After the last out of the last game of the World Series, I’m about ready for a nap. A three-month nap. “Wake me up when pitchers and catchers report,” I tell my friends. Unfortunately, school, work, and life on the whole keep me from hibernating, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have to pinch myself on a few occasions the last few weeks. With an offseason like this, who wouldn’t think they were dreaming?
It all started with Adrian Gonzalez. I’ll admit, the night before they traded for him, I went to bed thinking “I hope they don’t empty the farm system for one year of a first baseman.” I stand by that thinking (the Red Sox could have very well signed him as a straight-up free agent next winter), but I’m happy nonetheless about the acquisition. Who isn’t? I fully expect him to rake for the next few years, assuming his rumored/assumed extension is all-but-official. And, after thinking it through, I’m OK with parting with Casey Kelly, Anthony Rizzo, and Reymond Fuentes, but something tells me this will be one of those trades that works out well for both teams—much like the Hanley-for-Beckett-and-Lowell blockbuster a few years ago.
But before the dust settled from the Gonzalez deal, news broke about Carl Crawford. The news broke late in the night, so I woke up the next morning to several texts and a profanity-laced voicemail (excited profanity, though) from friends telling me the good news. The dynasty that is Red Sox left fielders through the years hasn’t seen a player quite like Crawford, but I have high hopes for him, especially when combining his speed with Jacoby Ellsbury’s. Something tells me Sox pitchers won’t be giving up too many bloops singles this season.
After Crawford, all of Red Sox Nation was elated. What else could we ask for? Santa Claus Theo decided to put a cherry—check that, cherries—on the sundae that is Boston’s current roster. The cherries came in the form of Bobby Jenks and Dan Wheeler, meaning the Sox will play five or six inning games some days. The presence of Papelbon, Bard, and Jenks (oh my!) means it’ll get late early for the other teams this year, and Wheeler with a cast of other characters (including, much to my dismay, Hideki Okajima) will fill up all the bullpen spots left over. I hope to discuss the bullpen—both before and after the free agent signings—in more detail in a later post.
For now, though, just 22 days until Truck Day! Twenty two long days until I wake up from this dream of an offseason to see what this team can do for real.
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