In December 2010, off the back of an injury plagued, hard
fought season which ultimately ended mediocrity, and being also-rans, the Red
Sox made a ‘splash’.
This wasn’t a regular ‘splash’, this was
Sam Allardyce/Rex
Ryan (delete as appropriate) jumping in a swimming pool off a 10 foot diving
board level splash.
After executing a trade to bring slugger
Adrian Gonzalez and
his “
Fenway swing” to
Boston, the big names
continued as they inked
Carl Crawford, arguably the best player in the history
of division rivals
Tampa
Bay to a monstrous
contract. (7 years $142 million)
With these two at the helm, to go along with stalwarts like
Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz the team possessed a potent, almost impossible
lineup for opposition pitchers.
For a few months last summer, the team brushed every other
team aside, a class above the rest. Adrian Gonzalez looked like he could hit a
baked bean with a twig, and
Josh Beckett was returning to a level not seen from
him since his miracle playoff run of 2007. It was almost the resurrection.
Then the calendar flipped to September. September 2011, a
month that will be etched into baseball lore, not just in
New
England, or across Red Sox Nation, but the whole of baseball. The
team crumbled.
The team won 7 of there last 27 games, missing out on the
playoffs, watching a potential World Series title fall by the wayside and the
exodus began. We know this story!
What we didn’t know, is that after replacing the manager,
seeing the General Manager leave for ‘friendlier confines’ the exodus wasn’t
finished, it was just on a break, a la Ross and Rachael.
This week saw the break end, the team fold, the season
finish prematurely and the future becoming the present.
The Red Sox have been abysmal this season, on the field they’ve
underperformed (eyes glare towards the pitching). Management has
underperformed, with manager
Bobby Valentine taking little to no time
alienating key members of the team with a detrimental comment regarding Kevin
Youkilis. He was eventually traded to
Chicago
for the equivalent of a broken bat and a split mitt.
The trade that we saw this week signalled the end of an era
that never really begun. Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford were joined on a
chartered jet to
Los Angeles
by Josh Beckett (the recipient of many Red Sox fans’ fury) and
Nick Punto
(journeyman utility infielder nobody will remember) to officially become
members of the
Dodgers.
However, the Red Sox certainly didn’t just ‘give these guys’
away. In return the team receives
Rubby De La Rosa, Allen Webster (the two core
prospects in the deal),
James Loney,
Jerry Sands, and
Ivan DeJesus, to go along with 250 million dollars
(gulp!) of cap relief.
De La Rosa, just returned from Tommy John surgery, a
flame-throwing righty, supposedly the prized asset from the deal, along with
Webster, who is potentially a top of the rotation starter, and immediately
slots in at #4 on soxprospects.com.
The key to this deal for many, me included, is ridding the
extotionate, borderline insane contracts of Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford.
Beckett, who in the past 2 years, has instigated a negative
clubhouse culture, drunk beer, ate chicken, whilst looking slightly more out of
shape every start, and progressively throwing slower, will take his 4 year $68
million (with 3 years remaining) with him.
Crawford, who had a difficult time adjusting last season,
and was plagued by injuries this year will leave with fans wondering “what if?”
However the chance to erase the 100 million plus he’s owed over the next 5
years was too much for the team to pass up.
The downside is losing Adrian Gonzalez, arguably the best
all round hitter the teams had since
Manny Ramirez was in his prime. Averaging
.317 20+ homeruns and 115+ RBI’s per 162 games with the team, will be hard to
replace.
However, with the team lacking any quality starting pitching
this season, and the team out of contention for a playoff spot, rookie GM
Ben
Cherington sought to get younger players with high potential, an alien concept
to us fans, who have been spoilt with playoff berths and world titles over the
last decade.
The trade, to me, strikes as a good transaction, with the
long term interest, (like taking Andrew Luck in a fantasy keeper league).
With uncertainty still dominating the headlines, pondering
whether any other players will depart in the fire sale, If the manager has a
job for next season. (let me spoil that, he has) there’s a real sense of
intrigue surrounding the team, and gives Cherington an unenviable task this
winter of sorting the mess out.
Good Luck Ben!
