Sox sign Keppinger

[blandman]

Originally Posted by SaltyPretzel

Meanwhile, the Yanks are offering a 1-year 12M deal for Youk.

http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/stor...ording-sources

Well, I think Keppinger is better at this stage, so that makes this not look as bad.

[aryzner]

Originally Posted by SaltyPretzel

Meanwhile, the Yanks are offering a 1-year 12M deal for Youk.

http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/stor...ording-sources

Wow. The Sox definitely don't need Youkilis for that price.

[JB98]

Originally Posted by blandman

IDK...I mean, we're gonna get his offensive production and Keppinger's no matter the position anyway. Keppinger is better than average at 2B. Beckham might be better defensively there, but we might be better defensively overall with these pieces if he plays third.

I completely disagree. I think Beckham is much better at 2B than 3B, and I think Keppinger is much better at 3B than 2B. I don't think there should even be a debate about how the infield should be aligned, given current personnel.

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by JB98

I completely disagree. I think Beckham is much better at 2B than 3B, and I think Keppinger is much better at 3B than 2B. I don't think there should even be a debate about how the infield should be aligned, given current personnel.

Agreed. If the Sox want to go get another 3B and bump Keppinger to second and Gordon to the bench that's fine, but right now I think the IF is pretty set.

[sunofgold]

Remember Don kessinger. Like this move. He looks like a Kepper.

[blandman]

Originally Posted by JB98

I completely disagree. I think Beckham is much better at 2B than 3B, and I think Keppinger is much better at 3B than 2B. I don't think there should even be a debate about how the infield should be aligned, given current personnel.

Originally Posted by doublem23

Agreed. If the Sox want to go get another 3B and bump Keppinger to second and Gordon to the bench that's fine, but right now I think the IF is pretty set.

Are you simply basing that on Beckham? Because at least he CAN play an adequate 3rd. Keppinger is a utility guy that's hardly a utility guy. He should be at 1st or 2nd, but has played short and 3rd because he's sound fundamentally. But he's got way too little range and a really weak arm for that half of the infield on any sort of regular basis.

[JB98]

Originally Posted by blandman

Are you simply basing that on Beckham? Because at least he CAN play an adequate 3rd. Keppinger is a utility guy that's hardly a utility guy. He should be at 1st or 2nd, but has played short and 3rd because he's sound fundamentally. But he's got way too little range and a really weak arm for that half of the infield on any sort of regular basis.

No, I'm basing it on what I've seen from both players. I agree that Keppinger doesn't have a lot of range, and I think that shows up more at 2B than 3B. I wouldn't want him to play in the middle infield as any more than a fill-in.

I think Keppinger will be OK at 3B. No Gold Glove in his future or anything like that, but he's better than some of the bums who have played the position for the Sox in the past.

[blandman]

Originally Posted by JB98

No, I'm basing it on what I've seen from both players. I agree that Keppinger doesn't have a lot of range, and I think that shows up more at 2B than 3B. I wouldn't want him to play in the middle infield as any more than a fill-in.

I think Keppinger will be OK at 3B. No Gold Glove in his future or anything like that, but he's better than some of the bums who have played the position for the Sox in the past.

2B is more of a fundamental position, with lots of short range throws and receptions. Range is nice there but not the expectation (it's further from home plate than third and hot smashes generally come only from lefties). Range and a strong arm are the two most important parts of 3B. You have to cover a lot of ground really fast and then fire across the diamond 120 feet.

I don't think Keppinger will be okay at 3B. Or rather, I don't think our pitching staff will be okay with Keppinger at 3rd base for 100+ games.

It should be noted that 2B is the position Keppinger has played the most, and he's actually good at it.

[Tragg]

Originally Posted by JB98

I completely disagree. I think Beckham is much better at 2B than 3B, and I think Keppinger is much better at 3B than 2B. I don't think there should even be a debate about how the infield should be aligned, given current personnel.

I think Beckhams's good at 2nd and 3rd, Keppinger's not good at 2nd, but since I've never seen him play 3rd, I'll vote for him to play there.

[cws05champ]

Good move....now I can go back to hating Youkulis.

[TheVulture]

Originally Posted by blandman

2B is more of a fundamental position, with lots of short range throws and receptions..

I completely disagree with this assessment of the second base position compared to third base. I'd rather have the plus arm at 2b for three reasons. First, IMO, the throw from the second basemen when he is on the grass behind 2b and moving directly away from 1st base is probably the toughest throw an infielder can make. Secondly, the second basemen turns the majority of double plays, I want a cannon making those throws. Lastly, the second basemen makes nearly all the relay throws from the OF to thirdbase and around half of those to home. Again, I want a cannon. Sure, the throw from deep at the third base line requires a good arm, but most of the throws a thirdbasemen makes he has momentum towards first and those throws from the third base line are less frequent than those throws from the second basemen.

[KenBerryGrab]

And range is far less important at third than at second. At third, if a guy has hands in the mouth of the cannon, he'll be OK, but a second baseman needs to go into the hole in both directions.

[tstrike2000]

Originally Posted by blandman

Yeah I'd like him a lot better at 2B. If we're gonna just punt offense from one of the spots, why not move Gordon back to 3rd? He's adequate there defensively.

You could, but since Gordon has been playing gold glove caliber defense at 2B, plus being his most recent position, it would be too tough to move him away from there. Another huge reason to keep Gordon at 2B is he can still throw guys out with balls he fields that pull him toward CF. Having that gun when he's being pulled toward second is nice. We need to continue having a stud defense up the middle.

It sounds like Keppinger has more experience at 3B and is comfortable there, so all we're doing is swapping Youk.

[johnnyg83]

Originally Posted by amsteel

3 yrs of Keppinger = 1 yr of Youkilis

Unless Keppinger regresses to Morel-level production this is a good deal

This I think is the key.

Let's use the other $ from Youk and AJ on a catcher, a UI and some relievers. Might be able to get all of that for what we would have paid Youk ... or close.

[wilburaga]

This discussion of the relative merits of the skill infield positions makes me realize how much I miss Juan Uribe. Has any other Sox player ever had a significant tenure as a regular at shortstop, second base, and third base? I'm not advocating getting him back, but a large percentage of my favorite Sox memories feature his fat ass. And cannon arm.