Wednesday, November 19, 2008
DON’T DISAPPOINT
If the Sox do not have another trade in the works, then I will be very upset. They did not need to move Coco at the start of the winter for a power reliever VERSUS RIGHT-HANDED BATTERS. Southpaws hit 300/360/375 in 2008 and 274/339/460 in 2006 off of Ramon Ramirez; he was hurt in 2007. The Sox have a Ramirez and his name is Justin Masterson. BTW, Masterson is not more than a fifth starter for the Sox, but is better utilized as a high leveraged reliever against RHB. The trade appears to relieve one redundancy with another - albeit valuable redundancies in both cases, as both Jacoby Ellsbury and Masterson are question marks.
Even though Peter Gammons states that “surprisingly” only the Reds and Coco’s new employer - the Royals - had interest, demand should have increased as the holidays approached. The White Sox, Cubs, Padres (the Pads could have or still plan to acquire a Braves CF in a deal for Jake Peavy, which may put Atlanta in the market) along with the aforementioned two teams have vacancies or need to upgrade in center with nothing more than a platoon partner on the free agent market. (The Other Sox, in particular, as they ended the experiment of Nick Swisher in centerfield should have been active. With Javy Vazquez on the block, a deal with Coco and another(s) should have been discussed.) Edmonds, Baldelli, Kotsay, and Payton sound like a better law firm than an option for a full-time centerfield job.
It appears that the Sox took the first reasonable deal that came along for Coco. It also provides them with an asset - Ramirez or Masterson - that more teams could find useful than a league average centerfielder. This trade could bring in a bigger fish, like a catcher or starter, in a week or two. But it does look like the Sox could have held out for something more useful rather than trying to pull off another transaction in the future.
If the Sox do not have another trade in the works, then I will be very upset. They did not need to move Coco at the start of the winter for a power reliever VERSUS RIGHT-HANDED BATTERS. Southpaws hit 300/360/375 in 2008 and 274/339/460 in 2006 off of Ramon Ramirez; he was hurt in 2007. The Sox have a Ramirez and his name is Justin Masterson. BTW, Masterson is not more than a fifth starter for the Sox, but is better utilized as a high leveraged reliever against RHB. The trade appears to relieve one redundancy with another - albeit valuable redundancies in both cases, as both Jacoby Ellsbury and Masterson are question marks.
Even though Peter Gammons states that “surprisingly” only the Reds and Coco’s new employer - the Royals - had interest, demand should have increased as the holidays approached. The White Sox, Cubs, Padres (the Pads could have or still plan to acquire a Braves CF in a deal for Jake Peavy, which may put Atlanta in the market) along with the aforementioned two teams have vacancies or need to upgrade in center with nothing more than a platoon partner on the free agent market. (The Other Sox, in particular, as they ended the experiment of Nick Swisher in centerfield should have been active. With Javy Vazquez on the block, a deal with Coco and another(s) should have been discussed.) Edmonds, Baldelli, Kotsay, and Payton sound like a better law firm than an option for a full-time centerfield job.
It appears that the Sox took the first reasonable deal that came along for Coco. It also provides them with an asset - Ramirez or Masterson - that more teams could find useful than a league average centerfielder. This trade could bring in a bigger fish, like a catcher or starter, in a week or two. But it does look like the Sox could have held out for something more useful rather than trying to pull off another transaction in the future.
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Thank you - Red Sox!
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