Red Sox Reality Check

You're complaining about Carl Crawford? How about this for trivia...who am I? I pitched for the Red Sox. I have never won 20 games, but 5 of the past 6 years, I have won at least 14 games. I have been an all-star once. I have never won a post-season game. I have never been in the top 10 in the Cy Young Award voting. I will earn 18 MILLION dollars in 2013 . Who am I?

What a difference a week makes. The Sox moved up the toteboard among the Boston sports scene, maybe even pushing the Patriots aside as they arrived in the Windy City. Some say Crawford isn't 'worth the money'. Anybody been watching the Rays the past few years. Crawford seemed to have 20 stolen bases a year against the Red Sox. A Yankee fan told me today, that Crawford gets "wasted" playing left field in Boston. Last time I checked, the Sox also play eighty-one games not in "America's Most Beloved Ballpark". If the Yankees elect to go with their non-defensive catcher, Miguel Montero, Ellsbury, Crawford, Pedroia, and maybe others can run at will. We won't be complaining about the Yankees' short porch, when the Sox have Ellsbury, Crawford, Ortiz, Gonzalez, Drew, Lowrie, and Saltalamacchia in the lineup. What Sox fans won't be saying now: Why are they spending so much money on soccer? Why did ticket prices rise? Why won't they s...

This week the Red Sox sent a message to their rivals in New York, we can play your game. The addition of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford to the lineup brings a new dimension to the Red Sox lineup, a combination of both speed and power, as well as two Gold Glove caliber defenders. One might make the argument that the Sox are too "left-handed" with the right-handedness coming from: 1) Kevin Youkilis 2) Dustin Pedroia 3) Switch-hitting catchers 4) Mike Cameron in platoon 5) Jed Lowrie/Marco Scutaro at shortstop Obtaining Russell Martin (via free agency) could take David Ortiz out of the lineup against some lefthanders, creating a lineup against some LHP of: 2B - Pedroia LF - Crawford 3B - Youkilis 1B - Gonzalez DH - Martin RF - Cameron C - Varitek SS - Lowrie CF - Ellsbury Obviously, there remains a possibility of additional trades. Play ball.

We'll see how it turns out, but the Red Sox and Padres apparently have a deal for Adrian Gonzalez. I'd guess that the Padres get: Casey Kelly Anthony Rizzo Ryan Kalish Luis Exposito But I certainly don't know. I like Kalish better than Jacoby Ellsbury, because I like outfielders who can throw, but that's just me. 

There is news! Rumor has it that the Red Sox have signed Brandon Duckworth (Ode to Joy plays). What? Welcome to the Brandon Duckworth era... Uber-site MLBTraderumors.com reports that Adrian Beltre would PREFER to return to the Red Sox. Let's not confuse preference with dollar signs. This would obviously invalidate my Paul Konerko (White Sox) sneaking in the back door theory. I see the lack of right-handed power depth as the number one issue to be resolved by the Sox this offseason, closely followed by the bullpen. The Red Sox resigned Jason Varitek today, presumably as some combination of the Beckett-Lackey binky, and for platoon against left-handing pitching. Could the Red Sox ability to throw out runners stealing actually go down? Maybe signing Carl Crawford could help rectify that? Maybe Sox fans will get an early Christmas present, but I'm not holding my breath.