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Being the seventh son of itinerant peach pickers, it's needless to say that finances were constantly tight when I was a kid. It was used books, canned generic string beans (albeit French cut), Go-Bots, Hunt's ketchup and Mello Yello (how I longed for the sugary goodness of Mountain Dew). Along with these domestic bootstrapping efforts, came many more PawSox games than Red Sox games. And, I admit, over the years I came to love that decrepit old stadium in that dying mill town. Chock full of it's amateur oil portraits of old stars, endless supply of souvenir cups commemorating baseball's longest game and it's cigarette man billboard that was constantly in disrepair. I still have occasional, fond nightmares of that armless behemoth razing my childhood Little League field.

Anyway, there was a silver lining to my frugal childhood, as back in the day triple-A was actually a stepping stone in the progression to the majors rather than a place to stash old veterans, Americans returning from the Japanese leagues or those Bull Durham idols just not able to make that final leap. I remember feverishly praying that Rick Lancelotti would one day get his shot at Boston glory and cursing Lou Gorman to damnation each year that the Sox sent him down in spring training. Still, I was able to see a lot of young players learning how to adjust their cups, dribble chaw on their uniforms, glare at umps, ignore kids looking for autographs and generally grow into being a big league player.

Of course more often than not, the Sox would rather trade them for Larry Anderson, Mike Boddicker or Jeff Suppan than actually use these budding gems, so it just warms my cockles to see the Pawtucket pipeline gushing talent this year. Pedroia (sometimes it's easy to forget he's a rookie), Buchholz, Ellsbury, Moss, Cash. Okay, Cash might be a wee stretch and I might be jumping the gun on Moss. And Gammons would disagree, but Dice-K and Okijima are rookies, too, even if they never tasted the fine culinary establishments in Pawtucket.

Obviously, everyone was giddy over Buchholz's no-no, but his previous start against the Angels was almost as impressive, given the Orioles tendency to fold more easily than the Michigan defense (along with Greg's eclectic rooting tastes for the Bears, Yanks, and Celtics, there is also Michigan).

It would be nigh silly to consider keep Manny on the bench in favor of Ellsbury, just think of all the great pitches Papi would see, but I don't think you'd get many complaints about letting him steal at-bats from Drew as long as he keeps raking (Drew has to be hurt right? Cora has a better slugging percentage. Cora!)

Pedroia has more than delivered. It could not have been easy stepping in and starting at second base, especially after his April and May, but he has consistently shown himself to be a real pest and the guardian of Trot's dirt dog image.

Dice-K and Okijima have both earned their keep and I think Dice-K will continue to improve, but it can be brutal to watch him pitch. Glorious one inning, flat, batting practice pitches the next. Still, he's young and that consistent command could develop. At the worst he's a front end starter and it's hard to imagine the Sox with this type of lead without either of these imports.

For such a baseball rich town, it's not often that we get to see rookies come up and truly contribute (exhibit - Ramirez, Hanley). We hear about them and discuss them endlessly for years, but rarely see the end results in a Boston uniform. Every few years, we might see a rookie burst fully formed onto the scene, such as Nomar or Papelbon, but it's been a long time since the Sox have had a rookie class that truly added some value. Looking back at ye olde baseballreference.com, I think '87's group of: Burks (oh how I loved him -- I always thought there was a rule that the Red Sox couldn't steal bases before Burks), Jody Reed, Todd Benzinger, Sam Horn and Mike Greenwell are the next closest thing.

So while I wonder if Ellsbury has to shave once or twice a week, it's nice just see the Sox future on display in Boston, actually playing for our team. The only thing sweeter would have been getting the chance to catch a few games at McCoy first.

Labels: baseball, mike d, MLB, Red Sox

Like Elvis fans, most Jim Rice admirers prefer a certain period. I'm a pre-1980, mutton chops, red hat and piping guy and for the life of me I just can't get Jim's mutton chops right on my latex replica. Anyway, while taking a break from trying yet another conditioner/relaxer combo on the authentic sideburn hair I ordered off the Internet, I noticed Theo and the Sox finally got around to consummating one of the worst kept off season secrets in the signings of JD Drew and Julio Lugo. And you now what? Given the tickling rash of insanity that's pervading this off-season, I don't have too much of a problem with the deals. Sure, the backends are probably not going to be pretty, but let's be honest, even with air brushing and discreet makeup backends rarely are. It's probably just the current climate, but I don't see these deals as nearly mind boggling as Gary Matthews (so who is going to bat behind Vlad again?) or Juan Pierre. They are certainly not a steal, but given how much the increased revenue sharing has thinned the year to year free agent crops and the current stability in the labor contract, I don't think the 20%+ premiums that are being paid to the lucky few will be disappearing anytime soon. All teams now have more money to lock up key players longer, so the quality players at the free agent flea market are going to get the dollars.

Here in Boston, the rabble seems to have died down a bit on Drew now that there is the distinct possibility the Manny is staying and Drew is more protection and not replacement. Injuries are, of course, the biggest concern with Drew - and maybe attitude, but I'm not going to be playing snap towel in the showers with him, so what do I care? But injuries also seem to have overshadowed how good he is when healthy. And I'd rather have a guy with the history of being good, than say one who's being signed for a single statistical anomaly season at age 31. It's also amusing to note that Drew's number one comparable on baseball-reference is Trot Nixon.

As for Lugo, I can only assume Theo had him on his Dominican futures fantasy team back at Yale. I really don't understand his infatuation with a player that seems a tick or two better offensively and more than a few ticks worse defensively than Alex Gonzalez. After a season off, I can now look forward to resuming my habitual flinching I developed in the late Nomar years at balls hit up the middle. I don't really think Lugo is four or five million dollars better than Alex Gonzalez and all else being equal I would probably have enjoyed watching Hanley Ramirez develop at the position rather than the revolving triumvirate of Renteria, Gonzalez or Lugo. Of course, giving young players on the job training on Yawkey is a rare phenomenon on a team that feels compelled to try to satiate a rabid fan base that expects to compete for a World Series every year. Good luck Pedroia.

Labels: baseball, mike d, Red Sox

Well, it looks like baseball has officially lost it's mind. Seriously, what is going on with these contracts? Juan Pierre, $44M for 5 years? Are you kidding me? What could be worse that that? "Well, how about giving Gary Matthews Jr. $50M for 5 years?" If you said that, you would be correct. Because that is worse. Much, much worse. Hooray! Baseball is stupid again.

Remember a few years ago when baseball was all like, "We can't give out big contracts because we are correcting this inflated salary bullshit by dolling out smaller deals, our own self-imposed salary controls, since the players union will never approve it, blah blah whatever." Wow, that lasted long. Fucking cowards. They can't help themselves, can they? They are like reformed crack addicts, back on the rock, blowing guys in rest areas for right handed power hitters. I mean, come on, Gary Matthews Jr.? 5-years? What? Because when you have a 32-year-old journeyman who hit over .300 for the first time in his career, who until last season never had over 500 AB's in a season, who also boasts a career OPS of .755 ... you've got to lock him up at $10M a season until he's 37. That's what any smart GM would do. And sure, not every player can hit 19 HR's and drive in 79 runs in 620 AB's. That's sheer power. Especially in a pitchers park like the Ballpark at Arlington. I'm surprised he didn't get ARod money. Essentially, he's a shittier version of Preston Wilson. Who, by the way, made $4 million this past season.

And then there's Juan Pierre. You know who loves that signing? Cubs fans. It's bad enough that some unfortunate fantasy owner is forced to draft a virtually useless, one-dimensional player taken way too early each year who does nothing but make you marginally competitive in one category in 5x5 leagues while simultaneously sucking the life out of your other statistical categories forcing you to rip divots out of your pubes in frustration Pierre somewhere around the 5th round for his stupid SB's. It's brilliant for the Dodgers too, since Pierre is nothing like Rafael Furcal and Kenny Lofton. He provides a refreshing compliment to their skill set. And on the same team, the three can combine forces to form a Voltron of "the worst lead-off hitter in the history of baseball". After this signing was rumored to be true, good friend and super-SportsBlah-commenter Felton Trigg sent me this email:

So Juan Pierre is 29 years old. Here's the question: If you (as a
major league team) got Pierre for free (5 years, $0/year) but only under
the condition that you must play him and bat him leadoff in every game
(assuming he's not on the DL) for the full 5 years -- would your team be
smart to take him?

Really interesting question. Let's quickly break it down.

The pros: he'd be free, he's fast, while he's probably wearing a woman's extra-small sized uniform it still always looks three-sizes too big on him.

The cons: he can't get on base, he's not particularly good, he grounds out to the pitcher 132% of the time.

That's a tough one. But I'd probably go with "no".

Oh, and since when is Orlando Hernandez worth $6 million a year? I'm telling you, this whole thing is completely ridiculous. $6M? That's the equivalent of the Mets paying $78,000 for a used Hyundai, that breaks down every three weeks, who was pushed over from Japan on a raft. At this rate, Carlos Lee should get about $78 million a season. At least the Soriano deal makes sense. I mean, probably too long of a contract for a little too much money. But at least he's, you know, good.

Hmm, I wonder if the Cubs would trade him for ARod?

Labels: baseball, greg