Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Sox Game
As i was sitting at the Red Sox game watching Hanley Ramirez roam the revolving door we Red Sox fans call Short Stop i was wondering whether or not i would have done the off-season deal that Theo so quickly turned down. Shortly after the heart break of Mark Teixeira there were rumors about the Red Sox going after Mr. Ramirez. The rumors which will never get confirmed were that the Marlins wanted Clay Buchholz and Jacoby Ellsbury as well as a lower level minor leaguer in exchange for the All-Star short stop. As we know now Theo was not interested and the conversation was said to have lasted about 5 minutes. Looking back was that such a bad deal for the Red Sox? In my opinion it was one that they at least needed to consider. Now don't get me wrong i love Clay Buccholz but there are still way to many answered questions about his mental mind set and ability. Sure he has a sub 2.00 Era in AAA right now but so do 100 other people that aren't as highly regarded as this guy. His struggles last season lead the Red Sox to signing Brad Penny and John Smoltz in order to push him completely out of the rotation. What does that say? How much better is Clay than say Michael Bowden who is also dominating the AAA level? And lastly the Boston Red Sox are probably one of the few major league teams that can trade a highly touted prospect of his caliber and not effect their major league roster. Moving on to the other major part of this deal and the one that fans would seemingly be so upset about would be the departing of Jacoby Ellsbury. Now we all know that Jacoby is a fan favorite and a heart throb for the female fans of Boston but so was Johnny Damon and the women seemed to move on just fine. Ellsbury as a player is an exciting guy who Could become a 300 hitter with 70 steals and win a few gold gloves in center. However is anyone really sold on that? Granted it was his first major league season it did not take opposing pitchers long to figure out the holes in his swing and dominate him with inside fastballs causing him to hit 280 with a bleak on base percentage of 336. I will agree that those are not bad numbers for a rookie but 336 as a lead off hitter? Parting with Ellsbury would be difficult don't get me wrong but the more i see of Julio Lugo and Nick Green the more comfortable i am becoming with that idea. Now the prize of the deal Hanley. As a 24 year old full time short stop you saw him hit 301 with an on base clip of 400. He also managed to hit 33 home runs out of the pitchers ball park that the Marlins play in. As a whole Ramirez is just flat out a better player than the two players that the Red Sox refused to include in the deal, however if Jacoby and Clay were to meet their full potentials then and only then would this deal become a hesitation. It is a simple question of taking the proven or the unknown because you do not know what Clay and Jacoby will become and you know that Hanley Ramirez is the best short stop in baseball right now and is arguably in the top 10 players in the game right now. So in my opinion the Sox and Theo should have at least considered this and maybe even pulled the trigger.
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No way, Hanley is a defensive downgrade from Lowrie. To trade for his bat would have hurt their defense in two positions and lost the pitching depth. They signed Penny and Smoltz to one year deals to give Buchholz and Bowden one more year (that they may have underestimated their improvement is another story), not to show any lack of faith in their ability. Plus guess who else has holes in their swing their rookie year... every-fucking-body. Jacoby has come back to hit over .300 so far and is improving in pitch selection... something hitters don't usually master until their 4th or 5th year. In conclusion D-train, you are a damn fool.
ReplyDeleteI can understand where you are coming from Daryl with the Hanley trade. Jacoby is a good hitter, but still has a low on base percentage (hence why he is not leadoff anymore). I understand what Theo is doing too by keeping Jacoby and Clay. Theo is a smart man. The Red Sox organization likes to take a long time developing their players, making sure that they are ready (jacoby, papelbon, Clay, Bard, Bowden, Lowrie, Youk, Lester, etc). Its smart because Theo and the organization want to make sure that they are physically and mentally ready to be a big leaguer. All those players I mentioned are either or potential all stars. They excel at what they do because they were developed properly and not rushed. Next season, the Sox are going to need Clay, Bowden, Bard in the rotation because you will most likely be losing Penny (possibly even this season), Smoltz, and god knows Wakefield is getting old. If Penny is traded this season for a postitonal player/prospect, the Sox have Bucholz waiting to step into the rotation. It makes sense to me why Theo kept around Jacoby and Clay because they fit into the team package. Plus, Lowrie is pretty solid at SS (not great, but solid) and he will get a ton of XBH. Lowrie may never hit for a high average, but he will drive in his fair share of runs (better than Lugo or Green). Also, the Sox are saving ALOT of money by not have Hanley on the team because he is one of the best in baseball and they would have to pay him as one.
ReplyDeleterich raymond