Thread: 2008-09 MLB Hot Stove

Hoffman signs with the Brewers



[ame="http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3818472"]Sources: Trevor Hoffman agrees to deal with Milwaukee Brewers - ESPN[/ame]

After adding one role player yesterday by signing outfielder Rocco Baldelli to a one-year, $500,000 deal with incentives, the Red Sox are poised to add another soon.

Mark Kotsay, whom the Sox obtained from Atlanta last August, has agreed in principle on a one-year deal to return to the club, pending a physical and completion of the contract. Kotsay will earn $1.5 million plus incentives.

Kotsay makes sense because of his versatility, he provides Francona with another flexible defender. He did a great job at 1B last season after Youkilis had to move to 3B to cover Lowell.

Kotsay: CF/LF/RF/1B
Baldelli: CF/RF/LF
Lowrie: SS/3B/2B
Lugo: SS/2B emergency 3B/OF
Ellsbury: CF/LF/RF
Youkilis: 1B/3B


Mark Kotsay set to re-sign - BostonHerald.com

Originally Posted by cosmo_kramer

Kotsay makes sense because of his versatility, he provides Francona with another flexible defender. He did a great job at 1B last season after Youkilis had to move to 3B to cover Lowell.

Kotsay: CF/LF/RF/1B
Baldelli: CF/RF/LF
Lowrie: SS/3B/2B
Lugo: SS/2B emergency 3B/OF
Ellsbury: CF/LF/RF
Youkilis: 1B/3B


Mark Kotsay set to re-sign - BostonHerald.com

To ME, this surplus of outfielders looks like they will bunch a few to make a trade somewhere down the line....perhaps a catcher? a shortstop?

Anybody see the 5 Star Academy Award performance given by Sicko, Physco Bradley at his introduction as a Cub? Tears, mama....the whole bit. We lived through his roller-coaster in L.A. and it is quite sickening. (At least in Chicago he can't allign himself with Jackie Robinson as he did when he went off the 1st time in L.A. I thought Scully was going to hit Bradley in the head with the mike when he interviewed him and he pulled the old No. 42 alliegiance!!!!) He is onstage for the faithful at Wrigley to go all-out on. And, as I've said before, I cannot WAIT till he and Sweet Lou tangle asses!!!!!

Originally Posted by salsadancer7

To ME, this surplus of outfielders looks like they will bunch a few to make a trade somewhere down the line....perhaps a catcher? a shortstop?

That's an excellent point. Very rarely does a team carry more than four outfielders.

However, Kotsay did prove that he can play 1B in last year's playoffs. With Sean Casey gone, and Mike Lowell's health still in question, that could prove to be invaluable to the Sox.

All things being equal though, you're right. That's too many outfielders for a team to carry.

Originally Posted by CeltsHD

That's an excellent point. Very rarely does a team carry more than four outfielders.

However, Kotsay did prove that he can play 1B in last year's playoffs. With Sean Casey gone, and Mike Lowell's health still in question, that could prove to be invaluable to the Sox.

All things being equal though, you're right. That's too many outfielders for a team to carry.

I like Kotsay...he is an EXCELLENT outfielder. I didn't see him play 1st at all....and seeing you see more Red Sox games than I do, you would know better.

Originally Posted by CeltsHD

That's an excellent point. Very rarely does a team carry more than four outfielders.

However, Kotsay did prove that he can play 1B in last year's playoffs. With Sean Casey gone, and Mike Lowell's health still in question, that could prove to be invaluable to the Sox.

All things being equal though, you're right. That's too many outfielders for a team to carry.

An important point though is that in both Baldelli's signing and Kotsay's apparent signing they both are aware that these are platoon / backup roles. But, with JD Drew's fragility and Ellsbury's offensive funks these guys will most likely get some substantial playing time. Plus, as CeltsHD said, Kotsay will replace Casey as the primary 1B backup.

That being said, Ellsbury has been shopped around though....

Originally Posted by cosmo_kramer

An important point though is that in both Baldelli's signing and Kotsay's apparent signing they both are aware that these are platoon / backup roles. But, with JD Drew's fragility and Ellsbury's offensive funks these guys will most likely get some substantial playing time. Plus, as CeltsHD said, Kotsay will replace Casey as the primary 1B backup.

That being said, Ellsbury has been shopped around though....

Could we be going from a CF platoon of Crisp/Ellsbury in '08 to Baldelli/Kotsay in '09?

As first reported by FOXsports.com's Ken Rosenthal, the Red Sox have signed free-agent reliever Takashi Saito to a one-year contract with a team option for 2010. The Sox will officially announce the signing later this afternoon, the Globe's Adam Kilgore reports.

The deal includes a guarantee between $1.5 million and $2.5 million, according to Rosenthal, and Saito will have the chance to earn more than $7 million if he reaches all of his incentives. Rosenthal reports that Saito has already passed his physical.

Sox sign reliever Saito - Extra Bases - Red Sox blog