Birthday Boy Beckett

First of all, I decided I’m going to mostly write about the Red Sox because that’s what I want to do, and on that note, here are my thoughts for today. Today is Josh Beckett’s birthday. He turns 32 years old and one could only hope that he will look in the mirror and say “shoot, I’m getting old; maybe I should stop acting like a hormonal teenager.” Beckett and his pissy attitude is getting old as I think I speak for most Red Sox fans. I really liked him as a player but as with the rest of “The Nation” I’m getting tired of his drama. He really needs to check his ego at the door and get off his high horse. Yes Josh, you are paid a lot, and are very talented and blah blah blah. You’ve won World Series rings and gotten your money, and I think it is becoming evident that that is no longer enough. Besides the few mph’s he lost on his fastball, Beckett has also lost his hunger and desire to win. He goes out there when he feels like it, gives 85% and acts like that’s all he can do. People have said his ways have rubbed off on Lester, and I can’t really disagree. Lester seems to feel more entitled these days too. Beckett is just not doing his job right now. The sox need to ditch the guys who are more about themselves than the team and stick with real ballplayers who give it their all night in and night out like Pedroia, Ross, Aviles, etc. Beckett needs to straighten up or get lost. I honestly don’t want to see Beckett go, but something must change. Maybe Beckett can go help Bobby V out with his show, if the room is big enough for the both of their egos that is.

Don't Call It A Comeback

Alright, you should probably call it a comeback. My intent is to get this baseball blog started back up. 1^st post in about 5 months, 1^st this year in fact, but baseball season is heating up and I want to be a part of it in any way I can. With that said, I’ll continue with the theme of comebacks. My hometown Red Sox are going to need to make a comeback in the standings if they want to make the playoffs. Three guys I think will make big comebacks this season include Stephen Strasburg, Adam Wainwright, and Buster Posey. Manny Ramirez will make a comeback with the A’s after his 50 game PED suspension (should be interesting), and perhaps the greatest comeback story I can think of continues with the continued success of Josh Hamilton. Drafted in 1999 with the 1^st overall pick by the then Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Hamilton would soon be out of baseball due to drug and alcohol problems. Being out of baseball from 2003-2005, he made his comeback seamlessly in 2006 with the Cincinnati Reds who gave him a second chance. He was soon traded to the Texas Rangers where he currently spends his days roaming the outfield, and hitting bombs at the plate. He was an all-star in his 1^st year back in baseball in the MLB, (his 1^st year in the majors). He now continues to be an all-star player, and even puts himself in contention for MVP awards with his stellar play. He even won the award in 2010, and would have to be a favorite for the 2012 award early into the season. He is on a torrid pace hitting .402 with 18 homers and 41 RBI’s through 31 games. Hamilton is 1^st in all 3 Triple Crown categories, and on pace for 86 homeruns this year, undoubtedly helped by his monster 4 homerun game just a few games ago. Unlikely that he keeps up this pace, but it is remarkable the comeback he has made. I can only hope to make a comeback as good as Hamilton. From the furthest depths of the internet, my blog shall rise, and hopefully be enjoyed. Happy baseball season.

Merry Belated Christmas For the Red Sox

It’s been awhile since my last post but whether you think it or not, this is a HUGE deal and I can’t, not post about it. So the Red Sox acquire Andrew Bailey and Ryan Sweeney for Josh Reddick, Miles Head, and Raul Alcantra. This is a great deal for the Red Sox who are going through major changes this offseason, trying to revamp the team to reach the playoffs and beyond in 2012. In my mind they got Bailey cheap due to a flooded relief arms market. Bailey is, when healthy, a top closer in the league and I would expect this to continue in Boston through 2014 at least, as he is under Sox control until then. The Sox recently acquired Mark Melancon from the Astros for Jed Lowrie and Kyle Weiland. Melancon will now likely be the setup man for Bailey. The combination of deals fills Papelbon’s spot and Bard’s spot in the pen. (Pap left for the Phillies and Bard is likely moving to the starting rotation.) This will give the Red Sox a very inexpensive bullpen, yet a fairly decent one at this point in the offseason. Now they may have the money to go get a top starting pitcher, or a quality one or two, and also possibly get another right fielder, although less likely. Sweeney and Ryan Kalish will likely be competing for right field time in the Sox lineup, Sweeney is probably not as good as Josh Reddick, but he is serviceable. Reddick was a top prospect for a while and did alright at the major league level, but his stock was hurt by most people’s thoughts that he couldn’t be a consistent player. He ripped things up when he started playing in 2011 but then proceeded to cool off. Alcantra and Head are both high upside, high risk single-A prospects from the Sox fairly deep farm system.  Weiland was a solid, not great pitching prospect near ready for the big leagues and Lowrie is a high upside, injury prone, infielder who could be a steal in the Melancon deal. Overall I think this is a huge win for the Sox. People are now speculating they could go hard after Cubs ace Matt Garza since they didn’t give up any top prospects and are owed compensation from Theo Epstein leaving still. Either way I like the deals, all solid players involved for both sides in both trades. Athletics seem to be loading up on prospects after the Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, and now Andrew Bailey deals.  My thoughts on the Cahill and Gonzalez deals in short: good for the Diamondbacks who received Cahill, and Nationals who received Gonzalez. I think that the A’s got good prospects in return and will have a bright future, but the Diamondbacks and Nationals got very good pitchers who make them much better now and in the future as both starters are still young. Trevor Cahill is going to help Arizona win the NL west I’ll say that now. Bailey will help the Sox compete in a still loaded AL East, and Gonzalez will help the Nationals stay in contention in a tough NL East. The A’s could have just helped 3 teams win divisions in 2012, unlikely, but definitely a possibility now.

Darvish

I feel obligated to talk about the recent news that the Texas Rangers have won the right to negotiate with Yu Darvish. Darvish a standout 25 year old pitcher from Japan is now in all likelihood going to be a part of the Rangers opening day roster for 2012 and has a real shot at being the starter for that first game. The Rangers submitted a $51.7 million bid just to negotiate with him. The last big name pitcher to come over from Japan, Daisuke Matsuzaka, had mixed results with the Boston Red Sox, definitely some success, but overall was inconsistent and had his struggles staying healthy (he’s on the shelf recovering from Tommy John surgery at the moment). I find Darvish to be similar in some ways, but definitely different in others. Both Matsuzaka and Darvish have a vast repitour of pitches, and both were super successful in Japan. I think that Darvish will be better than Matsuzaka in regards to pure “stuff,” but the thing that will make or break him is how he handles the new environment. MLB hitters are the best in the world and Darvish will no doubt have less success than he did in Japan. I only question Darvish’s mental makeup because I really don’t know a lot about it. Matsuzaka didn’t seem to have the killer instinct to win and consistently be dominant. He seemed to get rattled easily, so he would be dominant, but when things didn’t go his way, things unraveled quickly. I think both guys are #2 starters on a good team, not ace quality but could be close. I like Darvish to be more successful than Matsuzaka, but I don’t expect him to be the answer for the Rangers to win the World Series. I would have liked their chances better with Wilson staying, but I think this definitely helps replacing their ace. The market is thinning so other than Edwin Jackson and Roy Oswalt there really isn’t a top of the rotation guy to sign. Gio Gonzalez was an option through trade, and possibly may be still, although now a LOT less likely. They had some options and chose the Darvish route; I think it may prove to be the best option they have at this very moment. The negotiations should prove to be interesting and take up a lot of baseball news until it’s done.

Latos Is Seeing Red

So recently I wrote an article on my top 15 MLB starting pitchers under 25. Mat Latos was #5 on that list. Not to say I’m 100% accurate on that, but he is very good no doubt. He was just acquired from the Padres by the Reds. You would think getting a young pitcher who has already had success in the big leagues would be a good thing, but a lot of people aren’t seeing it that way. Maybe that’s because of San Diego’s monster haul in the deal. Not only did they acquire proven starting pitcher and former all-star Edison Volquez, but they also acquired 1^st baseman Yonder Alonso, catcher Yasmani Granal, and pitching prospect Brad Boxberger. This package of players is no joke, most people know Volquez is an immediate help to the starting rotation (a replacement of sorts for Latos), yet should have plenty of years ahead of him to contribute as well. Yasmani Grandal is a top switch hitting catching prospect who in a lot of opinion is going to be a very good major league catcher at the least, he can really hit. Yonder Alonso also is a very good hitter and seemed to have nowhere to go being that the Reds have perennial MVP contender Joey Votto, although he also was a top prospect and should be a very good major league player at some point. This also bears asking the question of what happens to Anthony Rizzo as he is a 1^st baseman who was acquired by the Padres in the deal for Adrian Gonzalez, this may put him on the trade block, or maybe send him to the minors, or maybe they give Alonso a change of scenery and put him in left field possibly. Finally Brad Boxberger is a solid pitching prospect likely slated for bullpen duty in San Diego. This trade fills many spots for the Padres and in my opinion they are huge winners, all these guys are fairly close if not ready for the majors. People argue Latos’ potential, some saying he’s a future #1 some saying he’s a #2. Either way, getting Volquez who’s probably a strong #3 plus a good bullpen arm would help, but what makes this deal great is they also got a future catcher and 1^st baseman. The Padres may be contenders soon and this trade may do it. I think the Reds were crazy to give up that much for Latos, I’d say they’d be crazy to give up that much for just about any one player, but if Latos can be their ace for years to come, and the prospects they shipped off don’t pan out, then I will say I was wrong. I just don’t know what the Reds were thinking.