Punching their Ticket

Well one prophecy is one step closer to being fulfilled. The Phillies didn't just beat them, they clearly were the stronger team and deserved to win that series. When Vicente Padilla is your only hope Kumbaya is probably the song that will be played in the club house more often than not. I don't care what the record was in the regular season, the Phillies, again, were the best team in the NL and their offense is the only one that could have competed with the Yankees. I'm pretty sure that John Lackey is nothing more than a glorified batting practice whipping post, and the Yankees are going to win this game in a blow out. Now, as I've said there are plenty of questions that have been asked and it would be irresponsible of me to ignore them any further. Looks like Mike has plenty to say…

Michael wrote:

1. Why on Earth are people calling A-Rod the new Mr. October after all the years he's blown up in the postseason?
   
2. Rumors about SS: Miguel Tejada? Yes he'd be a bat, but his Defense is down quite a bit. Thoughts?
   
3. Even if we do keep Pap as a closer, Could they go after Mike Gonzalez from the Braves anyway, like another Billy Wagner solution?
   
4. I also want to comment on Nomar. I know he couldn't play 100 games a year at short but he could play both corners and DH once in a while. Why not bring nostalgia back and have him end his career in Beantown?
   

Well Michael I think I'll field your questions in the order they came in. I say that as if there would be any logical reason for me to go in any other order.

1. As far as A-Rod's nickname goes, I think Mr. October probably sounds better on television than the nickname he had earlier in the year. (Bitch Tits anyone?) All kidding aside, he's finally coming through when it matters most. Wouldn't you be excited if the most widely scrutinized player on our team (Dice or Drew) started absolutely blowing shit up? It's just a confidence builder. If you haven't read the book "A-Rod" by Selena Roberts you should, not because she's an impressive writer but it gives you some sense of what he's like. The guy is a head case, obviously, and any sort of hype for him in the positive is just what he needs. That being said, He's going 0-4 against Cliff Lee in Game 1 guaranteed, then we'll see who Mr. October is.
   
2. Well, I heard rumblings but do we really want ANOTHER stopgap at Short? His offense would obviously be an upgrade over everyone that we are looking at that isn't named Hanley, but Mike Lowell range looks at Tejada's and says, "Bitch Please."
   
3. While I personally think that going after a power Lefty would be a BRILLIANT move I don't know if Gonzalez is the way to go with Papelbon still on the team. Gonzalez could go somewhere else and given the chance unless he TRULY wants to win, he would want to Close. I don't have any prospects or Major League players in mind that they could go after, but having two lefties in the bullpen can ONLY help you unless Manny DelCarmen's brother happens to be a SouthPaw.
   
4. While I would LOVE to see Nomar back in a Sox uni for the remainder of his career, there could be some obstacles in the way right now. If he's going to be a "super-sub" , what happens to Jed Lowrie, because seemingly that position is his right now playing SS, 2B and 3B very well defensively. Nomar was a phenomenal player, and still has his moments but if the stats that I'm seeing are correct, he played in 22 games this year. We all know his injury history but to me if Rocco Baldelli is going to be perennially healthier than you, I'm not sure if that's the person you want on your bench. If we make a splash and get a corner IF this offseason, there is no way he EVER plays at the corners with Youkilis and whichever Bopper we insert into our lineup, with a seemingly healthier Jed Lowrie to fill in at any of the aforementioned positions, Nomar would be relegated to DH most likely. And while Ortiz has definitely lost some, I'm not sure I want Nomar DH-ing on the Sox. As Theo said, " we want our DH to be a force." I know your love for Nomar is sort of Romeo/Juliet deep but I don't see it happening this year.
   

As always I love answering the baseball/roster/anything sort of questions. I might even field what I wear to bed (puts finger to mouth) *thinks about silk boxers* What? Don't act like you would think anything else would suffice.

Stay Tuned

Ryan