Eventful Day
As I was finishing up a term paper and doing some studying, I realized I hadn't checked up on MLB news in a while (that being longer than 24 hours), since Red Sox news has been so... nonexistent lately. I looked on ESPN and a few other sites and my brain exploded.
First, the big news: we got John Lackey for 5 years, $85 million. While this is by no means a bargain, I thought he would go for a bit more, but of course, I also thought he was likely to go to the NYY. While I've had my reservations about him due to his being a sore loser in 2008, he has to be in the 95th percentile for consistency in MLB. And while there is a lot of talk about the horse race with the Yankees, which I can't see us "winning" for a few years at least, this looks to me like a mortal blow for the Angels, which have been the third team which has dominated the AL for the past several years. While they certainly aren't getting much intra-divisional competition (Rangers or Mariners maybe? Perhaps Seattle if this weirdo Halladay/Lee deal goes down), their team looks incredibly unimpressive on paper, even if they were to make a major signing/trade or two.
Second, looks like the Jason Bay era is officially over. Mike Cameron's been signed for 2 years, ~$15.5M. I'm feeling very lukewarm on this move, but it does show that things are falling into place in a hurry. It'll probably a platoon with Hermida to some extent (although I'd expect, unless he's horrible, that the majority of ABs in LF or CF or wherever they want him will go to Cameron, with Hermida giving the rest of the OF frequent days off). I'm going to miss Bay a lot--he was our last totally legit 30+ HR hitter (I love Youk, and while I think his value is comparable or even more than Bay's, he's not as good at hitting the long ball, and we don't know what to expect from Papi at this point), and was generally a really great guy to have around. I will always remember on the eve of my birthday hearing about the Manny trade and being surprised that we'd received someone as good as Bay in compensation, whom I had respected for several years. But I suppose all good things must come to an end, however short they are, so good luck Jason, wherever you end up (unless you're playing Boston, of course).
The implications of both of these moves are enormous. The individual who will feel the greatest effect from these moves is certainly Clay Buchholz, and it looks like judgment day has come for him. Since the Red Sox are still lacking a bit in the lineup, especially in consistent power, it's not the craziest suggestion that the Sox will trade him somewhere in a blockbuster trade for a big bat, Adrian Gonzalez or Miguel Cabrera being the usual suspects. However, while there's a large possibility of such a trade occurring at some point, I do have one alternate theory. If Buchholz stays and pitches well (or heaven forbid, breaks out as an ace), and if the rest of our rotation performs as expected, the singing of Lackey might mean that the Sox are more comfortable letting Beckett go at the end of next season. With the salaries of Beckett, Ortiz, Martinez and Varitek coming off the books along with the deferred salaries of Lugo and Lowell (or regular salary, depending on how this soap opera ends) as well, there will be nearly $50 million coming off the books. I don't know if they'll be going after Mauer or Martinez or someone else, but if Milwaukee doesn't re-sign him, Prince Fielder would be a free agent. My point is that with these two moves, it would greatly surprise me if the Red Sox didn't acquire a younger big power hitter for the long-term by the start of 2011. While I'm still not sure about these moves, I do feel a lot more optimistic about the future.
First, the big news: we got John Lackey for 5 years, $85 million. While this is by no means a bargain, I thought he would go for a bit more, but of course, I also thought he was likely to go to the NYY. While I've had my reservations about him due to his being a sore loser in 2008, he has to be in the 95th percentile for consistency in MLB. And while there is a lot of talk about the horse race with the Yankees, which I can't see us "winning" for a few years at least, this looks to me like a mortal blow for the Angels, which have been the third team which has dominated the AL for the past several years. While they certainly aren't getting much intra-divisional competition (Rangers or Mariners maybe? Perhaps Seattle if this weirdo Halladay/Lee deal goes down), their team looks incredibly unimpressive on paper, even if they were to make a major signing/trade or two.
Second, looks like the Jason Bay era is officially over. Mike Cameron's been signed for 2 years, ~$15.5M. I'm feeling very lukewarm on this move, but it does show that things are falling into place in a hurry. It'll probably a platoon with Hermida to some extent (although I'd expect, unless he's horrible, that the majority of ABs in LF or CF or wherever they want him will go to Cameron, with Hermida giving the rest of the OF frequent days off). I'm going to miss Bay a lot--he was our last totally legit 30+ HR hitter (I love Youk, and while I think his value is comparable or even more than Bay's, he's not as good at hitting the long ball, and we don't know what to expect from Papi at this point), and was generally a really great guy to have around. I will always remember on the eve of my birthday hearing about the Manny trade and being surprised that we'd received someone as good as Bay in compensation, whom I had respected for several years. But I suppose all good things must come to an end, however short they are, so good luck Jason, wherever you end up (unless you're playing Boston, of course).
The implications of both of these moves are enormous. The individual who will feel the greatest effect from these moves is certainly Clay Buchholz, and it looks like judgment day has come for him. Since the Red Sox are still lacking a bit in the lineup, especially in consistent power, it's not the craziest suggestion that the Sox will trade him somewhere in a blockbuster trade for a big bat, Adrian Gonzalez or Miguel Cabrera being the usual suspects. However, while there's a large possibility of such a trade occurring at some point, I do have one alternate theory. If Buchholz stays and pitches well (or heaven forbid, breaks out as an ace), and if the rest of our rotation performs as expected, the singing of Lackey might mean that the Sox are more comfortable letting Beckett go at the end of next season. With the salaries of Beckett, Ortiz, Martinez and Varitek coming off the books along with the deferred salaries of Lugo and Lowell (or regular salary, depending on how this soap opera ends) as well, there will be nearly $50 million coming off the books. I don't know if they'll be going after Mauer or Martinez or someone else, but if Milwaukee doesn't re-sign him, Prince Fielder would be a free agent. My point is that with these two moves, it would greatly surprise me if the Red Sox didn't acquire a younger big power hitter for the long-term by the start of 2011. While I'm still not sure about these moves, I do feel a lot more optimistic about the future.