In the coming weeks, Josh Beckett and his agent (Michael Moye) will meet with Theo Epstein and brass to discuss an extension.
There’s no way that Beckett sniffs $161 million, let alone $150 million, but I’m here to tell you there’s absolutely no chance Beckett settles for less than $100 million over his total value.
In the end, I’m calling a six-year, $111 million deal for Captain Kickass.
The Sox face off against their bitter rivals the New York Yankees in a pivotal three game series in Fenway. An important juncture for the AL East race, this series will determine whether the Sox can climb back in it or if the Yanks wrap it up early.
Game previews, matchups, and Sox news inside…
Josh Beckett hopes to get the Sox back on track until our next questionable starter takes the hill…
This decade has been the most monumental in the franchise’s history. Not only did new ownership arrive, but Fenway Park was revitalized, a Nation was born (in the media, that is), a new generation of stars (Nomar, Manny, Pedro, Big Papi, Papelbon, Pedroia) put their stamp on their team… oh, and there were those two World Championships as well.
All this was done thanks to the incredible work that Theo Epstein and the rest of the baseball operations put in to give us the players that we root for every day. They are, to be certain, the reasons why we have our first two rings since 1918.
But let’s not count out Lady Luck. Lady Luck is a fickle mistress; you never know when she’ll turn on you.
Burnett has gotten off to a great start and has a good chance of snapping Boston’s eight-game winning streak due to his career 5-0, 2.56 ERA record against the Sox. Meanwhile, Beckett returns from suspension and takes his turn on five days rest. He hasn’t given up a homer on the year yet. One winning streak has to come to an end today.
In advance of the Yankees coming to town tomorrow for a three-game set in what will be the unofficial start of baseball season around here, I figure we should get caught up with what’s going on in Yankeeland.
After the jump we bring you up to speed on CC Sabathia’s struggles, the injury report plus a breakdown of the pitcher’s the Sox will face this weekend.
The other half of the best rivalry in sports, The New York Yankees. The Bronx Bombers “only” ended up with 89 victories last season. And the key players they inked this past off-season, have them looking incredibly strong on paper for this upcoming 2009 season.
The philosophy about building a strong farm was basically put on hold for a year. But Brian Cashman made some nice maneuvers, and the result–whether it was intentional or not–allowed the Yankees to lose their first three picks this year. And that is better than losing a first-round pick in three consecutive seasons, of course.
Injury is rumored to be a reason why Beckett backtracked a tad, yet his peripherals were still very impressive to look at. So while his visit to Dr. James Andrews may have been legitimate, Beckett showed flashes of brilliance throughout the year, to have us believe that maybe the injury effected him slightly, but not enough to completely harness his great stuff.
The big story yesterday during the winter meetings was CC Sabathia’s acceptance of the New York Yankees’ offer to become their ace pitcher.
I look at the projected 2009 Yankees team, including Sabathia and whatever their second pitcher is, and I’m not particularly intimidated. They will still be a good team (like they were last year) and should get about 92 wins, but unless they add a serious thumper to this lineup, they may be burned relying on their injured, aging stars much like they relied on their unproven, young starting pitchers in 2008.
Also, what’s to stop CC from opting out after three years? This is as golden as it gets for CC, and you can take it to the bank he will opt out.
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