The Red Sox lost to the Indians Tuesday night. What happened was a really good left-handed starter with a 95 MPH fastball, C. C. Sabathia, was on top of his game, and spare part Jason Johnson, pitching for the Red Sox, who other than a tough first inning actually pitched pretty well. The Red Sox did not hit much, but Sabathia, when on his game like last night, can be near unhittable. Of course, with the Yankees winning and pulling into a virtual tie for first place, full fledged panic hit Beantown. Theo Epstein was mocked for not tossing out prospects and not trading for free agents on their way out or fifth starters on bad teams. I will not go into what a relief it is to have Craig Hansen, Manny Delcarmen, Jon Lester, Edgar Martinez, Dustin Pedroia, Jacob Ellsbury, David Murphy, and the rest of the prospects still in Boston, Pawtucket, or Portland.
Theo Epstein fired a salvo across the bow of the Yankees sinking ship (that ship has had a slow leak since 2000 and eventually there will be too many holes to adequately plug up with dollar bills) at the trade deadline: This is not the reactive Dan Duquette/John Harrington team; these Sox do not react to the Yankees and do not try to buy their way into the playoffs because eventually the plan will lead to failure. This is a team that will be built around young and cheap pitchers and players who come up through the organization (Jonathan Papelbon, Craig Hansen, Manny Delcarmen, Jon Lester, Edgar Martinez, Dustin Pedroia, et al) or are acquired before they hit their prime (Josh Beckett, Wily Mo Pena, Coco Crisp, et al).
It is not time to panic. If the Sox had traded for Bobby Abreau to keep him out of New York, or mortgaged the future for a Jason Schmidt or Alfonso Soriano who could be only a two-month rental, would have made it time to panic.
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Theo Epstein fired a salvo across the bow of the Yankees sinking ship (that ship has had a slow leak since 2000 and eventually there will be too many holes to adequately plug up with dollar bills) at the trade deadline: This is not the reactive Dan Duquette/John Harrington team; these Sox do not react to the Yankees and do not try to buy their way into the playoffs because eventually the plan will lead to failure. This is a team that will be built around young and cheap pitchers and players who come up through the organization (Jonathan Papelbon, Craig Hansen, Manny Delcarmen, Jon Lester, Edgar Martinez, Dustin Pedroia, et al) or are acquired before they hit their prime (Josh Beckett, Wily Mo Pena, Coco Crisp, et al).
It is not time to panic. If the Sox had traded for Bobby Abreau to keep him out of New York, or mortgaged the future for a Jason Schmidt or Alfonso Soriano who could be only a two-month rental, would have made it time to panic.
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