Tag: Jason Bay (Page 3 of 4)

Are the Red Sox targeting Holliday over Bay?

According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the Red Sox may be more interested in outfielder Matt Holliday than Jason Bay.

Under baseball’s warped draft-pick compensation system, a high-revenue team that exchanges one Type A free agent for another actually nets an extra pick — a supplemental choice between the first and second rounds.
Oh, but this gets better.

If the Sox lose Bay and sign both Holliday and free-agent shortstop Marco Scutaro, they not only will receive the same number of selections, but also might end up in better draft positions.

Signing Holliday would cost the Sox their first-round pick. Signing Scutaro, a lower-ranking free agent, would cost them their second- round selection.

But, if the Sox lose Bay after offering him salary arbitration, they will gain two picks — a likely first-rounder and the sandwich pick.

The only ways the Sox would wind up with a second-rounder for Bay is if (a) the team that signed him ranked in the bottom 15 of the overall standings last season or (b) the team that signed him added a higher- ranking free agent as well.

Well, isn’t this an interesting web that Boston is weaving. If Theo Epstein can land a Type A outfielder on top of landing two draft picks then he’ll set up the Red Sox for both the present and future.

But would they be making the right decision in going with Holliday over Bay? Holliday was fantastic as soon as he got to St. Louis, but he had a hard time adjusting to American League pitching when he first got to Oakland and could struggle long-term in Boston. On the flip side, Bay has already proven that he can hit in both leagues and appears willing to stay in Boston for the right price.

Epstein has some big decisions to make over the next month or two.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

Red Sox would “love” to have Jason Bay back

At least, this according to WEEI.com:

Speaking at an event to honor Red Sox principal owner John Henry, who received the Woodrow Wilson Award for corporate sponsorship, team president/CEO Larry Lucchino expressed his organization’s desire to re-sign Jason Bay.

“Very much so,” Lucchino said when asked if the Red Sox wanted the outfielder back. “We’d love to have him back. He’s in many ways the personification of a player we want here.”

The Red Sox’ exclusive period to negotiate with Bay runs out at midnight Thursday.

Bay will draw plenty of interest on the open market, but the Red Sox certainly have the cash to re-sign him. It just depends on whether or not a more lucrative offer comes along and Bay bites on it. (Translation: It just depends on whether or not Bay wants to go the way of CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira and play for the Yankees next season.)

What will be interesting is whether or not he heads back to the NL on his own accord. He has proven that he can produce in either league, but usually hitters want to play in the NL because of the weaker pitching. Any number of teams could use Bay’s services, but it’ll all depend on which team will open up its wallet and which ones he feels gives him an opportunity to win.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

Lackey shuts down Red Sox as Angels take Game 1

John Lackey shut out the Red Sox for 7 2/3 innings on Thursday night as the Angels beat the Red Sox 5-0 in Game 1 of the ALDS.

From MLB.com:

Lackey delivered 22 outs, and Hunter produced the thunder, his three-run fifth-inning homer against Jon Lester providing the impetus behind a 5-0 victory over the Red Sox in front of 45,070 at Angel Stadium.

After the Angels expanded their lead with a pair of seventh-inning runs on Kendry Morales’ RBI single and a throwing error by left fielder Jason Bay, Lackey departed with one out in the eighth, raising his cap to a roaring crowd.

It’s the first postseason win at home by the Angels since Game 5 of the 2005 ALDS against the Yankees. It is also the first time the Angels have held a series lead against Boston — which eliminated them from the past two postseasons — since they took a 3-2 ALCS advantage into Fenway Park in 1986 after their fateful Game 5 demise in Anaheim.

Taking a series lead against the Red Sox was big given that it had become a mental block for the Halos to overcome. This win should give them confidence heading into Game 2 and while traveling to Boston still might be an issue, right now the Angels have the momentum and everything is in place for them to build on it.

For those unaware of Kendry Morales – get aware. He’s one of the rising hitters in the game and he’s coming off a solid regular season, especially in the second half. Players like Hunter are going to get more recognition, but if the Halos make a World Series run, I guarantee a guy like Morales will play a big part.

White Sox believed to be team that made claim for Rios

According to a report by SI.com, the White Sox are believed to be the team that made a waiver claim for Blue Jays right fielder Alex Rios.

By rule, the Jays are also allowed to let the claiming team assume Rios’ contract — a seven-year, $69.35 million deal which still has about $60 million remaining on it — or pull Rios back and keep him and his contract.

Two competing executives, who were unaware of the identity of the claiming team, opined that they believe the Blue Jays, who have financial issues, would be wise to just let the claiming team have Rios and his contract. However, there is little evidence that the Jays are willing to do that at this point, and may instead be trying to acquire pieces of significant value in return for Rios.

Rios makes sense for the Sox, who will be able to take on salary with guys like Jim Thome becoming a free agent in 2010, and whose outfield situation could use an upgrade.

What’ll be interesting to see is if the Blue Jays try to acquire something back for Rios, or if they’ll just be happy to dump his entire contract and move on. Either way, if they clear all of his salary off the books, they might be in the running for a top free agent like Jason Bay (who is Canadian by the way) this winter.

Bay, Red Sox break off contract talks again

For the second time this year, the Red Sox have broken off contract talks with outfielder Jason Bay, who becomes a free agent after the season.

“It’s now clear that this round of talks won’t result in a deal, either,’’ Epstein said. “As a result, we’re going to table discussions again, which once again is a mutual decision, and pick them up most likely after the season.’’

That does not necessarily mean that Bay is eager to test the free agent market. While that would likely garner him bigger offers, especially with the Yankees in need of a left fielder for 2010 and beyond, Bay said he could resume talks with the Red Sox before filing for free agency. The sides, Bay said, have made progress since they first broke off talks in spring training.

“I’m not trying to set a precedent,’’ Bay said. “Just looking for something that’s fair. Whether that’s changed over the last three months, you guys can determine that.

Ultimately I think a deal between Bay and the BoSox will eventually get done. It might drag on into the winter, but if Epstein wants him bad enough, Bay will be back patrolling left field at Fenway again next season.

But if Bay flies the coup (either to the Bronx or otherwise), I wouldn’t discount the Sox taking a look at Matt Holliday, who becomes a free agent after this season. He hasn’t hit well this season, but he would be the next best available after Bay and he’ll still be relatively young.

Again though, I think Bay will wind up back in Boston. He has dramatically upgraded his defense at Fenway and while he probably isn’t as good as he was at the start of this season, he’s a quality bat and someone the Sox can plug in the middle of their lineup for the next couple seasons and not have to worry about filling that void.

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