As Matt wrote earlier in his article about Josh Beckett and his media problem, he hasn’t had the best few days on or off the mound. Beckett got shelled on the mound last night only lasting into the 3rd inning. He followed that up with a press conference where he was defiant with the media daring to question what he did on his off day aka Golf Gate 2012. As a result, fans and media alike are saying that Beckett either is going to be traded or needs to be traded. The Globe’s Eric Wilbur said that Beckett needs to go “for the sake of the franchise.” Many people on twitter and on the internet are jumping to the same conclusion.
In my opinion, while it is understandable to be frustrated with Beckett as a fan or even someone covering them for the media, that’s such a short sighted opinion. First of all, Beckett is a 5/10 player so he can’t be traded without his consent. Additionally, he has a huge contract. The Sox would either have to find a team willing to take on that salary or eat that salary. That, in my opinion, does not make the Sox a better team.
Beckett has always had attitude or been defiant. It used to be something he was given props for. You see, when he is pitching well it is one of his strengths, but when he’s being shelled and dares to not put his head down and submit to the Boston media, then he just “doesn’t get it.”
In my opinion, I have no problem with Beckett not answering the media’s questions about golf. He owes them no answers. If he owes anyone answers about golf and his off day, it is his manager, his teammates and the owners. I am glad he told the media where to go and how on that question.
When it came to how Beckett did on the mound, he answered those questions and took responsibility. While Beckett was prickly when it came to talking about his off day, he did not have that same level of aggression when talking about his performance on the mound. He outright admitted he sucked and that he deserved to be boo’ed by the fans. And in the moment when he seemed the most genuine and humble, he spoke about how he and the other starting pitchers need to stop putting such a tax on the bullpen. He remarked how it is not good baseball and it is not fair. That’s Josh Beckett being accountability. People say that Beckett is clearly showing he doesn’t care with his disdain for the media and snark about golf. His comments about how he pitched and how it put the team and the bullpen in a hole shows me otherwise. He’ll take responsibility on the mound every single time, however all that off the mound stuff…he’ll happily tell you to F off. I’ll take that anyday and couldn’t care less what he says about chicken or beer or golf.
Starting pitching is a problem for the Red Sox. No doubt. It’s their biggest problem in a long list of problems this year. However, Josh Beckett is just a piece of that problem and in my opinion trading him does nothing to solve that problem. Beckett’s ERA is 5.97 and that’s horrible, however it is no different or much worse than most of the starting rotation. Lester is currently leading the pack with a 4.29 ERA, Bard is right behind with a 4.83 ERA, then Doubront with a 5.01 ERA and Buchholz is taking the back seat with a staggeringly horrible 9.09 ERA. That’s dreadful. That’s unacceptable. However, in my opinion trading Beckett does nothing to solve that. The Big Three need to pitch better and in a Sox uniform.
Yes, he played golf. Yes, he was skipped a start. Yes, it looked bad. In reality, Aaron Cook needed to come up and since Beckett had a sore lat they decided to skip his start. That was the easy choice to make. Beckett didn’t ask out of his start. And on his off day, he played a round of golf. If you think that round of golf is why he had he arse handed to him on the mound, I respectfully disagree.
Beckett needs to pitch better, no doubt. He’s not a nice guy, no doubt. However, I’ll say that if the Red Sox are making a sound business decision and not reacting to knee jerk emotion, there is no way that Josh Beckett is on the trading block.
Clearly, Josh Beckett is the current villian of the woes of the Red Sox. Good news about that is that of all the members of the Sox, Beckett is a guy who can take it.
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