By now, most of you have already heard that Red Sox great, Hall of Fame catcher Carlton Fisk was arrested on charges of driving under the influence. He was found asleep behind the wheel in the middle of a cornfield. There was an open bottle of Vodka on the floor of his vehicle. Fisk was brought to the hospital and released from custody the next morning after posting bail.
During his 24 year playing career, Carlton Fisk is most remembered for running down the line, waving his home run fair during the 1975 World Series.
John Farrell was officially introduced as the 46th manager of the Boston Red Sox today at noon. Everyone down the line from Owners, Chairmen, General Manager, and even former and current players were on board to congratulate Farrell. Most of them even stood up to say a few words about him and everyone spoke so highly of him. With much praise about his leadership skills and intelligence all around the game of baseball, it is no wonder why the Sox made this choice so quickly, as soon as they were given permission to speak to him from the Toronto Blue Jays.
Just 17 days after Bobby V was fired, the Red Sox have hired former pitching coach John Farrell, who is 50 years old. The other day, I wrote an article asking who everyone would want as their next manager. Most people chose Demarlo Hale who was also in the organization before. However, all along, most people knew that the Sox were going to try to get the Blue Jays to allow Farrell out of his last year on his contract. We had to trade shortstop Mike Aviles, but most don’t seem to mind.
Jon Lester welcomed him back through a tweet, David Ortiz proclaimed his love for his “main man”, and I think most fans are okay with this choice. Don’t be fooled, the Sox are far away from being the team that they have been in recent years. Farrell had told the Blue Jays GM that it was his dream job, and that if someone contacted them, he would like the opportunity to speak with Boston. Shortly thereafter, Red Sox owner John Henry called Toronto’s CEO and got things moving.
While John Farrell was the pitching coach in Boston from 2007-2010, including one World Series Championship, the Sox Pitching Staff was first in the American League in strikeouts, Opponents’ Batting Average, and Shutouts, and 3rd in ERA. You don’t need to be a genius to figure out that those numbers are far above and beyond what they were this past season with Bobby Valentine at the helm.
This is not only a Boston sports site, this is an Anti-Yankee site. That being said, what is happening with Alex Rodriguez is just hilarious to me. Joe Girardi sits him and then has to make up excuses like, he is only bad against right-handers. While riding the pine, A-Rod put a note on a baseball trying to get a woman in the stand’s phone number. She was an Australian Bikini Model, but still.
Now, there is a rumor going around that the Marlins and Yanks may be in talks of a A-Rod trade. But will A-Rod actually take his talents (or lack thereof) to South Beach? A source said that Yankees President Randy Levine told his good friend, the owner of the Marlins, Jeffrey Loria, that “he can have him.” It is expected that Miami is the only place that Rodriguez would consider accepting a trade to. He has 5 years and $114 million left on his contract.
Do you think Miami would be stupid to trade for him?
As the search for a Red Sox Manager continues, many people believe that the Sox have already interviewed their best option. Although most people want John Farrell, that is very unlikely due to the fact that he is still the head coach of the Blue Jays for one more season. So far, the team has interviewed four candidates:
LA Dodgers third-base coach Tim Wallach: 55 years old, played 3rd base for 16 seasons, 5 time all star. He has only been a minor league head coach, but has been a hitting coach and third-base coach in the majors.
NY Yankees bench coach Tony Pena: 55 years old, played catcher for 18 seasons (with Sox from 1990-93), 5 time All-Star as a player, 2003 AL Manager of the Year
SD Padres special assistant Brad Ausmus: 43 years old, the only candidate without experience as a coach or manager. 1-time All-Star in 1999, 3-time Gold Glove winner.
Baltimore Orioles third-base coach DeMarlo Hale(Pictured): 51 years old, only played 4 seasons (split between Oakland and Boston), left the Sox when Francona did. He is the most popular choice of the candidates so far. He is known for his down-to-earth coaching style and knows how to treat and adapt to each player, unlike Bobby V did last season. He was a minor league coach in our organization for years as well, this guy could be the best choice to keep the job ‘in the family’.
Who do you think the Red Sox should choose as their next manager to rebound us from our horribly disappointing season?
Today, we are going to move over to the hot corner. Two different ends of the spectrum at third base, with the up-and-coming stars in Evan Longoria and Brett Lawrie and the declining talents of Alex Rodriguez and Kevin Youkilis. Also, we have the “Greek God of Walks” in Kevin Youkilis and also the Strikeout King, Mark Reynolds.
1. Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays
2. Brett Lawrie, Toronto Blue Jays
3. Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees
4. Kevin Youkilis, Boston Red Sox
5. Mark Reynolds, Baltimore Orioles
These rankings were tough, especially after Longoria in the first slot. Every single player, Longoria included, has something to be criticized about. Evan Longoria has been one of the top third basemen since his monster rookie season in 2008, where he had a .272 AVG/27 HR/85 RBI line in 122 games. Year after year, we have seen great production out of the young superstar, but he hasn’t had a full year showcasing ALL of his skills. In 2010, he effectively lowered his strikeouts and maintained a good average, but his power was down (only hit 22 HR in 151 games). In 2011, he regained his power stroke hitting 31 HR’s in 133 games, but his average dipped to .244. Despite these issues, Longoria has the talent to maintain his position as the top third baseman in the AL East.
Most Sox fans are probably wondering who Brett Lawrie is, and why the hell is rated above A-Rod and YOUUUK. Brett Lawrie was one the top prospects in the Brewers coveted farm system a few years ago, until he was traded for Shaun Marcum in December 2010. Lawrie was a former catcher, turned second baseman, turned now third baseman. He displays pure athleticism on the field, which has helped him in his transistion between positions in the minors. His bat has never been questioned throughout his short career. Although he was said to be major league ready after camp last year with the Blue Jays, they decided to give him more time to work on his glove at the hot corner in Triple A. Lawrie was called up to the bigs on August 5th and made an immediate impact, hitting 6 home runs in his first month. In 150 major league at bats, Lawrie ended up with a .293 average, .373 OBP, and 9 HR’s. He figures to be a major part of the Blue Jays offense, currently projected to hit in the 6 spot in a dangerous lineup. I was skeptical to give him the two spot in the rankings, but his potential, coupled with the injury problems of A-Rod and Youk gave me the green light on this ranking. I also think this guy has a little bit of Gronk in him. He was said to have attitude issues in Milwaukee and openly has pictures of himself drinking and doing “Edward FortyHands” online. His “don’t give a shit” attitude should help him in dealing with some of the increased attention he will get with his elite ability. I don’t see him being as effective as his short major league stint indicates, as most 22 year olds are bound to experience some issues in the first few years in the bigs, but Lawrie will soon become a household name for any AL East fan.
Next up are the walking wounded. With all due respect to Alex Rodriguez (although I don’t believe he deserves much) and Kevin Youkilis, it is quite obvious both are in the “decline” stages of their careers. Due to his incredible past, A-Rod gets the three ranking and seriously contended for second. It was just too hard to justify him above the rising Lawrie. His major league record streak of 13 straight seasons with over 30 home runs and 100 RBI’s ended abruptly last year. He has battled with numerous different injuries in the past four seasons (missed at least 20 games each season and 150 games total). I do see A-Rod making a bit of a comeback, but he has lost a lot of bat speed in the past few years and can’t make pitchers pay for a bad fastball as consistently as he used to.
Kevin Youkilis is more of the same. It seems like every year Sox fans are talking about “If Youk was healthy…” this and that, we’d be such a better team, a more dangerous lineup, etc. At some point, we need to expect him to get injured. Despite his unusual .258 BA last year, he is a great batter and the “Greek God of Walks,” but he is a liability at third base, where he is not nearly as good a fielder there as he is at 1st Base. I love having him in the lineup and he’s just as much the face of the franchise as Dusty, but he has constantly been getting injured in the past few years. I’m expecting a bounce back year for Youk with around a .300 BA, 20-25 HR, 90-100 RBI and of course his .400 OBP. And I, along with every other fan in Red Sox nation, hope that he stays healthy throughout the year and is good to go for a playoff push in September.
Lastly, we have the Strikeout King, Mark Reynolds of Baltimore. In the past four years, Mark’s home run’s look like this: 28, 44, 32, 37. Along with the good comes the bad, Mark’s strikeout numbers look like this: 204, 223, 211, 196. His average also looks like this: .239, .260, .198, .221. Pretty sure the averages and strikeouts speak for themselves. Yes, Reynold’s is a good power hitter, but as a manager I would never want his mentality of “swing for the fences” every at bat on my team. That being said, Reynold’s always brings fear into opposing pitcher’s and fan’s late in the game due to his big play potential.
It will be very interesting to see how this years young stars at third base end up matching up against the aging (and injured) stars of the AL East.
Bud Selig’s office missed the February 1st deadline to have finished a proposed schedule to send to the players association. Talks have not ended and it still looks like a decent possibility that the MLB will be able to expand to two wild card teams in both divisions, but they have encountered many more scheduling issues than anticipated. There are a ton of different issues, but long story short is they need to figure out how to fit in the extra wild card matchups in between the end of the season and start of the ALDS. The real problem comes from scheduling tiebreaker games between first place and wild cards (which becomes much more important now), rain out makeup games, and also, to do everything in compliance with TV contracts.
This is huge news for Red Sox fans. The day they announced a possible expansion of the playoff format was like Christmas day for every fan of the AL East (yes, even Orioles fans). If the MLB is unable to figure out this situation soon, it will be detrimental to the playoff hopes of each the Red Sox, Yankees, and Rays. All are in position to be top teams in the MLB again, with the Blue Jays not far behind. As we all remember last year, the Red Sox failed to make the playoffs with 90 wins and the Braves failed to make the playoff on the last day with 89 wins. In the proposed situation, both would have made the playoffs. Also, this is an important proposition because it awards teams for coming in 1st place, by forcing wild card teams to use their best starters in a one game playoff, while 1st place teams get more resting time.
In other news for the Red Sox, the Nationals have agreed to a one year contract with Edwin Jackson, who was widely believed to be the best free agent pitcher left on the market. Talks look like they are winding down between the Red Sox and Roy Oswalt as well. It looks like we will be heading into spring training with Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Clay Bucholz at the front of our rotation. The Red Sox will then have Daniel Bard, Alfredo Aceves, and an island of misfit toys duke it out and try to fill the 4th and 5th spots in the rotation.
My heart sank when I came across this news, but the Boston Globe reported earlier today that Tito, Theo, and Papelbon may not be the only ones on their way out of Boston. Red Sox in-game reporter, Heidi Watney, is coming up on the end of her contract later this month and inside sources have hinted that she may be calling it quits with the Sox after four years of loyal service. Now, there are no reports to the truth of this, but the mere thought is enough to completely demoralize the already depression struck Red Sox Nation. Thank God the Bruins are back on track and the Pats are in good shape for the rest of the season because I don’t think I can take much more bad news from the other two teams without slipping into a world of misery. Heidi, say it aint so!
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