where the Sox will not stand idly by and allow ESPN to crown the Yankees the 2009 AL East Champions before a pitch is thrown on Theo Epstein’s watch.
The Yankees offseason acquisitions have apparently made them the best team in baseball despite the fact that the season hasn’t started yet, the Red Sox and Rays finished ahead of them and there are still 162 games to be played.
Granted their offseason moves have them poised to regain the pole position in the division but it’s not like the Sox and Rays are the Orioles…no offense.
The Sox are making moves to try and stay in competition with the Rays and Yankees and as of yesterday they’ve signed John Smoltz and Rocco Baldelli and are close to resigning Mark Kotsay.
Let’s start with Smoltz. This is a great signing for the Sox and it is going to seriously help the rotation and bullpen. It’s been rumored that Smoltz won’t be able to pitch until the end of May or beginning of June. This actually works out well for the Red Sox as Smoltz will be able to fill the role they were hoping Curt Schilling would have played last season.
The Red Sox have one of the best programs in all of baseball when it comes to rehabilitating pitchers shoulders so it’s certainly reasonable to think that Smoltz will be able to come back and be effective. His late availability works well with what Tito likes to do. He’s shown a pattern of shutting guys down for short periods of time during the season and now they’ll have John Smoltz and Tim Wakefield to move around as starters and relievers.
That gives Tito the flexibility to give Josh Beckett and Jon Lester some time during the season to heal up, it also adds an arm to the bullpen to allow Okie and co. to rest midseason.
I’d guess the Sox will likely start with Penny and Wake as the 4-5 starters with Justin Masterson in the pen. After last year Masterson proved he's a stud and the perfect 8th inning guy for the time being. Then they have Clay Buchholz to play with. If he doesn't get traded, he’ll likely start out in the minors. He needs to work out his delivery issues they tweaked it last year and that hurt as him he couldn't quite get it down.
Either way Buchholz can be used in a potential deal, for someone like Taylor Teagarden or Jarrod Saltalamacchia, or he’s another guy you can bring up and join the rotation later in the year. The same thing goes for Michael Bowden, but that’s another story for another day.
The Sox also signed the pride of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, Rocco Baldelli. Baldelli has missed a lot of time in the past three years playing in 92, 35, and 28 games due to injury and what has been diagnosed as channelopathy not a mitochondrial disorder as was previously thought.
According to the Rays blog The Heater Channelopathy involvies dysfunction of ion channels that can involve potassium, sodium, chloride and calcium. If the Baldelli and Sox medical staff can find a way to get him healthy he’ll be a terrific fourth outfielder.
Over his career Baldelli has show that he has good pop in his bat and has excellent speed. He also has the ability to play any of the three outfield positions. Because he’s from RI, Baldelli is going to be an instant fan favorite in Boston and if he can get healthy he’ll certainly be an adequate replacement for the departed Coco Crisp.
Of course just to prove that they are as smart as we hope they are the Sox are also close to re-signing Mark Kotsay to a one year deal. Again this is another good move by the Red Sox. Kotsay is certainly a good enough player to start on another team but with the way the offseason has gone it doesn’t look like there is a large market for a guy like him.
In 22 regular season games last season Kotsay hit .226 with 12 RBI (Boston Globe) but he also broke Brian Daubach’s record for most times hitting the ball wicked hahd right at people. Kotsay also became the Sox starting first basemen when Mike Lowell got hurt in the postseason, so he is definitely a valuable guy to have on the bench. The Sox can use him in the outfield as the fourth outfielder (depending on how Baldelli works out) as well as at first if Youk needs a break or incase Mike Lowell has any trouble returning from his offseason surgery. The Globe also made note that because Kotsay can can play both outfield and infield it allows Tito to carry four bench players and keep 12 pitchers, as he generally likes to.
There’s been a lot of panicking since the Sox lost the bidding war for Teixeira but I'll take Brad Penny, John Smoltz and Rocco Baldelli as alternatives. The team wanted Teixeira and I’m not going to pretend that they wouldn’t be improved with him in their lineup. But as always the Sox are making smart moves.
The battle between the Red Sox and Yankees rages on both on and off the field. Theo Epstein had a great quote in today’s Globe about the Yankees offseason moves.
“I don’t pay an awful lot of attention to them,” Epstein said. “My approach is they’re always going to win 95 to 100 games.”
And really that’s how you have to think of the Yankees. We love to see them struggle but realistically they are going to win 95 to 100 games more often than not. The Red Sox try to build their team with that in mind, knowing that in order to compete in their division they’ll need to win at least 95-100 games. Therefore you have to believe that all the moves Theo is making are designed to help the Sox field a 100 win team.
The Red Sox needed a fourth outfielder, another starter and some bullpen help. They are definitely addressing need with Penny, Smoltz, Kotsay, Baldelli and Ramon Ramierz, who a lot of people seem to be forgetting about....now we just need a catcher.
A couple of quick thoughts on other stuff going on in the wide world of sports.
Last night’s BCS National Title game lived up to the hype. The Florida Gators, Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow won a second National title and Oklahoma’s offense struggled in yet another BCS bowl game.
It was a good game and since I don’t really have any preference when it comes to college sports I have to say I was happy to see Florida win, they are an exciting team to watch both offensively and defensively. As for the Sooners, Sam Bradford is the real deal but that SEC speed is just too much to handle sometimes.
Even though this year’s BCS National Title game was pretty indicative of two teams that should have played for a championship I think it goes to show exactly why there needs to be a playoff in college football.
Really Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and USC all could have potentially taken home a national title this year. Again that is a different story for a different day.
One more thing…I just watched a Weezer video for the first time since 1998 and if I could offer a small piece of advice to River Cuomo it would be not to grow a mustache, because…yikes.
Showing posts with label Hot Stove. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hot Stove. Show all posts
Friday, January 9, 2009
Friday, November 16, 2007
Have you seen this? Have you heard about this?
Tired of hearing about A-Rod and Barry Bonds yet? It’s been one day since A-Rod started working on another deal with the Yankees and Bonds was indicted and I already feel like I’d be ok if I never heard about either story again, ever.
Lets start with old BALCO Barry…
I know it’s a big story but what is the point of wall-to-wall coverage if you are not presenting any new information. It’s one thing to have a portion of SportCenter about the Bonds story and if you see that same story six times its your own fault for not changing the channel but to focus solely on that one story if there is no new information, like ESPN did yesterday, is pointless.
The other thing that is odd is that whatever the story is the station will get every person they can think of to call in and talk about it. News networks do this all the time and I don’t get it. Now when ESPN had legal analysts and the ‘Game of Shadows’ author on that’s fine because those guys are telling me more than just he got indicted over and over again. The same goes for Buster Onley and Steve Phillips because they talked about the potential baseball ramifications of the situation – but what in the hell does Steven A. Smith have to add to this story?
I get it he yells to make his point, okay, but what does he know about baseball, perjury, or indictments? I thought he was a basketball analyst? If he wants to go on and talk about the Celtics that’s fine but what does he have to do with the Bonds case? Is he operating under the Dave Chappelle “every black man is a qualified paralegal” idea?
This actually reminds me of a lot of another Chappelle-ism. In his special in San Francisco he talks about how on 9/11 MTV had Ja Rule call in to talk about the events. His reply is “I want some answers that Ja Rule might not have.” I think that’s actually a good way to approach this situation. I want some answers that Steven A. might not have.
I feel like I’m picking on Steven A. it’s not really his fault and he brought up some interesting points about other athletes that have broken laws and not faced what Bonds has faced. To some extent he makes good points it does feel like everyone piles on Barry Bonds. I would have been fine with him setting the record then going quietly to live his post baseball life however he chooses.
However if he broke the law he should be adequately punished, I’m just saying I’m not going to lose any sleep over Barry breaking the home run record and there are plenty of that have done steroids and lied about it.
While we are on the subject of Barry…I don’t think its fair to send the 756 ball to the Hall of Fame with an asterisk on it. That is not up to the fans to decide. It is a piece of the history of the game and that decision is up to the Hall. Just like players can’t choose what cap to wear into the hall.
You as a fan can choose not to accept Barry Bond as the home run record holder and I think a lot of people will do that. The fact of the matter is that he hit more home runs in his career than anyone else. If he did cheat then it would be up to the Hall of Fame to decide not to recognize him as the home run king.
No matter what his personality of how he is perceived he shouldn’t have to threaten to boycott his Hall of Fame induction. And if he sticks to that line of thinking then it would be the job of the baseball writers to not bestow the honor on him.
I don’t know what to think of Bonds, his work with BALCO screams guilt because of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative has been involved in so many other doping and ‘roid scandals. If the public is going to be outraged at anyone they should be outraged at people like Victor Conte…if anyone provided fuel to the steroid era fire it was Conte.
A-Rods Super Sweet 16
I’m not sure who was the bigger douche in the announcement of A-Rod opting out during the World Series…was it A-Rod’s doing or Scott Boras or if Joe Buck and Tim McCarver are to be blamed for devoting so much attention to it…what I do know is it turned into a complete and total cluster-fuck.
One part of me says good for A-Rod he finally grew a spine and said “shit I wish I didn’t do that I’m going to fix it because I want to play in New York”…but another part of me thinks he panicked and thought “oh shit no one is going to sign me for 300+ million dollars and I’m going to be the laughing stock of the league and have to play in Japan for a year…Christ who am I Kevin Millar? I better see if I can patch things up with the Yanks”
If the first one is true then Scott Boras has lost his negotiating ridiculous contracts touch. Think about it the Sox got Dice K for way less than was originally asked (don’t count the posting fee) and now the Yankees are going to get A-Rod for 25-75 million less than what he was reportedly asking for. That’s a big blow to Boras if that’s the case.
It’s possible that the owners weren’t interested in doling out that kind of cash and if so good for them but I can also imagine scenario where the next contract Boras gets for someone like Andruw Jones is unreal because he’s – one – pissed at the owners for squashing the market on A-Rod or two – pissed at A-Rod for getting scared and not staying the course.
Part of me feels like Boras knew that someone would pay a ridiculous sum for A-Rod. Not 350 million but by rumoring 350 million you make 300 million sound like a deal. I think A-Rod got nervous and that’s why he’s gone crawling back to New York. Think about it…Boras and A-Rod where definitely locked into selling high. He’s going to be the MVP, so that’s two in his tenure with NY, and he had a monster statistical year.
What then is the point of opting out of a 252 million dollar deal and announcing it during the World Series if you are going to go back to New York when they are offering you way less then what you ‘reportedly’ wanted just to sit down? It makes no sense. Boras had to know that there was a market for what he was asking for other wise why would they opt out?
Why not stay in New York for the last two years of the deal, open up the new stadium and become the irreplaceable player on the roster, that’s the only other way he could command 350 million.
I think A-Rod got nervous and backed out on the plan. His legacy is going to be that of a mercenary, a solider of fortune. He might one day get the “he finally won a championship treatment” but most people are going to remember him as a guy that was all about the paycheck.
One thing I do know…
Is that I’m glad the Sox stayed away from signing him for a king’s ransom. No doubt he’d be impressive in Fenway and a line up of Papi, Manny, A-Rod would make pitchers shit themselves but I’d rather see the Red Sox spent that money on locking up their young studs.
A-Rod is an unbelievable player but in my mind locking up guys like Pedroia, Ellsbury, Buchholz, Lester, Beckett and picking up the option on Manny is a much better value. Especially when Pedroia and Ellsbury have shown they can get it done on the biggest stage, something A-Rod cannot claim. Also Pedroia played the entire playoffs and probably all of September with a broken hand. People aren’t going to miss Trot’s grittiness anymore.
Lock up the Young Guns, pick up Manny’s option and please at least give Lowell a team option for a fourth year. The option doesn’t cost the team anything, it gives you good flexibility and it shows that you are at least trying to keep him around.
However, if the Sox do stick to their no four year deals for players in their mid-30’s it will be hard to fault them. After all it has worked out pretty well so far. I’d be sad to see him go and uber-bummed if he ends up in pinstripes but I have faith in Theo.
I am a little worried at what will happen if he does leave and it doesn’t look great. He’s got two rings and he just had a career year…does he go the Ty Law route and get paid or stay and be a hometown discount hero…
If he goes…
Do the Sox really even entertain the thought of moving Yook, who just won a Gold Glove? And no offense but Joe Crede doesn’t exactly fit the OBP model of the Sox…a .305 career OBP and in ’07 he had an OBP of 258…oosh…Miguel Cabrera could be an answer if they can put in a weight clause like they did with Schilling.
Cabrera would be a solid addition to the lineup and would most likely fill the void left by Lowell but he’s going from the NL to the AL and he kind of looks like lard ass from ‘Stand By Me’…Come on Mikey, come back to the Sox…you know you love that 37 foot wall in left field.
Lets start with old BALCO Barry…
I know it’s a big story but what is the point of wall-to-wall coverage if you are not presenting any new information. It’s one thing to have a portion of SportCenter about the Bonds story and if you see that same story six times its your own fault for not changing the channel but to focus solely on that one story if there is no new information, like ESPN did yesterday, is pointless.
The other thing that is odd is that whatever the story is the station will get every person they can think of to call in and talk about it. News networks do this all the time and I don’t get it. Now when ESPN had legal analysts and the ‘Game of Shadows’ author on that’s fine because those guys are telling me more than just he got indicted over and over again. The same goes for Buster Onley and Steve Phillips because they talked about the potential baseball ramifications of the situation – but what in the hell does Steven A. Smith have to add to this story?
I get it he yells to make his point, okay, but what does he know about baseball, perjury, or indictments? I thought he was a basketball analyst? If he wants to go on and talk about the Celtics that’s fine but what does he have to do with the Bonds case? Is he operating under the Dave Chappelle “every black man is a qualified paralegal” idea?
This actually reminds me of a lot of another Chappelle-ism. In his special in San Francisco he talks about how on 9/11 MTV had Ja Rule call in to talk about the events. His reply is “I want some answers that Ja Rule might not have.” I think that’s actually a good way to approach this situation. I want some answers that Steven A. might not have.
I feel like I’m picking on Steven A. it’s not really his fault and he brought up some interesting points about other athletes that have broken laws and not faced what Bonds has faced. To some extent he makes good points it does feel like everyone piles on Barry Bonds. I would have been fine with him setting the record then going quietly to live his post baseball life however he chooses.
However if he broke the law he should be adequately punished, I’m just saying I’m not going to lose any sleep over Barry breaking the home run record and there are plenty of that have done steroids and lied about it.
While we are on the subject of Barry…I don’t think its fair to send the 756 ball to the Hall of Fame with an asterisk on it. That is not up to the fans to decide. It is a piece of the history of the game and that decision is up to the Hall. Just like players can’t choose what cap to wear into the hall.
You as a fan can choose not to accept Barry Bond as the home run record holder and I think a lot of people will do that. The fact of the matter is that he hit more home runs in his career than anyone else. If he did cheat then it would be up to the Hall of Fame to decide not to recognize him as the home run king.
No matter what his personality of how he is perceived he shouldn’t have to threaten to boycott his Hall of Fame induction. And if he sticks to that line of thinking then it would be the job of the baseball writers to not bestow the honor on him.
I don’t know what to think of Bonds, his work with BALCO screams guilt because of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative has been involved in so many other doping and ‘roid scandals. If the public is going to be outraged at anyone they should be outraged at people like Victor Conte…if anyone provided fuel to the steroid era fire it was Conte.
A-Rods Super Sweet 16
I’m not sure who was the bigger douche in the announcement of A-Rod opting out during the World Series…was it A-Rod’s doing or Scott Boras or if Joe Buck and Tim McCarver are to be blamed for devoting so much attention to it…what I do know is it turned into a complete and total cluster-fuck.
One part of me says good for A-Rod he finally grew a spine and said “shit I wish I didn’t do that I’m going to fix it because I want to play in New York”…but another part of me thinks he panicked and thought “oh shit no one is going to sign me for 300+ million dollars and I’m going to be the laughing stock of the league and have to play in Japan for a year…Christ who am I Kevin Millar? I better see if I can patch things up with the Yanks”
If the first one is true then Scott Boras has lost his negotiating ridiculous contracts touch. Think about it the Sox got Dice K for way less than was originally asked (don’t count the posting fee) and now the Yankees are going to get A-Rod for 25-75 million less than what he was reportedly asking for. That’s a big blow to Boras if that’s the case.
It’s possible that the owners weren’t interested in doling out that kind of cash and if so good for them but I can also imagine scenario where the next contract Boras gets for someone like Andruw Jones is unreal because he’s – one – pissed at the owners for squashing the market on A-Rod or two – pissed at A-Rod for getting scared and not staying the course.
Part of me feels like Boras knew that someone would pay a ridiculous sum for A-Rod. Not 350 million but by rumoring 350 million you make 300 million sound like a deal. I think A-Rod got nervous and that’s why he’s gone crawling back to New York. Think about it…Boras and A-Rod where definitely locked into selling high. He’s going to be the MVP, so that’s two in his tenure with NY, and he had a monster statistical year.
What then is the point of opting out of a 252 million dollar deal and announcing it during the World Series if you are going to go back to New York when they are offering you way less then what you ‘reportedly’ wanted just to sit down? It makes no sense. Boras had to know that there was a market for what he was asking for other wise why would they opt out?
Why not stay in New York for the last two years of the deal, open up the new stadium and become the irreplaceable player on the roster, that’s the only other way he could command 350 million.
I think A-Rod got nervous and backed out on the plan. His legacy is going to be that of a mercenary, a solider of fortune. He might one day get the “he finally won a championship treatment” but most people are going to remember him as a guy that was all about the paycheck.
One thing I do know…
Is that I’m glad the Sox stayed away from signing him for a king’s ransom. No doubt he’d be impressive in Fenway and a line up of Papi, Manny, A-Rod would make pitchers shit themselves but I’d rather see the Red Sox spent that money on locking up their young studs.
A-Rod is an unbelievable player but in my mind locking up guys like Pedroia, Ellsbury, Buchholz, Lester, Beckett and picking up the option on Manny is a much better value. Especially when Pedroia and Ellsbury have shown they can get it done on the biggest stage, something A-Rod cannot claim. Also Pedroia played the entire playoffs and probably all of September with a broken hand. People aren’t going to miss Trot’s grittiness anymore.
Lock up the Young Guns, pick up Manny’s option and please at least give Lowell a team option for a fourth year. The option doesn’t cost the team anything, it gives you good flexibility and it shows that you are at least trying to keep him around.
However, if the Sox do stick to their no four year deals for players in their mid-30’s it will be hard to fault them. After all it has worked out pretty well so far. I’d be sad to see him go and uber-bummed if he ends up in pinstripes but I have faith in Theo.
I am a little worried at what will happen if he does leave and it doesn’t look great. He’s got two rings and he just had a career year…does he go the Ty Law route and get paid or stay and be a hometown discount hero…
If he goes…
Do the Sox really even entertain the thought of moving Yook, who just won a Gold Glove? And no offense but Joe Crede doesn’t exactly fit the OBP model of the Sox…a .305 career OBP and in ’07 he had an OBP of 258…oosh…Miguel Cabrera could be an answer if they can put in a weight clause like they did with Schilling.
Cabrera would be a solid addition to the lineup and would most likely fill the void left by Lowell but he’s going from the NL to the AL and he kind of looks like lard ass from ‘Stand By Me’…Come on Mikey, come back to the Sox…you know you love that 37 foot wall in left field.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Careful the stove is hot
Now that I got the X Games out of my system it’s time to turn some attention to the Red Sox hot stove which has been glowing red hot in the past few days.
The Red Sox stove chose a good time to start heating up since the Celtics are about to set the franchise record for longest losing streak (I will be at the game Friday so I’ll have something Celtics oriented this weekend) and other than that there really isn’t that much going on this week…other than Barbaro dying of course, so sad, so sad.
The hot stove week kicked off with a Saturday morning phone call from none other than Joseph P. Reynolds. He sounded a little distraught and told me that he had heard some people talking about the Red Sox trading for Todd Helton. He was nervous that they’d ship Manny off to Colorado and get Helton in return and since he was calling from CTU Park City, Utah he had no way of confirming or denying these rumors.
After hearing this I was instantly jolted out of an early afternoon daze so flipped open the laptop and started checking out some of my “sources”. After a day of phone calls back and forth and constantly checking out SoSH and Dirt Dogs I finally saw something on ESPN’s 11pm Sports Center.
Six Degrees of Hating Peyton Manning: We still can’t escape the Pats-Colts loss - Helton started at quarterback over Peyton Manning in his senior year at Tennessee, granted he got hurt Manning took over and never looked back, have I mentioned I hate Peyton Manning.
Unfortunately to my dismay ESPN decided to rehash the old SNL skit where Jerry Seinfeld is a night time news anchor and he just keeps reading teases about a life threatening thing that you could be eating for dinner and saying things like “up next: it’s deadly and it could be your dinner”.
Every time ESPN went to commercial it was “are the Red Sox going to add a $90 million slugger…” or “up next good Rex vs. bad Rex and who’s in the trade talks for the Red Sox” it was seriously killing me.
They did an especially good job scaring the bejesus out of me by showing clips of Manny with every tease, not cool. Turns out the Sox were in trade talks with the Rockies for Todd Helton after all. They may not allow music in Utah but apparently they are on top of their hot stove baseball in the local ski shops.
By now this is old news but in hindsight it would have been a pretty decent addition to the Sox lineup especially since the trade talks involved Mike Lowell and Julian Tavarez and maybe someone like Delcarmen or Hansen.
I wasn’t big on the idea of trading away Lowell and having Youk move back to third. The infield isn’t going to be as solid this year mainly because Julio Lugo isn’t Alex Gonzales (defensively) and it’s still not clear what you’ll get from Dustin Pedrioa.
I like having gold glove caliber defense at third and I think Lowell provides a pretty good amount of pop (solid doubles hitter), not as much as Helton would but in the end it was probably a better choice to stick with Lowell rather than move Youk again and take on Helton and his six year contract. With that said I’d have no problems moving on from Tavarez the guy really hasn’t shown me much other than that he can pitch ok when it doesn’t matter.
As for Hansen and MDC I would have been ok if the Red Sox had moved on from them, they have shown promise but have been unable to take that next step and jump up to being effective on a consistent basis. There are some guys I don’t want to see dealt, like Jacoby Ellsbury or Daniel Bard, and I think it’s safe to say the Sox aren’t willing to move them. However if you are going to get an established guy like Helton then it makes sense to take a chance in giving up a guy like Hansen or Delcarmen.
In the end it was all for show as the Sox and Rockies broke off talks, rumor has it Theo was pretty unhappy with the Rockies for throwing out the names of the Sox players the two teams were talking about. I guess he didn’t want Lowell, Tavarez and company to know they were on the block, can’t say I that I blame him after the way the whole Nomar thing went down.
No Helton but there is plenty more Sox stuff going on. Theo got married and his dad tricked Gordon Edes into thinking Theo got hitched at Nathan’s Famous hot dogs on Coney Island, which made for a pretty good story on the radio and internet yesterday.
Things to be excited about:
Dice-K is throwing in California which is exciting news but I want to see some video, just over two weeks till pitchers and catchers report. Also he has told the Sox new pitching coach that he does in fact throw a gyro ball and he is working on a new pitch, maybe a cut fastball no real word on that yet.
Jon Lester arrived in Ft. Myers today. Granted I wouldn’t expect Lester to be ready to go by opening day never mind when pitchers and catchers report in a couple weeks, but this is still encouraging news. According to the Globe he says he isn’t 100 percent yet but he is optimistic and is looking to return as soon as possible.
He also said that he will start where ever and whenever the team feels is necessary. I know the Red Sox have a good amount of pitchers but you can never have enough pitching and having a healthy Lester available for long relief or spot starts will really make the Sox bullpen or starting rotation better.
Check out Nick Cafardo’s brief article about Lester here.
The newest news...Curt Schilling wants another year, but the Sox haven’t really said much. Schilling said he wants to get a deal done before the season starts, if not he will head to free agency. Here’s my two cents. Sign him and sign him now.
The Red Sox stove chose a good time to start heating up since the Celtics are about to set the franchise record for longest losing streak (I will be at the game Friday so I’ll have something Celtics oriented this weekend) and other than that there really isn’t that much going on this week…other than Barbaro dying of course, so sad, so sad.
The hot stove week kicked off with a Saturday morning phone call from none other than Joseph P. Reynolds. He sounded a little distraught and told me that he had heard some people talking about the Red Sox trading for Todd Helton. He was nervous that they’d ship Manny off to Colorado and get Helton in return and since he was calling from CTU Park City, Utah he had no way of confirming or denying these rumors.
After hearing this I was instantly jolted out of an early afternoon daze so flipped open the laptop and started checking out some of my “sources”. After a day of phone calls back and forth and constantly checking out SoSH and Dirt Dogs I finally saw something on ESPN’s 11pm Sports Center.
Six Degrees of Hating Peyton Manning: We still can’t escape the Pats-Colts loss - Helton started at quarterback over Peyton Manning in his senior year at Tennessee, granted he got hurt Manning took over and never looked back, have I mentioned I hate Peyton Manning.
Unfortunately to my dismay ESPN decided to rehash the old SNL skit where Jerry Seinfeld is a night time news anchor and he just keeps reading teases about a life threatening thing that you could be eating for dinner and saying things like “up next: it’s deadly and it could be your dinner”.
Every time ESPN went to commercial it was “are the Red Sox going to add a $90 million slugger…” or “up next good Rex vs. bad Rex and who’s in the trade talks for the Red Sox” it was seriously killing me.
They did an especially good job scaring the bejesus out of me by showing clips of Manny with every tease, not cool. Turns out the Sox were in trade talks with the Rockies for Todd Helton after all. They may not allow music in Utah but apparently they are on top of their hot stove baseball in the local ski shops.
By now this is old news but in hindsight it would have been a pretty decent addition to the Sox lineup especially since the trade talks involved Mike Lowell and Julian Tavarez and maybe someone like Delcarmen or Hansen.
I wasn’t big on the idea of trading away Lowell and having Youk move back to third. The infield isn’t going to be as solid this year mainly because Julio Lugo isn’t Alex Gonzales (defensively) and it’s still not clear what you’ll get from Dustin Pedrioa.
I like having gold glove caliber defense at third and I think Lowell provides a pretty good amount of pop (solid doubles hitter), not as much as Helton would but in the end it was probably a better choice to stick with Lowell rather than move Youk again and take on Helton and his six year contract. With that said I’d have no problems moving on from Tavarez the guy really hasn’t shown me much other than that he can pitch ok when it doesn’t matter.
As for Hansen and MDC I would have been ok if the Red Sox had moved on from them, they have shown promise but have been unable to take that next step and jump up to being effective on a consistent basis. There are some guys I don’t want to see dealt, like Jacoby Ellsbury or Daniel Bard, and I think it’s safe to say the Sox aren’t willing to move them. However if you are going to get an established guy like Helton then it makes sense to take a chance in giving up a guy like Hansen or Delcarmen.
In the end it was all for show as the Sox and Rockies broke off talks, rumor has it Theo was pretty unhappy with the Rockies for throwing out the names of the Sox players the two teams were talking about. I guess he didn’t want Lowell, Tavarez and company to know they were on the block, can’t say I that I blame him after the way the whole Nomar thing went down.
No Helton but there is plenty more Sox stuff going on. Theo got married and his dad tricked Gordon Edes into thinking Theo got hitched at Nathan’s Famous hot dogs on Coney Island, which made for a pretty good story on the radio and internet yesterday.
Things to be excited about:
Dice-K is throwing in California which is exciting news but I want to see some video, just over two weeks till pitchers and catchers report. Also he has told the Sox new pitching coach that he does in fact throw a gyro ball and he is working on a new pitch, maybe a cut fastball no real word on that yet.
Jon Lester arrived in Ft. Myers today. Granted I wouldn’t expect Lester to be ready to go by opening day never mind when pitchers and catchers report in a couple weeks, but this is still encouraging news. According to the Globe he says he isn’t 100 percent yet but he is optimistic and is looking to return as soon as possible.
He also said that he will start where ever and whenever the team feels is necessary. I know the Red Sox have a good amount of pitchers but you can never have enough pitching and having a healthy Lester available for long relief or spot starts will really make the Sox bullpen or starting rotation better.
Check out Nick Cafardo’s brief article about Lester here.
The newest news...Curt Schilling wants another year, but the Sox haven’t really said much. Schilling said he wants to get a deal done before the season starts, if not he will head to free agency. Here’s my two cents. Sign him and sign him now.
I think that’s what the Red Sox will do but seriously Schilling, a one year deal for the same money he is getting right now. Even if he becomes your number three starter, I don’t care you still sign him. He had a better year last year than Gil Meche and he got a huge deal. The guy made a truck commercial in which he said and I quote “I’ve got an 86 year curse to break” and he f’n did it. When I first saw this commercial I was upset, why jinx us right off the bat, but then he came in and helped the Sox win the World Series that alone is worthy of a one year extension.
Two Words: Blood, Sock (or Blood and Sox if you want to play with some words)
I’m sure this will be the talk of the town for the next couple of weeks before pitchers and catchers report. Some people are painting Schilling as whining for more like Pedro did but I say sign him right now, get a deal done there is no need to wait. This is the same team that offered Coco Crisp an extension after the first two weeks of last season so why not extend Schilling another year.
Pitching is always at a premium and if you can get Schilling for a discounted price, even if he falls off a little and becomes a third starter, he is one of the best pitchers out there and if you let him go to free agency he will definitely be more expensive. Sign him and sign him now!
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