This is not going to be the story of how the Red Sox snapped their fingers and became instant contenders. Not sure that we all realize the scope of the situation Ben Cherington and his staff are facing.
Not only does the general manager need to go out and address about five major needs, he has to make sure those major players fit well with the team, the city, and the market, and provide good chemistry to a clubhouse that sorely needed some the past two seasons.
Comments
Your voting selections for the Hall of Fame are a disgrace, Mr. Cafardo. It demonstrates a surprising lack of knowledge of the game, it's players, and it's history. The superficial argument that they are cheaters and should not be voted in pales in comparison to what voting for them does to the tradition of the game, which I once thought that you had an appreciation for. It denigrates the performances of those really great, non-synthetic players like Mays, McCovey, and Gibson who did not need drugs to perform on the highest level. Their records were broken because the drug users were able to play at a higher level at a relatively advanced age. I am surprised that you don't get it . . . or do you just have stars in your eyes and enjoy a life as a sycophant?
I'm with you on this one. I think it is a disgrace to vote for these known liars and cheaters and I'm both suprised and disappointed in you Nick. I thought you were smarter and had more integrity and honor for the game.
Memo to Ben Cherington: you can respect Nick Cafardo, but don't listen to him right now. Nick seems obsessed with making the Red Sox an interested party with every top 50 free agent. Don't go for "it" this year but for the next 3-5 years. Forget big name free agends older than 30. Go after young major leaguers and top minor league pitchers. Build the system up. I'm a patient Red Sox fan and will be much more ineterested in this team if there is a future of younger players to follow as they mature in or rise to the major league roster. You don't have to spend the $90 million this year to keep me happy.
Agreed. Cheats came close to ruining huge game. Why reward them with the Hall of Fame? I also would not vote Mussina. He was very good, but he was never a big game pitcher. He also threw Mariano under a bus for losing in 2001. How small can a man who never won a World Series be to blame the greatest clutch pitchers of all time for a broken bat single loss.
It is just the usual weak sauce from Cafardo.
i'm surprised Cafardo is voting for Clemens and Bonds. Wish they had bet on games instead of juicing so they would be un the same boat as Pete Rose who deserves to be in the hall.
Who feeds you your info on the Giants? The SF papers indicate that Brian Wilson may not be back before mid-season, and his prognosis is uncertain, especially since this was his second serious surgery. As for Brandon Belt, who exactly could the Red Sox offer for a young, inexpensive, playoff-tested, good-field, improved hitting first baseman? To put in terms you may understand (since your columns would not exist except for Red Sox references), he is the Giants' Will Middlebrooks.
So the AL with its stupid DH batted .255 this year and the DH-less NL batted .254. So tell me -- what did the stupid DH do for baseball this year?