The Future Is Bright
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By Kerry Snyder in General Published: Sunday, 28 October 07 - 05:12 PM (GMT -07:00) Last Updated: Sunday, 28 October 07 - 05:50 PM (GMT -07:00) |
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Sorry to blog yet another Sox post, but it's world series time, and well... I can get a little baseball crazy this time of year, especially when the Sox are involved. So, indulge me once more.
No matter what happens in this series (even if the Sox were to somehow tank it and lose out), the future of the Boston Red Sox is certainly bright. People can write and complain all they want about the payrolls in baseball, and the high price of players. And yes, I do think it's a bit out of control, but even if you do put a cap (not just a luxury tax) on salaries, you will still have cheap owners who couldn't care less about their fan base and fielding a good team (see K.C. Royals), and who would still be an average of 50 million behind most teams, no matter what the cap was. And no matter what the money comes down to, your players, still must play, or it's worthless (see N.Y. Yankees, Chicago White Sox, and N.Y. Mets).
Now I have certainly been vocal and upset about some off season contracts that the Boston Red Sox and Theo Epstein have handed out this year; J.D. Drew (no homerun is worth 14 million), Julio Lugo (quite possibly the worst contract yet) and Dice-K (I still think he'll end up dominating, but for over 100 million is a little crazy). But I have to commend Theo for his commitment to young talent and the farm system. It is certainly paying off even in this off season. Here are some stats from the 2007 postseason.
- Josh Beckett just turned 27. He has a 1.20 era, and 35 strikeouts over 30 innings.
- Jonathan Papelbon also 27. Has established himself as one of the games top closers and has 6 k's over 9 innings with and ERA of 0.00.
- Dustin Pedroia (24), Kevin Youkilis (28), and Jacoby Ellsbury (24) have been the definite leaders and hearts of this 2007 world series. Jacoby Ellsbury won everyone in the U.S. a free taco from Taco Bell for stealing the fist base of the world series. They have combined for 35 of the teams 92 post season runs, and knocked in 24 of those themselves, all are batting over .300 and have OBP of over or near .500. All for around a million bucks. Incredible.
We also have some up and coming and potential stars such as Jon Lester, Clay Bucholz (who pitched a no hitter against Baltimore this year), Manny Delcarmen, Craig Hansen, Kevin Cash, Brandon Moss, Daniel Bard, Bryce Cox, and Jed Lowrie. All top prospects.
If any of these guys play with the heart, passion, and excellence of Pedroia and Ellsbury, than the Red Sox future truly is bright.
Oh, by the way, as I wrote this post, Jacoby Ellsbury just came in to score the first run of game 4 of the World series. Go Sox Go.Have your say on this article:
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