Well, the Sox have been busy this week for sure.

 

First, a weak offer to Victor Martinez.  But that wasn't much of a surprise.  As remarkable as his second half was last year, one things was obvious:  Defensively, he could be challenged by opposing base runners.  I won't speculate as to his ability to develop game plans with the pitchers, but the bottom line is that offensively, he is almost 70 points points higher on his OPS at first base than at catcher over the last three years - and those numbers aren't likely to improve.  So, from the Sox perspective, they would be paying catcher money to a player who wouldn't likely be catching much by year three of the deal, if at all.  Hence, the weak offer.  They've been stocking up catching prospects - an executed a big trade for Salty at last years deadline - and seem committed to finding the next Joe Mauer (if we're lucky) from their cluster of young talent.  And good for them, I say.  What I was pretty sure of was that V-Mart would create more problems than solutions as that contract moved along.  Signing Varitek gives Salty his best chance of success - a chance to study under a gritty veteran.  No one remembers anymore, but Tek was hardly a sure thing, and didn't exactly storm the gates when promoted to the big leagues.  Two of his first three years his average was under .250, but you can see the progression with plate discipline, and with that eventually came the power that made him the terrific offensive force that he was.  Bottom line:  Anyone who tells you they "know" who the answer is at catcher for the sox is full of it.  All you can do is collect chips, develop talent, and wait to see if that flower blooms.

 

But that is hardly the news of the day.  As I have suspected, the Sox were planning on grabbing Gonzales from the Padres.  Why?  Simple reason.  The Yankees are tied up in the position.  Let's face it, AG has little point in waiting out his free agency status.  He isn't going to NY, and that's that. Mark Teixeira has underperformed in NY (my opinion), but that contract is untradeable.  With the biggest player not at the table, and the Sox with prospect to give, they were the logical choice for each other.  AG will get his big deal, and the Sox should get a cornerstone-type player at first for the better part of the next decade.

 

Yankees GM Cashman is probably sweating a little bit right now about Cliff Lee.  He needs him.  I'll make some bold talk, but I think Theo has put himself in position to really stick it to the Yankees, and there's not much they can do about it.  Who would you rather have in your infield, especially the corners?  Yankees have Teixeira, Cano, Jeter (much discussed in this blog), and A-Rod.  That's an .829 OPS average, largely thanks to Cano (surprise!) who is the only player above .900.  The Sox have Gonzales, Pedroia, Scuturo, and Youkilis, which is an .865 OPS, and that's assuming AG's numbers don't improve in Fenway, and that Jeter stops getting worse. (Prediction:  AG has an OPS near .950 at season end, and Jeter has a better year offensively.  But not by much.  )

 

Defensively, you'd have to give it to the Sox too.  I hope Youk still looks as good at third as he used to, but I'll take him over A-Rod defensively.  Jeter is done defensively, so Scutoro is a win.  Pedroia has never had more than 9 errors, and seems to stick around 6, while Cano hovers above 11.  I'll give the edge at first to Teixeira, there's no doubt he's helped the Yanks there tremendously.

 

Both infields are set for the forseeable future, so this rivalry could really get nasty - these guys will get tired of each other quick. Yay.

 

The Sox now have the rotation and the lineup to go toe-to-toe with the Yankees.  Can't wait for spring training already.

 

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