Manny Ramirez Traded to Dodgers, Jason Bay to Boston

In an apparent three-way trade made at the 11th hour, the Boston Red Sox have acquired Jason Bay from Pittsburgh, while sending controversial slugger Manny Ramirez to the LA Dodgers. The Pirates are supposedly getting a bunch of minor leaguers. The Red Sox also had to part with Brandon Moss and Craig Hansen.

SI.com story

So, what did Boston get in this deal?

Jason Bay

Pros:
Under contract through 2009.
Only 29 years old, still in prime of his career.
Having a good season. 135 OPS+, NL All-Star.
A defensive improvement on Manny, not far from him offensively.

Cons:
Although better defensively than Manny, he’s not “good”.
Coming off of a lousy season in 2007.
An NL player from a very small market, coming to a more challenging environment.

My initial thoughts are the same as they were before: I’m not really thrilled. On a pure talent standpoint, the Red Sox will have a slightly weaker product tomorrow than they had yesterday.  Losing Hansen and Moss does not bother me, both of these guys had a ceiling in this organization. But losing Manny, still among the top handful of hitters in baseball, doesn’t seem like much of a “win” for a team that has struggled to score runs recently. I suppose this is the deal that most of New England was pining for, after the reports from last night surfaced.

Be careful what you wish for.

According to the Denver Post, the Colorado Rockies have named their price for coveted reliever Brian Fuentes.  They are asking for Clay Buchholz.

Just to recap, the Rockies are asking for one of the game’s top 10 pitching prospects in return for a half-season rental of a middle reliever.  A good middle reliever, mind you…but still.  A pitcher who will throw roughly 30 innings for the Boston Red Sox.

This entire development begs the question: what type of drug is Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd experimenting with?   My initial guess is LSD.  Individuals who are tripping on acid can often experience cognitive shifts and distorted perception, and this trade request certainly smacks of that.  However, the Rockies are known to be a somewhat right-leaning organization, and would frown upon such a blatant nod to hippie culture.

My guess?  O’Dowd is using mescaline.  You know…peyote.  Denver is pretty far out west, and the stuff literally grows on trees out there.   That’s the only explanation for this M.C. Escher painting of a trade offer.  He was listening to “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” with his noise-reducing headphones, staring at the glow-in-the-dark star stickers on his ceiling, and somewhere during David Gilmour’s second guitar solo he gets the idea to pick up the phone and call 4 Yawkey Way.

No thanks, Dan.  Sleep it off and try again tomorrow.

Casey Kelly, the high school shortstop/pitcher drafted in the first round by Boston in June, has signed and will report to the rookie squad in the Gulf Coast League.  The interesting portion of this story, and something that I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed before with a draft pick of this stature, is that the team still isn’t sure if he will ultimately become a pitcher or hitter.

The situation is this: Kelly wants to be a shortstop. The Red Sox think he should become a pitcher. Apparently, some sort of compromise has been reached, and Kelly will head to Florida as a shortstop for the GCL team, and will also play SS in the fall instructional league. However, the team still plans on having Kelly toe the rubber at some point in the future:

“Pitching we will expose Casey to at the right time, in the right place, and in the right environment,” said Epstein, adding that Kelly’s pitching would not necessarily interrupt his development at shortstop.

When it comes to player development, Theo’s minor league instructional staff have earned our trust with some impressive results over the past few years. However, this arrangement still makes me a tad uneasy. Frankly, I don’t understand how playing full time SS will not delay this kid’s development as a pitcher.

Perhaps this compromise was needed to sign him, in which case, you gotta do what you gotta do.

______________________________________

That thud you heard last night was David Ortiz hitting a line drive HR in a sold-out McCoy Stadium.

Amazingly, the Red Sox offense stepped up in his absence and increased production (.280/.353./.411 with Ortiz, .285/.361/.466 without), mostly thanks to guys named Drew and Pedroia, but it will still be nice to see him in the batters box in a week or two.

From Boston.com

“It’s a tough situation for me right now,” Papelbon said. “I feel like with me being at the top of my position, I feel like that (salary) standard needs to be set and I’m the one to set that standard and I don’t think that the Red Sox are really necessarily seeing eye to eye with me on that subject right now.” (emphasis added)

That sounds a lot like an MLBPA memo.  Let him go to arbitration, then pay him.

You signed up for this gig, man.

What was the alternative for MacPhail? Cave to Markakis’ demands? That’s not a good precedent to set. Players enter the system knowing they may be underpaid until arbitration. Maybe next time he’ll improve slower.

MacPhail termed the contract situation with Markakis “regrettable, but not uncommon.”

Markakis, however, was miffed. He left the team training complex long before the 5 p.m. deadline, but earlier in the day he told The Baltimore Sun, “That’s just how the Orioles feel. I don’t have much of a choice. I’m just going to have to deal with it.”

Right, so stop whining about it and get back to playing pepper or shagging flies.

Attention tri-state area Red Sox fans:

We have a mission for you.  As you’ve heard, the daughter of Yankee owner George Steinbrenner is divorcing the former heir-apparent to the baseball empire, on the heels of his arrest for DUI. 

We need one of you to infiltrate this family. 

Your mission is to woo the daughter, and curry favor with the old man.  Kiss his sagging, speckled, hail-damaged, warty behind as often as possible.  Whisper words of encouragement into his ear, such as: “I always thought Dave Winfield was up to no good”, or “you know, that whole Watergate thing was totally overblown”.

Once you have earned his trust, our plan shall be nearly complete.  After the old man makes his inevitable descent into Hades, the control of the team shall be yours.  Now, the fun begins. 

* Scrap the new stadium plans.  Move the team to East Rutherford, NJ.
* The team needs a first baseman.  Give Rafael Palmeiro a call.
* The team needs some defense up the middle.  Trade Phil Hughes for Omar Vizquel, and move Robbie Cano for Kenny Lofton.  Throw in a few million to sweeten the pot.
* Those pinstripes are tired, don’t you think?  I like the 70’s rainbows a bit more.  Retro is in…get it done.
* Sign a declining 35-year-old pitcher for $16 million.  Whoops, already done.  Nevermind…good work.
* You know, I think those Red Sox are going to bid another $55 million for the posting rights for Kazumi Saitoh next season.  You should bid $100 million, just to be safe.

All right, I think we’re clear.  Anyway, remember, your first mission is to woo and seduce the daughter.  Here is a photo of her, she can be found in Tampa:

What’s that you ask?  Uh…she’s the one on the right.

What’s that?  Oh, stop complaining!  She’s rich.

Boston Herald writer Karen Guregian thinks that the Sox problems would be resolved if they just had a big, heaping bowl of Kevin Millar to snack on.

There is no secret what Millar brings to the clubhouse. His wackiness and keep-it-loose-at-all-costs attitude gets a good amount of credit for the Red Sox coming back against the Yankees in 2004. I can’t speak to the truthiness of that…I wasn’t in the clubhouse, I am not a Major League baseball player, and I have a want to deal in the more tangible aspects of baseball. But right or wrong, Millar gets a bunch of credit for helping create that culture.

Often times though, I am annoyed by the spectre that follows him around. I always saw the idea of Millar being some sort of beneviolent svengali of clubhouses, bending the will of unlike teammates to work toward a common goal of winning baseball games and partyin’ on dude (!) as being more in the mind of the people around the team…with Millar himself being the chief snake oil salesman.

During his time here, the perception of Kevin Millar was that he was a happy clown. I mean, the Born in the USA lip synch from his younger days was worth it’s weight in laughter. But when you look deeper, so saw things like quotes from Terry Francona, saying that “One Millar is fine, but you couldn’t have a team of them”. You saw his skills diminishing, and then bitching about the possibility of him sitting more for other players (”El bencho”).

The worst thing about the Millar experience was that I never got the feeling he really knew his place in the cosmic order of the Red Sox. During 2005, he frequently talked up what he does for the ball club, mentioning his own intangibles, which is kind of like a college student reminding his parents about his 1280 SAT’s when his first report card has a 1.8 on it. He openly campaigned for his spot in the lineup, saying how it was good for the team to have him around. The question that should have been begged, but wasn’t was that if Millar was such a good teammate, why did he put himself before John Olerud, Roberto Petagine and Kevin Youkilis? If he was a positive influence on the clubhouse, if he didn’t keep his spot, why would he pout and poison any chemistry that he might otherwise positively effect?

The other prong in the fraud of Millar was his perceived influence on Manny Ramirez. When the end was neigh, Millar reminded people in a not-so-subtle way that he helped keep Manny in check. Without him…I mean, just imagine the distraction that Manny Ramirez would be! Of course, we don’t have to imagine. Despite being a hitter of prolific nature, Manny is good for one team-wide distraction a season. He was in 2003, and 2004. Also in 2005, and 2006. If Millar had that much of an effect on Manny, why was he such a distraction in the Millar era (03-05) and then again post-Millar? Where, exactly, was Kevin Millar’s influence on the will of Manny Ramirez?

The rest of the article talks about things like how there are no more Idiots, and how Millar thinks the 2004 crew should have been brought back for 2005 (even though the only significant changes to the roster were Cabrera and Pedro)…all the sorts of canned nonsense that people like Bill Simmons eats up. Millar himself will always be a polarizing figure in Red Sox history, at least until the memories of him doing Born in the USA wane. The ironic thing is that his actual contributions to the team (including drawing the walk that lead to the Steal) will probably always be underrated in the shadow of his own intangibled propaganda.

Mike Fish has a pretty good article on steroids in the Dominican Republic for espn.com.  If you aren’t completely sick of hearing about the issue it’s a good read.

I have a few quips with his reasoning:

·        The percentages given on use don’t say anything about the number of Dominican players in baseball.  I’m sure it’s not 58%, but I need a frame of reference for those stats to be meaningful.

·        A reason for the higher positive test rate that is alluded to, but not stated, is that young players from poor countries are using street steroids that are behind the testing technology.  Wealthier young players from other countries can afford the newest and least detectable drugs.

·        Despite the stringent penalties, there is more money being pumped into the manufacture of steroids by the major league users.  Testing technology is fighting a losing battle.

·        The damage to a player’s honor and reputation is the most effective penalty.

·        Jose Guillen sounds like he’s got a new publicist:

“When you’re putting something in your body, you’re not going to tell me you don’t know what you are putting in your body,” said Guillen, a 10-year veteran. “We’re all grown men. We’re over 18 years old. I think everybody that gets caught has got to take full responsibility for what they are doing. There is no reason to be complaining and pointing fingers, saying this guy gave me this and that. You know it was a steroid on your own. So explain yourself.”

·        Due to the pervasive use among young players, the problem is going to get worse before it gets better.

I’m a bit of a web dork. Hmm, let me rephrase: I’m a huge web dork. I work for a web hosting company, do most of the day-to-day tech stuff that affects our fair site, dig RSS, AJAX, and all of those other fun internet acronyms. So, for a while now, I’ve been using some of the “meme-tracker” websites — the most notable being tech.memeorandum.com.

A meme-tracker is, basically, a quick way of seeing what the big stories are in the internet world that day. The site does some nifty behind the scenes work of tracking a bunch of big sites, looking to see what stories are being linked to, and as more people link to/talk about a story, it shows up on the site. It’s kind of an easy way of looking at the big stories in a particular space (tech.memeorandum.com being technology, the original memeorandum.com being politics).

The man behind memeorandum created a baseball meme-tracker called ballbug.com. Ballbug is a nifty little site, where you can pop in and see a snapshot of what other folks are writing about. In one quick swoop, you can get a nice high level look into baseball for the day, with the ability to drill down a bit further.

There’s just one problem — baseball is already subdivided into 30 separate interest groups. They’re called teams. That fact tends to mean that the baseball blogosphere is already pretty well divided and insulated. There’s going to be just one or two interesting things for each team, each day (generally, a game or an injury). So, you can scan, see the big news, and drill down further … but because there’s not a lot of cross-pollination (we’re not linking to a whole lot of Bronx Banter posts …. yet), there’s not really any “big” stories. Each story is big only to the people in its area of interest.

Striketwo.net is another baseball meme-tracker. I’ve been using it for the past few weeks to help pick out stories for the “News from Around the League” posts I’ve been doing (which will be back, I promise, since I know how much you all *loved* them). It’s a nice tool, but it’s main page has the same problem that Ballbug has: there’s so little cross-pollination that there’s no convergence around big stories; instead, there’s just a big grouping around a game story or injury. Now, that will probably change if there’s a huge baseball story (Bonds being indicted, or a big steroid suspension), but even on a big day like Jackie Robinson Day, there’s just not a lot of commonality in the baseball blogosphere.

But … that’s not the end of striketwo.net’s talents. The greatest feature on the site is unique to striketwo.net, and the reason that it outshine’s Ballbug. It’s the Player Tag Cloud feature, and it’s fantastic. A tag cloud is used to give you a quick insight into which terms are being used most often. The larger the usage, the bigger the tag in the cloud (take a look, it’s easy to figure out). Striketwo.net has a tag cloud of player names. Each time a player is mentioned in a story, it gets tracked. Right now, Bronson Arroyo and Barry Bonds have both been mentioned a bunch. Val Majewski, well, he’s got sort of a small tag. There’s some team bias here: more folks write about the Red Sox and Yankees, so they get more mentions. But, it’s not so bad that it removes the usefullness of the tool.

This goes a level deeper. The tag cloud isn’t just used to see how often a player is mentioned. When you click on that player name, you’re dropped into a list of items that have referenced the player in recent days. It’s an incredibly useful feature, and something I find myself using often. Oh … did I mention you can get an RSS feed of a player? So, you want to know everytime someone writes something about Nook Logan? Or Kevin Youkilis? Just click on their name and snag the RSS feed into your favorite RSS reader (if you need more info on RSS, maybe start here).

Now, in the spirit of full disclosure, our fair site is tracked by striketwo.net. But we pretty much have zero influence. So this wasn’t done in any way to make ourselves appear bigger. The nature of a tool like striketwo.net is that one blog/site/person can’t game the system. Now, if you linked to this article on your site (and they told two friends, and they told two friends … ), then this would pop up on striketwo.net. That’s how it works–the more folks that link to something, or discuss a common issue, the more likely that it’ll vault up to the top of the home page.

We’re a couple of weeks into the season, and that’s given me a few weeks to use striketwo.net. I’ve found it incredibly useful, and useful enough that I thought I would spread the gospel a bit. Head on over and poke around a bit … and drop us a comment to let us know what you think. Or, take advantage of the striketwo technology–write your own review of striketwo, link it here, and watch the discussion get picked up.

Technology is pretty great sometimes.

Cubs Sign Lee to $65mm Extension

Apparently the new hotness is signing 30 year old 1B sluggers to huge long term contracts. Lee’s deal is for a little bit more than Ortizzle’s, which is fair, given that he’s a legit Gold Glove defender at 1B. His track record isn’t quite the track record of David Ortiz, but Derrek Lee was a pretty great player even before the hugeness of last season.

Now let’s just wait and see what Albert Pujols gets the next time his deal is up.

Down Goes Chipper!

As discussed yesterday, Chipper Jones is hurt and the Braves placed him on the DL. It’s not terribly surprising to see the 34 yo Jones injured. He’s back at 3B, which probably isn’t a huge savings in wear and tear on his body, and he’s now 3 seasons removed from his last relatively injury free year.

For you Braves fans, this means you get to see two weeks of Wilson Betemit. That’s really not as horrible as it sounds.

So Coco Crisp was initially said to be fine…and then it was reported he would miss 6-8 weeks with a broken finger…only to have the Red Sox release tell a different story.

‘’With a nondisplaced fracture, it should heal fairly quickly,” said McCue, who did not examine Crisp. ‘’Ten days might be too soon, but in three weeks it should heal.

Ah, gotta love a Red Sox news cycle. Better to be first than right!

Anyway, while there is no real way to spin this as good news at this point, there is a silver lining. Adam Stern should get a chance to show that he is capable of being an average full-time Major League center fielder, something I suspect he is pretty close to being. If it does turn out that Stern can in fact play, he could be a useful bench part or a nice trade chit down the road.

A quick one this morning.

Cubs Extend GM Hendry

“We have all the confidence in the world that he’s capable of getting us to the World Series,” MacPhail said.

While Hendry did have the team within spitting distance of a World Series, I think the jury is largely out on whether or not he’s a good GM. On one hand, he’s acquired Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez. On the other hand, he’s got Neifi Perez sucking up at-bats with Todd Walker up the middle, and gave up a some prospects and some money to fill 2/3rds of his OF with Juan Pierre and Jacque Jones.

My gut is that Hendry is one of those middle of the road GMs, competent enough to cover up his mistakes with the big money that the Cubs have to spend. Will he fix his gravest mistake by letting Dusty Baker move on?

Jones, Giles Hurt Against Giants

Neither is expected to be out for more than a couple of days, but even if they were, the Braves probably have two guys in A-ball who’d they call up and would hit ridiculously well for a month while Jones and Giles recovered. I think the entire Braves major league squad could fall into the hole at the “Springfield Mystery Spot” with Ozzie Smith and the minor leaguers called up would still perform well enough to make the playoffs. I don’t get it, but the Braves just don’t run out of talent.

Just keep them away from Ken Griffey and his grotesquely swollen jaw.

Reds Acquire Brandon Phillips for a “Whirrled Peas” Bumper Sticker and a Rick Cerrone Rookie Card

Actually, it was cash and a player to be named later. Possibly Rick Cerrone.

Dickey Allows 6 HRs in 4 innings to Tigers

“If you look for positives, some of the homers were solos, but I’m really reaching,” Texas manager Buck Showalter said.

The scoring summary in this game is pretty great:
B Inge homered to left.
M Ordonez homered to left.
C Shelton homered to left.
C Shelton homered to left.
C Monroe homered to left, C Guillen scored.
M Thames homered to left.

The Rangers are thin on pitching with Adam Eaton on the DL, and newly acquired Robinson Tejeda in AAA. But I think it’s time to bring John Wasdin back up to the big club. Even “Way Back” Wasdin never gave up 6 bombs in 3.1 innings. It takes a special kind of pitcher to give up 2 homers an inning.

Gagne Out Indefinitely for Elbow Surgery

“I wouldn’t say that,” Johnston replied when asked if Gagne might miss the entire season. “After the surgeons get finished, there will be a timetable.”

That’s like a parent telling a child “Yes, after you finish your beets, there will be a timetable for us to go to Toys ‘R’ Us.” It ain’t happening.

Enjoy your tenure as GM, Mr. Colletti.

Rollins Hit Streak Over at 38 Games

Weak.

Ok, it was a pretty cool streak, especially given that he wrapped it across two seasons. But it hasn’t really helped the Phillies, and it’s somewhat inflated the value of Rollins, who’s more akin to Julio Lugo than he is to Miguel Tejada.

Since making his first trip to the All-Star game as a rookie, Rollins has been overshadowed by bigger-name shortstops such as Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Miguel Tejada and Nomar Garciaparra.

The overshadowed player here is Michael Young, who’s been just about as valuable as Miguel Tejada over the past two seasons, but folks continually seem to forget even exists.

Griffey, Jr. Hits 537th HR, Moves to 12th All-time

Griffey passes Mantle (who’s one of his most comparable players) and continues to build on his already solid HOF case. Looking at his numbers, it’s strange to see a guy who peaked at age 23-24 (where he was unworldly), before settling into being simply great. I think Griffey’s actually going to lose some lustre with time, as his numbers, when you compare them to some of his contemporaries, weren’t the best in the league. He has continually been (until his recent spate of injuries) a fantastic hitter with the ability to play one of the toughest defensive positions. Now he’s a really good hitter and a horrible defender and badly needs to be traded to the AL where he can DH 3 or 4 times a week.

Elsewhere on the Reds …

Arroyo Strikes Out 7, Goes Deep in First Reds Win

Everyone knew the ball was gone long before it landed in the left-field seats, 403 feet away. Arroyo dropped his head and rounded the bases briskly, his shoulder-length hair flapping behind his helmet.

“I was in another world after hitting it out,” said Arroyo, who hadn’t hit one since high school.

Wily Mo Pena: 1 for 1, 1 2B, 1.000/1.000/2.000
Bronson Arroyo: 1 for 1, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1.000/1.000/4.000

Baseball is a strange game.

Hanley Ramirez Goes 4 for 5 for Marlins
<boblobel>Why can’t we get guys like that?</boblobel>

In all seriousness, I really do think Hanley’s going to turn out to be a good player, I really wish we hadn’t had to give up he (and Sanchez) to get Beckett and his $9mm friend, and I wish that we had a SS on our roster who could hit. But I suppose it’s not long before Dustin Pedroia’s making some noise and they need to find a spot for him.

The Sports Guy Chronicles Opening Day (and I feel a little dumber for reading it …)

11:22 — You know, Michael Young’s 2005 batting title was kinda like “Shakespeare in Love’s” Oscar back in 1998 — I know it happened, but I’m not quite willing to accept it. Are we sure Ichiro didn’t win last season? We’re positive?

Yes - it is astounding that one of the two best offensive SS in baseball won a batting title.

We also learned from Remy that Crisp has the green light to steal whenever he wants. I always wondered how this works. Does Francona just send Crisp a “Yo, I forgot to tell you, you have the green light” e-mail? Does he call Crisp into his office and tell him? Does he quietly break the news during a baserunning meeting? Do other players get jealous that Crisp has the green light? Is this roughly the equivalent of giving your wife carte blanche on your credit card, when you eventually learn to regret it? I need more info.

And now my brains are officially bleeding out of my ears.

I hope this didn’t sound too harsh. I generally like Simmons, particularly when he’s writing about the NBA (but not about the Celtics–he’s far too tight with some folks there to be objective or rational). But, over the past few seasons, when he writes about baseball, he’s not “joe fan”. He’s “obnoxious joe fan who sits behind you in the bleachers and thinks its funny to make French jokes about Jacque Jones because his name is Jacque and Jacque is French and it’s FUNNY! and he’s drunk and now he fell down the stairs at Fenway and knocked over some little kid and here comes security and ooh look shiny!”

Nomar to the DL, Loney Up

It feels better today, which is good,” said Garciaparra. “Everybody who’s been around this kind of injury says that one swing and you could take a thousand steps backward. We can knock it out now and get healthy so it won’t linger the whole year. I believe it will be only a two-week thing.

Sorry Nomar. I love you in a manly way, but, at this point, I don’t think you’d shake a hangnail in less than a month.

In a very timely way, I’m currently reading the Steroids chapter in Baseball Prospectus’ book: Baseball Between the Numbers (which is just fantastic and makes you realize more how much of a bag of crap Mind Game was–I will not link to that book, as I don’t want to encourage anyone to read it). One of the nice points that’s brought up is that steroids won’t necessarily help players get better, as the increased muscle mass can bring about a reduction in flexibility and an increase in injuries.

I don’t know whether or not Nomar juiced. But he certainly worked hard to change his body type to become more muscular, and I don’t think there’s a doubt he reduced his flexibility. It cost him defensively in the field, and it’s cost him with a long stretch of nagging injuries that have moved him from a first ballot Hall of Famer to a second or third ballot Hall of Famer (but yes, I still think he’ll get in and be deserving, if he can have another one or two productive seasons). Sad.

I’m going to try and pull together interesting news from around baseball each day, and mix it with some snarky commentary (when possible … there are things even I can’t snark about). I’ll probably use some fun tools like the newly released Ballbug, old fave del.icio.us, and maybe mix in some Technorati.

Lackey Signs 3-year Deal with Angels

Lackey will get $3.01 million this year with a $1 million signing bonus. He will make $5.5 million in 2007, $7 million in 2008 and can make between $9 million and 10.5 million in the 2009 option year depending on incentives. The Angels also hold a $500,000 buyout for 2009.

This is a pretty good deal for the Angels on a pitcher who’s only 27 and took a huge step forward last year (increasing his K rate to 8.56/9 and dropping his HR rate to .56/9). He’s cheap for 2 years, and if he performs reasonably well, it makes the latter 2 season of his deal that much more palatable. No snark here.

Pirates Give Littlefield 1 Year Extension

The Pirates and general manager Dave Littlefield agreed Monday to a one-year contract extension through 2008, the second time in three seasons he got a new deal on opening day.

Pittsburgh has gone through 13 straight losing seasons. Littlefield was hired on July 13, 2001, and the Pirates are 314-407 since then.

Is there better job security than being GM in Pittsburgh? Cam Bonifay sucked for years and got to keep his job even through “Operation Shutdown.” Maybe Jack Wilson can threaten “Operation No-hit.”

At least Nate McLouth made the roster. I picked him out as my fave minor leaguer a couple of seasons ago, and now he’s my fave player on the best minor league team in all of baseball (the Pirates, of course).

Rollins Continues Hit Streak in Last AB

Down eight runs with four outs left, Jimmy Rollins wasn’t looking for a walk with his hitting streak on the line.

Rollins is a slacker. A real man would have continued his hit streak in his first at-bat. None of these last at-bat shenanigans. Besides, if Rollins was a real man, he would have stepped into pitch for Phils, since Jon Lieber apparently forgot how.

In a nifty little snag that could pay big dividends for the 2006 Sox and beyond, Boston claimed Hee Seop Choi off of irrevocable waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Choi, something of a SABR-darling, has never fully been trusted with a full-time role and in all likelihood will not see full-time duties here. Not yet, at least. He has shown the ability to absolutely pound the baseball but does not come without questions. He has struggled famously against southpaws, and Dodger fans will be quick to point out the “holes in his swing.” He struggles with fastballs on the inner half and can look silly when he is behind in the count and the hurler has him where he wants him. C’est la vie, I say, when you are dealing with a relatively young player that has not been afforded an opportunity to work such things out. He is 27, sports a career 107 OPS+, has hit righties at a .253/.357/.461 clip since 2003 in some of the most spacious parks in baseball and has good hands at first.

Here’s the rub. Last season the Red Sox also employed a foreign first baseman who could really hit, had a shaky defensive reputation and for one reason or another had seemingly been blackballed by the “baseball men” from coast to coast. Management never found a role for Roberto Petagine, who was blocked by lesser players in Kevin Millar and John Olerud. Unfortunately, although the characters have changed, a similarly frustrating experience could very easily unfold.

Right now, Hee Seop Choi hits righthanded pitchers better than any corner infielder the Red Sox have. For what it’s worth, ZIPS has Choi at .251/.358/.461 this season and PECOTA has him at .264/.364/.490, and those projections have him playing home games in Dodger Stadium. He should play every time a righty takes the hill and either Kevin Youkilis or Mike Lowell, probably Lowell, should be relegated to the short end of a right/left platoon with Choi. But you and I both know that this won’t happen, not to start the season as it should and probably not even all that soon after. That’s because not only are Lowell and Youkilis in place but Choi is also going ot have to leap frog J.T. Snow, who, if not altogether useless at this point in his career, is damn close. Snow is eminently likeable, a class act by all accounts with a good glove who will be happy in whatever role he plays with the Sox. Terry Francona, if he hasn’t already, is going to fall head over heels for the guy. I can see it now…the Boston media has a new Korean to poop all over, and a crappy veteran has the potential to block not only Choi, but also Kevin Youkilis. It could be a long, long season for Red Sox fans that acually take the time to understand the game.

On the other hand, it could be a gloriously enjoyable year if the bench parts are used optimally. This is shaping up as just a wonderfully deep and resourceful roster. If Wily Mo Pena gets every at bat he ought to and Hee Seop Choi every plate appearence he should see, then this Sox team is going to be just a bear to deal with. But if Terry Francona and Sox management eschew the two youngsters with worlds of potential for the aging trio of declining veterans, Mike Lowell, J.T. Snow and Trot Nixon, then the Sox are going to leave a good amount of runs and wins on the table.

Your move, Tito.

Be sure to read Mullet’s recently posted Nats preview, I just want to post my reaction to yesterday’s deal.

Just so we are clear on what the Red Sox have managed to acquire, here is my summation of Wily Mo’s past, present and future.

What Wily Mo Pena Has Been To Date:

- A below average hitter with out-of-this-world power (he has hit a home run every 15.53 plate appearances since 2004).
- A free-swinger that lacks any sort of sensible approach at the plate (he sports a career .303 on-base percentage)
- A brutal outfielder. One of the very worst in baseball according to many of the advanced metrics.
- A lefty masher. He has hit .276/.347/.536 against southpaws since 2003.

What Wily Mo Pena Is at the Moment:

- 24 years old.
- Big, strong, fast and possessor of one of the very best outfield arms in baseball. And yet, a terrible fielder.
- The best platoon partner the Sox have ever had for Trot Nixon.
- Cost controlled
- In need of development in order to become an average everyday ballplayer.
- In need of serious development in order to become a good everyday ballplayer.

What Wily Mo Pena Can Be:

- Just check his comps. Jesse Barfield, Rocky Colavito, Bobby Bonds, Harmon Killibrew? Pena could well be a superstar.
- A total flameout, niche role player who could never develop enough patience at the plate or enough of a clue in the outfield to become a good Major League Baseball player.

As for the value aspect of the deal, I love it. Boston dealt from a position of strength in order to acquire something of which they had very little, right handed power. Bronson Arroyo is a valuable entity, but the Sox had a bunch of guys that can do what he does. The most compelling part of the deal is just how many areas of the team this trade addresses. They have Trot’s platoon partner now, and by extension, one of the best right field situations in baseball. They have someone with experience in leftfield and centerfield as well so when Manny and Coco need breathers, Terry Francona has a viable option. There has been talk about Pena playing some first too, but I don’t see it. He’s raw enough as is and to ask the guy to learn a whole new position may be too much. Finally, Pena may very well be their righty masher of the future.

More than ever, Francona has to be flexible with his roster. He doesn’t have the etched-in-stone nine he had in 2004 or that he thought he had in 2005. His disinclination to utilize Roberto Petagine and Kevin Youkilis last season was disappointing, but he has another deep roster in 2006 and has a chance to show he can grow as a manager. If Alex Gonzalez comes up in a critical, late inning situation, pinch hit for crissakes. If an opposing manager gets his LOOGY to face Trot, counter with Pena. There is an extra burden in this respect as well because if Pena is going to develop, he needs to play. Nothing would be more harmful to his future than Francona stubbornly deciding not to platoon Trot, the injury prone Nixon somehow staying healthy and Pena finishing up the season with 150 plate appearances. The guy needs to play, chiefly because he can help and secondarily because infrequent playing time will stunt his progress.

Anyway, kudos to the management guys in the basement. Now it’s time for the management guys in the dugout to make it work.

The Red Sox avoided arbitration with Josh Beckett, meeting right about in the middle of their respective original numbers. Beckett will make $4.325 million next season. It’s not huge news but I think it is good that the two parties were able to reach an agreement. All things equal, it’s probably best not to start out a working relationship by having the employer telling an arbitrator all of the reasons why the new hire isn’t worth what he thinks he is. Score one for compromise.

So how about a quick-and-dirty of how this staff is shaping up? We will have a soup-to-nuts Sox preview just prior to Opneing Day (along with previews of all 30 teams leading up to the Sox preview throughout late February and March) but here’s a quick exercise. Just for shits, I will list the Sox starter along with his PECOTA projected ERA and his ZIPS projected ERA and we will see how this staff is looking compared to last year’s.

Curt Schilling: 4.17 / 3.47
Josh Beckett: 3.87 / 3.86
Tim Wakefield: 4.65 / 4.74
Matt Clement: 4.11 / 4.33
Jonathan Papelbon: 4.91 / 4.14
Bronson Arroyo: 4.47 / 4.07
David Wells: 4.80 / 4.08
Lenny Dinardo: 4.78 / 4.30

2005 Starters’ ERA: 4.56

Obviously ZIPS is more optimistic than PECOTA but any way you cut it, this Sox starting staff appears to be an improved one, somewhere along the lines of 30 to 40 runs or so.

The Globe this morning is reporting that Boston will get David Riske and Josh Bard along with Coco Crisp, while the Tribe will get Kelly Shoppach in addition to Guillermo Mota and Andy Marte. I have to say, this even further confounds. Riske represents a slight upgrade over Mota but Shoppach is a far more promising player than Bard. Bard is what he is now, a guy that will be 28 on Opening Day who sports a career OPS+ of 77. So the Indians and Red Sox compared Marte and Crisp and apparently determined that Boston needed to sweeten the deal? I don’t get it.

Well I suppose it is time to let it go. The Red Sox are dealing Andy Marte. What this doubtless does is improve the team’s chances for the 2006 season, so that’s exciting. And it is tough to quibble too much since Crisp should be just about as good as Johnny Damon was last year and he is only 26.

The Globe also reports that the Sox are close to a deal for Marlins shortstop, Alex Gonzalez. Gonzalez is a nifty glovesman with some pop, though his on-base numbers fail to overwhelm. At a reasonable price I like the deal because I am a believer that if you collect enough bodies in an uncertain situation, something is more likely to work. Remember, David Ortiz was acquired as insurance for Jeremy Giambi and Kevin Millar in 2003. So now the Sox have Alex Cora, Alex Gonzalez and Dustin Pedroia to potentially play shortstop, a combination that I think is likely to allow them to get more out of the position than they did in 2005.