Nation in Crisis

Yesterday, I heard the news, like most of you, about the Adam LaRoche trade and I was like “ok, he’s a good player who will come off the bench and give some good at-bats, it’s a step in the right direction for this team”. I went to work with these thoughts and thoughts of Clay Buchholz pitching well again and helping the Sox get off the losing streak.

I came home to find Red Sox nation in full crisis mode.

The first thing I found out was that the sox refused to trade Victor Martinez for Clay Buchholz. What the hell? Why would you not make that move? Martinez is perfect for what this team needs. A switch hitting 1B/C/DH with pretty good power and is a great clubhouse guy? What’s not to love?

Look, for all the people thinking that Mike Lowell is going to be fine, think about this. Have the words “injection in hip” and “going to be fine” ever been used in the same sentence? If my colleague said that he got an injection in his hip, I would be like “Oh my god, are you ok?” not “Oh don’t worry, you’ll be fine”. Mike Lowell WILL hit the DL again this year, and possibly for the rest of the year and what lineup sounds better, Martinez at 1st and Youk at third, or Youk at 1B/3B and LaRoche at 1B/3B? I rest my case. Come on, Victor Martinez freaking has a handshake for every member of his team! What’s not to love about that.

And to all you people saying that “Oh well Clay Buchholz is the future you can’t trade that…”, ummm, he’s like two good major league starts, the no-hitter and last Thursday night. The kid turns 25 next month and I’m worried about him playing in Boston. I don’t know if he can do it. He’s like Phil Hughes in a sense, he puts up great AAA numbers but something can’t click for him at the major league level. He’s like AAAA pitcher in a way. Plus, Theo basically just Jay Cutler’d the kid thanks to the Gammons article. Now, Clay knows they tried to trade him and have rattled him. Yes, he only gave up three runs yesterday (which should be good enough for a win but that’s another story) but he only pitched four innings. Again, I didn’t watch the game because I was working, but from what I heard, it wasn’t good.

People need to understand, the goal is to win the World Series and Clay Buchholz is a tradeable piece. His value will never be higher then it is now and the season is so wide open that any move that can put the Red Sox ahead of the pack would be huge, be it Victor Martinez or Roy Halladay. There is no clear favorite in baseball right now and the Sox need to make a move to make them the favorite or else Theo Epstein may need to pull that gorilla suit out of the closet.

Oh yeah, and let’s not forget,

1. NY Yankees 57-37 -
2. Boston Red Sox 55-39 2GB
2. Tampa Bay Rays 52-43 5.5GB

I rest my case.

Until Next Time
~Benti