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I was given the oppertunity to write part of the Red Sox Organizational meeting for Bryan Smith’s blog, Wait ’til Next Year, with Ben Jacobs.

Smith asked us both the same quesitons, and we gave our answers. Jacobs, who writes the fantasitc Universal Baseball Blog, gives the long thought out answers. I give the short, somewhat crazy answers (big shock to those who read regularly).

If you want to read it, hit the link above. Here is an exerpt from the OM:

5. Todd Walker was the hero of this postseason, bailing out the team on numerous occasions. But, he really is a very platoonable player, susceptible to good left-handed pitching. Do you re-sign Walker, or save the money for pitching? Would you go with Bill Mueller at second and Youkilis at third? Who plays second?

BJ- Walker is a pretty good hitter for a second baseman, but he’s also an average fielder at best. Also, as you said, he’s really only a good hitter against righties, so it’s probably not a good idea to give him the $3.5-4 million he’ll probably want. Especially since there is a cheaper — and probably better — version of him that will probably be available this off-season.

It sounds like the Angels are going to non-tender Adam Kennedy, who is a better defensive player than Walker and who hits righties about as well as Walker does. Kennedy made $2.27 million in 2003 and I’d guess that he’d be willing to sign for about that for 2004.

Whether you re-sign Walker or sign Kennedy, you need to go out and find that person a platoon partner. Lou Merloni’s a fan favorite, but he’s never been all that good against lefties and this year he stunk against them while pounding righties. The best solution would be Placido Polanco, who has had an OPS of at least .880 against lefties three of the last four years (it was .790 in 2001). However, I don’t know exactly what his situation is with Philadelphia, so he may not be available. Mark Grudzielanek would be another option, although he’s been more inconsistent against lefties and he would have to take on heck of a pay cut over what he made in 2003.

You mentioned Kevin Youkilis, and he presents another intriguing possible option. The Red Sox could use the switch-hitting Bill Mueller at third and the left-handed hitting Adam Kennedy at second against righties and use the right-handed hitting Youkilis at third and Mueller at second against lefties. This would allow Boston to ease Youkilis into the majors, which would be a good thing because he’s probably not ready to be there full-time yet. The nice thing about Youkilis is that even if he’s not hitting, he probably won’t be a complete drain on the offense because he takes a lot of walks.

There is one other thing I’d like to mention about Youkilis. He got a lot of press this season because he was mentioned in Moneyball and he had a .487 OBP at Portland and he got on base something like 70 games in a row at one point. If all that has caused his value to climb to the point where teams are itching to trade for him, then I’d trade him. I think he’ll be a fine major leaguer, but it’s not a sure thing and this could very well be the high-water mark for his value. If you can get real talent in return for him right now, I think it would be a good idea.

JK- Walker did the Red Sox a huge favor from a business stand point. He played well enough to be a type A free agent, and he did his best bashing in October, so it is fresh in other GM’s minds. It’s a no-brainer to offer Walker arbitration. If he accepts, good, we have a steady player at second, if he doesn’t then we get two draft picks. If Walker doesn’t resign, then my kind of pet project is Mark Bellhorn. Not only does he fit the organizational profile (high OB%, high slug) he plays a decent second base, he’s a switch hitter, he’s gonna be cheap because he was jerked around by Dusty Baker and buried by Clint Hurdle. Youkilis needs some seasoning at AAA before coming up to the big club. Mueller at second and Youk at third should be last resort.

Enjoy…