Ellsbury, Youkilis, and Some Randomness

Kevin Youkilis went on the DL yesterday. Really, there has to be some sort of rule against that, right? Once a team loses 5 or 6 all-stars to the DL in one season, they should be able to select a player from another team to fill his spot. Like an expansion draft. Start with the teams in the basement, and start going up until you find a good player. But, really, has any team ever dealt with this kind of talent being lost in a year? Check out this all-DL team for the 2010 Red Sox.

Pitchers: Josh Beckett, Clay Buchholz, Manny Delcarmen (yeah, I know)
Catcher: Jason Varitek
First Base: Kevin Youkilis
Second Base: Dustin Pedroia
Third Base: Mike Lowell
Shortstop: Wait…nobody? If I were Marco Scutaro, I’d watch out
Outfield: Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Cameron, Jeremy Hermida
DH: Victor Martinez

Let’s see, that’s eight former all-stars and a former MVP? Any other team able to match that? It’s even worse to think that they’ve practically all overlapped. In fact, other than Youk, I think there may have been a point where everyone else was on the DL at the same time. Yikes!

I finally figured out the Ellsbury hubbub. I finally realized why he’s been slammed constantly in the paper and on the radio for healing. Theo wants to trade him. That’s basically Theo’s MO when he wants to trade a popular and talented player. Get the media to say he’s soft and doesn’t want to play. Nomar? You can’t trade him. He’s a Boston icon. So, the media went to work saying he actually threatened not to play. The team owned TV station was sure to zoom in on him every time he was on the bench when the Sox were losing. Therefore, it was easier to trade him. Manny? Same thing. He was too talented to trade. (Even John Henry thought so.) So, you have to slander him first. Start leaking every time there’s a minor incident. Have the team owned TV station zoom in on the dugout during a scuffle. Have the radio stations claim that he, too, threatened not to play. That made it easier to trade him. So, now we have Ellsbury. He’s talented, and a fan favorite. (Remember the uproar over including him in a Santana deal?) So, Theo got to work. Get the radio stations to say he’s soft, and taking too long to play. Have the team owned TV station show him in the dugout as the Sox are losing a game he’s not playing it. It’s like they have the script printed and ready whenever Theo wants to do something stupid.

The difference this time? Two things really. First, a lot of Jacoby’s fans are women who think he’s cute. They don’t care if he plays hard, or not. (And, no, not all his women fans are only fans because he’s cute) So, the usual slander won’t work. Second? Unlike the other two moves, trading Ellsbury makes sense. How’s this for an off-season? Call San Diego. Give them the Ellsbury and Buchholz package they wanted for Adrian Gonzalez. (Obviously, try to get them to take Casey Kelly or Daisuke Matsuzaka instead of Clay. Seriously…Dice-K in Petco could work.) Let Victor Martinez and Beltre walk. They’ll want more money than Theo will want to give. Sign Ortiz to a contract just like he has now. Use the money they saved not paying Beltre, Lowell, and Martinez to make the hard push for Carl Crawford. Not just hard. Blow him away. Can’t refuse, kind of offer. Then sit back with this line-up:

Pedroia
Crawford
Youkilis
Ortiz
Gonzalez
Drew
Cameron
Scutaro
Saltalamacchia

And a rotation of:

Beckett
Lester
Lackey
Matsuzaka
Wakefield

Not a bad idea, if you ask me. See? Theo doesn’t need to slander players.

He just needs to make sense when he trades them away.