SoxNet: What To Do With Alexei Ramirez

[ILMOU]

Outside of a Japanese or Korean (the Pirates were doing okay with Kang for awhile)...no answers.

 

Maybe the Dodgers will deal the other Cuban with the super long name beginning and ending with an A that they acquired two years ago, but he would probably hit as well as Rey Ordonez or Rondon.

A stopgap that can at least play D (Salad-man?) and wait/pray for Anderson may be the best approach. SS is a lot like C across the majors right now - the marginal upgrades available may not be worth the cost of the pursuit.

[iamshack]

Thanks!

Great job, Mike!

[LDF]

Basically our options for next year are Saladino, one of those guys, or trading legit talent away for a legit shortstop. And that's just one of multiple positions where we have major issues.

 

Ponder that for a minute and you'll start understanding why I'm down on this team's chances for the near future.

i like how you are thinking, if i may,

 

if the sox are looking for a stopgap player to manned the position until anderson comes around. i am ok with saladino. however that mean the sox will need to address the 3b position one way or another.

 

now i can deal with the sox picking defense only players at ss as a stop gap. i sure would like the ss position to be well defended next season.

[he gone.]

Who else is going to play SS next year? That's my thoughts. I don't think there is a viable option. Like the article said, he will end closer to his career averages. I would assume he finished in the .250-.260 range and with 10HR's and 60RBI. Still somewhat solid defense. If you can find me someone who can do that next year I'll take it. I guess you can make the argument maybe Saladino .... but he will not hit for doubles like Alexei does. People forget that stat. He had 35 doubles last year. Top 10 in baseball was 39. Also has had over 20SB over the past 3 years.

 

Alexei is not our problem. Sure he's been bad this year. But he should be penciled in as our SS next year. Maybe give a few extra starts to Saladino who plays our Utililty role next year.

 

Fill 3B and Catcher. Those are our black holes. 2B too ... but lets be honest .... they're gonna keep trying with Johnson and Sanchez.

[Chisoxfn]

Who else is going to play SS next year? That's my thoughts. I don't think there is a viable option. Like the article said, he will end closer to his career averages. I would assume he finished in the .250-.260 range and with 10HR's and 60RBI. Still somewhat solid defense. If you can find me someone who can do that next year I'll take it. I guess you can make the argument maybe Saladino .... but he will not hit for doubles like Alexei does. People forget that stat. He had 35 doubles last year. Top 10 in baseball was 39. Also has had over 20SB over the past 3 years.

 

Alexei is not our problem. Sure he's been bad this year. But he should be penciled in as our SS next year. Maybe give a few extra starts to Saladino who plays our Utililty role next year.

 

Fill 3B and Catcher. Those are our black holes. 2B too ... but lets be honest .... they're gonna keep trying with Johnson and Sanchez.

If you wanted to go another direction, you maybe see if you get lucky and Sanchez or Saladino hits enough and prove their glove plays at shortstop. To do that, you'd have to move Ramirez and basically ensure that Micah / Saladino / Sanchez all get significant playing time and at bats to get better intel on where you project everyone. I would be perfectly fine with that, as long as the Sox understand that if they tend to contend and they don't see something they like, they have to either make a FA signing (could very well bring Alexei back at that point or someone else as a stop gap to Tim Anderson) or they need to use chips to acquire someone (or to be frank, they could acquire that person in the Shark deal).

[Eminor3rd]

Saladino will be around next year, too. I don't see any harm in giving Alexei a chance to bounce back/rebuild some value. As it is, a trade at this point would probably be a salary dump anyway. If he's this bad next year, he can be DFA'd or dumped for Saladino.

 

Like I said in the article, it's certainly possible there's something the numbers are totally missing, but from what I c an tell, betting on a bounceback here makes a ton of sense. Might not happen, but it looks more likely than most of the other lottery tickets we see.

[Eminor3rd]

While I totally disagree with the conclusion, I also offer compliments on the article and post. Well done.

 

Great job, Mike!

 

Thanks guys!

[Balta1701]

Saladino will be around next year, too. I don't see any harm in giving Alexei a chance to bounce back/rebuild some value. As it is, a trade at this point would probably be a salary dump anyway. If he's this bad next year, he can be DFA'd or dumped for Saladino.

 

Like I said in the article, it's certainly possible there's something the numbers are totally missing, but from what I c an tell, betting on a bounceback here makes a ton of sense. Might not happen, but it looks more likely than most of the other lottery tickets we see.

With Alexei having a $1 million buyout/$10 million option next year, there's very little reason to "give him a chance to bounce back". You do that with guys who are under contract, not guys where you're picking their options up.

[he gone.]

If you wanted to go another direction, you maybe see if you get lucky and Sanchez or Saladino hits enough and prove their glove plays at shortstop. To do that, you'd have to move Ramirez and basically ensure that Micah / Saladino / Sanchez all get significant playing time and at bats to get better intel on where you project everyone. I would be perfectly fine with that, as long as the Sox understand that if they tend to contend and they don't see something they like, they have to either make a FA signing (could very well bring Alexei back at that point or someone else as a stop gap to Tim Anderson) or they need to use chips to acquire someone (or to be frank, they could acquire that person in the Shark deal).

 

 

My thing would be, since the Sox want to compete over the next two years -- what/who gives you the best chance to win and what is the most viable option going forward. If we believe that Anderson can be our SS of the future (I have my doubts because of defense) then we are really looking for a stop gap as you said. I think Ramirez is the best option at that point. We dont need to recreate the wheel when we have one on our team. This is a sinking ship and that hole is plugged for now, go plug other holes. for isntance ... 3b.

 

We 1,000% need to find a 3B. That's hopefully the shark trade.

We also need to find a catcher. I realize generally this isn't an offensive position -- so I dont think we need to get caught up in that. We need a catcher that can call a game and doesn't strikeout/can put the ball in play as necessary. My final piece to help us compete, is trading LaRoche, shifting Garcia to DH, and signing a toolsy type OF. Think Lorenzo Cain like (I realize he's an AS and were not gonna get that caliber). Try resigning Shark, shift Danks to long bullpen guy role. 5th spot to Montas, Johnson, Fulmer, or stop gap FA. Bingo bango bongo -- World Series!!

 

 

 

 

[he gone.]

Orrr.. crazy thought in my head... why not try Saladino at SS and Alexei at 3B? Sounds crazy. Or Saladino at SS and Ramirez at 2B? 3B probably makes more sense because of Michah/Sanchez.

[shysocks]

Saladino will be around next year, too. I don't see any harm in giving Alexei a chance to bounce back/rebuild some value. As it is, a trade at this point would probably be a salary dump anyway. If he's this bad next year, he can be DFA'd or dumped for Saladino.

 

Like I said in the article, it's certainly possible there's something the numbers are totally missing, but from what I c an tell, betting on a bounceback here makes a ton of sense. Might not happen, but it looks more likely than most of the other lottery tickets we see.

The question is, a bounceback to what? Right now the 2014 power output is the aberration and his peripherals most resemble 2013 Alexei, except it seems to me he's making a lot more weak contact. 2013 Alexei without the plus defense seems like a bad guy to spend $10M on when we don't have to.

[Eminor3rd]

With Alexei having a $1 million buyout/$10 million option next year, there's very little reason to "give him a chance to bounce back". You do that with guys who are under contract, not guys where you're picking their options up.

 

The question is, a bounceback to what? Right now the 2014 power output is the aberration and his peripherals most resemble 2013 Alexei, except it seems to me he's making a lot more weak contact. 2013 Alexei without the plus defense seems like a bad guy to spend $10M on when we don't have to.

 

I'm not convinced that $10m can be re-allocated in a way to make up for the difference between a bounce-back Alexei and what Tyler Saladino is likely to produce. The FA market for SS is weak, and if you're going to "let the kids play," you're not likley to use the money anyway.

[Soxfest]

How can someone with that bad of numbers be considered a option to return for a year? A better stop gap can be found.

Edited July 20, 2015 by Soxfest

[Balta1701]

If we could get Alexei out of the way (and save $4-5 million in the process) I'm totally game for seeing if Saladino can give us a solid 2 months at that spot. If another team is going to get the benefit of his numbers snapping back to normal, I'm ok with that (and the Pirates right now could really use an IF unless Mercer is less hurt than it looked like).

 

[knightni]

Beware the jinx of the Nationals.... Dunn, LaRoche, now we want Desmond?

 

Suppose it would be better than Stephen Drew, Asdrubal, etc., so there's that.

 

Might as well trade Quintana for Strasburg and pray real hard.

Heaven forbid that Bryce Harper or Jordan Zimmerman wants to come here.

[GreenSox]

Saladino will be around next year, too. I don't see any harm in giving Alexei a chance to bounce back/rebuild some value. As it is, a trade at this point would probably be a salary dump anyway. If he's this bad next year, he can be DFA'd or dumped for Saladino.

 

Like I said in the article, it's certainly possible there's something the numbers are totally missing, but from what I c an tell, betting on a bounceback here makes a ton of sense. Might not happen, but it looks more likely than most of the other lottery tickets we see.

It's $10 million ($9 million really) to bring him back. That's too much for a hope that he ups his value.

You could refuse the option and then sign him for less I suppose; but you could do that after trading most likely too.

 

[shysocks]

If we could get Alexei out of the way (and save $4-5 million in the process) I'm totally game for seeing if Saladino can give us a solid 2 months at that spot. If another team is going to get the benefit of his numbers snapping back to normal, I'm ok with that (and the Pirates right now could really use an IF unless Mercer is less hurt than it looked like).

And I'd apply that same philosophy to next season too. If we miss out on a best-case Alexei year, can't we live with that? We certainly can just decline his option and renegotiate, which is something you've mentioned a couple times.

[Chicago White Sox]

I'm not convinced that $10m can be re-allocated in a way to make up for the difference between a bounce-back Alexei and what Tyler Saladino is likely to produce. The FA market for SS is weak, and if you're going to "let the kids play," you're not likley to use the money anyway.

The problem your article ignores (still great analysis BTW), is that Alexei will be 34 next season. You more than anyone on this site should acknowledge that even if he has been unlucky this year, he's due for significant regression in the very near future. IMO, hoping for bounceback in luck AND no decline due to age is a gamble not worth taking at $10M. For that kind of money, we should be able to get a younger, better bounceback candidate at a different position of need.

[Eminor3rd]

The problem your article ignores (still great analysis BTW), is that Alexei will be 34 next season. You more than anyone on this site should acknowledge that even if he has been unlucky this year, he's due for significant regression in the very near future. IMO, hoping for bounceback in luck AND no decline due to age is a gamble not worth taking at $10M. For that kind of money, we should be able to get a younger, better bounceback candidate at a different position of need.

 

I'm assuming you mean "decline" instead of "regression" -- but yes, I agree. The problem is that we have to keep in mind that we have to deal with a weak replacement for him as well. I'm not sure what we can get for $10m that will improve another spot and also be worth the difference between Alexei and Saladino. To me, it looks more likely that Alexei will produce $10m of value than it does that Saladino will turn out better than anyone ever expected. That, and there's really nothing on the free agent market (or likely trade market) that looks like a significant upgrade at C or 3B that can be made possible with $9m.

[AlSoxfan]

Nice article and I agree 100%. I've been feeling kinda guilty for wanting to keep him this past off-season. Most everyone wanted to sell high on him. I don't think he's worth much in trade now though. I've been hoping he'd bounce back so it's kinda nice to see some of the numbers on him, maybe he can still play decent ball. I think we have other issues that need fixing before we need to worry about Lexi. As for next yr. they can always buy him out and offer a lesser amount.

[GreenSox]

How can someone with that bad of numbers be considered a option to return for a year? A better stop gap can be found.

Like *shudder* our own players in the organization.

[LDF]

 

 

i have faith in him.... like a couple yrs ago, he put up lousy number only to rebound the yr after. i think the same can be done.

 

however, if the address the ss in another way.. i am game.

[Chisoxfn]

Pirates (as Balta suggested) would be a pretty good fit for Alexei.

[Balta1701]

Pirates (as Balta suggested) would be a pretty good fit for Alexei.

I could see the Yankees looking at his numbers as presented in that article and taking a flyer on him also.

[Chisoxfn]

I could see the Yankees looking at his numbers as presented in that article and taking a flyer on him also.

Another fair point. The thing I like about both teams is they could have some intriguing C listers who have some potential change of scenery upside. If we could get a nice arm that is either raw and could maybe start or a projectable reliever (maybe failed minor league starter with a big arm), I'd be on board. Would be awesome to get a competitive balance pick but not sure Pirates would give that up for Alexei (never know). Probably best bet is fine a young foreign player who is still years away that you think has some upside (1 in 100 odds but at least you see some raw tools).