Monday, January 23, 2006

Coco in CF

Well, that sounds nice...And Riske for Mota? I'll take it...I guess.

Anyway, the lineup (now that Gonzalez also looks like a done deal) is rounding out nicely. I am still not sure why we went out and picked up Gonzalez with Cora, Graf, Loretta already here, and Pedroia in the wings.

So opening day looks a little like this...

CF Crisp
2B Loretta
DH Ortiz
LF Manny
C Varitek
RF Nixon
3B Lowell
1B Youkilis
SS Gonzalez

And look at the infield..
Lowell
Gonzalez
Loretta
Youk/Snow...

With Snow in there, it might be the best in the AL.

Crisp covers a ton of ground in CF...Tek behind the plate. Strong defense up the middle is huge.

Pitching looks very good.

I am also thinking with the departure of Mota, that we still might be talking about a Wells for Baez (in LA) deal...

8 comments:

  1. And until it's official.............

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  2. Way to kill a discussion, Peter...How about an opinion or some insight as to what is holding it up?

    Mota, you say? Well, he just passed a physical to come to the Sox, so I must think that he will pass another one only a couple of weeks later...

    The Indians getting a replacement outfielder? They have players to do that...Look at their depth chart. But the Indians want this guy from Philly...Well, he's got baggage so I can't imagine Philly wanting to hold on to him too much...Hell, throw in Stern...

    Or you might have said...Crisp would be a good addition, but how about (insert other possible trade here)...

    Just some thoughts...That's all.

    Not trying to make this a blog fight, it is just frustrating getting vague responses...

    Certainly talking about the players on the field is more interesting than discussing the non-issue of why did Theo return? Now Shaugnessy is all pissy because the Sox aren't going to have a press conference...Good, it really isn't anyone's business why Theo is back except for Theo, Larry, Tom, and John...

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  3. GR... I guess it's kind of our business. I mean, good companies are accountable to their customers, and customers deserve to know when major and public aspects of the decision-making process are altered. Doesn't always happen, I'll grant you, but it's not like inquiring fans and media are trying to find out if Theo wears boxers or briefs. They're covering or inquiring about an incredibly popular and public team here. Not only should we get some inkling - and I think we will - the FO should expect that if they don't provide it, fans will be less than pleased.

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  4. I really don't know what to think about this deal, so, like Peter, I don't really have much to say, except "let's wait and see". There's a huge potential upside (dealing a prospect who might not pan out for a really good OF), and a huge potential downside (dealing a prospect who could be the next Nomar for a really good OF). The other options at CF, Reed and Michaels, have been discussed to death. For me this is very much a "ITWT" situation, so if he's for it, fine, if not, fine also. Time will tell.

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  5. On the Crisp front, I guess I will take a wait and see approach if it happens (I hope it does) and then a longer term wait and see approach on just how good Marte is - I'm on record as saying he may be a dud (just my personal thought). Okay, dud may be strong, but I think he is more David Bell than Eric Chavez.

    On the Theo front, I'm more inclined to agree with GR than Andrew. Sure, the public would like to know what happened and you could argue that as a public entity, they are should tell their customers what is going on, but then you could counter with the only thing that matters is the product. What do I care if, say Apple Computers' Chief Opertaing Officer (Theo) is bickering with its CEO (Lucchino) of how much say he gets in their product development (on field product). So long as my iPod works well (team makes playoffs), I shouldn't care.

    Plus, its not like Theo is going to get up there and say "I think Larry was being a jerk, and then I took some of the things personal and maybe overreacted a bit, but then we smoothed it all over." No matter what they say, short of the airing of some pretty dirty laundry, no one is going to believe it.

    Lastly, the Globe (well, CHB) referred to Henry as "Embattled owner John Henry." A bit drastic, don't you say? Who would have thought that just 15 months after bringing this team, this city its first championship in 86 years that Henry would be embattled. Plus the team is likely to be favored by many to return to the playoffs for an unprecedented 4th year in a row.

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  6. Plus, as GR says, anything that pisses off CHB is a good thing.

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  7. Also, it was all speculation that Theo left because of Larry in the first place. I don't think that I ever heard a word of that except "from sources"...So, as far as I am concerned this is a made-up-story. Hell, maybe it was even a ploy to make teams think that Theo wasn't part of the process and that maybe they could take advantage of the Sox during this time. Maybe Theo just needed some time off, but couldn't do that in the public eyes because everyone wants to be in his business. Who knows? Bottom line, his personal business is personal...

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  8. I agree that it is personal, but I really do think the Lucchino business had something to do with it. I think saying it was a "made up story" is a real stretch. If there was no merit to the story, I'm sure we would have heard a staunch denial. There were too many signs (Larry not being at the news conference, Henry admitting as much that he should have gotten involved). But I do agree that they should just move on. I think the majority of people in town (non-media division) are thrilled that Theo is back and really don't want/need a public explanation.

    GR - you must be pumped of the SB. Do I sense a bottle of Makers Mark and a sick day coming?

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