Sports fans in general, and Red Sox fans in particular, are prone to making knee-jerk reactions. Such was the case when the news of the Alex Rodriguez trade broke. Fans from every corner of Red Sox Nation lamented about the one that got away, and the Yankees were all but sized for their World Series rings.
Now that the trade has been finalized, and the focus now turns to sunnier locations for the start of spring training, it is time for Red Sox fans to come back in off their ledges. Things truly are not as bad as many initially thought. First, the Sox will be trotting out a pretty strong team when they take the field on opening day in Baltimore. Second, one could still argue that the moves the Sox made this winter are better than those the Yankees made. And finally, simply acquiring the highest-paid athlete in the history of sports does not guarantee a championship (see: Texas Rangers).
For much of the off-season, the Red Sox front office had been commended for its deals that landed the team both the best starting pitcher available, Curt Schilling, and the best relief pitcher available, Keith Foulke. But now because of the failure to get A-Rod, the Sox brass has been widely criticized. The Sox made a decision that the amount of money they would lose wouldn’t be worth the addition of Rodriguez. With the money saved from the Rodriguez deal, Boston was able to resign Trot Nixon, David Ortiz and Byung-Hyun Kim, all core players on last year’s team. Also, the front office had next year in mind when not completing the deal, as Pedro Martinez, Derek Lowe, Jason Varitek, Scott Williamson, Nomar Garciaparra, and Ortiz all are set to become free agents. The Sox would have lost a considerable amount of financial flexibility if they tied up all of their money in A-Rod.
Ultimately the Sox have managed to improve a team that was only five outs away from a berth in last year’s series. The only impact player they lost was second baseman Todd Walker. Boston filled that hole with Pokey Reese, a speedier and better defensive player, and managed to sure up the only weak spots their roster had. Starting pitching has been a problem for the Sox in recent years behind Pedro Martinez, Derek Lowe, and Tim Wakefield. G.M. Theo Epstein made it his personal mission to fix this problem and he landed the Sox a top-of-the-line starter in Curt Schilling. A rotation of Martinez, Schilling, Lowe, Wakefield, and Kim is easily the best and deepest the Sox have fielded in quite some time.
The other major problem last year’s team had was its shaky bullpen, as neither the infamous bullpen-by-committee nor Kim was the answer. The addition of Keith Foulke as the closer immediately solidifies the bullpen. All of the other additions to this year’s team have a Belichick-esque feel to them, as the final roster spots have been filled out by solid veterans, such as Ellis Burks and Tony Womack.
A look at the Yankees roster shows that this team is not quite a lock to win the World Series. There are many questions surrounding this team, mainly how manager Joe Torre will handle all of the egos he has been given by George Steinbrenner. This probably won’t turn out to be as big of a problem as some suspect because Torre has shown in his tenure that he is excellent at dealing with big-name players, as well as handling the spotlight of N.Y. and the constant meddling of Steinbrenner.
The bigger question in New York is whether or not the Yanks truly improved over last year’s team. Clearly, Rodriguez is an upgrade over just about anyone, but if a player is close to him, it is the player the Yankees gave up in the deal, Alfonso Soriano. Also, A-Rod may not prove to be much of a defensive upgrade, as he has only played third base for one inning in his entire career.
The other major offensive additions the Bronx Bombers made were Gary Sheffield and Kenny Lofton. Lofton, who is now on his sixth team in four years, simply is not the threat he once was. Sheffield is, no doubt, an outstanding offensive player, but at 35 is due to make $39 million over the next three seasons. It’s safe to say most Sox fans let out a sigh of relief when Steinbrenner pulled the trigger on this deal rather than waiting and signing the more talented, and much younger, Vladimir Guerrero.
The biggest change to the Yankees came in the starting rotation. Reliable veterans Andy Pettitte, David Wells, and Roger Clemens, have all relocated. Their spots have been filled by: Kevin Brown, never known for his durability or work ethic; Javier Vazquez, a pitcher with great potential but one that has never pitched outside of the baseball wasteland of Montreal; and Jon Lieber, who hasn’t pitched in two years due to an elbow injury. Certainly New York will make a move to improve its rotation before the trading deadline, but this still is the weakest the Yanks’ pitching staff has been going into a season under Joe Torre.
This season is shaping up to be one of the best ever. There are huge expectations all over the league, as almost every contender made moves to improve their club. But most of the focus will be on the rivalry between the Sox and Yankees, which has grown to unprecedented heights. It is most likely that both teams will battle all season, but that the Yankees will come out on top in the AL East.
The Sox should grab the Wild Card and have another tough first round series with whoever wins the West. The Yanks figure to roll over whatever patsy limps out of the Central and then engage in another classic duel with the Sox in the ALCS. As for what will happen then, it’s far too early for that type of prediction, but this much is certain: new manager Terry Francona better not hesitate to hand the ball over to Foulke if the Sox have the lead late in Game 7.
Dan Duggan is a Collegian columnist.
