There seem to be two possible situations going down on Yawkey Way:
1. Ben Cherington is kind of a dope.
His track record this off season would seem to indicate that this is a distinct possibility. He traded all of his shortstop depth for middle relief. He hired Nick Punto for two years. His starting rotation is a good pitcher, a couple of prayers, a hope, and a big blank spot. His outfield is broken, unlikely to repeat, and powerless. His DH can be petulant and is going to be displeased with the arbitration process. It's not a team that inspires a lot of confidence.
2. John Henry can't play with the big boys anymore.
He's not moving into the poorhouse anytime soon but soy beans just ain't what they used to be. And in this age of fiscal frugality, Marco Scutaro's $6 million salary for this season turns out to be too much for Henry's 2012 Boston Red Sox. It's likely that the move proceeds something else but unless the subsequent move results in an average shortstop, he's robbing Peter to pay Paul.
A lot of it could be laid at Theo's door: He handed some terrible contracts and then, rather suspiciously, fled to the hinterlands; leaving Cherington to clean up his mess. But as long as we all understand that Theo is an irresponsible wimp, there's little point to re-hashing that.
This morning, Cherington had holes in his outfield and in his starting rotation. Right now he's got holes in his outfield, his starting rotation, and his infield. Not generally what you would call a good day. At least when Theo was in charge (irresponsible jerkiness, notwithstanding) you could trust that there would at least be someone who had, at some point in their career, played a decent shortstop. I'm not sure that Ben can be trusted to deliver even that.
No comments:
Post a Comment