Notes
Yetsterday bore the announcement of C.C. Sabathia as the American League Cy Young winner for 2007, an award that was hotly contested on the Junior Circuit. Sabathia, battery mate Fausto Carmona and our very own Josh Beckett were the top three possibilities for the award, though surprisingly Anaheim's John Lackey managed to end up in the top three for vote-getting. Look, I wanted Beckett to win just as anyone, but in the regular season Sabathia was an absolute war horse, going well beyond the extra mile to help his club out. Unfortunately for C.C., Beckett had to settle for the second place prize: a world championship.
With the free agent deadline having come an gone with Tuesday morning, talks between the Red Sox and Mike Lowell seemed to have gone as far as they can. My own personal expectation is that Lowell will sign elsewhere for his desired four years and $56 million, and though I'm disappointed at the likelihood of him playing 2008 in another uniform the last 3 seasons have demonstrated just how quickly a beloved player can go from fan favorite to fan forgotten.
Unlike the majority of the buzzers out there I'm not entirely convinced the Sox are interested in pursuing Alex Rodriguez, unless of course he's willing to play third base for less than the contract he opted out of. Look, he may well be the best offensive player of this era, but I find it hard to believe that one man is worth 1/5 of a team's payroll for any given year. Alex can't win the games all by himself, as the acquisition of Manny demonstrated in the early stages of his deal (read: pre-Ortiz). The biggest argument for ARod pursuit would be the desire to replace Ramirez's after this season with Rodriguez, and then maybe hang on to Coco Crisp as a left fielder with Ellsbury in center for an overall defensive upgrade without the offensive reduction.
I'd be very interested in seeing the Sox try and work something out via trade for their third base hole, though color me indifferent about Miguel Cabrera. Sure, he's a great player at the dish, but he's miserable defensively and has absolutely zero character pluses that anyone has seen. The last thing we'd need is for Miggy to be found chest-high in pizza boxes and women of the night at some 24-hour establishment of ill repute. Andy Laroche would be a fun guy to pursue, especially if LA insists on chasing ARod down the hall.
Fantasy pickups? How about Ryan Zimmerman as a possible trade possibility? Ignore the fact that he's the cornerstone of that Washington franchise, or that the Nationals' front office is notorious for overvaluing their players to the point of absurdity. Zimmerman would be a great player to watch develop in Fenway Park, and an infield of Zim, Lowrie, Pedroia and Youkilis in 2009 would be a blast to watch.
With the free agent deadline having come an gone with Tuesday morning, talks between the Red Sox and Mike Lowell seemed to have gone as far as they can. My own personal expectation is that Lowell will sign elsewhere for his desired four years and $56 million, and though I'm disappointed at the likelihood of him playing 2008 in another uniform the last 3 seasons have demonstrated just how quickly a beloved player can go from fan favorite to fan forgotten.
Unlike the majority of the buzzers out there I'm not entirely convinced the Sox are interested in pursuing Alex Rodriguez, unless of course he's willing to play third base for less than the contract he opted out of. Look, he may well be the best offensive player of this era, but I find it hard to believe that one man is worth 1/5 of a team's payroll for any given year. Alex can't win the games all by himself, as the acquisition of Manny demonstrated in the early stages of his deal (read: pre-Ortiz). The biggest argument for ARod pursuit would be the desire to replace Ramirez's after this season with Rodriguez, and then maybe hang on to Coco Crisp as a left fielder with Ellsbury in center for an overall defensive upgrade without the offensive reduction.
I'd be very interested in seeing the Sox try and work something out via trade for their third base hole, though color me indifferent about Miguel Cabrera. Sure, he's a great player at the dish, but he's miserable defensively and has absolutely zero character pluses that anyone has seen. The last thing we'd need is for Miggy to be found chest-high in pizza boxes and women of the night at some 24-hour establishment of ill repute. Andy Laroche would be a fun guy to pursue, especially if LA insists on chasing ARod down the hall.
Fantasy pickups? How about Ryan Zimmerman as a possible trade possibility? Ignore the fact that he's the cornerstone of that Washington franchise, or that the Nationals' front office is notorious for overvaluing their players to the point of absurdity. Zimmerman would be a great player to watch develop in Fenway Park, and an infield of Zim, Lowrie, Pedroia and Youkilis in 2009 would be a blast to watch.
Labels: Commentary
Ryan Brodeur at 8:58 AM
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