Hawking a Lugo
According to Ken Rosenthal, the Red Sox are trying as hard as they can to jettison embattled infielder Julio Lugo.
Unless one of the other 29 MLB General Managers recently fell off a ladder and landed on his head, any trade will require the Sox to pay most or all of Lugo’s remaining contract. This isn’t necessarily because Lugo is a bad player, it is due to the well known fact that the Sox are in a roster bind. Jed Lowrie is just about ready to return to the team, and Mike Lowell’s fossilized skeleton could return as soon as this weekend. While one of the spots will be opened by Clay Buchholz being sent back to Pawtucket after his start, the other opening requires a human sacrifice; and Julio Lugo or Nick Green will be the unlucky participant strapped to the altar.
I’ve hinted at this before, and I know I’m in an extremely small minority here, but I stand by my contention that the Sox should keep Lugo and release Green (he has no remaining option years). Forget about Lugo’s contract; it’s a sunk cost. No sober GM is going to bail Boston out of Lugo’s remaining salary.
Nick Green’s pixie dust is starting to wash off, and he is beginning to resemble the “AAAA” guy who has been kicking around 6 different franchises in 6 years.
I realize most of you are wishing for Lugo’s excommunication. For some reason, Sox fans have some sort of irrational affection for guys like Nick Green. For instance, look at the sponsor quote on his Baseball Reference page. Don’t bother clicking, here it is:
Heck of a defensive shortstop, and he bats .270. What more could you want. Ok he’s not Derek Jeter, the greatest shortstop of all time, but I’d rather Nick Green than Nomar!
Are you fucking kidding me!!!? That statement just gave me small pox.
“Heck of a defensive shortstop” – no he’s not
“and he bats .270″ – no he doesn’t
“what more could you want” – an average infielder
“Ok he’s not Derek Jeter” – Correct!
“the greatest shortstop of all time” – no he’s not
“but I’d rather Nick Green than Nomar” – please have your head examined
This is the type of thing rational fans have to deal with on an everyday basis. “Nick Green – what more could you want?”…”J.D. Drew has no heart”…”Tim Wakefield should have started the All Star game”…how do people get this shit in their heads?
FYI – Nick Green’s last 54 plate appearances: .154/.264/.200. This is the guy who will be splitting time with a hobbling Jed Lowrie.
Be careful what you wish for.
As bad as Nick Green, Lugo is simply worse. No one is going to miss Lugo when he is gone. You can’t have SS who puts zero effort into his defense. How many double plays has Lugo botched this year?
He’s been pretty bad defensively. At first I thought it was just him being rusty in a small sample of opportunities…but he might have spent a little too much time concentrating on his hitting and “bulking up” this offseason. Also, he’s hurt by the fact that he doesn’t really play 2B, while NG is a natural 2B.
I think I’m just convulsing at some of the praise Green has thrown his way, when he hasn’t been much of an improvement over the most hated guy on the team.