Iggy Update: Where to Play?

WEEI.com - FORT MYERS, Fla. — According to team sources, the Red Sox are still debating whether to have top prospect Jose Iglesias open the 2011 season in Double-A Portland or Triple-A Pawtucket. The team wants to assign Iglesias to a level that will maximize the likelihood of his being big league ready for the 2012 campaign."
 
"Because the shortstop -- already considered a defensive star -- lost a couple months of his 2010 season with Portland due to a broken finger, the team might want him to get more at-bats in Double-A before an early season promotion to Triple-A. That said, the team might also decide that Iglesias is better served by a challenge at a more advanced level."


While I see both sides to this story, I find one thing particularly interesting.  This is one of our top prospects right?  The shortstop of our future?  The next Ozzie Guillen? The guy that in fantasy baseball, I'll likely end up trading half my team for just so I can have an extra obsession with his play?

Then why don't we have this plan hammered out yet?  Theo and company are predominately meticulous with their player development game planning.  This one seems odd to me.

By all accounts, Iggy has no issues with his broken finger from last year, and performed quite well in the fall league and spring training thus far.  Knowing that, it makes me think that the argument of "they wanted to see where he was coming into the season" seem a bit far fetched. 

I'm in favor of starting him in Portland for a month or two, and, so long as he's healthy and performing reasonably well, pull him up to Pawtucket. It seems like it would fall in line with Boston's way of building a bit of confidence followed by a challenge. Depending on Boston's performance and needs, as well as Iggy's, there are some rumors that he could be a September call up.

Random ITM note:  if this Pawtucket team doesn't contend for the league championship, something is wrong with Rhode Island's water....the team is pretty stacked. 

The Jay Bay Debate

Avg: .301, HR: 13, RBI: 44, OBP: .433, Slug: .657

Jason Bay has exceeded even our highest expectations as a baseball player...and there are those in our readership that believe ITM's own Tim Murphy is his long lost younger brother. The biggest difference being that Jay Bay is on pace for 50+ taters and a multi million dollar contract. In his defense, I've heard stories that Murphy can play organized softball with the best that West Roxbury has to offer.

Anyways, the real debate about Jason Bay rages on...do you pursue locking him up long term now, at whatever price it takes, or see how the season and free agent market plays out before resurrecting contract talks. Currently, his contract pays him 7.88 million this year, an incredible steal at this point, but we all know that will change quickly. While he has been a fantastic added bat to the lineup (you can stack his stats against any player's at this point), his market value is also at an all-time high.

It's a tough call, but here are my thoughts: lock him into a 4 year deal ASAP. There is just no doubt about it in my mind. As a right handed pull hitter who finally has the talent around him to make him (and subsequently, his numbers) better, Boston suits him in a plethora of ways. Playing in front of a packed house every night surrounded by great baseball talent has been a welcome change for Bay, with his career essentially doing a 180 from his lonely days with the cellar-dwelling Pirates. He has clearly shown the ability to humbly accept the spotlight of Boston,while being a quiet, but positive addition to the clubhouse. He's quickly become wildly popular in New England, even without dreadlocks or childish antics, he plays the game hard and right, and the Boston fan base respects the hell out of that.

You can easily make the argument that his glove AND bat have been an upgrade over our 20 million dollar per year option which was on the table last year. He's managed to pick up for the production lost with Ortiz losing his mojo and the failed off season Teix signing. With that in mind, the Sox have the money to thank him for bailing them out, they should pony up and get it done.

Bring on the Mets.

I am the Resurrection and the Life

That's not a melodramatic headline, right? What? A guy can't merge the symbolism of Easter and baseball once in a while?


A few impressions following a nail-biting, desperately needed (to the extent we can throw that term around in what is admittedly the first week of the season), 5-4 Sox victory over the Angels:


---Anyone else surprised to learn that Brad Penny has the best April record of any active pitcher in the big leagues? After today's outing, he's a regular spring nymph at 21-7. The Sox have got to be pleased with that outing.


---Reassuring to see that Penny's velocity is there, but when he got up to 95, 96, it didn't look like he could hit 'Tek's targets. Still, that he was in the mid-90's at all is encouraging.


---That goomba Mike Napoli had this look on his face the whole game like he knew something we didn't. It was pretty impressive. Not just the hitting, but the fact that he was not at all surprised by it. The Angels apparently expect to get an awful lot of production from behind the plate this season.


---Speaking of catching production, way to be, 'Tek. I'm gonna try to be cool about it and not say anymore than that. Just, you know, way to be.


---I know this is strange, but Jacoby looks younger to me every time he doesn't get a hit. I'm not saying that at all as a slight, just as a real, physical observation. When he crosses the base path toward the dugout, it's like Field of Dreams and he seems to be a teenager all of a sudden. It's freaking me out a little.


---Reggie Willits is back with the Angels. You'll remember he was one of the goats of the 2008 ALDS. Terrible circumstances (I can't even begin to get into how terrible), but glad Willits is getting another shot with the club.


---Holy crap was that a good (stressful) last at-bat of the game.


---Chone Figgins has really got to work on the throw across the diamond. I've seen him lift Morales up off the bag three times this series already. You know that one where Figgins made a diving stab and a surprisingly good throw from his knees, but Morales just sort of watched it sail by his glove like he was seeing double for a moment? I'm thinking that was just revenge for making Kedrick work. Nobody makes Kendrick work. Got it, Chone?


---Please, please everyone: start calling Jason Bay the 'Ragin' Canadgin'. It would mean a lot to me if that caught on.

Belated--The Curious Case of Sidd Finch

ITM offers up this morning a belated April Fool's tribute to George Plimpton and his classic baseball prank, The Curious Case of Sidd Finch:

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1119283/1/index.htm

On April 1, 1985, Sports Illustrated published the Plimpton article, a lengthy expose on the Mets new prospect, "a 28-year-old, somewhat eccentric mystic" with a 168 mph fastball, named Sidd (Siddartha) Finch.

The article immediately prompted national interest, and confusion. There were some obvious clues in the story---the 168 mph fastball, the faux-Victorian absurdism, the fact that the first letters of the opening sentence ("He’s a pitcher, part yogi and part recluse. Impressively liberated from our opulent life-style, Sidd’s deciding about yoga —and his future in baseball.") spell out 'Happy April Fool's Day'. Nevertheless, Sports Illustrated was inundated by curious readers and the Mets got more than one message from opposing clubs, scouts, et al wondering where the heck they had found Sidd Finch and how they had kept him under wraps. On April 8, Sports Illustrated reported a Finch press conference in which he retired due to a sudden loss of accuracy. On April 15, the hoax was revealed.

Today, the story is generally included on lists of all-time great sports writing, as well as those of great American hoaxes. Plimpton, as ever, was the wildly charming, overachieving dabbler. He was a pioneer of what was known as participatory journalism. He threw himself into crazy, over-his-head situations and lived to tell about them.

He fought Archie Moore, who believed he was a young up-and-comer out of the Ivy Leagues. Plimpton nearly died that night, but out of it came Shadow Box, one of the great fight books of all time, and one of the few to really capture in words the feeling of having the absolute snot beat out of you. He later went through an NFL training camp and produced Paper Lion. He even got on the ice for a game with our own Bruins, minding the net for a shift.

In between, Plimpton managed to run one of the great literary magazines in American letters history, the Paris Review, which, under Plimpton's benevolence, nurtured some of the great post-war talent America has seen (in the early days, he kept the magazine funded by inviting an Arab prince to run the bulls with him in Pamplona, asking for a monetary guarantee when his highness appeared in need of help).

Plimpton came from one of the oldest and bluest-blooded families around (see Exeter's Plimpton fieldhouse). His accent had no nationality; it could really only be described as aristocratic. Yet his life was defined, really, by a sense of wonder and amusement, mixed together with an innate ability to connect with almost everyone he met, to charm them with his desire to understand and appreciate them. He was beloved by all, a romantic figure in an age all his own. Plimpton died in 2003.

Every April 1st, Sidd Finch manages to live on.

And Then There Were Two

Kevin Youkilis was knocked out of the WBC yesterday, which leaves Dice-K and Venezuela pitcher Enrique Gonzalez as the last two Sox standing in the WBC. Who will go down next?

Youk reported to Fort Meyers yesterday, where team doctors diagnosed a mild ankle sprain and mild Achilles' tendinitis. MRIs were negative, but "to limit movement and allow his ankle to heal," a Sox press release announced, "Youkilis will wear a walking boot for the next several days but is not expected to miss significant time.

For the time being, then, it doesn't sound too serious. More of an 'oh God, if they touch a single hair on his body we're pulling him out of the WBC' move. A common play this year, and understandable, if not entirely desirable.

Certainly there is cause for concern, though. As things stand, three of the four projected starting infielders for the Sox are injured. Which means Mike Lowell is the healthiest member of the crew. So, I repeat, there is some cause for concern. Let's hope that the right side, at least, bounces back from what seem to be minor conditions, and prove to be as reliable as they were last year. For the left side, I know you can do it, Mike. I believe in you.

Clay Buchholz, Now or Never?

Talking with a buddy of mine last week about the Red Sox catching situation we wondered if the Sox are going to attempt to trade for a young catcher, Jarrod Saltalamacchia of Texas was our focus. After signing Brad Penny and John Smoltz for this year the Sox have pitching depth, however all we ever hear is that Theo Epstein is hesitant to deal his young starting pitchers. That prompted my buddy Chris to pose the question; "Is Bucholz more Jon Lester (be patient and he'll become what we expect) or more Craig Hansen (young, looks great but just not gonna get there)?"

Jon Lester was drafted in the second round by the Red Sox in 2002. Lester quickly moved threw the minor league system, being called up in June of 2006. Lester pitched well in his rookie year starting 15 games, winning 7 and losing 2 with an ERA of 4.76. Lester's biggest problem was throwing strikes, I distinctly remember a lot of full counts and early exits for him. In 2007 Lester averaged 5.25 innings/start and in 2006 it was 5.4.

In 2008 Lester started 33 games, with a 16-6 record and a 3.21 ERA. Lester pitched 210 innings, averaging 6.4 innings/start with 2 complete games. He figured it out.

Craig Hansen was drafted by the Red Sox in 2005 with the 26th pick overall, first round. He made his major league debut later that season, going on to make 4 appearances. In June of 2006 Hanson was called up to help a struggling bullpen; Hansen did little to add any 'relief' to the situation, ending the season with a 6.63 ERA . In 2007 Hansen spent the entire year in Pawtucket with an ERA of 3.86, however he was never called up to pitch for the big club.

Hanson was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates along with Brandon Moss as part of the deal that sent Manny Ramirez out of town at the 2008 trade deadline. Hansen never figured it out.

Clay Buchholz is staring his Red Sox future in the face as he enters spring training this season. Buchholz is a highly revered prospect and his name swirls with any trade discussion, however to this point Theo has yet to deal him.

Everyone remembers Buchholz's no hitter against the Baltimore Orioles in September of 2007, the game was a look at the future ace of Boston's pitching staff. However 2008 was not a good year for Clay, he started 15 games with a 2-9 record and an ERA of 6.75. The Sox were 3-12 in games Buchholz started, and the synopsis of his season was a late August start against the same Baltimore team he no hit; Buchholz only lasted 2 1/3 innings and was sent down to double A Portland after the game.

Like Lester and Hanson, Buchholz was drafted early by the Red Sox. (Buchholz was the 42nd pick overall, a sandwich pick the Sox received for losing Pedro Martinez to free agency.) Is this the year when Buchholz figures out what he's doing wrong on the mound and adjusts to the hitters in the major leagues?

Francona admitted that perhaps the Sox rushed Craig Hansen in the big leagues, Lester was given time to work through his control problems and turned into one of the best pitchers in baseball. Will Buchholz recover from the change in his release point and remember how to throw his lights out change up again?

It's been rumored the Texas Rangers want Buchholz for catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Does Theo sell high on Buchholz and hope Saltalamacchia develops into one of the best catchers in the game to replace Jason Varitek; or does he wait to see how Buchholz performs to start the season and move him at the trading deadline? Option 3 would to keep Buchholz, continue to develop him and hope he finds his no hitter form again.

I don't know what's going to happen with Buchholz, but from everything I've heard about Saltalamacchia, he's got the potential to be the real deal. I suspect if Theo hasn't pulled the trigger on a deal for him yet involving Clay, Theo and his boys must still be really high on Buchholz coming into this year.

Regardless of what happens Buchholz is looking at a fork in the road. Is he going to follow Craig Hanson down the road of pitching mediocrity or take the road traveled by Jon Lester and become one of the aces of the Red Sox?