OK, I am going on the record: I DO NOT LIKE IT.
One day after imaging how great it would be if the Sox had kept Bruce Hurst, Bobby Ojeda, and John Tudor in the mid-eighties and had those three lefties teamed with Clemens for a dominant rotation for the next ten years, I started thinking about Jon Lester and Kason Gabbard in the same rotation for ten years. Buh-bye Kason.
Yes, the Sox need a back-up closer and that Gagne was a better pick-up than Octavio Dotel (quick, who did the Yankees get at the deadline for the bullpen? Oh yeah, nobody--that is 50% of the reason why the Sox swung the deal), and I would have had a coronary if Lester, Delcarmen, Michael Bowden, Clay Buchholz, or Justin Masterson (heck Bard or Cox would have set me off). Still, I understand the Sox need to give something to get something and the bullpen, while great, is still tenuous. For example:
Jonathan Papelbon: the shoulder will remain a question
Hideki Okajima: how many innings will he last?
Manny Delcarmen: Looks great, then has a stinker like the other night.
Mike Timlin: How long will he last? With the shoulder problems already, he is a huge question mark.
Yo Yo Tavarez: who the heck knows what you will get.
Kyle Snyder: a surprise so far, but will he be dependable if the workload gets bigger?
So the Sox got the help they needed in the bullpen. The best news was that when Gagne leaves as a free agent at the end of the season, they get a one or two and a sandwich pick in the amateur draft.
* * *
Now, the Sox did not get Jermaine Dye. That sucks, but he had no intention of coming to Boston. Wily Mo Pena and Craig Hansen for Jermaine Dye is a joke. Why Chicago would make that trade is beyone me. Of course, I would pay big bucks to see Ozzie Guillen ream out Wily Mo for the first time when he screws up in the outfield. That would be priceless.
* * *
One day after imaging how great it would be if the Sox had kept Bruce Hurst, Bobby Ojeda, and John Tudor in the mid-eighties and had those three lefties teamed with Clemens for a dominant rotation for the next ten years, I started thinking about Jon Lester and Kason Gabbard in the same rotation for ten years. Buh-bye Kason.
Yes, the Sox need a back-up closer and that Gagne was a better pick-up than Octavio Dotel (quick, who did the Yankees get at the deadline for the bullpen? Oh yeah, nobody--that is 50% of the reason why the Sox swung the deal), and I would have had a coronary if Lester, Delcarmen, Michael Bowden, Clay Buchholz, or Justin Masterson (heck Bard or Cox would have set me off). Still, I understand the Sox need to give something to get something and the bullpen, while great, is still tenuous. For example:
Jonathan Papelbon: the shoulder will remain a question
Hideki Okajima: how many innings will he last?
Manny Delcarmen: Looks great, then has a stinker like the other night.
Mike Timlin: How long will he last? With the shoulder problems already, he is a huge question mark.
Yo Yo Tavarez: who the heck knows what you will get.
Kyle Snyder: a surprise so far, but will he be dependable if the workload gets bigger?
So the Sox got the help they needed in the bullpen. The best news was that when Gagne leaves as a free agent at the end of the season, they get a one or two and a sandwich pick in the amateur draft.
* * *
Now, the Sox did not get Jermaine Dye. That sucks, but he had no intention of coming to Boston. Wily Mo Pena and Craig Hansen for Jermaine Dye is a joke. Why Chicago would make that trade is beyone me. Of course, I would pay big bucks to see Ozzie Guillen ream out Wily Mo for the first time when he screws up in the outfield. That would be priceless.
* * *
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