Friday, December 30, 2011

The Right Field Situation Post-Bailey Trade


Earlier this offseason, the Red Sox were rumored to be in the mix for  some right fielders with Reddick being unproven in the majors. Carlos Beltran's name was thrown around, but he signed with the Cardinals. Michael Cuddyer's name was as well, but he signed with the Rockies. Since the Red Sox traded Josh Reddick over the Oakland in return for Andrew Bailey and Ryan Sweeney, they are in serious need of a right fielder. However, since they waited so long, there is only a small market of cheap, mediocre right fielders. Let's look at some options to how the Red Sox could fill the Red Sox right field vacancy in 2012. On the team right now, they have Darnell McDonald and Ryan Sweeney (right) who could potentially fill that spot. This could work perfectly for the Red Sox as Sweeney is a lefty and McDonald is a righty. Each were bad against their pitchers of their respective hands, batting .159 and .189 off of lefties and righties, respectively. However, off of the opposite pitchers, they batted .286 and .260- something which could make an above average platooning partnership. Going out for acquisitions, some available options are Magglio Ordonez (.255/5/32), Ryan Spilborghs (.210/3/22), Andruw Jones (.247/13/33), Ryan Ludwick (.237/13/75), Cody Ross (.240/14/52), Scott Hairston (.235/7/24), and Yoennis Cespedes (.333/33/99 in 90 games in Cuba). Of these, Ordonez and Cespedes would be the most expensive. The least expensive would be Spilborghs and Hairston. In the middle of these would be Andruw Jones, Ryan Ludwick, and Cody Ross. All three are righties, which is what the Red Sox need in their lineup. Against lefties: Ross batted .234, Jones batted .286, and Ludwick batted .264. By these stats, Jones would be the best option for the Red Sox. By fielding statistics, Ludwick has managed a 3.7 UZR/150, Jones has managed a 9.3, and Ross has managed a -0.4. By all my stats together, I would say that Jones would be a great move to fill that position for the Red Sox. However, they could easily manage with platooning McDonald and Sweeney.

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