The Deadline, The Disappointment, The Optomism

Call me pessimistic but I'm only giving this deadline a B-. While Victor Martinez is definitely an upgrade to the offense and gives the Red Sox even more depth than they already had. He is a sub par defensive catcher, ( I say that knowing that Jason Varitek has only thrown out an abysmal 13 of 90 base runners.) He is a sub par defensive first basemen but if you asked me if I could get an .300 hitter for Justin Masterson and Nick Hagadone. Yes I would.

What did we give away? Justin Masterson is THE most versatile pitcher in Major League Baseball. But in this, his first full season he has been very inconsistent when facing lefties. With Carlos Pena, Mark Teixeira, Nick Markakis and Robinson Cano in our division that cancels him out against some of the leagues toughest hitters. He is going to be made a starter in Cleveland and will be a SOLID #3 starter for them for years.

Nick Hagadone for those of you that don't know much about him is essentially the new Toronto phenom Ricky Romero, but with an asterisk. He is just returning from Tommy John surgery. He throws 97 from the left side and has the makeup for a front line starter if he stays healthy.

Ya know the thing about Brian Price is....crickets...crickets...Who the hell is this guy? He was their number 1 pick in 2008 so he should be somewhat good but damned if i know.

There was however some disappointment at the deadline. I'm not sure that Beckett and Lester are going to be enough to lead us to the post season. Buchholz is 25, and in a word, disappointing. The No hitter he threw was against the Baltimore AAA team in late September and it has only deterred his development. Smoltz is STILL not getting the job done (See previous blog post) and Penny is such an enigma He'll go 5 innings and look like Bob Gibson (ok that's a stretch how about Bob Stanley?) and then he'll look like Rick Ankiel from the Cardinals playoff run. It's maddening.

They didn't give away ANY of the players that Toronto wanted in the haul that would have commanded Roy Halladay. So it is wonder to me why they didn't pull the trigger. I was absolutely floored when I was reading on MLBTradeRumors.com when I heard that the Red Sox were inquiring on King Felix from Seattle. I will say this that I would rather have Felix than Halladay. Felix, whom I have seen throw 98 mph with a 2-seam, is 23 years old and would be an Ace of the staff for 10 plus years. Well there's still the waiver deadline.

Josh Reddick got the call up due to the depleting health of our outfield and he has done nothing short of been sensational. He is on an absolute tear and hit his first Major League Home run in the slugfest that was Sunday's ball game. Anyone having 2007 Jacoby Ellsbury flashbacks? Anyone? Ok well its just 2 games but he's electric and can't wait to see more of him.

Stay Tuned

Ryan