In the past, we here at ITM usually let a day go by before blogging about a Red Sox move....or at least a night of frantically calling each other to talk one another on...or off a ledge. But it's been a while, and the last I heard from T Murph he was screaming at some WWF return of Brett the Hitman Heart or something, so I figure, why not.
The Sox have signed a gold glove third basemen for effectively, one year and at short money. A third basemen who struggled through an injury-plagued 2009. A third basemen who will be driven to produce after accepting a one year deal to bolster his free agent value in 2011 (unless he's a complete bust, he's not picking up the 2nd year option). A third basemen that had an "anomaly " of a year in 2004, but produced consistent quality power by hitting 25, 26, and 25 taters from 2006-2008. Sure he's a career .270 hitter, with questionable numbers, but his overall production should increase with 81 games at Fenway and being part of Boston's lineup (take a look at his home/away splits at some point).
Is he Adrian Gonzalez? Far from it....but is he better than Casey Kotchman? Yes.
Corner infielders of Youk and Beltre are not exactly Teix and A-Rod, but they certainly fit with the Boston's offseason strategy of pitching and defense. That will be the fundamental difference between the Sox and Yanks in 2010...
The Yanks offense will bash everything out of that bandbox of a stadium, and the Sox will hope to win almost every game by a 3-2 margin. The Red Sox now have a number of players who could very well hit 20 taters...but none that have a shot of hitting much more than 30.
This deal effectively ends the Red Sox offseason moves, so we need to get used to it.
Update: I woke up this morning and realized I failed to mention how the Red Sox continue to just kick Mike Lowell in the ribs while he's down. They clearly want nothing to do with the poor old guy. Word is he'll stay on the trading block, but the Sox have been amazingly effective in devaluing him all by themselves.
2 comments:
I honestly look forward to many more close games this year. The era of power hitting is coming to close and the time of small baseball is upon us. I also can't wait to see the younger prospect in Pawtucket get their chance on the field and in the lineup. ITM, would you be able to produce a look at each prospect and their chances at getting significant playing time this year?
Bill,
I too look forward to the low scoring games...as any true fan of baseball should.
As far as prospects...that can certainly change with injuries etc...but word is T Murph will quit his job and work on some double and triple A analysis...
Kidding of course (kinda?), but as we hit a lull between off season moves and the equipment truck's departure, we'll probably take a look.
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