Jon Lester has agreed to a five-year deal, buying out his first year of free agency. The Sox have a $13 million team option for his second year in 2014. The five years total $30 million and locks up yet another Sox youngster. Great news, especially with Lester on the charts of scouts to make a push for the Cy Young award this year.
I previously wrote that Nomar Garciaparra would be a good option for the Sox to bring in as a backup infielder. Bottomline Rob left a comment saying he was unsure if the burned bridges from 2003-4 had been repaired for that to be likely.
Well, Cafardo in today's Globe:
[Nomar] placed a call to the Sox front office inquiring about their potential interest. He would have provided some protection at third and first, but the Sox felt they were all set in that department and passed. Garciaparra, who spent a lot of time in Boston this offseason having his calves worked on, then signed with Oakland.
I can understand passing to give Lowrie and Lugo playing time, but should one of the two eventually be traded and a hole opening up for 2010 and Nomar's healthy and able (all of the previous are big ifs, of course) ... it would make for a nice homecoming.
Also, I will be chatting with New England Sports Country (click "Red Soxx Country in the sidebar or the upcoming link) Tuesday night at 8 p.m. (I did this last spring also). Mark it on your calendar and join us then. There will be pre-selected questions (submit them to NESC2006[@]cox.net [take out the brackets, this was to prevent spam] and then a free-for-all.
Hope to see you all then!
Angels blog "Three Days Of Cryin'" interviewed Rick Burleson yesterday, the former Red Sox and Angels infielder. "Rooster" had some great stuff:
After becoming a Boston icon of sorts, you're traded to the Angels before the 1981 season. The trade wasn't popular in Boston. How did you feel, at the time, about being traded?I was being traded home. The stadium was twenty minutes from my house so Anaheim was really the only place I would want to go if I was traded. I wanted to stay in Boston for my whole career but I understood that they wanted to trade me before I was eligible for free agency. They did the same thing with Fred Lynn. They wanted to make sure they got something for us. I was traded along with Butch Hobson for Carney Lansford, Rick Miller, and Mark Clear. At least they got something for me.
Look at Fisk. They tendered his contract too late, he never even saw it. They ended up getting no compensation for Fisk. He just left. A modern GM might be hung if he allowed that to happen.
Alex Rodriguez will have hip surgery and be out for 10 weeks, or until May. Who the heck will play the hot corner for them? Cody Ransom? Angel Berroa? Hah! Methinks they'll ink either Ray Durham or Mark Grudzielanek... or hey, could a Bobby Crosby trade be in the works?
Oh, and Manny's selling "the most magnificent apartment in the city." It's yours for $8.5 million. A bargain!
Defensive Runs show how good a player is at preventing runs. But there's more than that that goes into fielding. What about mistake-free plays?
You would think that preventing runs and mistake-free plays go hand in hand, but not quite.
In the Fielding Bible Vol. II in which I received today, Bill James has unveiled publicly what I feel is a revolutionary statistic: Defensive Misplays.
is it any accident they're aggressive about playing Ellsbury, acquired Kotsay, resigned Lowell and brought Bay in?
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Anyone else concerned about J.D. Drew and Brad Penny?
I am. The setback with Penny isn't terribly bad because of the crazy depth the Sox have in pitching and the fact that the Sox have three days off in the first 15 games of the season. It's possible the Sox could go to a four-man rotation and not miss a beat.
Drew, though, I'm concerned about. The team and Drew keep brushing off the concerns, but not for nothing did he head back to Boston and get an injection. If he's out, that means there's a platoon situation with Rocco Baldelli and Brad Wilkerson with Jeff Bailey (probably) on the bench.
If both Drew and Penny are out, it could really weaken the team.
Mike Lowell is prepared to hit the field and play in a game in two weeks, he reported yesterday. Although he hasn't suffered any setbacks with his right hip, he also hasn't been running the bases yet, which could make or break his progress.
It's very possible, although no noise has been made about it, that Lowell could suffer a setback which would either a) postpone his regular season debut or (worst case) b) knock his 2009 season out entirely.
Should Lowell not be able to start on Opening Day, this means Julio Lugo would start at shortstop with Jed Lowrie manning third base. There's a problem with this, however.
Yesterday, left-hander Kris Johnson, 24, drew the start against Northeastern University, my alma mater. Johnson turned in a solid year in 2008, starting 27 games for the Portland Sea Dogs and putting up an ERA of 3.63.
He whiffed three NU batters (one of which is my former roommate), walked none and gave up one hit in two innings.
My former roommate had this to say about Johnson: "Really fluid. Ball snuck up on me really quickly."
When was the last time alcohol was banned at Fenway Park?