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For 1 year and 3 million.

Well that's why they traded scutaro...

http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/_/i ... ource-says

As you said, we spent $3 mil on Ross. That's about half of what we saved by dealing Scutaro, and the thoughts (or should I say hopes) on other Sox boards where I am a member is that we will use the rest of the savings, plus a little more, to add that extra starting pitcher that we really need. As for the SS position, I've said it before and I'll say it again -- I really hope that they give Iglesias the job from the start and let him get some experience. That would leave Aviles and Punto backing up Pedroia, Iglesias and (along with Middlebrooks) Youkilis.

I was actually keen on seeing Kalish and Sweeney battle it out in RF. But if Carl Crawford is going to miss some time this is a good signing.

As for SS... would the Marlins accept a Beckett for Hanley trade again?

Dirty Water wrote:I was actually keen on seeing Kalish and Sweeney battle it out in RF. But if Carl Crawford is going to miss some time this is a good signing.

After talking to fellow Sox fans who have been baseball fans for much longer than I have, the consensus seems to be that when Crawford returns, we will see him in LF, Ellsbury in CF and a battle between Kalish and Ross in RF, with Kalish emerging as the starter by mid-season. I guess that gives us Ross and Sweeney to backup the OF. I'm ok with that, especially if we can add another pitcher and are pleasantly surprised by whoever plays SS.

I really think people are underestimating Sweeney as just a throw in. In 4 years of MLB service he has consistantly put up .280BA/.340OBP in irregular playing time in a crappy ballpark. He might even be better than Reddick. Which is why I really think we won the Andrew Bailey trade. Not saying he will win the RF job outright, but he could turn into a fan favorite along the likes of Gabe Kapler.

Man, I really hate having Cody Ross on the team. A decent enough player, but I just loathe the guy.

greenbeans wrote:Man, I really hate having Cody Ross on the team. A decent enough player, but I just loathe the guy.

Why? I don't know much about him but I heard he was a good clubhouse guy.

No good reason. He just came off as a bit of a douche in that Franchise show the Giants were on last year

I don't mind Cody. He definitely was a great value signing.

Dude has been lighting it up this spring. He his currently hitting about .450, with some pop to boot. That coupled with the fact that Sweeney has been banged up all spring, pretty much ensures Cody has put himself in position to be an everyday outfielder.

Sweeney.....

Leading team in hitting and if not for the mess on Sunday has two game winning hits. Love the kid already.

^^ Yup, Sweeney has been nothing short of fantastic. He was banged up most of spring training, but he has responded quite nicely. I'm liking him a lot also.

As for Cody, he has been awful thus far. Dude is a strikeout machine right now. Sweeney's surge and Ross struggling has basically flipped the outlook from the spring. Right now Sweeney figures to be the 3rd OF'er after Crawford returns.

Whatever happens with the OF, we can only hope McDonald rarely if ever plays. That dude is consistently terrible at the plate. He can't hit the ball at all, and strikes out at a very high rate. His defense is ok, but Ells/Crawford/Sweeney/Ross are all good defensive players so they're isn't a need to use Mcdonald as a late inning defensive replacement. So really the only role Darnell should have is being a pinch runner.

Cody Ross has been a straight up strikeout machine. He has k'ed 32 times in 97 at bats, so he strikes out 33% of the time. He has struck out at least once in 24/25 games in which he has had more than 1 at bat.

On a semi-side note Kelly Shoppach has struck out 16 times in 33 at bats. Thats an astounding strike out percentage of 48%.

Strikeouts peeve me more than anything in baseball. Short of the 3rd strike getting passed or dropped by the catcher with a result of the hitter reaching first base (which is extra rare) nothing good comes from strikeuts. Put the damn ball in play.