Throw in a jar of mustard and PTBNL and I’ll give you Mike Lincoln as well.

GRF: I am very late to this thres, but what stood out to me is that you could say “blank or Willie Taveras” and pretty much fill in the blank with anything and I would take it. 12th pitcher, 3rd catcher, ham sandwich, it would all be good.

Mmmm… I do like a good ham sandwich now and then.

I know I’m on record regarding this point when he was first acquired. People were pointing to metrics, and by watching him play about 50 games a year with Houston and Colorado it was clear, absolutely stinking clear, that his defense was not as good as what we let go of. His speed covered some errors, that’s all. He’s another proof that defensive stats are dubious at best.

By the way, Pinson, nice sum up.

It’s more than in vogue to dump on him here, it’s an obsession, and there’s a reason for it.
For whatever reason, he did not seem to want to play last year. I believe he had a leg problem for most of the season. He was so cautious about trying to steal, what sense does that make ? The injury scenario comes back to management. Why would you put Taveras out there (with a bad leg) every day ? It takes away his entire game.

Watching him play, he’s just not a good player. People say he should draw more walks. He can’t draw walks, pitchers pitch to him like he’s the opposing pitcher. When he’d take pitches he’d quickly be 0-2.

He’s supposed to be a very good bunter. But when that’s the only way he can get on, it takes the bunt hit away. And when the situation called for a sac bunt, he couldn’t do it.

My biggest disappointment was with his defense. I do not care what the metrics say. How many times did he run all the way to the wall, to have the ball carom past him for a triple ? It seemed like a nightly event. How many times did the other team take an extra base on his weak arm ?

I don’t like the tendency of blogs to pick a scapegoat. I complained in 2008 that when Corey would do something good, it wouldn’t be mentioned. Last year I complained in the same way about Gonzo.
But Taveras plays like he doesn’t have a clue and like he doesn’t care anyway, I can’t tolerate that.

The Red Sox asked Dustin Pedroia if he’d be able to play shortstop, according to ESPN’s Peter Gammons. Pedroia’s thoughts:

“They’ve put it out there and I’ve told them I’m all for it. I can do it. I can’t wait for Tito [Terry Francona] to call me and ask, ‘Can you do it?’ I can do it. I really want to do it.”

Right now it appears that the Red Sox are just considering the switch for Pedroia. As Gammons notes, shifting Pedroia would create flexibility, allowing the Sox to pass on Marco Scutaro and pursue Orlando Hudson or even Brandon Phillips.

The Reds talked themselves into thinking that if they could just change Willy’s approach (get him to hit the ball on the ground more) he’d go right back to being a .300 hitter. (Thank you, Jamie Quirk!)