As a life-long Red Sox fan, and a Dodger season ticket holder of the past few years, people have asked me my opinion of the Manny trade.
Manny is one of the best hitters in the game. But off the field, he has always been a mess. He never liked playing in Boston, where he felt the media intruded on his personal life. (Good luck dealing with TJ Simers in LA!)
Boston put up with it because he was a great player, and even when he twice asked for trades, Boston kept him. However, this year he brought his problems onto the field. First he refused to swing at pitches, then he called in "sick" when he appeared to be fine. The Red Sox had had enough and put him up for trade.
It's a very strange scenario, because he's in the final year of a contract, so any team that picks him up gets two months out of him. It's a good move for the Dodgers. They gave up practically nothing for him. Andy LaRoche, who has been a bust at 3rd base, and a minor league prospect.
For Frank McCourt, in the 24 following the signing, they sold 11,000 tickets to tonight's game, making it a sellout. Compare that to the anemic crowd from last Friday, when they had so many leftover bobble-heads that they were still giving them out on Sunday.
For the team, it's the big bat they need.
However, there are still problems. Manny is probably the only outfielder in the game whose defense is worse than Juan Pierre's. There's a LOT more field to cover in Dodger Stadium, and it will take him a while to get used to it. You can't put them both him and Pierre in the game at the same time. Neither can play center or right. So you lose your lead-off batter when you put Manny in, and you lose your cleanup man when you put Pierre in.
And we're still stuck with Andruw Jone$.
The infield is a bit of a mess as well. Furcal is gone, Nomar is in and out, and Kent's showing his age.
Worst of all, the pitching is a much bigger problem. There is only one starting pitcher on the team with a winning record, Billingsly, and he's 11-9. Granted some of that is poor offense, but let's face it, without Penny at All-Star caliber, and Schmidt a complete bust, there is no ace on the staff. And without an ace, there's not much to hope for.
As for the Red Sox, they lose an irreplaceable player. They get Jason Bay, who has tremendous talent and will do very well in Fenway.
If tonight is any indication, the Red Sox got the better of the deal. Manny grounded into a double play in the bottom of the ninth with the potential tying run on base.
Jason Bay went 1 for 3 with Boston, walked twice, and scored both Red Sox runs and 12-inning game. His triple in the bottom of the 12 allowed him to score the winning run.
1 comment:
Andruw is weaker defensively than Pierre -- at least since joining the Dodgers. Jones makes as much of an effort fielding as batting.
Pierre started at center with Manny in left. I saw Manny hit his first HR as a Dodger. I've never heard a crowd louder -- ever -- and this was *while* Manny approached the plate, before he even swung!
Manny runs the bases hard.
Top it all off and you have Blake on 3rd who is very solid both offensively and defensively.
The only downside to Manny is if the other players start feeling that their egos are neglected. The good news is that it's possible to bench Jones for the rest of this season without costing any more dollars. Even the LA Times is pondering that out loud.
Pierre is hitting nearly .300, even if it is bunts. Kemp is solid. Couple that with Martin, Loney and Blake and you all of a sudden have a lynch pin in the lineup (Manny) holding it all together!
McCourt has to love this as empty seats are now selling like crazy -- and if they get the division (and they might) -- that's even more dollars to pay off the mistake called Andruw Jones without making parking $20.
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