I wouldn’t want to be Terry Francona right now. Not only does he manage the big-market Red Sox club with one of (if not the) most fickle fans in the game, but he’s completely handicapped by his roster.
Every single pitcher has entered a stretch where they cannot be counted on. Even Curt Schilling gave up nine doubles and a homerun before being yanked from the game on a single that somehow found a hole between Curt’s glove and Alex Gonzalez’s hand.
Jon Lester? Rookie struggles. David Wells? Still trying to find his touch. Josh Beckett? Relying on his fastball too much and coughing up homeruns like he’s trying to break Barry Bonds’ record. Jason Johnson? The epitome of a quality start – 6 innings and 3 earned runs. Not bad, but not good. Manny Delcarmen? See Jon Lester. Craig Hansen? Can’t put it all together. Rudy Seanez? Ranges between unhittable to eminently hittable. Julian Tavarez? So far, has been a disgrace. Mike Timlin? Showing his age. Jonathan Papelbon … rookie struggles. Odd to say.
How can a manager win a game when every move fails, through no fault of his own?
We were supposed to rely on pitching and defense this year. We haven’t. We’re relying on offense and defense. It’s great to have defense the way we do, but it’s hard for the defense to make plays when the ball lands outside the park or bounces off the wall for a double.
This is why I’m mildly upset why the Roy Oswalt trade didn’t go through. Forget 2006, how about a 2007 rotation of Curt Schilling, Roy Oswalt, Josh Beckett, Tim Wakefield, and Jon Lester? That’s not even considering a possible return of Jonathan Papelbon to the rotation.
Obviously I don’t know who we would have given up, or if the trade was even feasible, but I do know one thing – Theo needs to address pitching next year, seeing as it will be Schilling’s final year, with no guarantee that Beckett will adjust, Lester will avoid the sophomore slump …
I hate to look ahead to 2007 with a lot of 2006 games to be played (sweeping the Yankees in the upcoming five-game series puts us in first place) but I think that talking about the 2006 team would just put a lot of us in a seething rage right now.
As it is, we need another top starter. David Wells ain’t walking through that door, Pedro Martinez ain’t walking through that door, Roger Clemens (probably) ain’t walking through that door, and Matt Clement is cowering in a corner, scared of the door.
There’s pretty much nothing there on the free agent market, so we’ll have to explore a trade. I’m not going to even bother conjecturing who we could get, but I do know this:
2005 drastically underscored the need for defense.
2006 looks well on its way to emphasizing the need for pitching.
