Sox

I was definitely raised by my mother to not say anything if I couldn’t say something nice.  Since I can say something nice, I figure that gives me free reign to say a lot of not nice things as well.  So we’ll start with the Nice:  David Ortiz is hitting much better at this point in the season than last year.  I think Red Sox Nation is collectively proud of his perseverance.

Now the not so nice.  Lackey and Beckett.  I thought these two were going to challenge each other for the top of the rotation, not the bottom.  The problem with the rotation is what you do with the sixth starter, but right now, you have to wonder where our fifth starter is, because Lackey and Beckett have pitched their way out of mine right now.  Yes it’s early, and they should rebound.  But my concerns are more historical.  Beckett has not shown enough consistency to have earned a 4-year extension worth 80 million.  He has shown Cy Young talent, just not regularly enough. He’s been injury prone, he gives up homeruns, every other year seems to be pretty bad.  I just don’t trust that in 4 years you’ll still be paying a top tier pitcher.  They signed Lackey, who has horrible career numbers in Fenway.  And apparently now he can’t pitch in day games, so as long as he is pitching at night, on the road, he could be good for the next 5 years.    Theo’s essay about how he spent $160 million needs some work.

Theo has a funny place in my mind.  I think he is either really good in his decision-making or really bad.  He is rarely mediocre.  He can draw a line where he will not negotiate a contract above a certain price-point for certain players, and others he’ll fall over himself to over pay.  Julio Lugo?  Still paying him to warm another team’s bench.  JD Drew? Has been good, but not deserving of the money he got.  Let’s Lowe walk because a 4 year contract was too long, same with Pedro, same with Damon.  Instead we replace them with Beckett (7 years 100 million), Lackey (5 years $83 million), and Drew (4 years $70 million).  Paying Beltre  9 million following the season he had, when you had Lowell, Youkilis, and Bill Hall on your roster that could play 3^rd?  But his drafting is amazingly efficient.  One miss Jason Place.

I won’t even touch my thoughts on Francona in this  post.  It’ll take way too long.  Going forward, I’ll spend a lot of time talking about prospects, particularly this time of year.  If the Sox ever get it going, I may talk more about the big club and its chances, but right now, I just don’t think they really have a chance.