Another good move by the Red Sox?

[Rog]

As has been detailed here before, the Red Sox have had a fine off-season, especially in being able to pick up ace starter Chris Sale.  They may be on the verge of making another good move, albeit of a much lesser nature.

The Sox are said to be interested in free agent Trevor Plouffe if the right-handed hitting corner infielder is willing to take a contract in the $2 to $3 million range.  Although he 's a poor fielder, Plouffe would make a nice batting complement to Pablo Sandoval and free agent acquisition Mitch Moreland at the corners.  We have detailed Pablo's troubles against southpaw pitching, and neither has Moreland been a strong hitter against lefties.  Plouffe seems like a natural complement.

Right-hand hitter Hanley Ramirez will play most of the time either at first base or more often as the designated hitter.  A grouping of the aforementioned quartet along with lefty-hitting Brian Holt and righty Josh Rutledge gives the Sox a lot of flexibility.  Holt can play almost any position on the diamond, and Rutledge has played around the infield.  The Red Sox also have 24-year-old shortstop/utility man Marco Hernandez.  Hernandez has been around a .300 hitter in AA, AAA and in a brief trial with the Red Sox over the past two seasons.

The previously mentioned players could help make up for the retirement of designated hitter David Ortiz and the traded third baseman/first baseman Chris Shaw.  The Red Sox are putting a lot of faith in Sandoval and Moreland.  Plouffe could help make up for the pair's deficiencies against left-handed pitching.  Moreland has only a .673 OPS against southpaws over his career, but he did post .799 against them last season.  In particular, Plouffe could help Sandoval's cry for help against southpaws.  Pablo, Holt or Rutledge could be Trevor's defensive replacement.

Particularly if they sign Plouffe, the Red Sox may have done more for their chances than any other team this off-season.  That's strong news for a team that won 93 games last season and had a Pythagorean record (based on run differential) of 98-64.  The Red Sox have been a case this off-season of the rich getting richer.

We should certainly like the Giants' rotation, but the Red Sox now feature Sale plus Cy Young winners David Price and Rick Porcello as their top three starters.  And their rotation may not be as good as the Indians' or Mets'.  Many of the top teams are putting together spectacular rotations.

[sfgdood]

Im sure Red Sox fans are just as uninterested in hearing about Giants' off season moves as we are about Boston's. What a waste of time.

[Rog]

I'll say this, Randy. While not my best thread, it's more interesting than any thread you have started lately. If you're going to put threads down, at least start some good ones of your own.

Randy, with the new year coming up, it's time to stop being DEstructive and be CONstructive on occasion.

[sfgdood]

How is talking up the Red Sox CONstructive to Giants fans? It's not DEstructive either...it's just sort of taking up space.

[Rog]

Speaking of rotations, let's take a look at what I would consider to be the top seven:

1. Red Sox. Few rotations in history have had three starters where one could argue that the two Cy Young winners aren't even the ace.

2. Indians. The Indians almost won the World Series even with their #2 and #3 starters not available to the rotation. A rotation of former Cy Young winner Corey Klueber, Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar, Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin is extremely deep.

3. Cubs. Speaking of deep, the World Champion Cubs' rotation last season was so deep that they left the 15 wins of Jason Hammel entirely off their postseason roster. Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta are considered two of the top starters, and Kyle Hendricks led the NL in ERA at 2.13. John Lackey's 3.35 was impressive, as well.

4. Giants. In Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto, the Giants have two aces. In Matt Moore and Jeff Samardzija, the Giants have a solid middle rotation guy and one with high potential.

5. Nationals. After Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg might be the two most dominant pitchers in the game. The pair combined for 467 strikeouts in 376 innings last season. Strasburg's only issue has been staying healthy. Tanner Roark, Joe Ross and Gio Gonzalez round out one of the deepest rotations in the game. If Strasburg stays healthy, this could be the game's top rotation.

6. Mets. Noah Syndergarrd, Jason DeGrom, Matt Harvey and Steven Matz might be the best foursome in the league. Their problem has been staying healthy. Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman posted 2.67 and 2.42 ERA's in late trials last season, allowing the Mets to part ways with the ancient Bartolo Colon. Colon clearly should be playing for the Mariners, making him the ancient Mariner.

7. Dodgers. Any rotation that begins with Clayton Kershaw has a great chance of being good. Naturally the drop off is large behind Kershaw, but the Dodgers also have Kenta Maeda, Rich Hill, the two promising youngsters in Julio Urias and Jose De Leon, Scott Kazmir, Brandon McCarthy, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Alex Wood and Ross Stripling. That's TEN starters! Health was a serious issue last season, and De Leon may well be traded.


To me, that is the top quartile of major league rotations. I'd naturally be interested in the opinions of others. And fortunately, the Giants are right in the middle of it, with three of the top four having been acquired in the past 13 months or so.