Friday, May 23, 2008

Red Sox Keep Rollin'

Now I know it was the KC Royals and they have been in the comfort of Fenway, but the Sox have quietly earned the best record in the majors. The pitching has fed off the Lester no-no. Everyone has been solid (I know Dice-K walked six but he got out of trouble when he needed to) and the bats have been heating up.

Now as promised, I would like to take a trip back to 2005, when the Red Sox acquired Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell (a throw-in to dump salary) for shortstop Hanley Ramirez and some other prospects. Now I will never say this is a bad trade. The Red Sox got an Ace and a quality 3rd baseman for a couple of prospects, but it wasn't cheap. My thought is maybe they could have given up another quality prospect, perhaps even Ellsbury or Pedroia and kept Ramirez. (Think of the headline possibilities with the Ramirez twins) I don't know if Red Sox fans realize how good Hanley Ramirez is and how good he could be when all is said and done. Obviously, Florida is never on TV so I doubt anyone reading this has ever really see him play, but his numbers are sick. Think Nomar in his prime only better at the plate and a better arm at short. He makes Jose Reyes look like Mark Belhorn.

Let's take a look at last season: .332, 81, 29 and he was 23 and making the league minimum. Let me say it again, your boy is sick. Think of it this way; Ramirez is A-rod if he got lazy and stopped going to the gym 10 hours a day in the off -season. Again, the Red Sox got two great players and there is no way they win the world series last year without those two guys. But in 10 years when Ramirez has three or four MVPs Red Sox fans should remember he could have been hitting the ball off the Monster all those years.

4 comments:

Dan said...

Florida will never hang on to Handley. Just wait a few years when he's a free agent, and the Sox can sign him again. Of course they'll have to shell out $150 million or so. Ha, ha!

Dennis said...

He just signed an extension to keep him in Florida for 6 more years. And another thing, he is a terrible shortstop. No wait, he is the worst defensive shortstop in the major leagues. Seriously, the worst, and it is not close. Don;t get me wrong, he is very good offensively, but he will eventually have to move to the outfield, much like Soriano. And then you will realize, as Cubs fans have, he has far less value than you thought. This was a great trade for the Red Sox, and also a very good trade for Florida.

Joe said...

Den,
Your right Ramirez is not a gold glover, but right now Julio Lugo has 3 more errors than Ramirez (11 vs. 8)
and a worse fielding percentage (.927 vs. .961). I agree a corner outfielder is where he is headed. But think of what he could do at the plate when he only has to make 2 outs a game.

Dennis said...

I don't think errors and fielding percentage are a good measurement of fielding ability. The Giants are in Miami this weekend playing the Marlins, and believe me, Ramirez is the worst shortstop I have ever seen. That is quite an indictment, in fact, I am trying to think of another name so I can say he is the worst SS I have seen since ______ , but there is no one.

Even if he were an average fielder, I would be comfortable calling him one of the 20 best players in baseball, and he is offensively, but the game is changing. There is very little patience now with guys that can't field their position. If you look at the playoffs the past few years, teams can no longer win without playing good defense.