Boston's 2B- sleeper chances?

[gabenterprises]

With Bellhorn struggling, anyone have any sleeper thoughts for the Boston 2B in lieu of Bellhorn, if it comes to that?

[Trot Nixon]

Well, there's been talks on the radio that would move Mueller to 2nd and Youkilis to 3rd sending Bellhorn to the bench. Youkilis would be an upgrade over the strikeout king Bellhorn but Mueller doesn't wanna play 2nd unless he absolutely needs too. He also has bad knees and doesn't really have the range to play 2nd. Another option might be send Youkillis to 2nd but I'm sure this isn't likely to happen.

The final solution would be to call up Dustin Pedroia, my boy, from Double A. He's tearing up the league down there (take a look at his stats in my sig) and is probably gonna get the call when the rosters expand come the end of the season.

Terry is a players coach and doesn't like to give up on players...see Embree so I'm not too sure if we're gonna see a change at 2nd anytime soon.

[acsguitar]

ahh already too many 2b to count! ahhh..thanks for the info though!

[Transmogrifier]

Bellhorn is a pretty much league-average secondbaseman. He ks, sure, but doesn't hit into the double play, and gets very deep into the counts.

He's great at turning the double play and above-average on defense.

Unless a secondbaseman comes cheap in a trade or if the Sox think Pedroia is ready, he'll be there for the year.

[gabenterprises]

Thanks! I think after seeing Francona stick by him in the playoffs, only to be proven right, it'll take his average to dip below .200 for him to be demoted. The reason I post this is I'm starting to wonder if that might happen... Thanks for the heads up on Dustin.

[jzfran]

Though I like Dustin, I see the Sox turning Hanley into a 2B. After getting the longterm deal with Edgar Renteria, I dont see what else to do with Ramirez. I saw a game of his in Portland last year where he hit a HR, stole 2nd and 3rd on back to back itches and went 3-4. He really impressed me in the field as well. He is our top prospect so I dot see him waiting years for Edgar to be gone. They should just put him at 2B.

[gabenterprises]

Interesting take on Hanley. Seems like you may be prescient. We'll see...

[Transmogrifier]

Though I like Dustin, I see the Sox turning Hanley into a 2B. After getting the longterm deal with Edgar Renteria, I dont see what else to do with Ramirez. I saw a game of his in Portland last year where he hit a HR, stole 2nd and 3rd on back to back itches and went 3-4. He really impressed me in the field as well. He is our top prospect so I dot see him waiting years for Edgar to be gone. They should just put him at 2B.

The odds of that are slim, considering Dustin was moved to second, not Hanley. If Hanley is not traded, he will probably play center.

[Trot Nixon]

The odds of that are slim, considering Dustin was moved to second, not Hanley. If Hanley is not traded, he will probably play center.

You answered this before I could, Hanley will probably be moved to center but not until after this year because IMO if Hanley moves to center this year, it shows that we are gonna let Damon walk at the end of the year and will probably cause for some uneasy times in the locker room. Damon being a FA really scares me cause the Yanks need a CF and lead off hitter like Damon and this obviously would not be good for the Sox to let him go there.

Also, Pedroia was a SS coming into the Sox system and this year they moved him over to 2nd so he could play side by side with Hanley, so I doubt they'll also move Hanley as well.

I also saw Hanley play when I was down in Spring Training, I was VERY impressed by the way he plays, he's very aggressive on the base paths and I saw him scretch a sure single into a double, very quick. Can't wait to see what he can do for the big league team next year.

[Transmogrifier]

Hanley will probably be moved to center but not until after this year because IMO if Hanley moves to center this year, it shows that we are gonna let Damon walk at the end of the year and will probably cause for some uneasy times in the locker room. Damon being a FA really scares me cause the Yanks need a CF and lead off hitter like Damon and this obviously would not be good for the Sox to let him go there.

I would be psyched if the Yankees signed Damon! If Damon does not sign with the Sox it's because he likely won't take a three year deal.

Thus, if the Yankees sign him, he'll probably get four, or, hopefully, five years--making him 37 at the end of that contract. I would very much like that.