36 Questions: Trades

Another thing I’ve always wondered about is how a trade gets started. It’s especially interesting when a big name player is involved. How do people know who is available? How do they know what they want? If Theo Epstein is reading, he’s welcome to answer.

For instance, the Red Sox reportedly made an inquiry into Hanley Ramirez earlier in this offseason. Is that how it happens? Do the Red Sox say to themselves that they have a need at short, and just start calling teams to see if, perchance, their player is available? Do they just call the Marlins to ask about Ramirez? Do they call the Phillies every few days, just to see if Rollins happens to become available? Do they call the Yankees about Jeter? Do they scour the local newspapers to see if a player is unwanted by the team? Do teams call Theo every day just to see if for some reason he’d like to trade Pedroia? Do the Cardinals just cold-call Theo and ask about Papelbon’s availability? You know at some price, every member of the team would be tradeable. So, the Cards call out of the blue and ask about Papelbon. Does Theo respond, “Sure…for Pujols?” What if they say OK? Do general managers just call each other every two days to see if anything comes out?
“Hi, Theo. How are things?”
“My leftfielder is driving me nuts. I’d trade him for a new bat at this point.”
“Really…interesting. If you tossed in a couple other players and some cash, maybe I could help”

How does a deal ever come together? There are hundreds of players in any organization. How do you decide which A-ball prospect is worth a back-up outfielder? When you have a chip to trade…say a gold glove caliber center fielder who can run…how do you find a match? Does Theo call every club and ask what they need, hoping one of them says they need an outfielder? Does he look around at teams he thinks need an outfielder and offer him to them? Does he look around for a team that has what he needs…say a middle reliever…and call them with an offer? How does it all work?

And, how does anything ever get done?

Opening Day!

There’s just something about Opening Day. The seats are clean. The field is green. The air is crisp, and the centerfielder isn’t. Opening Day isn’t just the first game of the season. It’s more than 1 of 162. It’s an event. It’s a production. It’s a joy to behold.

As usual, the Sox didn’t pull out any stops during the ceremony. Why settle for simple introductions when you can have people appearing from out of nowhere? They once had members of the NE Patriots appear out from under a flag in left. This year, they had the Red Sox themselves appear from out of the crowd. It was a great touch. Each Red Sox starter, instead of coming out of the dugout, came down from the stands. The image of the players walking down the aisles towards the field, slapping hands with the fans as they went was great. I wonder what Jason Bay was thinking after spending so many Opening Days in Pittsburgh. While I’m sure it wasn’t the player’s first choice, they all looked to be having a good time with it.

The National Anthem was a little bit of a letdown. Not, that I’m a huge Seal fan…or any kind of Seal fan really. But, I like to see different people do the singing. The Boston Pops show up enough that I like to see someone else out there. But, one advantage to the Pops is that they can read music and lyrics. Whenever they do it, it’s a nice proper, short, rendition. No holding one note for three years, or changing the tune to show off specific vocal talents. It’s simply the anthem as it should be. I’m also always impressed by a flyover. I can’t get over how lout and close those jets can get.

The ceremonial first pitch is another place the Red Sox like to have a little fun. Last Year it was Bill Buckner. In previous years they’ve had Celtics, Bruins, Patriots, former Sox, and any number of important people. This year, the Sox selected Senator Ted Kennedy. It was an apt choice, given all he has meant to Massachusetts over the years. Catching the first pitch was Jim Rice. I expect to see a lot of Jim Ed this year. With his election to the baseball Hall of Fame this year, he’ll be a popular player. Not only will the Sox retire his number sometime this year, I’m sure he’ll be the face of the franchise for a while. It’s nice to see Rice finally get a well deserved “victory tour.”

Once the game starts, all the ceremony in the world can’t cover up for a drubbing. Thankfully, Beckett made sure that didn’t happen. He had one bad inning, but was otherwise dominant. Striking out 10 batters over seven innings is a pretty impressive start to the season. Dustin Pedroia kept chugging along with a crowd-pleasing home run in the bottom of the first. He has one of the fastest home run trots around. He must have realized that the faster his trot, the sooner he can get back to the dugout and tell everyone he just hit a homer. The captain added one of his own as yet another treat for the crowd. It’ll be great if Jason Andrew Varitek is even most of his old self. Obviously, his 162 home run pace is a tad unrealistic. But, it’s better than seeing him go 0-4 with three pop outs.

I was glad that Papelbon apparently dropped the “wild thing” portion of his entrance song. I still say that “I’m Shipping up to Boston” is the best closer entrance I can imagine. It’s like the WWE out there. If you haven’t been in Fenway for the opening notes, you need to be. The electricity in the stands is measurable.

All in all, what more can you ask for out of a game? The ceremony at the start. Great starting pitching. A couple homers. Papelbon to close it out. Fenway Perfection.

If only it were 10 degrees warmer.

Book Review: 2009 Red Sox Media Guide

OK, so maybe it's not exactly a book. Maybe the best word would be a reference manual. But, it doesn't really matter. The important thing is that I finally got my hands on the 2009 version this weekend. If you've never seen a media guide, you should at least flip through one. It's where everyone gets all those useless stats about the Sox and its players. A couple gems from this year's guide:
-Jason Bay is one of only 8 players to be traded during a season in which he scored 100 runs, hit 30 home runs, and drove in 100 runs. (BTW, the guy he was traded for is another one)
-Mark Kotsay is one of only 3 players in history to play more games at first base during the postseason than he did during the regular season.
-John Dopson holds the Red Sox record for most balks in a single game with 4 on June 13, 1989.

How can you not need a book filled with all this info? It also has bios on every member of the Red Sox, and the front office. It has team histories, records, a section on minor leaguers, and so much more!

Clearly, any Sox fan has to have this book. I usually read it cover to cover just to see what new stuff is added. It's also fun to see how some active players are moving their way up the all-time Red Sox ranks. (Unfortunately, Manny is no longer one of them) It's also great to hold on to for reference about teams past. Simply put, it's a must read.

Rating: 4 bases

Hitting the links

Obviously, this is the site I come to most often. But, when I have some free time, here are some other places I like to visit. (just in case you cared)

Baseball Sites:
MLB – The official site for Major League Baseball. If I just want pure information, this is the place to get it. If I need official releases from teams, or reports on the game itself I try here first.

MLBPA – The official site of the Major League Baseball Players Association. It’s more interesting than useful, but nice to check in on.

HOF – The official site of the Baseball Hall of Fame. It fun to browse around and check things out. It’s, naturally, full of information on the hall itself.

Red Sox Sites:

Red Sox – The official site of the Boston Red Sox. Much like the MLB site, it’s where I go when I want to know something officially happened. If it’s on the Red Sox site, it must be true, and not a good guess.

NESN – The official site of the Red Sox television network. In addition to schedules and the like, full of great and interesting information.

ESPN – The worldwide leader in sports is a great place to go for breaking news, or rumors, or possibilities. I usually don’t consider it official, though, until it’s on the Red Sox site.

SI – Sports Illustrated might be the best sports magazine out there. If it’s on this site, it’s probably something worth reading.

TATB – Touching All The Bases is a blog run through the Boston Globe written by Chad Finn. He writes with the heart of a fan, but it still a talented writer. It’s not all Sox all the time, but during the season it’s a good chance.

MAZZ – The blog kept by Tony Massarotti. He’s been around enough to have enough connections that the opinions he tosses out sometimes have merit. Again, it’s not strictly Sox talk, but odds are good it will be during the season.

Sports Guy – The site kept by Bill Simmons. He’s a very popular writer from ESPN. He makes a few too many pop culture or lowbrow comments, but I still enjoy reading him. Another site that covers all sports but touches on the Sox an awful lot.

Red Sox Diehard– This is one of the first “fan” websites I stumbled across, and I still enjoy checking in.

Any other baseball or Red Sox sites you like?

Season Preview (Part II)

And, now for a quick look at the starting line-up to see what I think of them.

Jason Varitek: As an older catcher, he’s reaching the end of his line. You can only squat for so long, and block the plate so many times before your body starts to really complain. But, the pitchers still love throwing to him. Since I can’t think of another catcher the Sox can get to replace him, I’m glad he’s behind the plate for most of the Sox games. Catcher isn’t a position I expect a lot out of offensively. So, the .255 avg with 15 HR and 56 RBI he’ll put up is just fine with me.

Kevin Youkilis: He’s finally emerging as the star Billy Beane always thought he’d be. His third place finish in last year’s MVP race was a testament to his attitude as much as his stats. He can hit, and is one of the top defensive first basemen out there. He’s the reason I didn’t think the Sox needed Teixeira this winter. They already have him. Expect a .315/32/112 season from Youuuk.

Dustin Pedroia: See “Youkilis, Kevin” but notch it up a bit. Dustin’s attitude is off the charts. He’s also a Gold Glove fielder. As the reigning AL MVP he probably won’t be able to pull of the “nobody believes in me” line anymore. We’ll see how he holds up when it’s all expected. I’d certainly expect a .316/24/96 stat line at the end.

Mike Lowell: Lowell is one of the many wildcards on this year’s team. Which Lowell will show up? Will he be healthy? Will he last the season? All very big questions. At the moment, he looks good to go. I’ll put him down for .275/18/75 and see where it leaves me.

Julio Lugo (or Jed Lowrie): It doesn’t really matter who plays. Much like the #5 starter slot, either one has the same questions for different reasons. I don’t know what to expect out of either of them. Will Lowrie come up and shine? Will Lugo act like he did in Tampa? Does it really matter what happens to the #9 hitter? I think the final answer is that whatever I get from shortstop is fine. A guess? I say the combo of the two brings .268/15/63.

Jason Bay: Weird not writing Manny Ramirez’s name in this slot. Bay’s not Manny, but he might be close enough. I’m anxious to see what he can do in a full season in Boston. He doesn’t look like the type who will wilt under the spotlight. So, I’ll mark him down for .290/29/108 and hope for the best.

Jacoby Ellsbury: Once the Sox found a taker for Coco Crisp, the starting centerfield job was Ellsbury’s. He now just needs to relax and do what he can do. If he can take his time and not feel the need to produce immediately, it will be better for him. Jacoby might be the most entertaining player on the field. His speed is game changing, and makes every play a scoring opportunity. While most of his value will come from getting on base and stealing, I’ll look for a .267/8/56 season.

J. D. Drew: Drew’s talent is unquestionable. His desire for the game is the opposite. If he can put together a full healthy season, he’s a tremendous asset to the team. If he struggles through nagging injuries, he’ll be a waste of a roster slot. I’m going to go ahead and aim high with a .297/26/92 statline.

So, there are the players. How does that all add up for the season? I see no reason not to expect a 95-67 season. Will that be enough for the division? It might be. It should be enough for a wild card. In any event, it should be a fine season.

What are your predictions?