Now, That's Really Good News!

Winter Meetings Report

What was the best news for the Red Sox? Well, it certainly had nothing to do with what was going on at the Winter Meetings, where fiscal insanity ruled the day. Sure, they added a right fielder and a shortstop, but you’re only talking about switching pieces on a chessboard. What matters, what really matters in life is life. So when it was quietly announced that Jon Lester’s chemotherapy treatments in Seattle for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma will come to an end later this month, and that he’s expected to make a full and complete recovery in time for spring training, well, that’s spectacular news. So everyone should be very, very happy for this young man, his family and his friends who anguished and prayed for his full recovery since the diagnosis of his illness over the summer.

The Red Sox charity is the Jimmy Fund of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Over the years, the team’s support of this charity (along with their fans) has pumped tens of millions into cancer research and treatment over the past 50+ years, so it is very encouraging to hear how research that was pioneered in Boston is now used worldwide to save lives. There is scarcely not a soul among us whose life has not been touched in some way by this dreadful disease, and many, many Red Sox fans can categorically state how the Dana Farber Center has been instrumental in saving the lives of friends and family. Over the past few years, the Sox and their radio and tv partners hold an annual telethon that raises the additional millions for further research and treatment.

In other news…it appears as though the Red Sox have been unsuccessful in attempting to trade Baby Huey. Perhaps the other general managers across baseball were thinking that the Red Sox were willing to trade Manny for 25¢ on the dollar and a used bag of baseballs. The idea that the Red Sox would entertained thoughts of trading this guy before his contract expires at the end of 2008 for a package of less than anything that constitutes "fair value" is ludicrous.

I’m not talking about the money, because as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, it’s all Monopoly Money anyway. Unless you’re a billionaire, money in baseball no longer has any relevance in a baseball fan’s consideration or discussion, unless you prefer the world of high finance to what transpires on a ballfield. Reports indicated that Manny demanded a trade for the 6000th time since coming to Boston. So when the Sox tried to accede to his request and approached the Padres, they were politely told the Jake Peavy was untouchable from San Diego’s point of view. That should’ve been a clear indication that Manny was going nowhere.

True "value" in a talent context, would have meant exchanging one legitimate impact player who simply couldn’t be replaced solely by another everyday player other than Albert Pujols. So, a fair exchange would’ve been for Boston to receive at least a number one starting pitcher or an All-Star closer, plus two or three prospects who would be expected to contribute to the major-league club within the next couple of years. Barring that, there was no practical purpose in Boston trying to move its petulant slugger. So suck it up, Manny, there’s only two more years left and you can go wherever your heart desires.

As far as the Drew and Lugo signings, we’ll see. The sycophants in the Boston media, who had previously demonized these two guys as players as seeming to be incapable of withstanding the rigors of playing everyday in Boston are now touting the pair as wonderful team players. It’s easy to say in December, when the trees are barren and night falls early on a desolate and empty ballpark. We’ll see in July, won’t we, when Drew’s on the disabled list with a pulled hamstring and Lugo’s in a 1-28 slump.

Staying with the good news theme, on the final day of the Winter Meetings, MLB conducts its "Rule 5 Draft", where players in a club’s system not placed on the 40-man roster are eligible to be picked by other clubs (who are required to keep said player on the ML Roster for one year—the most recent Red Sox examples are Lenny DiNardo and Adam Stern). The most notable player selected was one-time #1 overall pick Josh Hamilton, who appears to have overcome substance abuse problems and will now get a shot at the majors. The Cubs snapped him up from Tampa and immediately flipped him to the Reds for cash. The young man appears to have been genuinely humbled by his ordeals, so, let’s hope for good things.

Rule 5 draft choices by and large don’t pan out and are returned to their former organization during spring training and fade into minor league obscurity. However, every so often, clubs find a jewel in the junkpile, as occurred with Roberto Clemente and Johan Santana. The Red Sox selected RHP Nick DeBarr from the Tampa Bay organization. DeBarr’s a 6’4" 23 year old who went 4-3 with a 3.74 ERA in 40 relief appearances with High-A Visalia last season. He had an amazing WHIP ratio of 1.13 in a hitter-friendly league and a launching pad for a ballpark.

The Beloved Nine appear to have patched a number of gaping holes. They still need to find a closer. They have decided to put Jon Papelbon back in the starting rotation and have not found a suitable replacement. Greg ("Game Over") Gagne, the one time Dodgers stoppah, is out there, but he’s only pitched 15 innings in the last two years and is demanding $6M+…according to media reports, Gagne will make his determination of where to sign within the next day or two. If Boston is able to secure his services for a short-term, incentive laden deal, and if he can return to anywhere approaching his All-Star form, that'd be great. However, any sentence that includes more than one "if" is (more often than not) not a worth while gamble. With the paucity of proven relief pitching in this market, Gagne (who refused to work out for prospective buyers) can basically write his own ticket anywhere. Taking a big-ticket flier on this guy without proper due diligence is fiscally imprudent as well as potential fiduciary negligence. But who cares, it’s all play money now anyway.

Baseball purists seek to demonize Scott Boras and his ilk for their tactics, and my personal feelings about agents in the whole negotiation process was documented last month. With that being said, he’s only doing what any attorney is ethically required to do: to zealously represent the interests of his client. Perhaps as an unintended consequence of granting players free agency in the ‘70’s, agents have become a runaway train, and the owners have no one to blame but themselves for opening the floodgates and allowing Boras et. al to basically be the ones who’re doing the dictating. An owner does have the right to say "NO" and exercise responsible budgetary control. All the talk about "market correction" after 2000 appears to be just that, talk. The amount of money that was dished out down in Orlando for mediocre talent ($11M for Gil Meche???).

(OBLIGATORY RANT WARNING):

WHO WILL BE THE ONE TO DEMAND AN END TO THIS INSANITY?

If you’re bitching about having to pay $5 for a hot dog if and when you can afford tickets to a game, don’t come around here. All of the various Message Boards and Bloggers that are devoted to their teams, where are you on this issue? Online you'll find thousands of stat geek GM wannabees who can generate a staistical model (VORP, WARP, OPS+, etc.) to determine how effective a cleanup hitter performs in July, on the road with the bases loaded in the rain, but what about considering something that really matters? Get your head out of your ass and generate a economic model that asks: "How long will MLB continue to pay salaries that cannot be justified under any circumstance?" The heck with "what the market will bear"! This is The American Pastime of which we speak. When the cost of participating escalates to the point that average Americans can no longer bear, it will become as relevant as polo at the Hunt Club.

END OF RANT

Among the stalwarts who won't be returning to the Sox is Christopher "Trot" Nixon, who gave the team and their fans everything he could. Boston fans appreciate ballplayers who hustle and don’t whine, and he embodied that spirit better than most. He had a nice career in Boston, but now it’s time to move on. It doesn’t matter where he goes (except if he goes to the Bronx), he will always remain "One of The 25".

What really matters and is a genuine cause for celebration, is that a young man’s health appears to have been restored. Whether or not he ever fires another pitch in anger again is irrelevant. The Red Sox and their fans are no strangers to tragedy, having lost two of their most promising young players, Harry Agganis and Tony Conigliaro well before their time. So let’s celebrate something that really matters, and hopefully young Mr. Lester will be standing on a pitching mound in Fort Myers, Florida come late February.