Lester to Oakland for Cespedes

[Lemon Harang Pie]

Behind the plate?

I assume he means at the plate.

 

[Lemon Harang Pie]

If you read what I wrote all day yesterday on the other 2 threads and what I've written here you would have the answer to your questions. We're talking about Jon Lester here , we're talking about a guy with not many peers. All the talk from the experts and fans about the haul of prospects and ML talent the Sox would get in return IF they even traded Lester while I said all along he was as good as gone and they weren't getting what people were claiming they would. ( was that a run on sentence? ) The fact is they traded a front of the rotation starter , proven playoff winner in a major market,another ML player PLUS cash for a 29 yr old .260 hitter. Lester being a rental in Oakland is completely irrelevant , this is about the Sox losing a guy they have had under their control and could have kept if they didn't fuck this up. There is no way in hell anyone can paint this as anything less than Billy Beane kicking the Sox front office from one coast to the other. The Sox were absolutely crushed in this deal. It's impossible to think they could have gotten less. Which leads us to wonder just how bad the other offers were all along. Can you imagine how bad the Pirates offer must have been? Everyone in the game knew the Sox had fucked this whole thing up and they all lined up to remind them. Beane won it but there were many who could have.

I read what you wrote and told you a couple of times that you were making too much out of the low ball offer. The Red Sox have made it pretty clear that they're not going to throw big money at pitchers over the age of 30. It is Jon Lester we're talking about. Which is to say he's not Clayton Kershaw.

In the end they traded a two month rental, who they didn't want to sign long term anyway, and a mediocre OF for a younger, better AllStar OF who they'll probably end up keeping under contract for years to come. I think that is a pretty solid decision.

 

[SoPortland]

I assume Reddick is going to take his spot and Gomes is going to be the DH.

 

[HammerDown]

Am I hearing right that Jon Lester owns the lowest World Series ERA in baseball history???

 

[WhiteMamba]

Am I hearing right that Jon Lester owns the lowest World Series ERA in baseball history???

2.11 or something thereabouts?

 

[hokiehi21]

 

[Lemon Harang Pie]

Am I hearing right that Jon Lester owns the lowest World Series ERA in baseball history???

Baseball-Reference puts it as the second lowest but that probably means less than nothing seeing how it's only 21 innings.

 

[shopson67]

That Oakland rotation is NASTY. My only concern is their offense now without Cespedes... is there enough pop? Moss and Donaldson are both solid, but Cespedes was a key piece to their success this year at the plate and with his glove/arm.

Cespedes is overrated a bit though. Sure, he makes the flashy plays, but his OBP is nothing to brag about (.294 last year, .303 this year). .256/.303/.464 normally isn't all-star worthy. Meanwhile, the A's are replacing Cespedes likely with a platoon of Fuld and Gomes, both of whom get on base at a better rate. They will definitely miss Cespedes' power though; maybe another trade brings some added pop at a different position (2B perhaps)?

 

[TDs3nOut]

Crown thie A'zzes and get the fuck off my lawn!

 

[WhiteMamba]

2.11 or something thereabouts?

Is this his playoff era?

 

[Loneranger]

Cespedes is overrated a bit though. Sure, he makes the flashy plays, but his OBP is nothing to brag about (.294 last year, .303 this year). .256/.303/.464 normally isn't all-star worthy. Meanwhile, the A's are replacing Cespedes likely with a platoon of Fuld and Gomes, both of whom get on base at a better rate. They will definitely miss Cespedes' power though; maybe another trade brings some added pop at a different position (2B perhaps)?

there isn't much to brag about period. the guy is a .260 hitter with decent power. The guy has 17 hrs this season , we aren't talking about Hank Aaron here

 

[hokiehi21]

Is this his playoff era?

yes

 

[Loneranger]

I read what you wrote and told you a couple of times that you were making too much out of the low ball offer. The Red Sox have made it pretty clear that they're not going to throw big money at pitchers over the age of 30. It is Jon Lester we're talking about. Which is to say he's not Clayton Kershaw.

In the end they traded a two month rental, who they didn't want to sign long term anyway, and a mediocre OF for a younger, better AllStar OF who they'll probably end up keeping under contract for years to come. I think that is a pretty solid decision.

but I've sat here for the last couple days listening to Sox fans claim:
they will get at least 1 top level prospect and a solid ML player at the minimum
Lester might not even be traded
Lester will just resign with the Sox after the season
and on and on and on . The Sox got robbed and badly. You claiming they weren't going to sign Lester anyway isn't exactly accurate. They tried to and failed becuz they insulted him with the offer they made. We can talk about it all day but the fact is the Sox got taken for a ride on this one and I guarantee this trade will be discussed for yrs. Oh yeah , Lester being a rental in Oakland has nothing to do with this conversation at all.

 

[HammerDown]

I reiterate what I said in the daily thread. Lester goes out to California and his eyes are opened to what a toilet Fenway is and maybe the Sox aren't so great after all. Wins a World Series and that "Boston discount" vanishes.

 

[SoPortland]

I reiterate what I said in the daily thread. Lester goes out to California and his eyes are opened to what a toilet Fenway is and maybe the Sox aren't so great after all. Wins a World Series and that "Boston discount" vanishes.

He probably signs with the Angels.

 

[Lemon Harang Pie]

but I've sat here for the last couple days listening to Sox fans claim:
they will get at least 1 top level prospect and a solid ML player at the minimum
Lester might not even be traded
Lester will just resign with the Sox after the season
and on and on and on . The Sox got robbed and badly. You claiming they weren't going to sign Lester anyway isn't exactly accurate. They tried to and failed becuz they insulted him with the offer they made. We can talk about it all day but the fact is the Sox got taken for a ride on this one and I guarantee this trade will be discussed for yrs. Oh yeah , Lester being a rental in Oakland has nothing to do with this conversation at all.

They wanted to re-sign Lester but on their terms. They would have been ecstatic to have Lester finish out his career doing 1-year contracts with the club but he wants a long term deal that they don't want to make.

Personally, I think the most likely scenario is Oakland doesn't win the World Series, Lester signs elsewhere in 2015, and no one ever remembers that he wore an A's uni for two months.

 

[steveringo]

I reiterate what I said in the daily thread. Lester goes out to California and his eyes are opened to what a toilet Fenway is and maybe the Sox aren't so great after all. Wins a World Series and that "Boston discount" vanishes.

Hey 90's! Welcome back!

The Sox new owners revamped Fenway. The actually removed the troughs and installed toilets and urinals! Their clubhouse facilities are among the best in the league... I don't think playing at a football stadium will make him forget Boston....

 

[navamind]

I love it. Red Sox get a damn good MLB OF that they can extend and Lester gets another shot at a ring. A's have become the West Coast Red Sox.

Can't say I'm too thrilled about getting Kelly/Craig. Craig's been a good hitter in the past, but he's had a lot of injuries and he's having a pretty shitty year (78 OPS+ and -0.6 WAR). He just turned 30 too and is owed $26M over 3 years. Joe Kelly's young and throws hard, but can't strike anyone out.

 

[navamind]

I reiterate what I said in the daily thread. Lester goes out to California and his eyes are opened to what a toilet Fenway is and maybe the Sox aren't so great after all. Wins a World Series and that "Boston discount" vanishes.

Fenway is like AT&T Park compared to O.co.

 

[bksballer89]

Let's not crown the A's just yet. Beating the Tigers & Angels/O's in a playoffs series is far from a lock