Collective Sigh of Relief!!!

Yes, you heard it when the news came out, all of the Red Sox fans around our great country and the world let out a giant sign of relief when it was announced that Eric Gagne has declined the offer of arbitration from the Boston Red Sox!!!

How excited are you about this? Isn’t this just the best news you could ever hope for?!?!

On the downside, due to his horrendous performances with the Red Sox this past year, he was downgraded from a Type A to a Type B Free agent, so what this means to the Red Sox is that instead of getting 2 Draft Picks next year, they only get 1 “sandwich pick” which is a pick in round 1A which takes place in between the regular round 1 and round 2. If he had remained a Type A they would have gotten a First Round pick as well as a sandwich pick.

Well, C.C. Sabathia wins the Cy Young this year. He deserves it, but at the same time I think Beckett deserved it just as much, if not a little bit more.

CC had him beat on IP, CG, K and ERA, but barely with ERA.

Beckett/CC
Games: 30/34
IP: 200.2/241
W-L: 20-7/19-7
ERA: 3.27/3.21
K: 194/209
BB: 40/37
HR: 17/20
WHIP: 1.14/1.14
BAA: .245/.259

What I have heard rumored was that this came down to run support. Beckett only won 1 game this year when he gave up 4 or more runs, and that was when he gave up 4 to the New York Yankees. Sabathia got 3 wins this year when he gave up 4+ runs to the opponent. Sabathia did have the advantage in games lost where he gave up 2 or less runs. Beckett had 3 loss or no decision games when giving up 2 or less runs in the game, compared to CC who had 8 such instances, including 1 3 hit 9 inning shutout performance that his team lost in extra innings.

It was close, but I thought that hitting that 20 in mark and being the only pitcher to do so this year, and the first since 2005, might give the edge, but it wasn’t.

Well congrats C.C. and enjoy it, this will certainly give you some bargaining power with your Free Agency at the end of next year, and hopefully this will fuel the fire in the belly of Beckett for next season to obtain what he barely missed this year.

So it is now 8pm, and we have 4 hours until the Red Sox time limit on exclusive rights to negotiate with Mike Lowell are coming close to an end.

I am hoping that he is able to be signed, however I have a feeling the 3 years I have heard being offered to him, is not the 4 years he is looking to get from the team he ultimately will sign with, which is going to cause him not to be signed by the Red Sox. Sad to see him go, but that is baseball nowadays.

While this is tragic and a blow to the team, I think it is what is going to happen, I hope I am wrong though.

But…

Assuming I am right, what do the Red Sox do?

The most obvious option would be Arod. Good as far as defense and offensive production, as well as being a slugger that the would be able to take over once Manny leaves. However, I am not a fan of the reputation he has in the clubhouse, and his track record in the playoffs, on top of the money he is demanding(30-35 million/year for 8-10 years). We finally got rid of that fake bambino curse, do we really need to bring in a new fake curse of arod?

Miggy Cabrera is a trade option, and the Marlins are looking to deal him. He has 1 year left on his contract with Florida, so it would be a 1 year trade unless a contract can be worked into the trade deal. I think this is a great option due to his age, and potential long term contract for a good third baseman who has good offensive stats. The potential downsides, the Red Sox could be forced to give up too many good prospects to the Marlins, on top of that there is the National League to American League transition problem that may or may not be a factor.

Joe Crede is also a trade option from Chicago, I can see it happening, depending on what Chicago is looking for, but his offensive numbers are just not that great, and to make up for Lowell just doesn’t make me like him. He would benefit from The Green Monster, but that is only half the season, the other half would be in the same parks where he hits .260, and never had 100 RBIs in a single season, and all of this on top of a season shortened by an injury with back surgery.

Those are the main transactions outside of Lowell that I see happening to get a third baseman.

Then we have possible “internal” changes that could change what their search will make them look for in the off-season.

Moving Youk over to thirdbase.

Now if they make this change, then it opens up some interesting options for the Red Sox.

There are some free agents who would fit well, one of these is Eric Hinske, who has been on the Red Sox for the past year and a half after a trade with Toronto. This would work well I think, he has fairly good stats, and I think with more playing time he would be even better, and he already knows the Red Sox, their organization, and most of the players.

Another option would be to bring up Lars Anderson from the minors and throw him into the mix, not really sure how that ould really work out, but he has been good in the minors and I am expecting to see quite a bit of work out of him in Spring Training this upcoming year.

Well, those are the options, and my personal preferences in order…

Lars coming up, AND sign Hinske as well.
Sign Hinske straight up
Trade for Miggy and get a 5 year contract for him.

and not to sign arod, not a good business decision to sign him from my point of view.

As it has become standard every winter since the new ownership took over the Red Sox, there are changes going on at the sacred grounds we all know and love, called Fenway Park.

I have traveled around and been a fair number of other parks, both minor league and major league, some old, and some of the newer stadiums out there such as Coors Field in Denver, Chase Field in Phoenix, Jacobs Field in  Cleveland. None of these parks give you the same feeling as Fenway. I am sure that Wrigley may give me a similar feeling, but I don’t know yet since I have yet to go to a game there. There is something magical about Fenway that no other field can capture, even if they do have cupholders at every seat, gourmet food, beer in the stands, fancy restaurants, and unobstructed views. It cannot be fully described, but it is there and you know it when you feel it.

Anyway, before I drift off into a melancholy state…. Fenway is changing yet again this winter. The major things that we will see change in Fenway when we go back next spring:

1- They have ripped out all the bleacher seats and are replacing them with new ones, not sure if they will be any bigger, but they will be new, and probably have cup holders in them. Gotta keep up with the Jones right?

2- The old green garage door in centerfield will be gone. I am not sure where they are going to keep the batting practice nets next year, probably down in the left field garage door area, but the center field area is becoming a resaurant. Probably cost you $15 for a burger, but it will be there none the less, and open year round not just during the summer or during games. In fact, they are not even sure if it will be open during games or not due to the fact that the windows will be in direct line of sight for the hitters. So we may see green shades drawn for the games, however people will be able to watch batting practice and other such events through the windows.

Those are the major changes, some other changes are ficing the roofs above the grandstands which are rusting and rotting away, as well as fixing up some of the boxes and upper stands which were put in back around the time of the All Star game in 99.
For a full story on what is going on at Fenway:

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/articles/2007/10/25/fenway_eatery_on_the_menu/