In response to ctredsoxfanhugh's comment:

Geez, here we were having a good baseball discussion and you had to go and mention he-who-must-not-be-named. :-)

In response to ctredsoxfanhugh's comment:

I think he has some software that alerts him everytime his name is mentioned.

In response to cassvt2004's comment:

Thats what the roster looks like when  team is rebuilding. Besides, those are all bench players. Look at the quality level of the bench players on other ML rosters. They are not the problem. Our problem is the quality of the guys in the starting lineup and starting rotation this year. While it would be more fun to watch guys like Bradley and Webster out there, they are rightfully being conserved for more promising years ahead.

In response to moonslav59's comment:

 

The other options are all fairly uninspiring. Carp and Overbay  are role players...

The Red Sox are lining up a revolving door DH approach, now that Ortiz is shockingly unable to report to work. Sweeney is DH'ing today, so management is putting a plan in place. They are great at anticipation, be it the trade and FA market or injury.

 

In response to notin's comment:

I guess they could use Salty at DH at times, but that's not too inspiring either.

They could use Drew at DH and go with Iggy at SS.

The Red Sox are all set, having beautifully planned the 2013 season.

They will rotate the DH, and give Ortiz more time off to make sure he's healthy for his 2 year 26 million contract.

The OF looks rock solid:

Everyday starters:

LF  Gomes  (he was in high demand as a FA everday OF'er profile)
CF Ellsbury (coming off a solid 2012)
RF Shane (coming off a solid 2012 and spring training)

RF/LF Nava (coming off a solid MLB season with great balance both ways)
LF   Carp (coming off a great season v. RP was high demand trade target)

I don't know about you, folks, but there is no way one can justify going with a rookie like Bradley, Jr. who has yet to show that he can hit MLB pitching or field MLB hitting. Spring training means nothing other than he needs more seasoning in AAA ball. What's important is to let Bradley know that he was terrible the last month or so of AA ball and he has a long ways to go and a lot of hard work to do before he can even think of taking either Gomes, Ellsbury or Shane's place. Over the last 5 years, you are talking about 3 of the best OF'ers in all of MLB, and they are all well under 35 years old and are just now reaching their peak athletic years.

When one of your key players is missing, isnt it about surviving until suchplayer returns?

We are handicapped without Papi.  This means that we need to steal close games, find ways to win against good teams, and avoid "playing down to the level competition" against weaker teams until we are at full strength.

If Bradley is hot, why not let it ride intothe regular season.  The first week of the season isnt much different from spring training.  And if he's hot, he may steal us a game or two over that span.

Its not like we cant send him down if pitchers adjust to him and his hot streak fades.  

JBJ has probably been scouted for 6 years now, possibly more.  The Sox organisation has had him for two years and have had numerous managers, coaches, scouts, doctors, etc.  watching his every move.....but 34 spring training PAs - many against non- or poor-quality MLB pitchers - are going to make the decision to keep him?  That's absurd.  It's not going to hurt him to add to his 279 PAs above A ball - if it does, he's clearly too immature anyway - and if he tears it up in AAA we bring him up just after the Super 2 line is reached....having had the chance to look at and hopefully trade someone blocking him.

Does anyone know what "numerous times" means in numbers? Is it more than three, or more than four? We have a poster who has seen Bradley, Jr. misplay balls "numerous times", which refutes manager John's comments about how impressed he is with Bradley's instincts as a CF'er.

The way for Bradley to get better is to remember that spring training hitting is not AA hitting. Same for fielding. He needs to go back to AA and correct what he was doing wrong, there. Spring training means nothing, other than it shows a young player with no MLB experience needs to go back to AA or AAA and get more "seasoning". Numerous times, I have seen players MLB careers destroyed because they were started in MLB too early without enough minor league seasoning.

Let's get through the next two weeks of ST, a time when the level of play starts to get closer to real MLB games, before we annoint JBJ as MLB-ready.  OTOH, maybe we should just waste a year of control plus about $12m (True Cost of Super 2's), overvalue 30-40 early ST at bats, ignore the fact JBJ has only 200 AB's above A level ball and go for it.  Clearly having JBJ in the line up on April 1st is the key to this team's entire season.

And yeah, I get it ... everyone wants to be the first one "in" on an exciting prospect.

he's clearly too immature anyway

Listen up folk. This poster is an expert judge on tolerance and maturity. His quantiative measurement acumen is legendary.

Also, critical to wait until the "super 2 status deadline passes", when planning the early season. Losing Ortiz is going to matter, but there is nothing that can be done about that. Bradley, Jr. will make no difference in early game outcomes, but could make a difference if he matures over the next few months. They'll need to watch him closely to see if more minor league baseball helps him mature. In spring training, he's clearly immature, anyway.

In response to Alibiike's comment:

Simply not true.

 

BA ranked 30 prospects ahead of Bradley. Of those 30, only one (Trevor Bauer) appears headed for an opening day roster spot. 3 others (Shelby Miller, Mike Olt, Jurickson Profar) still have an outside chance.

 

The rest will start in the minors..

 

And for those wringing their hands about the current plan for LF while also salivating over JBJ's ST stats, keep in mind that Nava was carrying a .900 OPS much of the time before his wrist injury (140 AB's) and he played a pretty good LF for us.  But clearly I'm cherry picking small samples ... 

 

 

[And no, I'm not saying Nava is a .900 OPS guy ... and JBJ is not likely to be the league's first .500 hitter.]

 

 

OTOH, maybe we should just waste a year of control plus about $12m (True Cost of Super 2's),

Remember, the focus of prudent Red Sox management must be on Super 2's under the new CBA date, to make sure of cost savings a half a decade from now. It's critical to insuring that the Red Sox are able to continue the 150 million labor budgest that has proven to produce winners, year, after year, after year, after year.

The focus must be on the total number of PA that Bradley has in the minors. Before outstanding veteran OF'ers like Gomes and Shane and Ellsbury give up the starter slot for some rookie who doesn't have enough minor league plate appearances yet, let's focus on the super 2 date so that money isn't wasted on retaining Bradley over a half a decade from now.

BA rankings are amazingly accurate. Before making active roster decisions, it's critical that age and BA rankings and what other teams are doing with higher ranking palyers is the controlling factor in the roster decision. If one looks back at BA rankings, the story of ruining or establishing good MLB careers can be found.

Some people get good points....some just don't have that ability. 

 keep in mind that Nava was carrying a .900 OPS much of the time before his wrist injury

Great point. Due to experience and good health, Nava is clearly the better roster choice. Nava is never going to be a starter career guy in MLB, so that's another reason to make sure that Bradley, Jr. gets enough PA in minor league baseball to prove he's good enough to beat out one of the starters. Nava doesn't need to paly everyday because he's proven he is nothing more than a bench guy. He'll continue to do the great job that he did, in that role, in 2012.

In response to softlaw2's comment:

Ugh.  Why always so obstuse? 

A LF with Nava vs RHPs and Gomes vs LHPs could produce the best OBP by position on the team.

If Bradley plays, and he should, it should be in CF.

Good points are super 2 date and a year of new CBA control, rankings, maturity, has to be able to play everday, enough plate appearances in MLB, more seasoning, and numerous misplayed balls in MLB. Bad points are the absurd notion that Bradley, Jr. spring training performance has proven he's a better option than going with starters Gomes, Ellsbury and Shane, and using Nava or Sweeney and Carp as the bench OF options.  

Let's make it easy:

1 - Do we have any solid reason to believe JBJ is MLB ready right now?

2 - Do we have evidence he will be better than other options?

3 - If yes to #1&2, is it worth losing a year of control to have him in the lineup for the first three weeks of April (~20 games)?

4 - If yes to #1&2 but no to #3, is it worth $12m to have him in the line up between late April and mid June?

As far as the Ortiz issue, I'd rather keep Gomez or Lavarnway with the team or use some other rotation of position players and L/R match up.  I don't see how a JBJ being promoted early is a good solution to the DH issue.  Even if it was, I don't believe it is worth the cost of a year of control for those first 20 games.  Now MAYBE the situation sometime between end of April and mid-June makes it worthwhile to promote him at the cost of making him a Super 2 ... they should wait and see IMO.

In response to softlaw2's comment:

So if Bradley is sent down and pouts about it, is that a sign of maturity or immaturity?

Gomes and Nava should produce outstanding OBP, from LF. They aren't going to trade Ellsbury and they owe Shane 39 million that no one will pay more than a few pennies on unless the Red Sox send better talent with him, so Bradley, Jr. is best suited for more seasoning in minor league baseball.  Huge OBP and overall profile performance to put Bradley, Jr. in RF and start Shane in LF and use Gomes as the DH/pinch hitter/4th OF'er. The better way to go is to use Nava, who matches up well with 5th OF'er Carp.

This management team has proven they know what they are doing, so one can expect the Bradley to the minors to be in his best interest to make sure he's really ready to play MLB and they have enough time to clear a position where he can play everyday. They simply had to sign Shane and they didn't have enough time to clear a starting OF spot for Bradley in the OF, and he's not ready, anyway.

Three cheers for Softy's masterful use of sarcasm in this thread.