With these unusually warm January days, I can already smell
Fenway Franks in the air. This premature
spring fever serves as a small reminder that before we know it pitchers and
catchers will report, spring training will start, and opening day will be upon
us. This makes me giddy, excited, and
anxious at the same time. For Boston
fans, there is a lot of uncertainty about how the team will come out of the
gate, thus anxiety is high on the list of feelings when thinking about opening
day.
A lot happened in the offseason, but it’s hard to find an
underlying theme. In my mind, the Red Sox
offseason actually started last August and has all along has been more about
what they have gotten rid of than what they have gained. Some would refer to their trade with the
Dodgers last August as the biggest trade in baseball history. I think of it as the most successful purge in
baseball history. They got rid of
attitudes, laziness, and a lot of cash.
Bye bye Beckett, Crawford, Gonzalez, and Punto… don’t let the door hit
you on the way out!! That day was the
first time last season I felt like I wanted to cheer for the team. It was more fun to cheer for random guys you
never heard of, than to cheer for losers and over rated players.
The end of the 2012 season and the end of the Valentine era
could NOT have come soon enough. And
with that, came the hiring of new skipper, John Farrell. This move was probably the most logical of
the entire off season. For one, Farrell
is a familiar face and one that is well liked in Boston. Secondly, and more importantly in my mind, he
was previously the pitching coach of the Sox.
Pitching is what wins championships, and the Sox did not do much to
improve their pitching, that was lackluster at best last year. I am counting on Farrell to bring out the best
in Buchholz, Lester, ahem Lackey (I won’t even get started on Lackey). Dempster, the one addition to the starting
rotation, is 36 and inconsistent. I am
not sure that they were thinking this one through. The Sox need an ace. An ace!!
Why didn’t they go after someone like Greinke or last season CJ
Wilson. Or just to make a point (as I
would clearly not agree with this move as a Phillies fan), why wouldn’t they
give up an injury prone Ellsbury while he is still valuable and go after
someone like Cole Hamels?? And let’s be
honest, the Sox have not had good luck shopping in Japan, yet they picked up
Koji Uehera a 37 year old Japanese reliever.
I don’t know much about him, but I already don’t trust him. Most recently, they did acquire Joel Hanrahan
to close out games instead of Andrew Bailey, however this now leaves them with
two ‘should be closers’ to shank in relief and cause a lot of frustration (Bard
also falls in this category). So, bottom
line is that I am counting on Farrell to do something with all this mess that
awaits the bump in Fenway Park this year.
So far, I have been pretty negative in my twisted opinion of
what the Sox are trying to accomplish going into 2013. There are some positives
though. As a long time Phillies fan, one
of my obvious favorites would be the addition of Shane Victorino. I am not sure how much fans realize that he
is a very likeable guy. He will be a
positive influence in the clubhouse, a leader, a face in the community, and a
tough player who brings 100 % to every game of the season. He is the cohort that Pedroia needs to rally
the team, the personality that Remy and Orsillo need to keep it interesting in
the booth, and the guy to count on to play in every game. Along with Victorino, the Sox picked up Jonny
Gomes who is also supposedly a ‘good clubhouse guy’, and catcher David
Ross. They clearly weren’t targeting
young guys to rebuild for the future, but yet instead positive attitudes and
hard workers.
In discussing the offseason, it can’t go unmentioned that
the Sox will always have a weakness at shortstop. It is beyond me why they would sign Stephen
Drew, brother of JD Drew who is one of the biggest disappointments in Red Sox
history, to fill that never ending void at shortstop. We can only hope that Stephen doesn’t have as
many complaints, ailments and missed games that his older brother did. I was SO relieved when the sox rid of that
waist of space they used to throw in right field, and now I have to hold my
breath again watching the latest ‘Drew disaster’ unfold.
I can honestly say that I have no idea what to expect out of
this team in 2013. One thing I do know
is that there is still an empty corner to be filled, and Opening day is less
than three months away. Let’s hope that
we aren’t sitting in Fenway on April 8th saying “Who’s on First?”
-CL
No comments:
Post a Comment