start-by-start basis. These two are also guys that rely on the ball being put in play, so the additions of Olerud and Cirillo will help them greatly as well.

THE 'PEN

The 'pen is a concern of mine. It's largely unchanged from last season, but it wasn't very good last season. Garces was solid in the closers role, as in he converted his saves, but every time he took the mound I wanted to look away from the screen because he always put runners on and gave me a scare. The rest of the bullpen had similar problems, too. This could be one area we'll have to address at the trading deadline this season.