The Angels do not get on base much, and they haven't hit for all that much power of late. I am a stat-guy. So I believe that an offense needs to do these things to score enough runs. There is only so much that can happen as a result of "hit and runs" and taking the extra base. Now, taking the extra base is great, and often overlooked--as is baserunning in general. But a team must get on base enough, in order to score enough.
The Abreu acquisition was great. For that amount of money, the team put aside their philosophy of having only players who can play defense, and sacrificed "it" for a little offense. There is no risk in signing Abreu, and he should still hit for average, get on base, and flash enough power to make him a quality all-around player.
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!
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.
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| Pedro - drgandy |
In fan voting, Kevin Youkilis was tabbed the AL's best hitter, an honor formerly bestowed on such luminaries like Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez.
The official title of the award is the Hank Aaron award, and it comes on the heels of Youk's MVP-caliber (career?) season, a season in which he led the AL in RBI per at-bats (one for each 4.7).
Is Kevin Youkilis another Edgar Martinez? Or will he become another Nomar Garciaparra? Is he destined to flame out quickly or will he enjoy another decade of production?
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