Minor firestorm brewing in Boston. Arroyo recently signed a cheapo extension with the Sox, pledging his loyalty to the city. Although he was never promised anything, an urban legend abounds that a "gentleman's agreement" was breached. There is no evidence to support such a claim, but it persists. Consequently, the results of this poll suggest a lot of Sox fans are unhappy with the trade. However, they're wrong. It's another great move by Theo Epstein. Sox needed to unload a starter and find someone to platoon with Nixon in RF against lefties (he is atrocious when facing southpaws, while Wily Mo is off the chain). Even if Wily Mo only maintains his current numbers, he provides a great bat against lefties, not to mention speed and defense sufficient to spell any outfielder in a time of need. Why is it important for the Sox to be strong against lefties? Think of a tall, ugly hurler residing four hours south... In addition, Arroyo was the odd man out in the rotation after a terrible spring, and using him as the spot starter/long man steals innings from Jonathan Papelbon, which is stupid. WMP may never pan out to be as good as some suggest, but this deal helps the Sox for this year and could help them immensely in the future.
Hard not to feel bad for Arroyo here. Maybe he shouldn't have been so naive about the cutthroat nature of the game, but still, you hate to see him effectively punished for being loyal to the club.
He wasn't being punished for being loyal.
he took a below-market salary because he wanted to stay in boston. now he's not going to be in Boston anymore and he's still stuck with a below-market salary. It seems unlikely (although anything's possible) that he would have done that without some assurance that Boston wasn't going to move him first chance they got. That seems a little sad to me, if not especially surprising given the nature of the sport.
As a Cards fan, I'm not sure how to feel about Arroyo, but I can tell you, Ks or not, I was NEVER comfortable facing Pena. He always found a way to stick us. Ciao, WMP!
WMP can sometimes do the job, but is pretty much never your best option. Same goes for Wily Mo Pena. Seriously, I've always been kind of down on this guy because his bad contract handcuffed the Reds for a long time and stunted his development, leaving him on the Reds bench for the last several years. The ESPN scouting report posted by jerseygirl is much more favorable than most others I've read. I've seen him Canseco some balls in the outfield pretty badly. For sure, the guy has some pretty high upside, but all his learning has to happen on the job at the cost of the major league club. I guess Boston is willing to see how high that price will be.
he took a below-market salary because he wanted to stay in boston Whoops. Remember this when the next thread about overpaid athletes starts up.
Red Sox do not give No Trade Clauses. That being said, at the time they signed Arroyo, they didn't have any plans to trade him and told him as such. That was four months ago. It has been said that his agent strongly advised him against signing the contract, but Arroyo did so otherwise. Yes, he wanted to stay in Boston, but he'd have to understand (and his agent would have told him) that without a No Trade Clause, he was vulnerable to be traded. It makes sense that they'd want to see how the plethora of pitching performed in ST, or if they could accomodate Wells desire to go west or move Clement instead of moving versatile Arroyo. I believe they wanted to trade Clement badly but his 9m/yr contract was prohibitive to any other team without Boston eating 75% of it. I would not be surprised if they tried to move Clement in this deal instead of Arroyo, but the cash considerations became too expensive. I also feel that this is building for 2007 and beyond and definitely makes the team better in the longhaul.
Sox needed to unload a starter and find someone to platoon with Nixon in RF against lefties (he is atrocious when facing southpaws, while Wily Mo is off the chain) .291, 7hr, 18rbi, .345obp v. LHP is slightly above average. i'm sure this guy has Tremendous Upside Potential (or so we've been told for the last 7 years), but i would save all chain related superlatives for another player, lest we say something that makes us look silly.
As a Cards fan, I'm not sure how to feel about Arroyo, but I can tell you, Ks or not, I was NEVER comfortable facing Pena. He always found a way to stick us. wolfdad -- perhaps you are thinking of that moon shot he hit off of Morris last year? Other than the Rickie Weeks shot up into Big Mac land, that was the biggest homer for sure against the Cardinals last season.
I won't...miss the feeling that every single pitch he throws has a good chance of being yanked out of the park. He makes me want to grab a bat myself. Hear hear. Love the kid to death, but I held my breath a lot when he was on the hill. How he got away with hanging so many curveballs in Fenway still mystifies me.
.291, 7hr, 18rbi, .345obp v. LHP is slightly above average Counting stats like HR and RBI don't say a lot for a guy who didn't play a full season. I'm too lazy to look it up, but wasn't his SLG like .591 against lefties?
Must be referring to 04?
Arroyo's agent, Greg Clifton, will be on WEEI at 9. You can listen to streaming radio on weei.com - but go a few minutes earlier to set up an account.
