Ted's Army: The Voice of Red Sox fans

Sox deal Lars Anderson to Cleveland

The Red Sox got in one more trade before the deadline, as they send Lars Anderson to the Indians for an un-named minor league pitcher. 

Lars Anderson has made 30 major league appearances with the Red Sox since 2010, accumulating a .167 batting average (8/48), with a double and 4 RBI coming in 2010. 

The Pawsox first-baseman had very little hope for any long-term commitment since the acquisition of Adrian Gonzalez. Trading Anderson has always been an inevitability, the Sox we just banking on some build up of trade value over the years that they never got. 

Nothing like capping off the trade deadline day with anything but a bang. We were warned it would be un-eventful. 

Harden placed on waivers; might the Sox revisit a deal?

Via MLBTradeRumors comes a report from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that Rich Harden has been placed on waivers by the Oakland A's. 

The Red Sox pulled out of a trade deadline deal for Harden over physical concerns, but the 29-year-old righty continues to take his turn in the rotation for the A's.  His big-time strikeout rate is back in an eight start sample, though Harden remains prone to free passes and home runs.  Owed just $360K plus performance bonuses, claiming Harden would not be terribly risky despite his extensive injury history.

Over the next 48 hours teams can put in a waiver request and the winning team (lowest record who puts in a claim, starting in the opposite league; for a full waiver primer check out this) can try to work out a deal. Since Rich has been pitching decently (though two of his last three starts haven't been anything special), I'd expect somebody to put in a claim, because pitching is always in demand.

But if he slides all the way down to the Red Sox, I wouldn't be shocked if Theo revisited a deal. Of course, they were close to an agreement in July, but were scared away by his medical report. This doesn't mean that they didn't want him entirely, merely that his injuries made his value something lower than the Lars Anderson and a PTBNL package they had previously negotiated. With Oakland going nowhere, maybe Lars by himself would be enough. Or maybe the PTBNL could be stipulated to be a less talented player than whatever they previously agreed on.

There's actually some precedent for this. You may remember last year when the Sox seemed to trade Mike Lowell to Texas about fifteen times, the name Max Ramirez constantly popped up. The trade never worked out, but Theo eventually grabbed Max when Texas let him go in the offseason. Max didn't last long in Boston because of other roster moves, but the lesson holds: Sometimes Theo keeps his eye on a guy even if the original deal didn't work out.

Clay Buchholz is starting to show signs of coming back, Tim Wakefield continues to give us quality innings, and Erik Bedard has been fine. John Lackey has won six straight and managed to not be murdered by an unstable Red Sox fan. But you can always use more pitching. Keep an eye out over the next two days for any Sox involvement in this.

Red Sox appear close to acquiring Rich Harden

As we're seeing with the on-again-off-again Ubaldo Jimenez to the Indians deal, nothing's final until it's final this time of year, but Twitter is abuzz with news that a Rich Harden for Lars Anderson swap is in the works.

Even I, who have been shouting from the rooftops (literally, you may have seen me climbing random buildings and yelling at you) that the Sox stand pat, think this is a good move. The key is what the PTBNL will be. Assuming it's somebody of little consequence, I give Rich a hearty "Welcome aboard."

And sayonara to Lars Anderson, who once tittilated Red Sox fans with his ascent through our farm system, only to be held back by...something. All I know is he got worse and worse and is now a castoff in a deal for a guy who can't pitch 60 innings without getting hurt.

We'll have more for you in tomorrow's morning dump as to whether this deal is actually going through -- and hopefully more info on the PTBNL.

Taking a look at the Sox prospects values

It's MLB Trading season, and to prepare, Alex Speier over at EEI has a solid breakdown of the Sox prospects that would be brought up in any trade discussions.  Speier approaches it not from a Sox perspective, but what perceived value the prospects have to other squads.  He breaks the prospects down into 4 tiers:

Top Tier: Will MIddlebrooks and Anthony Ranaudo

Tweeners: Ryan Kalish, Josh Reddick and Jose Iglesias

Second Tier: Bryce Brentz, Brandon Jacobs, Felix Doubront, Ryan Lavarnway, Kyle Weiland, Chih-Hsieh Chiang, Xander Bogaerts, Yamaico Navarro, Sean Coyle and Alex Wilson

Noteworthy: Drake Britton, Stolmy Pimentel, Lars Anderson, Garin Cecchini and Stephen Fife

The biggest takeaway from this list is the fact that we have a guy in our system named "Xander Bogaerts"!  How did I now know this?  Why is that not common knowledge?  Why doesn't Xander have his own TV show?   Apparently I need to play closer attention to Greenville.

Shocking how far Lars Anderson has fallen.  Not sure what you do with him at this point.  He has no real future with the Sox, and that clearly plays a role in how much you can get for him in a swap.  The Sox only course with him is to either dump him for whatever they can get (or use him as a throw-in), or let him stew in the minors for a few seasons and hope he develops some value.  Not great.

I also think that Reddick has done enough at the Major League level to vault himself into the top-tier, but I doubt (read: desperately hope) that Theo would even entertain moving him.  We still have that hole in RF to fill in 2012.

For Iglesias, not surprisingly, his bat is what's keeping him from the top tier. 

“No matter how good his glove is he has to hit some, doesn’t he?” mused one evalutor.

However, anoter evaluator insists that Iglesias’ swing will ensure that he can improve, since he shows the hand-eye coordination to make consistent contact. That evaluator noted that it would be premature to dismiss a player’s offensive potential based on his struggles as a 21-year-old, and suggested that while he has dipped from his position as a top chip, he would still represent a tweener.

“I think his value is still high, even though he hasn’t put up the offensive numbers you like to see,” said the evaluator. “His defense is off the charts. … And I think his bat will get better as he gets older and has more plate appearances.”

Don't let all that negative talk fool you, though.  There's not a team out there that wouldn't love to have Iglesias in their system. 

But it's 22 year old Will MIddlebrooks that's seen as the star of our system.  So much so, that Speier even mentions putting him at 3rd over Youk.  Gasp!

Middlebrooks is viewed as a future power hitting third baseman who will offer an impressive, well-rounded package of above-average offense and defense. He will be the first player about whom most teams will ask in trade conversations. That said, his value to the Sox is also substantial, given that he is expected to be big league-ready by the time that Kevin Youkilis’ contract expires. If Youkilis either departs or were to transition to DH, Middlebrooks is situated as his logical successor at third.

There's a solid breakdown of virtually every player listed above.  It's well worth the read.  Won't do anything to help you beat the heat, but let's be honest with eachother; You were just going to waste the rest of your Thursday afternoon anyway.

Here's to hoping we don't see Beltran in a Sox uniform in 2 weeks.

Your Morning Dump...where Marco and the rookies help out the old guy

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

Marco Scutaro was not supposed to play against the Tampa Bay Rays last night. Red Sox manager Terry Francona planned to give his shortstop the day off to rest his sore right shoulder.

But when Scutaro arrived at Fenway Park four hours before the game, he told Francona he would prefer to stay in the lineup because of how unexpectedly strong his shoulder felt.

“There haven’t been too many days like this,’’ Scutaro said. “I told him that if he wanted to give me a day off, make it on Friday. I wanted to be in there.’’

Scutaro felt a twinge of regret when he booted a ground ball in the first inning that led to an unearned run. But he more than made up for it by belting two home runs as the Sox rolled to an 11-5 victory.

Scutaro drove in three runs and matched his career high with four hits. He had the two home runs, a double, and a single in five trips to the plate.

“I guess I feel OK,’’ he said with a little smile.

Globe-Sox scoot past Tampa

Glad to see Marco go off like he did. Now watch his rotator cuff have a slight tear in it because that's how this season has gone. The rookies were out in full force and also deserve some credit. Ryan Kalish, Josh Reddick, and Lars Anderson (who got his 1st major league hit) go 6-for-14, scored three times, and drove in two. Looks like this group will be getting plenty of AB's together for the rest of the season and their production will be the talk of the offseason.

Wakefield pitched alright for a 44 year old knuckleballer. He got rocked early but held on long enough to get the W and get one more closer to the magical number of 193, which would make him the franchise leader. He wants to get it, everyone wants to see it, but will he be with the team long enough to do it? All he has to do is continue the long relief/spot starter role (even though he hates it but the rotation is set unless Dice is out of here) for two years and averages six (i'll say he gets one more this year to make him an even 12 away) wins a season, it's his. Considering the hard work he's done for the Sox both on and off the field he deserves a chance to get it.

On Page 2, Beltre's rank among third basemen

Our Lars Is Broken

I did not see this coming.

When Lars Anderson was called up to Pawtucket at the end of April, I was confident he'd go on a tear.  More than that, I assumed that he'd leave a wake of crushed baseballs, deflated pitchers and impregnated Rhode Island women on his rise to the majors.

Yeah, well, there's a reason I don't gamble.  From the Providence Journal:

Anderson, the lefty first baseman viewed by most as the top position prospect in the Boston organization, had not had a hit in the previous seven games. That covers 25 at-bats, all from the clean-up spot until the past two days.

The slump has dropped has average to .204 in 147 at-bats since being promoted from Portland April 29th, with four home runs and 16 RBI. Anderson is hitting a respectable .264 against right-handers. But he is an anemic .027 — that’s 1-for-37 — against lefties.

“I don’t know much about the left-on-left thing other than what I’ve seen here,” Pawtucket manager Torey Lovullo said of Anderson. “What I can evaluate here is that he’s making good passes at balls. He’s balanced. His hands are back. I just think that he needs to zone up the pitches he’s looking for left-on-left.

If Lovullo doesn't mind stepping aside for a moment, I think I can solve this dilemma.

My grandfather once told me the tale of a young pitcher.  Went by the name of Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn.  Had an arm like a howitzer, but couldn't locate his pitches.  Then one day his manager realized Vaughn suffered from poor eye sight.  He hooked Vaughn up with a pair of eye glasses, Vaughn took the Cleveland Indians to the playoffs, and the rest is history.  They even ended up writing a song about him.

Strap a pair of glasses on Lars and let the bat fly.  Ladies of Rhode Island, watch out.

Sox Lose A Good One

While Red Sox Nation was celebrating Lars Anderson's promotion to AAA, Kevin Frandsen wandered the deserted streets of Pawtucket, cap in hand, unsure of what the future held.

A Red Sox for only a few weeks, Frandsen finally thought he had found a permanent temporary home in Rhode Island.  A second baseman from the made-up-sounding town of Los Gatos, California, Frandsen joined the Sox midway through Spring Training in a trade with the Giants.  Literally for a bag of money.

Knocking in 4 runs in his 62 at-bats this season, the future looked bright for the man named "Participant in the Arizona Fall League" not once, but on three separate occasions. 

Frandsen has already overcome both injury and personal tragedy on his path to the big leagues, but nothing could prepare him for Lars Anderson.

The smallest state in the US, most baseball analysts question whether Rhode Island is big enough to contain Lars Anderson's talent alone.  Sox brass quickly realized that if Frandsen was left on the Pawtucket roster, a power struggle would be unavoidable.  Frandsen was the odd man out.  

Place on waivers by the Sox, the Angels quickly placed a claim on Frandsen.

Sometimes, when one door closes, another opens.

Kevin Frandsen woke up a Red Sox and went to bed an Angel.

In all seriousness, I clearly know nothing of Kevin Frandsen beyond some nuggets I skimmed off of his Wikipedia page, but by all accounts he was, at the very least, a great clubhouse presence.

From Projo.com

Infielder Kevin Frandsen, who was designated for assignment Wednesday to make room for Alan Embree on the 40-man roster, was claimed by the Los Angeles Angels and is believed to be enroute to their Triple-A affiliate.

A Frandsen jersey was hung in the dugout as a tribute to the popular teammate before today's game. PawSox manager Torey Lovullo said it was well deserved.

"He was a victim of the numbers crunch. He did a nice job for us. It's just the nature of the business, and he's moving on," Lovullo said.

"He made an impression on a lot of the guys over the three weeks he was here. That's a credit to him. He was a good teammate, he hustled, he was a spark. He's a good baseball player," Lovullo said.

Lars Anderson promoted to Pawtucket

Via everyone on Twitter (OK, specifically, @AmalieBenjamin and @NickCafardo, looks like Amalie was first), 1B Lars Anderson has been promoted from the AA Portland Sea Dogs to AAA Pawtucket Red Sox.

In 71 plate appearances this year, Lars had 5 homers and 16 RBI, while hitting .355/.408/.677. He rose fast within the Sox system, receiving a lot of praise coming into 2009, but struggled mightily in his first full season at Portland, going .233/.328/.345.

The Sox must be confident that his improvement this year, despite a small sample size, is a sign of what he will be. It's more in line with his single A and high-A numbers, as well as his partial season with the Sea Dogs in 2008.

It's also a piece of news that should catch the eye of Mike Lowell and, more obviously David Ortiz. Theo has a history of making bold roster moves (ahem, Nomar, Manny), and he's never been afraid to call up a guy whose time has come (see Youk, Pedroia). He hasn't said anything about this, and more than likely Lars will hang out in Rhode Island until September call-ups. But this is certainly something to keep an eye on.