Ryan Dempster Signs With the Red Sox

I don't expect Dempster to add any real value to this team. Seems to be a real fear-based, desperation move on Cherrington's part. I'd say there's a 10-20% chance he actually has any significant impact for good on the team the next two years. We shall see.

If his performance with Texas was a sign of how it will go for him in the AL...

HPC said:

If his performance with Texas was a sign of how it will go for him in the AL...

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He pitched well for TX in half his starts, but doing well half the time is not going to help Boston win anything, unless they make him their #5 starter and hope he outduels other team's #5 guys? In that case, he could win 60% of his games. He's a career 124-124, 4.33 ERA pitcher. That's not going to impact the Sox team too much, IMO.

Matt Clement 2.0

Guys, he is much better than you are giving him credit for. Look at his numbers PRE-injury last year. He was leading the NL in ERA until he got hurt. He was never 100% after missing those 3 weeks towards the end of the season. You will be happy with him, trust me.

I don't hate the signing, as Dempster is a decent pitcher who is very durable and can easily give you 180-200+ innings. We might have given him a tad too much money but it strengthens our rotation and more pitching depth never hurts. I'm not surprised by the signing because the Red Sox have been interested in Dempster for a couple years now.

rebelpawn said:

Matt Clement 2.0

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There's a name I haven't heard in a while, lol. This signing might work out a tad better than that one did.

bmp1971 said:

He pitched well for TX in half his starts, but doing well half the time is not going to help Boston win anything, unless they make him their #5 starter and hope he outduels other team's #5 guys? In that case, he could win 60% of his games. He's a career 124-124, 4.33 ERA pitcher. That's not going to impact the Sox team too much, IMO.

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He has a 3.74 ERA over his past 5 seasons, so as a #3-4 guy I believe that will make a solid impact.

scotty216brs said:

He has a 3.74 ERA over his past 5 seasons, so as a #3-4 guy I believe that will make a solid impact.

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I hope you're right. He's being regarded as a good clubhouse guy, durable, etc, so it can't be all bad. I'd rather invest that money elsewhere and lean on a few younger arms like De La Rosa, Webster, etc. Enough with these bloated contracts for guys that can't make it past the 4th inning in half their starts. I just ain't into that sh-t. If every game was incentive based, we'd see a lot more excitement in the game of baseball. Big contracts make the majority of these guys lose their edge.

bmp1971 said:

I hope you're right. He's being regarded as a good clubhouse guy, durable, etc, so it can't be all bad. I'd rather invest that money elsewhere and lean on a few younger arms like De La Rosa, Webster, etc. Enough with these bloated contracts for guys that can't make it past the 4th inning in half their starts. I just ain't into that sh-t. If every game was incentive based, we'd see a lot more excitement in the game of baseball. Big contracts make the majority of these guys lose their edge.

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I agree but Dempster can easily give us 6-7 innings and it's only a 2 year contract. Webster and De La Rosa are probably still a year away from making a big impact on the team so Dempster is the middle of the rotation stopgap until they are ready. I'm just glad the Red Sox signed a pitcher and didn't trade away prospects to get one, and also signed one that doesn't cost us a draft pick.

I'm interested in seeing how Doubront does next year with a full season now under his belt. Hopefully now his arm will hold up for the whole season...I'm not too concerned as this year was the most innings he has ever thrown in professional ball. Lester should have a bounce back year, Buchholz will be solid assuming he doesn't implode the first couple months again, and Lackey....well I think a healthy Lackey will be decent enough to eat some innings. He is probably the reason we won't give long contracts to FA pitchers anymore. With that said our rotation should be an improvement over last season and our bullpen will still be in tact so even having a slightly lesser offense we shouldn't finish in the basement (at least I hope not :???

We have some good young arms so our rotation is looking pretty set the next several years (barring a trade, but I think BC is smart enough not to mess with our future)

scotty216brs said:

There's a name I haven't heard in a while, lol. This signing might work out a tad better than that one did.

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The guy could get hit by a bus right now and would probably still be a better than Clement....

I believe that Matt Clement had a decent 1st half of his 1st season with the Red Sox before he was hit in the head. If I remember correctly he may have made the all star team.

I'm not sure I'd even bet on the Red Sox breaking .500 at this point, BUT they look like they have a lot of potential to become a TEAM again, like in 04', when there was a lot of balance. If Middlebrooks steps up like I think he will, and Papi, Ells, and Pedroia stay healthy, the team should be competitive. And who knows, perhaps Bogaerts and Brentz can make an impact in the 2nd half if they do well the 1st half down on the farm. There is potential in 2013, but everything would have to fall into place perfectly, and that is a lot to ask based on the past couple years. If Lester and Buchholz don't return to form, there is little hope of getting beyond May with even a glimmer of hope.

Anyway, how many days til pitchers and catchers report?

RYAN DUMPSTER!!!

ThoseBackPages said:

RYAN DUMPSTER!!!

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bmp1971 said:

I'm not sure I'd even bet on the Red Sox breaking .500 at this point, BUT they look like they have a lot of potential to become a TEAM again, like in 04', when there was a lot of balance. If Middlebrooks steps up like I think he will, and Papi, Ells, and Pedroia stay healthy, the team should be competitive. And who knows, perhaps Bogaerts and Brentz can make an impact in the 2nd half if they do well the 1st half down on the farm. There is potential in 2013, but everything would have to fall into place perfectly, and that is a lot to ask based on the past couple years. If Lester and Buchholz don't return to form, there is little hope of getting beyond May with even a glimmer of hope.

Anyway, how many days til pitchers and catchers report?

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TOO MANY!!!

I am staying cautiously optimistic for the upcoming season....we'll see what Dempster does over a full season in the AL.