Remember the ecstacy dance we performed last year, contemplating Ivan Rodriguez as a Yankee, and how little we had given up to get him?
Let the Redsocks do the Victor Martinez fandango. He's not the pennant. If Martinez catches, Varitek becomes a clubhouse ogre. Let me repeat that: The captain becomes a toothache. If Martinez plays first, they have a guy whose glove goes clank. He's never parachuted into a firepit like this, and the sportswriters can trowel all their pigeon crap about what a grand and glorious man he is -- they don't know any more than you or me what he's made of -- they're just working sources, so certain people will call them back on deadline.
We didn't give up Jesus Montero, or Mark Melancon, or Phil Hughes, or Joba, or Ivan Nova, or anybody... and I truly believe that we will pay homage to that non-trade for many years. JR Ricciardi -- born in Massachusetts and the lifelong Celtics & Bruins fan (re: Redsock fan) that he is, wanted to stick it to us by withholding Halladay. So be it. We'll buy Halladay on the free agent market in 2011, and Riccardi can work for Theo in the Pawtucket franchise, cleaning rest rooms.
Our problem right now is that fifth starter. It's not Mitre, and we have to wonder how the Yankee scouts could have been so wrong as to fast-track him the way they did. (Seriously, I gulp in writing this, but Brett Tomko might have performed better.) If not for the failure of our bullpen in May, forcing us to use Hughes in the bullpen -- where he has been magnificent -- we would have no problem: He would be our fifth starter, maybe our fourth or third.
As of now, I am no longer being pessimistic, and I challenge Alphonso -- the most pessimistic fan in the Yankiverse (who is actually doing his juju via pessimism; how many of you know that?) -- to readdress where we are:
We are an Aaron Small away from being the best team in baseball.
We can find him. Boston blinked. This is our year.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Hold it together, folks, and don't forget one thing: Boston blinked.
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2 comments:
The life and times of an el duque post skimmer:
Remember ecstasy dance . Ivan Rodr...
Fandango... Captain toothache ... parachute int firepit... trowel pidgeon crap...
kept prospects.. .chevy nova... richardi a sully... free agent better ...
mitre no, tomko woops, francessa' hughes,
im drunk again, alphonso, yankeeverse, cage match
,,,remember aaron small?
Sure Boston blinked. They made their team better without giving up any of their top 10 prospects. This would be the equivalent of the Yankees not including Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Austin Jackson, Jesus Montero, Austin Romine and Delin Betances and instead giving up some other lesser players, like Mark Melancon. Just another example if you follow the minor league systems overall.
The Red Sox got a tremendous deal, that allows Varitek to catch, VMart to play first, and Youkilis to play third. Varitek won't be a toothache, because he won't lose playing time. If anyone has grief, it would be Lowell, who will now likely start at DH/3B in a platoon role. The brick glove in VMart at first is replaced by Kotchman in the late innings.
Boston blinked, but it gives the Red Sox the option of Youkilis/Martinez/Ortiz/Lowell/Varitek for a late inning pinch hitter, based on who didn't start.
It seems to me as if any of those combination is better than Hairston. Hit the panic button, or pray CC learns how to pitch in October, if the New York Yankees get there. All this talk about the fifth starter is dumb. There are a total of 4 games left on the schedule where New York COULD USE a 5th starter, but they can get away with a 4 man rotation. This is the time where you hope and pray CC and AJ can pitch deep in a season. Was it really worth it hanging onto the prospects, when NY could have gotten CY Roy, or CY Lee this year? There is no such thing as sacrificing the future, because New York pays for a new start each year. GO OUT AND GET A FRONT LINE STARTER! Chances are, 1 out of the 5 top prospects make a major league impact, and 4 out of the 5 follow the career path of Brien Taylor, and Jose Tabata.
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