Ben Cherington's Not Stupid

Unlike, apparently, people on twitter.

As I write this, it's the middle of the afternoon. In a few hours, it'll be dinnertime. I'm going to have to make myself something to eat. I know that. But, it's still early. The fact that I'm writing this post doesn't mean that I put writing a blog post at a higher priority that eating. In fact, I put eating at a higher priority than just about anything else. I just know that I still have some time to get other things done before I need to have dinner cooked and ready to eat. So, I can write this post. I can check the mail. I can even catch up on some reading. All things that need to get done. None of them as important as eating. None of them will prevent me from eating when dinnertime rolls around.

Sort of like pitching.

The Red Sox signed two fine hitters to add to the line-up. That's pretty exciting. Considering that last years line-up had Will Middlebrooks and Jackie Bradley Jr in it, adding Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval is a HUGE upgrade. (Pun intended.) We should be thrilled! But, what did twitter say?

"Can Hanley pitch?"

"I don't care. Get pitching!"

"They're not going to help at all if the team can't pitch!"

That's probably true. It's also true that Ben is well aware of that fact. He didn't make it to be a major league GM without realizing that there is both pitching and hitting. He also didn't make it to be a major league GM without knowing how to do two things at once. After all, didn't he just do the Hanley and Panda deals at the same time? So, why does everyone assume this is an "either/or" type thing? So, because the Red Sox signed two hitters, they aren't concerned about pitching? I'm writing this post. Does that mean I'm not concerned about eating?

Of course not. Just like I still have time to make dinner, Ben still has time to make a pitching staff. The deals for the two hitters just presented themselves, and he went for it. How annoyed would Sox fans be if the Sox signed Lester in two weeks, then announced at the press conference that they were so focused on that deal that while Lester was mulling his options, Hanley signed with NY and Pablo signed with Baltimore. Oh the outcry! You mean that while Lester was thinking it over, the Sox were just sitting there twiddling their thumbs while the other GMs were improving their team? Fire him now!

So, of course the Red Sox did the deal they could do when they could do it. It's how it works. I, for one, am pretty excited about it. Now they can move onto the next move. After all there's still time to make it. And the next one. And the one after that. When Spring Training comes, they'll have addressed all their needs.

And at dinnertime, I'll have something to eat.