Results tagged ‘ Carl Crawford ’
How Crawford’s Injury Can Help
Tonight the Sox wrapped up their fourth straight win with a 9-3 win over the White Sox. Sadly it wasn’t all good news today as we found out Carl Crawford will be out for up to three more months.Now this sounds terrible, but there is some bright side to it.So far this the two of the teams hottest hitters are Cody Ross and Ryan Sweeney. With Crawford returning one of them would’ve had to been benched despite their hot starts which is more than you can say about Crawford in his Boston start.
Sweeney to many was a pleasant surprise, but not to me. If you have read here before you’d know that I had faith in him since we got him.He’s currently on an eight game hitting streak and has been hitting great all this year. Ross on the other hand has been a pure power hitter. He’s come up with some critical homers so far.I love the way they’ve both been hitting and they both have been an upgrade from Crawford thus far.
To look at it from a numbers stand point, Sweeney has a disappointing .286/.344/.386 career line, but this year he’s off to a great start with a .383/.406/.583 line. He’s also fourth in the entire MLB. You can’t put up numbers like that playing with against the pitching that the Sox’s have faced and call it a fluke. He can pound nighties even with his limited power. He’s learning to hit lefties and becoming a more complete hitter. Batting him second could be wasting his talent as a pure doubles hitter, robbing him of several RBI chances, but he does set up those chances for Pedroia, Gonzalez, and Youk.
Looking at Ross, he’s just a great pure power hitter. You give him a fastball belt high and you don’t see it again. Actually any fastball he gets wood on has a good chance of going for extra bases. This year he’s got a nice .267/.328/.567 line which tops his .261/.323/.458 career line. His five homers have him tied for eighth in the majors. He can hit and I expect him to continue to go deep. Overall I prefer Sweeney to Ross, but either way they both add value to the Sox’s lineup.
Why Theo Leaving is a Good Thing
Most Red Sox fans, myself included, are saddened by Theo Epstein‘s looming departure, but it does have some positives. Theo has made some great moves throughout his career. He made fantastic trades and found some great under valued players. But in recent years he’s slipped up on one thing. He has read the free agent market terribly. He has also taken advantage of John Henry’s wallet by overspending on just about everyone of the free agents he’s picked up. He just struggles with making an adequate contract offer that meets both sides needs. He’s always gone way over the top for veterans services. He should know that their near decline, and if they want more years than their bodies are going to give them than just stay away. Theo was never able to stay away. He was so overly aggressive that it hurt the Sox rather than helped them. The only time he’s backed off a contract for health is with Jason Bay, and it proved to be an excellent idea. Didn’t anybody learn from that, or is everyone still upset we lost a guy whose hit .251 the past two years? The Mets are just as upset as we are with the contracts of Carl Crawford, John Lackey, J.D. Drew, and Mike Cameron. If Theo takes this approach in Chicago, the Cubs will be buried in debt due to terrible contracts. Another problem I’ve had with Theo is his protection of the farm system. Guys like Lars Anderson whose value was sky high a few years ago and the Sox had no use for him, but Theo had some sort of plan for him. Now he’s not even worth an unhealthy Rich Harden. Years ago he could of been used as guy in a Adrian Gonzalez type trade, but now that will never happen, except as a throw in. I’m not saying toss away all homegrown guys, because that would be insanity, but guys who aren’t going to serve a purpose when their value is at his highest needs to be moved if the right deal is made. Another good example is Josh Reddick. Right now, other teams are admiring the fantastic job he’s done this year, but he still wasn’t the most consistent guy. The Sox can sell high with him, because they have a plethora of internal and external options in the outfield. Hopefully, Cherrington will realize everything Theo did wrong and do them right.
Henry Against Crawford Signing
Today Boston Red Sox principal owner, John Henry, said on 98.5 the Sports Hub that he was against the Red Sox signing Carl Crawford. This doesn’t help the Sox. Crawford’s already disappointed in himself and the owner saying he doesn’t want certainty can’t help. The situation in Boston seems to get worse with each passing day.
Theo Allowed to Interview for Cubs Job
Today the Red Sox ownership announced that they have no problems with General Manager Theo Epstein interviewing for the Chicago Cubs open GM spot contrary to what they said when the spot first opened up. This shows the waning faith of Sox ownership with Theo due to the collapse. He’s been a great GM and Boston and sees the Cubs curse as new challenge to conquer so the two sides shouldn’t have a hard time making a deal. Over the years he has done great things in here, but recently he’s slipped a little. The bad contacts of John Lackey, Carl Crawford, Mike Cameron, and Julio Lugo hurt the Red Sox, and also not being able to retain Victor Martinez last off season was a huge blow. Overall though he’s done a great job bringing in quality players, and making good decisions with the teams best interest in mind. I believe that Theo will go to the Cubs and the Sox will be left with another huge void to fill.
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