Dustin Pedroia, you say you are experiencing cold-like symptoms?
Boom! 15-day DL.
Jason Varitek, you say that you don’t feel quite like you did when were 31 years old?
See ya! 15-day DL.
So they aren’t that careful with their personnel.
But they are very careful indeed.
And one reason they can do that is because they currently have as much depth as any organization.
If Drew, Ellsbury, or Bay go down for a short period of time, Rocco can take over.
If Lowell goes down, Youk can shift to third and David Ortiz and Chris Carter can share the 1B/DH spots. Or even Rocco could DH at times.
If Daisuke suffers from “arm fatigue.” Which could also be labeled as “we are being careful with him because of the the WBC.” Then Justin Masterson can shift from the pen to the rotation.
Or Clay Buchholz could come up and make a few starts.
If all three OF’s are lost…
Ok, then a trade would need to be made. There may be depth, but the depth is not endless.
But Theo has built a team that can handle suspensions, injuries, performance issues, more than just about any team in the game of baseball.
And the organization as a whole has built a farm system that has the players to either be quality Major Leaguers, fill temporary holes, or be traded to address any of these “holes.”
(Now I may like the job Theo has done, but he is not perfect. So don’t take my praise of him in regards to certain areas, as him being a perfect GM)
But with pitchers such as Josh Beckett and Matsuzaka missing starts–in most likely the same five-day period. Many teams would struggle to find quality arms to fill these holes.
The Red Sox are not one of those teams. As they can shift a good bullpen arm into the rotation and still have, well, a good bullpen.
The offense isn’t quite as dandy and conveniently set up.
If for example Ortiz never regained a form that resembles someone that can actually hit the ball hard, then the offense won’t be as potent. And it would probably be closer to average than great.
But they still have options to play with, as I mentioned above.
And they still have potentially expendable parts down on the farm that could address any problems that may arise.
And by “expendable” I mean, not needed necessarily. Not that trading them away doesn’t weaken the farm. Just that they can move a piece or two, and still be okay in the long-term.
Theo, you signed Julio Lugo, Edgar Renteria and traded away Bronson Arroyo for Wily Mo Pena.
But the good that you and the scouts have done for the depth of this team for the last few years, is more important.
Plus, past mistakes only give a greater understanding for future decisions.