This Article Was Originally Published at GetOutofMyBallpark.com
With pitchers and catchers reporting TOMORROW (as well as many of the guys already in camp), it's time that we take stock of what has happened to the Red Sox in the past few months and accept some realities.
Jason Bay is gone. He's a Met now. The Sox let go of a guy who hit 36 home runs and had 119 RBI and replaced him with Mike Cameron.
It scares the crap out of the fans, but after long contemplation it was the right thing to do. We've been through this before. Theo didn't want to give Pedro Martinez the third year because his guys told him that Pedro was going to break down half way through the second year.
What happened? Pedro broke down in the middle of the second year and the Mets over paid for two more seasons. Somebody saw something in the MRIs of Bay's joints (shoulders and knees) that made them think that he isn't going to age gracefully. I trust in Theo, because he knows more than me, and Bay strikes out too much.
With that reality comes that this team has been rebuilt in a different image.
The front office took one of the teams weaknesses and turned it into a strength. Run prevention, also known as pitching and defense, has become a focus, as opposed to run scoring, which was definitely a more visible issue at times last year. The reasoning is that they don't need to score as many runs if they don't allow as many, and it looks good to me, but then again I thought closer by committee was a good plan too.
That thought in mind, I really do like the acquisitions. Anybody who complains about the Lackey signing (now) is a complete effing idiot.
The Sox just added another Josh Beckett to the team, along with the old Beckett, who is in a contract year. That gives them three aces, a complete wildcard in Matsuzaka, a guy who is developing into a solid number three (for this season) in Buchholz (the fifth man), and the third winningest pitcher in franchise history as a sixth starter. Not bad.
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