Mike Lowell is coming back and now the Boston Red Sox are virtually the same team they were last year.
Sign my personal favorite player in Mike Timlin and I will be content.
I was never content with the decisions made after the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004.
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I see Manny having a huge year. It’s basically his contract year. Yes I know he has 2 option years left, but they are club options. I think he is going to come up huge to make it really hard for the Sox to decline the option.
And look for improvement from Lugo, with no expectations from him offensively, I think he picks it up.
Shawn – would have respectfully disagree with the Dice-K comment throwing too many pitches. Everyone from Farrell to Gammons stated Dice-K’s second half struggles came because he threw his fastball WAY too much. He was a lot like Beckett two years ago when hitters knew they could just sit on a fast-ball. Same thing with Dice-K. When the Dice man is at his best is when he’s working 4, 5, 6 pitches in well.
Also Lowell will have a drop-off. Maybe not a full drop-off, but he will come back down to earth. His career averages state that he will. Also don’t be surprised to see Drew in the 5-hole come April. Ultimately that’s why he’s there and I don’t think the front office is holding their breath over Lowell having two big years.
I would love to see more change-ups, his curve seems to be a feel pitch where it was very good certain games and not there others. The slider seems to have great movement but when he throws it too much people lay off it pretty easily.
Switch Youk and Drew in the lineup for a better L-R balance
I am just excited to see an OPTOMISTIC Red Sox article this offseason – cheers shawn! well done
According to Jayson Stark the Twins would supposedly be willing to trade Matt Garza for the right young center fielder. If the Red Sox could trade Coco and maybe a lower level prospect for Garza I would be beside myself with joy.
I really like Garza, but where would we put him? I know, never enough pitching, but how do you see him fitting in?
If there were any decent catching prospects out there wouldn’t it make sense to turn Crisp for one of them and a tired but usable arm?
“… the experiment of breaking up a World Series team in 2004 did not work…”
I disagree on a number of counts. First, change is inevitable in baseball. Teams turn over. After the 2004 title, some people were let go for good reason (Pokey Reese, Doug Mientkiewicz, Byung-Hyun Kim) while management chose not to overpay for others (Damon, Pedro). Would you really rather have Cowboy Up, Mark Bellhorn and Alan Embree than, say, Youkilis (as a full-timer), Pedroia and Okajima? Would you really want to be saddled with the contracts of Damon and Pedro? (And remember that the compensatory draft picks received for the departed free agents are some of the brightest young stars of the Sox system.)
Second, to the extent that Sox management did seek to alter the team’s makeup, it was to correct flaws in the 2004 club and build a stronger foundation. It’s absolutely inarguable that the 2007 team is better positioned for its future, than was the 2004 squad.
Third, I lived in Michigan in the 1980s, and I saw what happens when you try to keep a champion team together for too long. The Tigers grew old together, and the franchise went into a deep decline.
I applaud Sox management for being proactive in building the franchise, and objective in player analysis (aside from their incomprehensible fascination with Julio Lugo). They aren’t perfect, but they’ve done a fine job.
Now that the Angels have a OF/DH logjam with Hunter on board, but still potentially need a shortstop, I wonder if we could deal Jed Lowrie to Anaheim for, say, Kendry Morales.
Thoughts?