I’m not going to sit here and sulk about the Patriots getting wrecked at home by their arch-enemies. I’m not going to complain about how frustrated I’ve been with Bill Belichick for two years. I’m not going to congratulate the Jets.
I am, dear reader, going to point you in a better direction than down. Baseball season is upon us. On February 14, pitchers and catchers will report to spring training in Florida. The snap of leather and bubble gum can be heard faintly in the air.
The best remedy for broken football hearts is some good baseball, which is exactly what the Red Sox have on tap for 2011. After reloading the team’s two weak spots- big hitters and bullpen help- manager Terry Francona and his club will be itching to hit the field. Big time additions Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez are going to make sure nobody can match the Sox in the hitting department. Adding Bobby Jenks and Dan Wheeler, along with re-signing Hideki Okajima, bolstered the bullpen greatly, leaving the starting pitching as the only weak spot, and it’s a strong weak spot at that.
Last season, Josh Beckett and John Lackey were expected to be the lead horses in a deep, good starting rotation. Neither pitcher had a good season, but thankfully Jon Lester’s star continues to grow, and Clay Buchholz emerged as a quality starter. I expect Beckett and Lackey to rebound and have better seasons than last year. Lester and Buchholz will continue to get better, with Lester emerging as the American League’s top left handed pitcher in 2011. Fifth starter Daisuke Matsuzaka had an o.k. season last season, and starting off healthy in 2011 is going to mean a lot to the Dice Man. He won 18 games in 2008 and is capable of winning that many again, against weaker pitchers.
Wheeler and Jenks are newcomers who are going to bring a winning attitude with the club. Jenks is a former All Star and World Series winner who was told by the club that he would get a chance to close some games this season, even though the Sox have one of the game’s elite closers, Jonathan Papelbon, as well as his heir apparent, Daniel Bard. Okajima and Scott Atchison, and fan favorite Tim Wakefield are all back, and expect to see the return of Junichi Tazawa as well as a late season call-up of lefty Felix Doubront from Triple-A Pawtucket.
The Jenks addition does make Papelbon expendable. Papelbon is coming off of his worst season as a closer and is eligible for free agency in 2012, as well as arbitration this year. He probably won’t see a large raise in his $9.6 mil salary.
On the offensive side of the ball, there’s not another team in baseball that will be able to keep up with the Red Sox. Adding Gonzalez- a career .284 hitter with a plus-.800 OPS to a place like Fenway Park is like taking a sugar addict to a candy farm. It’s not unreasonable to predict that Gonzalez will hit over .300, with 40-plus home runs, 120-plus RBI and an OPS of more than 1.000. His inside out swing will make mince meat of the Green Monster’s wall.
Crawford, on the other hand, takes care of all the little things Jacoby Ellsbury can’t, like hitting for decent power, playing great defense and overall just not being a baby about things. There’s no doubt Ellsbury alienated a lot of folks with his “me against the Sox” attitude last season. He’s 27, no longer the amazing prospect so many people thought he was. He’s a weak hitting, weak fielding, weak throwing outfielder that can’t judge fly balls and is incredibly fast and steals a lot of bases. Ellsbury is up for arbitration the next three offseasons, and it’s hard to see the Red Sox giving substansial pay raises to a guy who just doesn’t do that much on the field (he did win America tacos in 2007!).
All that said, an outfield consisting of Carl Crawford in left, Ellsbury in center, and J.D. Drew in right should see very little balls not turned into outs. Mike Cameron, if he can stay healthy, is a super fourth outfielder. Ryan Kalish is another solid choice, a player I’m hoping will replace Drew in right field someday.
The real “problem” with the lineup is whether to hit Crawford first, second, or third in the order. To me, it makes the most sense to hit him first. For his career, Crawford has OPS of .781, which means he’ll get on base plenty of times for second baseman Dustin Pedroia to advance him. After Pedroia, third baseman Kevin Youkilis is the most logical choice, considering he hits for both power and average. After Youkilis, it’s Gonzalez, who should have a field day at the plate every time. Crawford, Pedroia and Youkilis are going to be on base a lot this year, and number five hitter David Ortiz should be able to get the pitches he wants to hit with Gonzalez hitting ahead of him and J.D. Drew hitting behind him. In the seven spot, I’d use the catcher, either Jason Varitek or Jarrod Saltalamacchia, I would hit shortstop Marco Scutaro eighth, and in the nine hole, I’d hit Ellsbury. It’s not any disrespect to Ellsbury to be hitting ninth in this lineup, but rather a compliment. Ellsbury can do some dangerous things on the base path, and having him bat before Crawford but after Scutaro, who can get hot occasionally and has decent on-base numbers, will just give the Sox more good baserunners at all times.
If everything comes together, the Sox should have no problem dealing with the likes of the Yankees (who are desperate for attention, having given reliever Rafael Soriano a three-year, $36 mil deal and all the leverage to opt out at any time, money guaranteed; the Yanks are also actively trying to trade Joba Chamberlain for pitching help), the Minnesota Twins (who just can’t beat anyone in the playoffs), the White Sox (always active contenders), or whomever the A.L. West tries to say is a contender (sorry, Texas, but without Cliff Lee, it’s right back into the pack you go).
If the Sox can’t put it together, the worst they’ll do is choke the division to the Yankees, make the Wild Card, and do the playoff damage from there. Either way, it’s looking like the Red Sox and Phillies have a date for the World Series. I can’t wait to sit and watch and forget about football.