Trade with Plaschke

So I was at my local Target not too long ago, and they had some 2010 Upper Deck blasters on sale. Now, I’m a Topps guy, so the UD set never really appealed to me. But, they were on sale 40% off, which is always hard to pass up. And, the box said you get a jersey card in every box. That has to be worth trying out. So, I took them home and ripped open the packs. When I got to the pack with the jersey in it, I was a little dumfounded. There in my hand was a jersey card of Dodger catcher Russell Martin. Not only is he no longer on the Dodgers, but he’s a friggin’ Yankee. What was I going to do with that card? A mere days later, my blogroll showed a post by Plaschke, Thy sweater is Argyle celebrating the newest addition to his Russell Martin PC. My eyes lit up. A Russell Martin collector? How exciting! So, an e-mail was quickly sent offering up the Martin. Unfortunately, Greg didn’t have any Red Sox relics to offer in trade. The only card off my wantlist he had was a 2010 A&G John Lackey. I decided that I was OK with that. I sent off the Martin along with some other cards to fill out the package in exchange for the Lackey, and whatever other Red Sox cards he stumbled upon. So, imagine my surprise when this beauty came out of the stack.

 

 

Apparently Greg went to his LCS in order to find a Red Sox relic to include in the deal. Is that an amazing effort or what? I couldn’t be more pleased. Thank You!

If anyone has any cards from his player collection wantlist, I suggest you try to get them to him a quickly as possible.

I Scored! June 19, 2010

There is a lot going on in this game, beyond the game itself. A quick look at the “Game Notes” section tells us the historical significance. This game was Tim Wakefield’s 200^th career start at Fenway Park. I’ll admit, I don’t know where that ranks all-time for the Red Sox, or for other teams in other parks. But, it’s pretty cool nonetheless. The other significant part of this game is alluded to at the top. The visiting team is the Los Angeles Dodgers. So, yes, this would be Manny Ramirez visiting Fenway. It wasn’t his first game back, but it was still a significant time. So, how did the game itself turn out amid all the drama? It was one heckova game!

First, take a look at the Red Sox line-up. It was only mostly decimated by injuries at this point. The first six batters actually look pretty good. But, then you get to the outfield. Hall-Nava-McDonald isn’t exactly the trio Red Sox fans were expecting at the bottom of the order. To their credit, though, those three did contribute to the game rather nicely. It’s hard to call a 5-4 game “low scoring” but that’s really the case. The Sox scratched out a run in the second. Two home runs accounted for three quick runs in the fourth and sixth. The last run was another claw and scratch way to score a run. There weren’t a lot of bases-loaded jams the Dodgers wriggled out of. Scoring threats were fairly limited. The Sox actually went 1-2-3 four times. Of course, the most important run scored was the last one. It was clearly scored in walk-off fashion, which is always an exciting way to end any game. It was the bottom of the order that kick-started the rally. Hall singled to lead things off. It looks like a botched sacrifice bunt allowed Nava to switch places with him at first. A strikeout put the pressure on the top of the order. A walk put Nava in scoring position. From there Pedroia sent us all home happy with a run-scoring single. It wasn’t exactly a perfect manufacture. But, It got the job done.

The player of the game? I’m going with Victor Martinez. He and Youkilis each scored two of the five Red Sox runs. Each homered. Martinez had three of the five RBI, to give him the edge. The goat of the day? Had to be Darnell McDonald. Hitless on the day with two strikeouts, including a key one in the bottom of the ninth. He had plenty of great games for the Red Sox in 2010. This just wasn’t one of them.

So, the Fenway faithful got to welcome back Manny once again. (He went 2-4, scored two runs, stole a base, and homered, by the way) The Red Sox won in dramatic fashion. We were treated to both “Okajima” and “Shippin’ Up To Boston,” blaring through the park.

And the scorecard shows how it happened.

Please Tell me There’s More to the Story

Please tell me there’s a reason the Sox didn’t sign their top priority other than money. Please tell me it’s not just Theo showing off again. Please tell me there was a reason the Sox couldn’t add $8 million for the only guy they really needed to resign.

Please tell me its because they needed the money for Carl Crawford. Please tell me the Sox didn’t want to pay him the money to play a lot of first base because Adrian Gonzalez will be at first base for the next seven years. Please?

It’s weird. I never thought the Red Sox were going to get Victor Martinez. I knew they try to avoid those “albatross” contracts. I knew they wouldn’t give him the four years. So, I had sort of removed the idea of V-Mart from my head. So, I’m not sure which is worse. That they lost out over $8 million, or that they actually offered the fourth year, but still tried to cheap it out. Apparently it wasn’t that extra year that was the problem after all. They were just too cheap? Say it ain’t so Theo.

So, what happens now? Clearly the tandem of Tek and Salty will be handling the catching duties. Once again, Theo will try to show off and pay two cheap guys to do a job worse than the expensive guy would. They certainly better not spend any real money to grab another free agent catcher…assuming there are any. So, the Sox have a remaining hole in their line-up over at third. I will put myself in the “not Beltre” camp. His history of only performing in contract years is a little too consistent for my liking. I’d rather try the other corner. Obviously, a big gun in the “Fielder/Gonzalez/Pujols” area would be the ideal. But, I think the Sox could get away with a “steady” bat in that area. A Derek Lee/Lance Berkman type could fill in for a while. At least until the Sox get one of those other three at the deadline.

That really better be what the lack of V-Mart signing means. They need the $120 million plus to get one of those three. If waiting until the deadline cuts down on the prospects you need to give up, I’m OK with that. If you’re SURE you can sign one of them after the season, I’ll play along. For one year, I’ll take the batting line-up of Ellsbury-Pedroia-Ortiz-Youkilis-Drew-Cameron-Saltalamacchia-Lowrie-Scutaro. Really, when you pair that with the Lester-Buchholz-Beckett-Lackey-Matsuzaka rotation, that’s not so bad. Pretty good really…for a year. After that, the money needs to flow. Cliff Lee? Carl Crawford? Adrian Gonzalez? Prince Fielder? Albert Pujols? One of these guys needs to be squarely in the radar. They need to be practically signed and sealed with offers they can’t refuse.

Please tell me that’s the case.

Shopping at V-Mart

The Sox did end up pulling off a pretty sizeable trade at the deadline. Any time a playoff team gets a player to bat third in their line-up, without giving up key pieces it’s a huge trade. In Victor Martinez, the Sox were able to add an all-star who can play a few positions for them. It adds significant depth to the line-up, and allows plenty of flexibility for Terry Francona. I’d say it was a pretty great move.

I was hoping for a blockbuster, and while this wasn’t exactly it, it was a great deal. It does a lot for the Sox, with very little downside. It will be interesting to see how Francona approaches it. Will it be a strict rotation between Martinez, Ortiz, Varitek, Youkilis, and Lowell? Does Varitek now only catch 3 out of 5 games? Is Lowell slated for 3 out of 5 as well? Does Ortiz sit against lefties? Assuming Tito can keep everyone happy, that flexibility does a lot for the Sox. Lowell needed more rest than he was getting. Who knows…maybe his rest will be a couple weeks at a time with DL stints. Varitek’s not as young as he used to. Assuming he can swallow even more pride, he could use an extra day off as well. The best part is, that whichever one of the five that isn’t playing can be a big boost off the bench. If I had a choice between Mark Kotsay, or Mike Lowell as a pinch hitter, I like the Lowell option.

Beyond the flexibility, Martinez can flat out hit. He’s not exactly a utility guy just brought in for versatility. He’s now second on the team in RBI, and proved over the weekend he can hit a ton. If he only helped at one position, it would be a great pick-up for the offense alone. Remember, he was an all-star catcher…without being a very good defensive catcher. This isn’t adding Jerry Hairston here.

I also love the way the Red Sox could flaunt their depth. They had the chips to trade away to acquire a current all-star, and most of Red Sox Nation was thankful that they didn’t give up their good prospects. Personally, I liked Justin Masterson. I liked his make-up. I liked that he already has shown that he can pitch, and be effective. Given the choice between him and Buchholz, I may have tossed a coin. The point is, that the Sox could make that coin flip. The traded away a guy who may slide immediately into the #3 starter role, but considered it a small price. Amazing. That the Sox could make a trade for Martinez, and be left with enough chips that they could still trade for whomever they wanted is amazing. It’s exactly what a farm system is supposed to be about.

This may be the first deadline that I’ll give Theo high marks for. A Cliff Lee or Halliday move may have been nice. But, he added a great player, without losing one. That’s a pretty good day in my book.

It should be a fun couple of months.