Red Sox 2006 Part 2

Part Two of my look at the red Sox offseason.

Outfield: LF Manny Ramirez; CF Coco Crisp; RF Trot Nixon/Dustan Mohr. Manny is Manny. Take that any way you want. Let's take a good look at Manny first his vaults. He's perpetually unhappy in Boston, frequently indifferent to the game of baseball he's playing in and one of the richest athletes in the world. He's awful in the outfield. His range in left is awful, which is particulary a problem because Fenway has such a shallow left field. He manages to get a fair share of assists, but that's because runners don't know if Manny is paying attention to the game or not. Example when he went into the Monster as Bronson Arroyo was still pitching. Manny also is an adventure on the bases. He makes questionable decisions about taking an extra base or even running out ground balls. As out of it as Manny may appear to be on the bases or in the outfield the one place where Manny remains locked in is at the plate. Simply put Manny is one of the best hitters in the history of baseball. Check these numbers for Manny's career .314/.409/.599 with 435 HR's and 1414 RBI. Those numbers are amazing. Check out Manny's combined batting line for his time in Boston:

Games Runs Hits Doubles HR RBI Avg OBP SLG
720 514 736 174 199 615 .316 .412 .610

He's elite player that has been an MVP candidate every season he's played in Boston and he's still one of the most dominate players in the game. However he is coming off of his worst season in Boston to date and OBP and batting average have declined each of the past four seasons. These facts along with wanting to leave Boston, his absent mindness and his huge paycheck make me think that this actually the year that Theo will pull the trigger at the deadline. No matter where or for who Manny will hit. Babseball Prospectus' excellant Pecota projections peg Manny for .296/.386/.570 with 39 HR's and 118 RBI.

CF Coco Crisp. After Johnny Damon left the Red Sox had to do something to fill the void. And they did a decent job. I knew when Scott Boris said that Damon needed a seven year contract he wasn't going to come back to the Red Sox. Damon was a very good player but he wasn't worth the money he was going to get on the open market. For the 5/$52 millon that Damon signed with the Yankees for he just wasn't worth it. Damon was a good leadoff hitter and an excellent centerfielder. He threw like a girl scout but every other aspect of his game was sound. But he's 32 which means he had just left his peak seasons. He was also one of the Red Sox who wore down towards the end of the year and into the playoffs. I think that Damon, like Jason Giambi, before him will eventually regret his decision of leaving Boston and his cult hero status for the millions of George Steinbrenner. But back to Crisp Pecota's projections have him hitting .295/.347/.445 with 15 HR and 76 RBI. They have Damon hitting .290/.352/.423 with 13 HR's and 69 RBI. So they matchup fairly well. The Red Sox who will pay Crisp $ 2.75 million
next season save about $9 million dollars. I have two problems with the Red Sox adding Crisp. First off I don't know if he can actually cut it in centerfield. He started last year in center for the Indians but he wasn't a good fielder in center. It wasn't until Grady Sizemore came up and took over center that Crisp started playing good defense. And that was in left field. The second problem I have is that I think the Red Sox really got hosed in the deal. Marte is going to be an excellent hitter and third basemen for years to come. I can't believe that they couldn't have gotten more for any package that Marte was involved in. Mota and Shoppach as well? Mota with his injuries may be a wash but why give up Shoppach? In Varitek the Red Sox have a catcher in his mid thirties who there is a chance he good breakdown. If that happens I'd take the 26 year-old Shoppach over the 28 year old Josh Bard who the Red Sox got in the trade. That said Crisp will be a good productive player of the next four years.

RF: Trot Nixon/Dustan Mohr. Nixon is a good player. He's good in the field although his range has declined the past couple of years possibly due to hamstring injuries. He knows how to play the difficult Fenway rightfield. At the plate and on the bases Nixon is a bulldog. Nixon who has played his entire career with the Red Sox is an excellent hitter when he's healthy enough to make to the plate and there isn't a left hander on the mound. A .279/.366/.489 career hitter with 125 HRs Nixon has a knack for delivering when the pressure is on. Mohr will most likely be Nixon's platoon partner this season. He was with the Rockies last year when he established a career high of 17 HRs, however I do believe that all but one of those came at home. Mohr is adequate in the field and as the Red Sox don't face many lefties he should be good in this role.

DH: David Ortiz. He is god. He's the guy who keeps Manny happy. He's the guy who will lead the comeback against the Yankees. With the loss of Kevin Millar all eyes will now turn to Ortiz for leadership and I think he'll be up to the challenge. Besides that he's flat out awesome his stat line since coming to Boston three years ago is

Games Runs Hits Doubles HRs RBI Avg OBP SLG
437 292 484 126 119 388 .297 .382 .600

Ortiz is the leader and the heart of the the best one-two punch since Ruth-Gehrig. More then that Ortiz is quickly becoming the most popular player in baseball. From teammates, to fans, to writers and even opponents there are few in the game more respected then Ortiz. His play in the 2004 postseason and 2005 regular season have made him a legend for years to come in all of New England.

Tomorrow I'll handle the Red Sox' pitching.