Hope & Change
Hope: The Sox inked All-Star Kevin Youkilis to a 4 year contract worth about $40 million. The deal buys out his final two years of arbitration, and pushes his free agency date two years beyond that. The Red Sox hope Kevin (who turns 30 in March) can stay healthy and in decent shape for the next four years. If he does, his contract will be an absolute steal when compared to the salaries of his peers at both 3B and 1B. However, 30-33 is a delicate age for players, especially those who are somewhat slow-footed to begin with. I like the gamble.
Change: Our favorite AAAA pitcher, David Pauley, was traded to the Orioles for pitcher Randor Bierd. It’s a good deal for Boston and Baltimore both. Bierd is a bullpen project, a former Tommy John guy with an impressive arsenal of pitches. He’ll join the Pawsox and will be one of the first names called when an extra bullpen arm is needed in Boston. The party who benefits most from this trade is David Pauley, who is likely to start the season in the back end of Baltimore’s starting rotation. Good for him.
Hope: Slugger David Ortiz, training in the Dominican, tells us that his wrist feels good. This is straight from the horse’s mouth, and at the risk of sounding like a cynic, a pro athlete’s opinion of his own health should usually be taken with a grain of salt. We’ll see how he looks in the spring. Since the Sox have (thus far) failed to upgrade their lineup, the question of whether or not Ortiz is healthy might be the ultimate factor for the team’s 2009 hopes.
Change: Jason Varitek should change agencies. For all the praise Scott Boras receives, and most of it is very well deserved, his advice will end up costing Jason Varitek something in the ballpark of $5 million. At first, I was hopeful that ‘Tek would sign elsewhere and get the Sox a compensation draft pick, but at this point it appears that there is absolutely no market for the aging catcher’s services. Perhaps if Boras wasn’t occupied with making the Yankees bid against themselves for Mark Teixeira (and I can’t say I blame him, considering he probably gets a flat percentage commission), he would have been able to analyze Varitek’s situation more carefully.
Change: It looks like Alex Cora has signed with the Mets. While the Sox should now cancel their registration in the academic decathlon, I’d have to say this is good news, as Terry Francona seemed to have some sort of oddly misplaced confidence in the light-hitting infielder. Taking Cora out of Francona’s toolbox will slightly improve the offense in 2008. Speaking of which…
Hope: There have been reports that Julio Lugo, hoping to reclaim the starting shortstop job, has gained 20 pounds of muscle in the offseason. Yeah, call me a skeptic. But hey, it’s great that he has a competitive fire lit beneath him, as the Sox will at least have a decent infielder on the bench (whether it be Lugo or Lowrie). I’ve long felt that Lugo was unfairly trashed here due to his bloated contract, and think he will be quite useful in a utility role. Let’s just hold our breath and see what this extra 20 pounds really looks like down in Fort Myers.
Happy Inauguration Day.
“For all the praise Scott Boras receives…”
You actually typed this? This guy is a whore of the lowest proportions and I would never employ him.
Don’t give me that, “he’s good because he gets me alot of money argument.” Your friends and who you do business with reflects on you as a person and anyone who chooses that piece of sh*t Boras as his agent is not overly concerned with their own image. Sure, the reality may be different, but at least the Sox have attempted to let Boras know that they do think very lowly of him when dealing with him in the past.
Jacoby Ellsbery should hope that Julio Lugo does not perform well in 2009. The official goat of Red Sox fans takes the heat off all others. If the 20 pounds of muscle on Lugo was earned the old fashioned way then maybe Jacoby has something to worry about. If Lugo can return to the play of a few years ago and the fans start to look for a new target Ellsbery may have to try on the goat leggings.