It's funny, rumor is the Red Sox basically had the same deal on the table for Werth that the Nationals did minus on year. If he had signed with the Red Sox something tells me the deal would have been praised in the media, just like I'm sure this Carl Crawford deal will be hailed. A small market team like the Nationals has to pay a little more to get some big names or they're never going to get anyone. If their billionaire owner can afford it then more power to him. I prefer that to a team like the Pirates who have just resigned themselves to ever competing.
You only consider a town a winner if they win a championship? Until the last 2 years the Astros either won their division, wild card or were in competition late in the season every year since 1997 (except 2000).
I wonder if the Red Sox knew that Lee wasn't intersted in them. If you ask me, injuries killed the Sox last season...and I think they would have been better served acquiring Cliff Lee.
Werth is every bit as good of a RFer as Crawford is in LF. RF>>>>>LF. If only Crawford didn't have a noodle for an arm, he'd be an all-world CFer. Another thing to think about, many times speed/legs are the first thing to go when a player gets older. Theoretically, Werth's power should hang around & they can always move him to LF/1B as he ages. I get what you're saying about Werth hitting in that lineup & in that ballpark (he hit better at home the past 2 years, but better on the road the 2 years prior). I just don't see any way that the Werth contract is this amazingly ridiculous deal while Crawford is a great signing. May, just may have something to do with which teams signed them. Oh, and Disciple of RP, you are wrong. Happy to help, no need to beg.
I'm a pitching and defense guy so I'll agree with you. A pitching staff of Lee, Beckett, Lackey, Bucholtz and Dick-K...AWESOME. Their lineup is VERY LH heavy, except for Youk, which makes it so important the Yanks get Lee and even more so if Andy is calling it a career.
Well if Beckett can bounce back from injuries and if Lackey can pitch in Boston the way he did in Anaheim, the starting pitching staff is fine. Lester is the model of consistency and I believe that Buchholz has turned the page. The bullpen concerns me because it is Bard, Papelbon (coming off a 9 blown save season), and a bunch of nobodies. Supposedly, the Sox have offers out there on guys like Scott Downs, Brian Fuentes, Kevin Gregg, Ron Mahay, and a couple of others. They could try to trade Ellsbury for a reliever and start Ryan Kalish but I don't see that happening. However, I didn't see them signing Crawford either after making the Gonzalez deal, lol. But anyway, I do think that Carl fits a huge need for them. Last year, they had all kinds of people playing LF and the best I can say is that it was adequate at best (the performance of these replacements). Remember, LF was supposed to be Ellsbury's position after they brought in Mike Cameron and the results were disastrous as Ellsbury only played like 11 games (Cameron also didn't play many games last season due to his abdominal issues). I think Ellsbury is most comfortable in CF and I would prefer the Sox don't trade him. He does have Borass as his agent and there are reports that there are hard feelings between him and the Sox mgmt over his injury issues last season, so maybe the Sox do trade him if they feel they have no chance in re-signing him. Well I am not going to worry about that - I am worrying about our bullpen and then we are done! There's a possibility that they could sign Russell Martin who, in my mind, is an upgrade over Jarrod Saltamacchia/Varitek, but if they don't sign him, they still have to be considered the team to beat in all of MLB.
I agree and it definitely could become an issue as Adrian Gonzalez is really the only lefty that Boston has that hits lefties somewhat decently. Hopefully, Crawford can improve in that area. I read somewhere (I think it was the Boston Globe) that the Yankees will probably be "deathly afraid" to use righthanders against the Sox in games at the new Yankee Stadium, lmao.
Beckett is the most overrated pitcher of our generation. He's very similar to AJ Burnett. He's not an ace.
Gonzalez struggled against lefties as well prior to this year. Interesting see if that new found success carries over.
I can't really disagree with you. He has not been the same pitcher since '07 and I was absolutely flabbergasted when the Sox signed him to that huge extension at the beginning of last season. I kept saying to myself, "What has he done lately other than get hurt or be mediocre?" He has not only had the physical issues but I think a lot of his issues are mental - he comes across determined to throw what he wants to throw whether it is a good idea or not. If he could learn to be a serviceable 4th starter, then that would be great but I am not going to count on it.
The good thing for the Sox is he isn't even close to being the most important pitcher for them next year. Lester and Bucholz (sp?) are the keys to their staff along with Lackey pitching again like a betterthanleagueaveragebutnotquiteanace pitcher.
I've always thought that Crawford was a bit overrated, so I think this contract will end up hurting the Sox in the long run. He's a good player, but he isn't worth that kind of money. I expect his production to decline after his career year last season.
Red Sox didn't improve much with these two signings from last year. Beltre for Gonzalez is a wash. Same with Crawford for Martinez.
