What a way to wake up this morning. I had an offline message from a Yankees fan telling me the bad news. Johnny Damon is going to sign a 4 year $52 million contract with the New York Yankees.
The freaking Yankees are you kidding me. The Yanks hadn’t done a thing on the free agent front all off season and then I have to wake up to this crap. Steinbrenner had been complaining the whole time about having to pay so much in luxury tax and now he adds another $13 million a year to his team. And what the frig are the Red Sox thinking. How can they just sit back and let this happen? The Sox had offered Damon a 4 yr $40 million dollar contract. That’s only $8 million more over the life of his last contract. Johnny definitely deserved a lot more money from the Sox than a 4 yr $40 million dollar contract. If Theo was still GM of the Red Sox would this have happened. Or maybe just maybe a new curse has started, the Curse of Theo.
So lets compare the Sox to the Yanks by position:
- Catcher: Varitek, Posada; I give the edge to Varitek due to his ability to call a great game. Offensively I feel as though Varitek brings a little more to the table.
- First Base: Youkilis, Giambi; Big Edge goes to the Giambino here. He had a comeback season last year after his misfortunes with steroids. Defensively they are even.
- Second Base: Loretta, Cano; Cano had a breakthrough season in his first big league year. Loretta comes to Sox from the Padres after an injury plagued 2005 season. Even
- Shortstop: Unknown, Jeter; No matter who the Sox shortstop is in 2005 the edge goes to Jeter.
- Third Base: Lowell, AROD; Again, no comparison AROD’s numbers speak for themselves. Edge to AROD.
- DH: Ortiz, Bernie?; Really no comparison here either as Big Papi had his second career year in a row and continues to get stronger. Bernie has aged over the years and is not the player he once was. Edge to Big Papi.
- LF: Manny, Matsui; Offensively, the edge goes to Manny. Defensively the edge goes to Matsui. There are questions to as where Manny will play next year. But if he stays with the Sox, I’ll give a slight edge to Manny.
- CF: Unknown, Damon; We all know what the leader of the IDIOTS brought to the table. Decent speed, good range and terrible arm. Should be able to cover a lot of ground in Yankee Stadium. I don’t think there’s a center fielder out there that the Sox can get who will compare to Damon so the edge goes to Damon.
- RF: Trot, Sheffield; Trot has suffered thru a few injuries the past year and was a victim of not being able to hit lefties so was platooned. Sheffield is one of the most feared hitters in baseball and has one of the top 5 arms in baseball. Edge goes to Sheffield.
- SP: Schilling, Clement, Beckett, Wells, Arroyo, Wakefield, Johnson, Mussina, Pavano, Chacon, Wang, Wright; Starting pitching to me is pretty even. Schilling when healthy can be as deadly as Randy Johnson. Clement started out strong in 2005 but faded fast. Mussina struggled at times but was still productive. Beckett is coming off an injury plagued 2005 season but is still only 25. Pavano was also injured for most of 2005. Wells doesn’t even want to be in Boston anymore but when he pitches you know your getting everything he has. Chacon came over from the Rockies and helped stabilized a depleted starting pitching staff for the Yanks. Wakefield is Wakefield. He gives everything he’s got and is the longest tenured Sox player. Wang was a good rookie for the Yanks who also helped stabilize the starting rotation before going down with shoulder problems. Arroyo is a good pitcher who can be dominating but more than likely could be moved to help the Sox fill the CF void. Jaret Wright had a little success but was shelled a lot of times. Edge: Even
- RP: Foulke, Timlin, Papelbon, Mariano, Farnsworth, Sturtze; I will give the edge to the Yankees here because of Mariano. Mariano is the most dominating closer of all time. His numbers speaks for themselves. Foulke spent most of 2005 injured and was never really himself on the mound. Timlin stepped in and did a fine job but he’s not a closer. Farnsworth struggled with the Braves in the setup role and was shelled in the playoffs. Papelbon as a rookie stepped in and provided the Sox with some much need relief during the stretch run while Sturtze also stepped in and provided the Yanks with part of the bridge to get to Mariano in the 9th inning. Edge to the Yanks.
- Managers: Francona, Torre; I like Francona. His personality seems to fit with the people the Sox once had in the clubhouse. You can’t say enough about Joe Torre. To have to deal with all the crap that he endures from the Boss and to take a team of basically All-Stars and getting them to play as a team, there’s nothing to say. He is a great manager. Edge goes to Torre.
Well now, I have to sit back and watch the rest of the offseason because the Sox really need to do something dramatic again. Otherwises, it’s going to be a long season in Red Sox Nation. And oh yes get used to it Damon fans. The caveman is no more. He will have to shave his beard and cut his hair and go back to looking like something in this picture.
