…but LSB needs to institute a ban against bad analogies.

No. The reality is his salary plus seniority with the organization does give him some pull.

Let me give you this analogy. You are a brain surgeon. Been one for 10 years. You are the chief of brain surgery at a hospital. The board of directors comes to you and tells you that they are moving you to heart surgeon because they have this guy in his 2nd year as intern who looks real promising who they are going to jump straight into your current position. But since you are a surgeon you can move to heart surgery easily. Thats essentially whats happening here. In this case since employers don’t trade employees in other fields what would the doctor do? They would go seek employment elsewhere in their current field at the same pay rate they have been. And if they are a respected surgeon by fellow surgeons and have recently been acknowledged as the best surgeon it won’t be hard to find a job elsewhere.

It seems like, even if JD hurt Young’s feelings, his response was completely disproportionate (unless you recognize that Young’s ego is much, much larger than fans realized).

And of course, we’re all speculating as to the conversation. Does anyone really think that JD sat down to lunch and said “Michael, you’re now a 3b. You better have a new glove by next month.” Of course not. Unless you know what wording JD used, you can’t speculate on whether the wording was poor.

And like I’ve said before, the wording at lunch is only 5% of the overall equation. Even if JD used the wrong wording, the other 95% of his decision to move Young to 3b was correct. Young, however, is 100% wrong. Then again, I have no sympathy for players who air grievances before the media. Very unprofessional.

like completely, off color humor and Ball Four references

But that would be fantastic.

of Young’s request for a trade. I don’t think Nolan was bluffing. The Rangers would move Young to 2B if that was more palatable to him. So, Young’s response gives some perspective on what he is thinking.

It really seems to me that this has almost nothing to do with 3B, but, instead, Young’s perception of his relationship with JD and maybe Wash has changed, and he doesn’t want to work for them anymore.

Part of this is that Young never had a chance to compete against Andrus. It’s generally the case that athletes get to try to earn or keep their position by competing.

Part of it is that JD decided Young should be the one to break in his replacement, since Young has been the clubhouse leader in other “chemistry” situations. Maybe Young felt like it wasn’t JDs place to determine who Young should shepherd along.

I don’t think it’s worth thinking about Mauer, for reasons I already stated in another thread.

I personally think Tek’s best value to the Sox is to turn into a 1S pick and something in the 2nd/3rd round. I think he’s done (I think his dead cat bounce was in 2007), but if he comes back he could work in a reduced/ mentorship role with a LHH like Monty because his big weakness in that he can’t hit RHP anymore.

The mistake I think people here are making is assuming that the Sox need to have the best player available. They’re looking for the best value. In most cases that’s the same thing, but not in this case. I think that since there are defensive questions about both Monty and Salty, they’re trying to hedge their risk in the value of what they give up. Losing Buchholz would be a terrible price if Salty can’t stick behind the dish.

that the Rangers are operating on a budget (otherwise wouldn’t Sheets already be signed?). As far as a trade goes, their only moveable commodity is a catcher. That puts them in the above buyer’s market.

You can never have enough pitching, and everyone the Sox has signed is on a short term deal and isn’t guaranteed enough money that they can’t be dumped if one of the prospects seizes a rotation spot, or they get a job next year.

You can have too much catching, because the guy not starting is on the bench, or at 1B/ DH, (where the Rangers also have something of a logjam).

of the damage done by this bungling of the best relationship the front office has with its players. It has consequences in the immediate club house. It has consequences for players coming up within in the organization. It has consequences for FA signings. It has payroll consequences.

still have a few holes in their rotation as well. they have been suspiciously quiet so far this offseason.

Maybe ESPN has noticed a drop in hits.

I think Masterson or Bowden + Bard for Salty is pretty fair. If it took Masterson + Bard, I think I would consider that an overpayment, but that is one I could live with.

Boston and NY always do this. You should just be honored to get to talk to them about a trade.

Buchholz is certainly a high upside guy but he has his issues just like Salty. That said, they trade from a strength and get a need and we do the exact same. It just makes too much sense.

That said I would understand a trade for Masterson or Bowden but Boston even refuses to trade them by most accounts.

Well, I’ve said before that I don’t get all the “we won’t trade Masterson or Bowden” rumors. I think a few of those are sloppy journalism, but most of the recent stuff I’ve seen have said that Texas refuses to move off of Buchholz.

But I think you’re playing fast and lose with your characterizations.

Hagadone, “a pitcher coming off TJ surgery”, was not AFAIK ever offered by the Sox. He was brought up by the Rangers in the variation of 2 of Masterson/ Bowden/ Hagadone. His ceiling is probably the highest of the 3, but if you think he won’t return from his injury then I’d like to know why JD went out of his way to ask for him. It looks like he’s trying to get another Beltre type lottery ticket (this one with better odds) to me.

I don’t see how Bowden’s previous trade status as “a pitcher offered twice to the Rangers already (and rejected) who is likely a bottom of the rotation starter” means much if we don’t know the terms he was offered under. I’ve seen one link (posted here) that he was offered straight up for Gagne. Now, I doubt the accuracy of that (someone I know who does work for the Sox FO intimated that the deal offered may have included a pre-call up Teagarden but there’s no way to know for sure). Even if we accept the Rangers blogger in question that would only mean that Rangers preferred 3 players (including Beltre) to him, which I don’t see as a knock on him.

As for his status as a “back of the rotation starter”, almost every prospect site I’ve seen pegs him to be a #3 innings eater. He’s been young for his league since he dominated Lancaster and continues to improve. He also posted better minor league numbers than both Harrison and Hurley.

Bard is certainly a “relief pitching prospect”, so you’ve got me there.

OTOH calling Salty “a Major League catcher who could be one of the top catchers in the league” is really disingenuous. Any of the players we’re talking about could reach their ceiling or beyond: Bowden could stretch out an entire career similar to Jeff Suppan’s best years; Hagadone could turn into a LHed ace; Bard could be a healthy Joel Zumaya. If you want to just talk about ceiling, do it with everyone in the deal, not just the Texan.

The thing is Salty is nowhere near that ceiling now, and there have been plenty of scouts have questioned his ability to stay behind the plate, which is where the risk to the Sox (or anyone who trades for him) is. A hitter with a career 91 OPS+ won’t make it very far as a 1Bman or DH, and if Texas doesn’t trade him it’s going to be hard for him to develop as a backup to Teagarden unless he’s either sent to AAA, or Teagarden is injured. He certainly won’t be able to get PA’s at 1B/DH in Texas with both Davis and Blaalock on the roster.

What I am beginning to think is that we simply have a clash of world views. Young had in mind a customary way in which players are moved from their positions. JD had a management perspective on the situation. They clearly didn’t mesh. The blame for that lies on JD, because if it is his desire to keep Young then he has to figure out a way to sell Young on what management wants to do, and if he fails at that he has to be prepared to move Young.

That’s simply not true. JD is not responsible for Young going off the deep end. Again, you’re pretending as if JD didn’t provide any explaination whatsoever. JD and Washington sat down with Young over lunch to discuss Young’s move to 3b. Young referred to Andrus in his rantings, so he obviously got the explaination. The reality is that there wasn’t an explaination that he was willing to accept. He’s just “adament” about not moving to 3b. There’s nothing JD could have done to avoid this scenario other than not move him to 3b, and that would be a bad baseball decision.

You are blaming JD for Young’s unreasonable reaction to the move to 3b. JD did not “fail” because Young went to the media. For that, Young failed.