In response to tomnev's comment:

In response to pumpsie-green's comment:

In response to softlaw2's comment:

Assuming, as most people believe, that Iglesias is not ready for the major leagues from an offensive standpoint and that Ciriaco is going to be the utility IF backup, who should they have obtained to be SS this year? Is it really going to matter in terms of our ability to win a ring this year or next? Get a grip

Thank you for making my point. 10 million for Drew isn't going to make one iota of difference in the Red Sox capability to win a championship over the next two years.

Some of the top MLB career SS in the modern era would have been career minor leaguers if they employed the Red Sox "slugging SS" model. The notion that an OBP, from the SS, of .200 vs. .300 is going to have a larger impact than a butcher with a glove and an artist with a glove at SS, that's why incompetent Red Sox management keeps wasting time and money on a long cast of bums at the starting SS slot.

But if Iggy is not ready to play SS in the major leagues but might be ready when the team is ready to compete for a ring again, around 2-3 years from now, why rush him up before his time? He should clearly be in the minor leagues where he can receive instruction on how to hit the baseball without all the pressure that comes with playing in the major leagues in Boston. So assuming he is not yet ready and would benefit by more time in the minors, who should they have signed to play SS? Someone has to play there.

Could someone point out to me what is fundamentally worng with Iggy's approach at the plate that he could be taiught to correct it at AAA? If his issue is, as someone here said, he cant catch up to a ML fastball, then I dont see how that is correctable or teachable....I would think the only way you get batter at that is to face more Major League Fastballs....and since he has K's very little this spring facing mostly fastballs....I cant see that as the issue. If the issue is plate discipline....or bascially taking more pitches and walking more....this contradicts the quotes of praise he is getting from the Manager for being more confident and aggressive at the plate.....I am all for him improving at the plate, but I have stated before I only think that improvement is real if I see it at the ML level...if he goes down to AAA and hits .275....it will mean nothing when he comes up because he will have to prove it at than next level anyway.....maybe he will never hit better than .220 in the majors, but unless someone can show me the whole he has in his swing that needs to be worked on in the Minors, I would like to see his glove in Boston and let him face ML pitching and get better at it....because that is the only way he ever will. And as I have said before becuase of his defense, he is the one guy on our Roster who if he hit .240, it would be fine.

The problem is that he hasn't even proven he can hit at the AAA level. His OPS in two years in AAA ball is .589 and only .672 at the AA level. It makes no sense to shove him into the lineup in the major leagues and expect improvement right now. First he has to prove he can hit AAA pitching; then he can be promoted.

 I think if we throw in half/most of his salary

Thank for making my case on how embarrassing it was to sign this guy. No way half his salary nets anything more than a career minor leaguer.

And the reason the Red Sox management is paying Iglesias but keep him in the minors is because they want him slugging and getting on base more. They signed him thinking they could mold him into the hitting they keep trying to get from the SS slot. I'm laughing at the thought of them trading Iggy and keeping Drew. How incompetent would that be.

Bogaerts isn't any SS, despite the Red Sox latest attempt to try and build a slugging SS. Maybe 10 more years and Red Sox management changes then the Red Sox will finally have a career everyday SS who plays more than a season or two and isn't written off, demoted or shipped out of town.

In response to pumpsie-green's comment:

In response to tomnev's comment:

In response to pumpsie-green's comment:

In response to softlaw2's comment:

Assuming, as most people believe, that Iglesias is not ready for the major leagues from an offensive standpoint and that Ciriaco is going to be the utility IF backup, who should they have obtained to be SS this year? Is it really going to matter in terms of our ability to win a ring this year or next? Get a grip

Thank you for making my point. 10 million for Drew isn't going to make one iota of difference in the Red Sox capability to win a championship over the next two years.

Some of the top MLB career SS in the modern era would have been career minor leaguers if they employed the Red Sox "slugging SS" model. The notion that an OBP, from the SS, of .200 vs. .300 is going to have a larger impact than a butcher with a glove and an artist with a glove at SS, that's why incompetent Red Sox management keeps wasting time and money on a long cast of bums at the starting SS slot.

But if Iggy is not ready to play SS in the major leagues but might be ready when the team is ready to compete for a ring again, around 2-3 years from now, why rush him up before his time? He should clearly be in the minor leagues where he can receive instruction on how to hit the baseball without all the pressure that comes with playing in the major leagues in Boston. So assuming he is not yet ready and would benefit by more time in the minors, who should they have signed to play SS? Someone has to play there.

Could someone point out to me what is fundamentally worng with Iggy's approach at the plate that he could be taiught to correct it at AAA? If his issue is, as someone here said, he cant catch up to a ML fastball, then I dont see how that is correctable or teachable....I would think the only way you get batter at that is to face more Major League Fastballs....and since he has K's very little this spring facing mostly fastballs....I cant see that as the issue. If the issue is plate discipline....or bascially taking more pitches and walking more....this contradicts the quotes of praise he is getting from the Manager for being more confident and aggressive at the plate.....I am all for him improving at the plate, but I have stated before I only think that improvement is real if I see it at the ML level...if he goes down to AAA and hits .275....it will mean nothing when he comes up because he will have to prove it at than next level anyway.....maybe he will never hit better than .220 in the majors, but unless someone can show me the whole he has in his swing that needs to be worked on in the Minors, I would like to see his glove in Boston and let him face ML pitching and get better at it....because that is the only way he ever will. And as I have said before becuase of his defense, he is the one guy on our Roster who if he hit .240, it would be fine.

The problem is that he hasn't even proven he can hit at the AAA level. His OPS in two years in AAA ball is .589 and only .672 at the AA level. It makes no sense to shove him into the lineup in the major leagues and expect improvement right now. First he has to prove he can hit AAA pitching; then he can be promoted.

But, it's Ok to go with Ciriaco at SS?

The guy who has a career .299 OBP in the minors over a huge sample size.

Scott Lauber is reporting on his twitter feed that Jose will open the season as the Red Sox' starting SS. Apparently Farrell likes Iggy's plate discipline better than Ciriaco's. I have to say that it's only in comparison to Ciriaco that one would be able to say Jose Iglesias and plate discipline in the same sentence without laughing.

In response to carnie's comment:

Scott Lauber is reporting on his twitter feed that Jose will open the season as the Red Sox' starting SS. Apparently Farrell likes Iggy's plate discipline better than Ciriaco's. I have to say that it's only in comparison to Ciriaco that one would be able to say Jose Iglesias and plate discipline in the same sentence without laughing.

  And they will LOVE his GLOVE   !!!  1. off of every pitchers  ERA   !!!

Scott Lauber is reporting on his twitter feed that Jose will open the season as the Red Sox' starting SS. Apparently Farrell likes Iggy's plate discipline better than Ciriaco's. I have to say that it's only in comparison to Ciriaco that one would be able to say Jose Iglesias and plate discipline in the same sentence without laughing.

In response to Bill-806's comment:

In response to carnie's comment:

Scott Lauber is reporting on his twitter feed that Jose will open the season as the Red Sox' starting SS. Apparently Farrell likes Iggy's plate discipline better than Ciriaco's. I have to say that it's only in comparison to Ciriaco that one would be able to say Jose Iglesias and plate discipline in the same sentence without laughing.

  And they will LOVE his GLOVE   !!!  1. off of every pitchers  ERA   !!!

I hope you're right.

In response to carnie's comment:

In response to Bill-806's comment:

In response to carnie's comment:

Scott Lauber is reporting on his twitter feed that Jose will open the season as the Red Sox' starting SS. Apparently Farrell likes Iggy's plate discipline better than Ciriaco's. I have to say that it's only in comparison to Ciriaco that one would be able to say Jose Iglesias and plate discipline in the same sentence without laughing.

  And they will LOVE his GLOVE   !!!  1. off of every pitchers  ERA   !!!

I hope you're right.

With an improved Salty behind the plater, David Ross getting significant time, Iggy at SS and Bradley in CF, it could be possible to see a 1.00 staff ERA decline.

Iggy can't hit. Won't hit. Won't ever be the long-term answer in Boston and will be traded soon. Some people simply can't hit major league pitching and the best defensive player in the history of the game isn't worth playing if he can't hit .200. Just the way it is. hth.

3) Does it matter if he saves 80 hits a year with his defense, but gets 30-50 less hits than the average SS over 600 PAs?

It is unlikely to save 80 hits.  That's about .5 assists and POs per game.

Of the 12 AL ss's with at least 750 innings at SS, they averaged 4.48.  No one was .5 above average, and only GG Jeter was worse than .5 below average.

Aviles was at 4.68.  To be .5 above him, Iglesias would have to be at 5.18.  No SS exceeded 4.90.

In response to Joebreidey's comment:

3) Does it matter if he saves 80 hits a year with his defense, but gets 30-50 less hits than the average SS over 600 PAs?

It is unlikely to save 80 hits.  That's about .5 assists and POs per game.

Of the 12 AL ss's with at least 750 innings at SS, they averaged 4.48.  No one was .5 above average, and only GG Jeter was worse than .5 below average.

Aviles was at 4.68.  To be .5 above him, Iglesias would have to be at 5.18.  No SS exceeded 4.90.

It's really not about saving hits but saving runs. He has phenomenol range and agility and there is no doubt in my mind that he can get to many more balls than any SS the Sox have had, including Nomar.

In response to pumpsie-green's comment:

In response to tomnev's comment:

In response to pumpsie-green's comment:

In response to softlaw2's comment:

Assuming, as most people believe, that Iglesias is not ready for the major leagues from an offensive standpoint and that Ciriaco is going to be the utility IF backup, who should they have obtained to be SS this year? Is it really going to matter in terms of our ability to win a ring this year or next? Get a grip

Thank you for making my point. 10 million for Drew isn't going to make one iota of difference in the Red Sox capability to win a championship over the next two years.

Some of the top MLB career SS in the modern era would have been career minor leaguers if they employed the Red Sox "slugging SS" model. The notion that an OBP, from the SS, of .200 vs. .300 is going to have a larger impact than a butcher with a glove and an artist with a glove at SS, that's why incompetent Red Sox management keeps wasting time and money on a long cast of bums at the starting SS slot.

But if Iggy is not ready to play SS in the major leagues but might be ready when the team is ready to compete for a ring again, around 2-3 years from now, why rush him up before his time? He should clearly be in the minor leagues where he can receive instruction on how to hit the baseball without all the pressure that comes with playing in the major leagues in Boston. So assuming he is not yet ready and would benefit by more time in the minors, who should they have signed to play SS? Someone has to play there.

Could someone point out to me what is fundamentally worng with Iggy's approach at the plate that he could be taiught to correct it at AAA? If his issue is, as someone here said, he cant catch up to a ML fastball, then I dont see how that is correctable or teachable....I would think the only way you get batter at that is to face more Major League Fastballs....and since he has K's very little this spring facing mostly fastballs....I cant see that as the issue. If the issue is plate discipline....or bascially taking more pitches and walking more....this contradicts the quotes of praise he is getting from the Manager for being more confident and aggressive at the plate.....I am all for him improving at the plate, but I have stated before I only think that improvement is real if I see it at the ML level...if he goes down to AAA and hits .275....it will mean nothing when he comes up because he will have to prove it at than next level anyway.....maybe he will never hit better than .220 in the majors, but unless someone can show me the whole he has in his swing that needs to be worked on in the Minors, I would like to see his glove in Boston and let him face ML pitching and get better at it....because that is the only way he ever will. And as I have said before becuase of his defense, he is the one guy on our Roster who if he hit .240, it would be fine.

The problem is that he hasn't even proven he can hit at the AAA level. His OPS in two years in AAA ball is .589 and only .672 at the AA level. It makes no sense to shove him into the lineup in the major leagues and expect improvement right now. First he has to prove he can hit AAA pitching; then he can be promoted.

But, it's Ok to go with Ciriaco at SS?

The guy who has a career .299 OBP in the minors over a huge sample size.

In response to moonslav59's comment:

In response to chetgnat's comment:

Iggy can't hit. Won't hit. Won't ever be the long-term answer in Boston and will be traded soon. Some people simply can't hit major league pitching and the best defensive player in the history of the game isn't worth playing if he can't hit .200. Just the way it is. hth.

1) Why do you think he can't hit .200?  

     74 PAs in the bigs spread out over small sample sizes from 2011-2012?

     Based on a .264 minor league BA from ages 20-22?

I don't think he can hit .200 in the same way I wouldn't think an overweight softball player who looks completely overmatched against major league baseball pitchers could. Eyeball test. Iggy can't catch up to MLB fastball and can't really hit the curve. Perhaps he can look changeup every pitch and hope for the best.

2) What would it take for "the best defensive player in the history of the game" to hit for it to be worth playing in your eyes?

     .240?

     .250?

     .275?

.210 would be borderline for a truly exceptional defensive player. .225 would probably suffice. Unfortunately what you often find is that with these one-dimensional defensive players, the pressure for them to perform superhuman feats in the field (because of their complete lack of production at the plate), especially on big-market teams, often ends up causing them to start making errors on easy plays in the field. From there it unravels quickly. 

3) Does it matter if he saves 80 hits a year with his defense, but gets 30-50 less hits than the average SS over 600 PAs?

It could. Course if he gets 90 fewer hits, then it wouldn't. And of course it would all depend on the specific situations involved. 

As for the Ciriaco comparison, Ciriaco with no discipline is a far better offensive player than Iggy with improved discipline, but this decision to choose Iggy at first would be in line with their desire to work pitchers longer into counts. In Iggy's case, there's no reason not to. He won't hit either way, so it's easy to tell him to keep the bat on his shoulder, take two strikes and then try to bloop one every 5 at bats or so. That will end quickly, because he won't even get the one in 5. Ciriaco will be in there within a few games and will be head and shoulders better, and thus will end the Iggy Red Sox experience.

Ciriaco is a legitimate major league player. Iggy, unfortunately, is not.

For those of you who are so enamored of this young man because of his defensive prowess, now's probably the time to get the full baseball TV package. You will need it to follow his progress.

In response to Joebreidey's comment:

3) Does it matter if he saves 80 hits a year with his defense, but gets 30-50 less hits than the average SS over 600 PAs?

It is unlikely to save 80 hits.  That's about .5 assists and POs per game.

Of the 12 AL ss's with at least 750 innings at SS, they averaged 4.48.  No one was .5 above average, and only GG Jeter was worse than .5 below average.

Aviles was at 4.68.  To be .5 above him, Iglesias would have to be at 5.18.  No SS exceeded 4.90.

It's really not about saving hits but saving runs. He has phenomenol range and agility and there is no doubt in my mind that he can get to many more balls than any SS the Sox have had, including Nomar.