Two-time All-Star closers with 2.07 career ERAs come with a price, and such was the case when the Red Sox landed Andrew Bailey (along with outfielder Ryan Sweeney) last week. The Sox had to part ways with outfielder Josh Reddick, right-hander Raul Alcantara and first baseman Miles Head, with Reddick having been the primary piece whom the A’s had to have in the deal — the young starting outfielder with several above-average tools (hitting for average, power, defense, arm) who will be under team control for the next five seasons.

The Sox didn’t have to give up any of their top prospects in the deal, but even so, the cost of those three players was meaningful. Reddick, after all, had been penciled in as the Sox’ opening day right fielder in 2012 prior to the deal.

In many ways, that fact was remarkable. Reddick entered professional baseball from a position of almost complete obscurity. He was undrafted out of high school. The Red Sox were one of three teams (along with the Reds and Angels) to show any real interest in scouting him in his one year at Middle Georgia College. Even though Sox scout Rob English and cross-checker Mike Rikard had evaluated the outfielder as a sixth-round talent, he lasted into the 17th round because the team was confident that it wasn’t in jeopardy of losing Reddick in the draft in the earlier rounds.

“This kid was a raw junior college kid who (Red Sox scouts) dug out of nowhere,” Sox assistant GM Mike Hazen noted in this look at the process that led Reddick to the Sox. “It’s a true scouting story. It’s a true, good evaluation, a gut instinct signing.”

Indeed, one can make the case that Reddick represents as impressive a “true scouting story” as the Sox have had in the last 10 drafts. He had virtually no profile when he was taken, and even though he had a great summer league performance that put him on the scouting map after he’d been drafted, Reddick received a relatively modest $140,000 bonus when he signed with the Sox. Read the rest of this entry »

Kevin Youkilis hit a career-low .258 in 2011. (AP)

Is it time to trade Kevin Youkilis?

Well, not ideally. We are clearly at the 70 cents on the dollar stage with Youkilis, who had his worst offensive season in 2011, a batting average 41 points below his career number and an on-base percentage 18 points lower than his .391 career mark. Throw in that he played 120 games last season — and 102 the year before — and will be 33 in April and you’ve got kind of a lousy trade chip, no?

But this is where the Red Sox are. I’m not certain they occupy a position of real strength when it comes to trade talks. Has Ben Cherington been cautious in his first three months as GM? You could call it that, I suppose — not sure I would have given up top prospects for Gio Gonzalez (career 1.49 road WHIP) or handed Carlos Beltran a two-year, $26 million deal. No problem with the Sox punting on both.

I have no clue if Cherington (or Larry Lucchino or whoever is calling the shots) is going to be a competent general manager, but I’m willing to give the benefit of the doubt for now.

Here’s the problem, though: The Sox have been the third-best team in the AL East each of the last two seasons and right now are no better than the team that walked off the field after Game No. 162 in Baltimore. They’ve basically flipped Jonathan Papelbon for Mark Melancon. Makes sense from a business perspective — no way I’m giving any closer 50 million bucks — but you can’t make the case with any confidence that Melancon has a better year than Papelbon in 2012. What else you got? Nick Punto with his career .327 slugging percentage and intangibles to spare?

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Daniel Bard

Speaking for the first time since the end of the 2011 season, Red Sox pitcher Daniel Bard appeared on “The Bradford Files” podcast with Rob Bradford (click here to listen) to touch on a variety of subjects, including the transformation he is making in regards to becoming a starting pitcher.

“I think it would be a great personal challenge,” Bard said of starting. “I think it’s something that I truly believe I can do. I think I’d be lying to you if I said I didn’t want it. Either one’s technically a promotion for me, if you want to look at it that way. And I don’t think anyone’s not looking to get promoted within their job. Like I said, either one I’m more than happy to do. And if it means going back to doing the the role I’ve been doing, that may happen, too, which is fine.

“I wanted to let them know, I tried to make it as clear I could to Ben [Cherington] and Bobby [Valentine], that I had no reservations about going into the rotation and I was 100 percent willing and ready to take on that challenge. I didn’t want Ben to be worried about my mindset going into it. I had to make that very clear, I think, just so they wouldn’t hesitate.”

Following are more highlights from the conversation.

On how the offseason has unfolded: “It’s been weird. It’s almost like I’m watching the whole thing happen as an outsider’s point of view. I’ll hear things and then talk to somebody and then hear something totally different. But pretty much the way it went was, within probably two weeks after the season ended, I spoke to Ben, and I think it was pretty shortly after he had gotten the job, maybe right after. For whatever reason, I was pretty confident we were going to re-sign [Jonathan Papelbon]. As good a year as he had, I kind of thought he maybe wanted to come back. That’s the vibe I kind of got from him, actually. I gave it at least a 50-50 chance that he was going to come back and I’d be pitching probably in the same role as I have been.

“So, I told Ben when I heard that [John] Lackey was having surgery and [Tim Wakefield]‘s a free agent that I saw two openings in the starting rotation. For the last two years, I hadn’t said it much, but in my own head, just watching the guys in this league that had a lot of success in a starting role, I just felt like I could do that. I’ve got as good or better raw stuff than them. I try to keep myself in good shape. I felt like everything I had pointed to that I could have success in that role.

“So, I told Ben that, and then when Pap signed with the Phillies, it wasn’t maybe a week or two after that, I kind of figured that whole starter thing would kind of subside and they may forget it even happened. I just figured once Pap was gone they wouldn’t be taking me out of the ‘pen as well. But it turns out they feel pretty strongly about me trying to become a starter, and I do, too. And as of right now, that’s how it stays.”

On the decision to make him a starter: “Obviously, they look at it and say, now that Pap’s gone, what are our options at closer? And I was probably part of that discussion as well as free agents and [Alfredo] Aceves and whoever else you want to throw in there. But I think that they had kind of in their minds said, hey, we’re going to make Bard a starter, and we’re going to stick with it. … A lot of things are subject to change, but as of now I’m going in preparing to start this year.”

On if he currently views himself as a starter: “Yeah, I think I have to. I feel like it would be really easy for me to go back to [closing]. To me, in my mind, there’s not a huge difference between the role I was pitching in and closing. You’re not asking me to anything a while lot different in that. When it comes to starting, it is a different mindset. Just for me, it’s not something I’ve done in a while. But I’ve said in the past, I see myself as a pitcher and I’m not going to drastically alter the way I throw or the way I pitch or anything. There’ll be a few things that need to change maybe a little bit just in my preparation. But I just think it’s a lot easier to go and become a starter and if we have to go back to the bullpen then make that move rather than vice versa.”

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DALLAS — It didn’t take long for former Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon to make an impression on  Charlie Manuel. The Phillies manager quickly sensed how much the closer relishes his line of work, and the degree to which he suited the championship ambitions of Philadelphia.

“When I first met him and talked to him, I liked him, saw a lot of determination, a lot of want-to. He gets excited,” said Manuel, whose team signed the free agent to a four-year, $50 million deal last month. “He looks like, when you start talking to him about closing, he looks like he wants you to give him the ball, let him go out there right then. That’s kind of how I felt. I said, ‘Look at this guy — he wants to pitch right now.’ He’s fired up. He comes across, he came across as a guy that, he wants to pitch. He likes being where he’s at. I feel good about it.”

That said, Manuel also had nothing but praise for the closer that he had with the Phillies in 2011 and who is now the top remaining free agent closer on the market. Ryan Madson emerged as a legitimate closer last season, saving 32 games with a 2.37 ERA and more than a strikeout an inning in his 62 relief appearances.

Manuel enjoyed watching the 31-year-old flourish in a role of greater responsibility, and said that he will be rooting for Madson as he takes his talents to a new team. While he suggested that having a more experienced closer such as Papelbon “came into play” when the Phillies were deciding whether to re-sign Madson or pursue Papelbon, Manuel offered praise for his the reliever.

“I think it came into play, especially from our organization’s standpoint of things,” said Manuel. “I’m really happy for Madson and I’m proud of what he did this past season. He established himself for me as a closer. He held his stuff most all of the season. His command got better. The separation of his pitches, his fastball to his changeup, was better. He learned, when he got two strikes on a guy, he learned how to finish them off. He also learned that he didn’t have to throw the ball over the plate a lot to do that.

“I think just the part of him being experienced, he kind of proved to himself that he could close. I used to tell you guys that if he ever closed four, five games in a row out, he’d be on his own. It kind of took him a couple years to do it but he did it. After that, he settled in and took off. I’m happy for him.”

DALLAS — On the one hand, a number of the top closers on the market have already found their homes this offseason. The Phillies got the ball rolling by signing Jonathan Papelbon away from the Red Sox to a four-year deal. The Marlins signed Heath Bell. The Rangers added Joe Nathan on a two-year deal. The Twins re-upped with Matt Capps on a one-year deal.

The Blue Jays, meanwhile, struck a deal with the White Sox to send highly regarded pitching prospect Nestor Molina to Chicago for right-hander Sergio Santos, a converted shortstop who had an eye-popping 13.1 strikeouts per nine innings as the White Sox closer last year.

“His stuff is just so good,” said Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos. “In our division, if you can get a guy with that kind of power stuff and strikeout ability, certainly it’s someone we feel has a chance to be a lock-down guy and for a long period of time.”

The Red Sox, according to a major league source, never engaged in serious discussions with the White Sox about Santos. Indeed, it appears that the White Sox did not shop Santos or make his potential availability widely known to generate a larger market for the right-hander.

Anthopoulos suggested that he had talked with White Sox GM Kenny Williams “about 85 times” over several months about Santos, typically receiving a flat no to inquiries, only to have the deal come together quickly late on Monday night in Chicago’s suite. Read the rest of this entry »

DALLAS — For closer Heath Bell, the progression seemed natural. At the beginning of the offseason, he thought that there might be a possibility that he would land with the Phillies. When the Phillies signed former Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, Bell assumed that Boston might come calling.

“Honestly, when [Papelbon] left the Red Sox, I thought there was an opportunity,” Bell said at the winter meetings, following a press conference where his three-year, $27 million deal with the Miami Marlins was announced. “I thought, ‘Red Sox would be cool. I’ve got an inside track. I know [Red Sox first baseman and former Padres teammate Adrian Gonzalez] real well.’

“I know Adrian made a couple phone calls. But for whatever reason, the contract that they offered wasn’t living up to what my guys thought we could get. They said other clubs did offer a little bit more. I thought this was the best fit for me and my family. The National League East is definitely open. The Marlins can definitely win this year.”

Since emerging as Padres closer in 2009, Bell has been among the best in the game. Over the last three years, he has a 2.36 ERA with more than a strikeout an inning while averaging 44 saves a year. That made him, along with Papelbon, one of the premier closers on the market this winter, but the Sox did not pursue him as aggressively as did Miami. Asked whether the Sox’ offer came up short in years or dollars, Bell, 34, said, “A little bit of both.”

The years, Bell suggested, were particularly important. He felt that teams that did not come up to three years would leave him in too uncertain a state going forward.

“I really wanted to know that I was going to be someplace for multiple years. I didn’t want to go someplace for a year or two. I wanted to build something there,” said Bell. “I’m a huge guy of the community. I wanted to do as much as I can to help the organization out. I don’t think in one or two years you can do that. I think you can put your stamp on two, three, four years.”

Now, he will have the opportunity to do that with a Marlins team that is suddenly spending more aggressively than any other free agent in baseball this offseason as it prepares to move into a new ballpark.

Ben Cherington (left) welcomed Bobby Valentine to the Red Sox Thursday. (AP)

Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington joined the Mut & Merloni show Friday morning, one day after introducing Bobby Valentine as manager.

Cherington took the hosts through the process of how Valentine was selected, explaining why he was added to the list of candidates late.

“I met with Bobby, I think it was the first week of November, third or fourth, somewhere around there,” Cherington recalled. “I had a couple-of-hours meeting with him where we really just talked baseball, talked about the managing job, talked a little bit about our team. That was the first time I had met him. And I was impressed. He struck me clearly as a really smart guy, engaging, passionate guy, cared a lot. And he really wanted another shot at managing in the big leagues. And he was particularly interested in Boston, he fit and the chance to win and all those things.

“After that meeting I began to think about it more, but still focused on the candidates that we were bringing in formally. I think a couple of things happened as the process moved forward. No. 1, we got to know a lot of candidates and really enjoyed that process. Everyone we talked to would be capable of being an excellent manager. Certainly, Dale Sveum‘s going to get that chance in Chicago.

“But we did feel as we moved deeper into the process that experienced mattered. I think [it was] when we went from thinking about our next manager in sort of a theoretical sense to thinking about it in more of a practical sense and a real sense. It’s not just philosophy and qualities and the sort-of softer subjects, but the guy’s got to hit the ground running and know how to navigate the land mines that exist in a clubhouse and put our team in a position to be good right away. We did start to emphasize experience more as we got deeper into the process.

“As that happened, we talked to Gene Lamont. And as we were doing that, I was doing more research and doing work on Bobby and getting to know him better through other people. At that point we decided to include him in the process formally. And as I said yesterday, there was an interest on our part to sort of shorten the window that he was included as a public candidate because of the position he was in at ESPN and the potential conflict there. I just thought it would be uncomfortable for everyone, including Bobby and certainly ESPN, to have him out there publicly acknowledged as a candidate while he was doing that job.

“So, there was a variety of factors for it. In the end we felt that Bobby and Gene were the best two candidates for the job and worked a lot on it, again over Thanksgiving thought a lot about it, that weekend after Thanksgiving. And ultimately, I can’t remember exactly when it was, but sometime Monday I recommended to ownership that we offer him the job.”

Cherington said that while Sveum was a solid early candidate, in the end he might not have been the right fit for the Sox this year.

“I don’t think so,” Cherington said, explaining: “As we got deeper into it and we actually got into formal interviews and talked about X’s and O’s and talked about what actually would you do in this situation and this situation, what would you do on May 15th when this happened — those sorts of questions, the real questions –  it sort of came to light for me that experience really did matter in this particular situation for this team at this moment. Given where we are, that became more important. So, I do feel like we were going to be sort of headed in that direction. And ultimately that’s why Gene and Bobby ended up being the finalists.”

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