A Wild 48 Hours

Jacoby Ellsbury has turned to the dark side. After Johnny Damon, Wade Boggs and, more importantly, Babe Ruth, Ellsbury is yet another Red Sox player that moves to the Yankees.
 

 

We know Jacoby. At age 29, he batted .298/.355/.426 with 52 steals and a 5.8 WAR. He was also the runner up in the 2011 MVP race, batting .321/.376/.552 with career highs in home runs (32), RBI’s (105), and WAR (8.1).

He has two World Series rings, both with the Red Sox.

So the Yankees proved our predictions: that they’d strike big in the offseason. Ellsbury signed a rich 7-year, $153 million with the Yankees. This puts him up with guys like Manny Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano, and Carl Crawford for the highest outfielder contracts in history. Ellsbury ranks third on the all-time list.

So what does this mean? Well first, it means that the Red Sox are now without their star outfielder. They have Shane Victorino in right, and prospect Jackie Bradley Jr. that could replace him, but if they want something big to get back-to-back titles, they need to look higher in the free agency.

 

That leads to Shin-Soo Choo. Acquiring Choo is almost a perfect replacement, with a little more power and a little less speed. Choo batted .285/.423/.462 with a 4.2 WAR in 2012 with the Cinncinati Reds. Plus, he’d be cheaper than 7-years and $153 million. 

They could also go with veteran Carlos Beltran, but I think they want someone younger. Other guys that could be mentioned for Boston are Nelson Cruz and Curtis Granderson.

What does this mean for the Yankees? Well first off, they’ve now spent about $230 million on just two players: Ellsbury and Brian McCann. These two guys bring a HUGE addition to the Yankee offense, but is it enough?

…

No! Of course not!

The Yankees had some terrible batting, especially in specific areas. Plus, they most likely will lose Robinson Cano, who was basically their only offense this season. But don’t forget about pitching! They haven’t signed anything yet in pitching. In fact, they’ve lost mostly everything. Adding Ellsbury and Brian McCann is big, but adding pitching is bigger.

 

They could get Masahiro Tanaka, which would make this conversation much different.

Are the Yankees on the right track? Yes. Are they playoff bound? …Eh… probably not.

But what about the Red Sox? It seems like they are losing everyone! Well they did add one player- A.J. Pierzynski. It’s a one-year, $8.25 million contract. Pierzynski, 36, batted .272/.297/.425 as the starter for the Rangers. He’s a pretty good defensive catcher as well, and the Red Sox found a solution to their catcher situation. But they face more problems than just that.

Their former catcher, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, has reached a three-year, $21 million deal with the Miami Marlins. Slowly but surely, the Marlins are upgrading their offense!

Other acquisitions you should know about: Joe Nathan signs a two-year deal with the Detroit Tigers. This is no big surprise, as the Tigers looked at him heavily since the beginning of the offseason. This completely saves their closer situation.

Jason Vargas has been added to the Kansas City Royals rotation, signing the southpaw to a four-year, $32 million contract. This fills the void that was put in when Ervin Santana left, and he’s much cheaper than Santana. This is a good move. Watch out for the Royals next year.

And trades! After acquiring Justin Morneau to replace Todd Helton at first base, the Rockies traded outfielder Dexter Fowler and a player to be named to the Houston Astros, of all places, for outfielder Brandon Barnes and right hander Jordan Lyles.

This is a good move by both teams: The Astros get a speedy 27-year-old Fowler, while the Rockies get some young talent, plus clear some salary space. Of course, poor Fowler, as he’s going to the Astros, but hey, he can help a struggling offense turn into something decent.

And the Tigers found their solution with too many starters. They traded Doug Fister to the Washington Nationals for utility man Steve Lombardozzi, set-up man Ian Krol, and prospect Robbie Ray.

This is a great trade too! The Nationals cap one of the best rotations in the NL with Fister, while the Tigers get some utility in the infield, another acquisition to their struggling bullpen, and a prospect. The Nationals can do some great damage like they did before with this.

 

Trades, free agents, it’s all been fun so far. But there are still more to come. Robinson Cano is still out there in free agency, and there are some big named starters and relievers still to come. Some teams have remained dormant in the offseason, but they can still make a splash.

An update on Cano: guess who just became a “major player” for him? The Seattle Mariners. This is going to get very interesting.

Email me at statsbuddy42@gmail.com for any questions/comments/concerns.

-Evan Boyd