Thursday, December 20, 2012
Really...Wait 'Til Next Year
2013
and possibly 2014 will be bridge years to the accession of the next Red Sox
core. All of the off-season signings were
intended to do the following:
·
Allow
the front office to better cultivate the precious crops on the farm. Yawkey Way does not want to be tempted to
rush a player.
·
Provide
the themselves with financial flexibility for the 2015 season when the
prospects should be ready.
·
Present
a product that would NOT appear that 2013 is a rebuilding season without having
to surrender a draft pick or a current prospect.
On twitter, I have quibbled with some of the signings. But other than the Shane Victorino deal,
nothing was terrible. (The Victorino
contract will haunt the Sox like a bad case of herpes.) The real question is does the Olde Towne Team
have enough future average regulars by 2015 for this to be a feasible plan?
No
one knows their prospects better than the Sox, so I’ll give them the benefit of
the doubt. But many prospects do not
live up to their potential. Hence,
another part of the bridge to 2015 plan should be adding to, and thereby
diversifying the assets in the Sox portfolio of prospects. The only means to accomplishing this is in
the trade market. Yawkey Way needs to
move any player (Jon Lester, Jacoby Ellsbury, Andrew Bailey, etc.) that is
unlikely to be a cog in the 2015 team when their market value peaks.