Hot stove? You Betcha!
Well, an interesting week for the local ball team to say the least. Hard to steal the headlines of a 45-3 romping of the NY Jets by the Pats, but the Sox sure did.
The on again/off again/on again pursuit of San Diego slugger Adrian Gonzales finally came to fruition on Tuesday. The package sent to the Padres makes sense. Tough to loose a touted pitching prospect like Casey Kelly, but that was the price to pay. We'll watch from afar to see if he can make it to the bigs and flourish in a NL environment. Anthony Rizzo was a mid-level 1B prospect and was expendable with Gonzales occupying the same position. Rey Fuentes was an interesting case as he was an up and coming SS prospect. However, he has been passed by Cuban import Jose Iglesias. Iglesias was at Portland last year and has already displayed major league ready defensive talent, but his bat isn't quite ready. This made Fuentes expendable and he may even start right away for San Diego. (As an aside, expect Iglesias to get the call-up if Marco Scutaro gets hurt. At the very least, expect him to be your 2012 starting SS.)
Don't worry about a lack of a contract extension for Gonzales either. By all reports, there is a firm handshake agreement on a six year, $147 million extention for A-Gon, making his total deal seven years and $154 million. It won't be announced until after Opening Day due to Luxury Tax accounting. This opened the door for another major signing. One that came as a huge surprise to many.
There was a crawl on the Thursday morning news I only caught the end off. It read "Crawford signs for 7/$142". (years/millions) I thought those dollars and years were for the Angels or Yankees, both of whom were more in line for the Tampa speedster. What a surprise when it came around again and it read "Red Sox agree to terms with Carl Crawford"! Now, we did need some outfield help, but spending $20 million a year on Crawford was unexpected. I think I fall into the camp of, "Way to much money per year for someone with Crawford's talent set, but it isn't my money so I am excited he's playing for us and not one of our rivals". Needless to say, an outfield of Crawford, Ellsbury, and Drew will get to a lot of fly balls.
This does make our regular line-up lean more to the left as both Gonzalez and Crawford bat that way. (Maybe those rumors of the bullpen fences being brought in 10 feet are true?) My only concern is if the Yankees get Cliff Lee. (Far from a done deal BTW.) Lee paired with CC would make for a tough series. Against the mostly right-handed rest of the league, this lineup should give pitchers fits.
The Sox are far from done too. As "satisfied" they say they are with a catching combo of 'Tek and newcomer Jarrod Saltalamacchia, there are rumors the Sox are interested in former Dodger backstop Russell Martin. Plus there is still a need for a relief pitcher or two and some teams have expressed interest in the now semi-expendable Mike Cameron. So don't be surprised with other moves soon.
Now, for ghits and siggles, here is one possible line up for 2011:
Crawford, Pedro, A-Gon, Youks, Papi, Drew, 'Tek/Salty/(Martin?), Scutaro, Ellsbury
Not to shabby!
The on again/off again/on again pursuit of San Diego slugger Adrian Gonzales finally came to fruition on Tuesday. The package sent to the Padres makes sense. Tough to loose a touted pitching prospect like Casey Kelly, but that was the price to pay. We'll watch from afar to see if he can make it to the bigs and flourish in a NL environment. Anthony Rizzo was a mid-level 1B prospect and was expendable with Gonzales occupying the same position. Rey Fuentes was an interesting case as he was an up and coming SS prospect. However, he has been passed by Cuban import Jose Iglesias. Iglesias was at Portland last year and has already displayed major league ready defensive talent, but his bat isn't quite ready. This made Fuentes expendable and he may even start right away for San Diego. (As an aside, expect Iglesias to get the call-up if Marco Scutaro gets hurt. At the very least, expect him to be your 2012 starting SS.)
Don't worry about a lack of a contract extension for Gonzales either. By all reports, there is a firm handshake agreement on a six year, $147 million extention for A-Gon, making his total deal seven years and $154 million. It won't be announced until after Opening Day due to Luxury Tax accounting. This opened the door for another major signing. One that came as a huge surprise to many.
There was a crawl on the Thursday morning news I only caught the end off. It read "Crawford signs for 7/$142". (years/millions) I thought those dollars and years were for the Angels or Yankees, both of whom were more in line for the Tampa speedster. What a surprise when it came around again and it read "Red Sox agree to terms with Carl Crawford"! Now, we did need some outfield help, but spending $20 million a year on Crawford was unexpected. I think I fall into the camp of, "Way to much money per year for someone with Crawford's talent set, but it isn't my money so I am excited he's playing for us and not one of our rivals". Needless to say, an outfield of Crawford, Ellsbury, and Drew will get to a lot of fly balls.
This does make our regular line-up lean more to the left as both Gonzalez and Crawford bat that way. (Maybe those rumors of the bullpen fences being brought in 10 feet are true?) My only concern is if the Yankees get Cliff Lee. (Far from a done deal BTW.) Lee paired with CC would make for a tough series. Against the mostly right-handed rest of the league, this lineup should give pitchers fits.
The Sox are far from done too. As "satisfied" they say they are with a catching combo of 'Tek and newcomer Jarrod Saltalamacchia, there are rumors the Sox are interested in former Dodger backstop Russell Martin. Plus there is still a need for a relief pitcher or two and some teams have expressed interest in the now semi-expendable Mike Cameron. So don't be surprised with other moves soon.
Now, for ghits and siggles, here is one possible line up for 2011:
Crawford, Pedro, A-Gon, Youks, Papi, Drew, 'Tek/Salty/(Martin?), Scutaro, Ellsbury
Not to shabby!