Perspectives on Paps

Let me make one thing perfectly clear: I think Jonathan Papelbon is an excellent closer, and I'm very pleased that he's wearing a Red Sox uniform for the time being. However, I wrote a post yesterday entreating the young pitcher to get some perspective, and I stand by what I said.

Papelbon is one of the top closers in the game, right now. However, closers don't tend to have long shelf lives, and he's already twenty-nine years old. You can toss out Mariano Rivera, because he is either a freak of nature or an android (the jury's out), and Papelbon has yet to touch the dominance that Mo reached his very first year in the majors.

According to baseball-reference.com, Papelbon's most similar player is Takashi Saito, and his most similar player through age 28 is Bryan Harvey (9 seasons in the majors, ending in 1995). The "godfather" Rivera? Didn't crack the top ten on either list, so everyone STOP throwing out that comparison. In fact, if last year was what we can expect in the future, count me out: his walk rate more than tripled, and he was absolutely painful to watch at times (that said, I'll admit that he got it done... except in ALDS Game 3).


Earlier in the offseason, I wrote this piece rattling off reasons Paps could be traded... Not that I think he SHOULD, necessarily, but Theo has done stranger things. Please don't get me wrong: I value Papelbon a lot, but his attitude gets on my nerves at times. Just because the market dictates that he make $9 million dollars does not mean he "deserves" it. (I don't have the time to get into this now, but baseball's pay scale needs an overhaul.) Papelbon is one of the least involved members of the team when it comes to charity, and I think he would benefit a lot from some volunteer work and/or fund-raising. You're nearly thirty years old, Paps... it's time to grow up and realize something we all learn at some point: the world doesn't owe you anything, nor does it revolve around you.

What Papelbon Deserves

Theo Epstein kept his arbitration-free streak intact, as the Red Sox came to terms with Manny Delcarmen (one year, $905,000), Ramon Ramirez ($1.1 million), and Jonathan Papelbon ($9.35 million). I'm a big fan of Ramon Ramirez (though I refuse to call him "Ram-Ram"), and we've all heard the "MDC has the best 'stuff' on the team" company line. I have no problem with either of their contracts.

Really, I have no problem with Papelbon's contract, either. Numbers seldom lie, and he's definitely a quality closer. It's his attitude about such things that really rubs me the wrong way sometimes:

"Understand, I'm in the prime of my career. Why would I give up something? I'd give up something if it's fair to both sides, but I want to do things for my fellow closers, just like [Mariano Rivera] paved the way for me. I want every closer out there, man, to get every penny they deserve.'' -via Gordon Edes, ESPNBoston.com

Let's be honest here, Pap... You don't want to do anything for your fellow closers. You want to take care of Number One, and that $9+ million goes a long way. And what, exactly, do you think you "deserve?" You think that because you throw a ball with accuracy and velocity, you deserve to make more money than any reasonable human being needs?

Here's a newsflash for you, Jonathan: people don't always get what they deserve. In fact, most people never see a fraction of it, and a huge portion of the world lives on less than a dollar a day (you might have heard something about Haiti...?). Most people work much harder than you do, Paps. Let's see some humility, or at least some gratitude... because right now? The only thing you deserve is a healthy dose of perspective.

Viva Big Papi!

As we were getting ready to leave for the mountain this morning, my sister and I realized we matched (this happens far too often). I was wearing a Jon Lester Red Sox shirt, she was rocking Big Papi, and I mentioned that 2010 was the last year of the slugger's contract. She was alarmed, and asked me what was going to happen, which, of course, I could only guess at.

The Red Sox will not offer David Ortiz the most money to stay, that much is certain. Whether they'll offer him a contract at all, and whether he'll sign for short money to stay in Boston are separate issues entirely. My assumption is that because of Papi's status as a fan favorite, Theo will throw him a bone: a short contract for little money, with the understanding that he might no longer enjoy the everyday role he has occupied for the last few years. Will Ortiz take a deal like that, or will he take the money from some small market team who's so desperate for power that they'll take an aging slugger?

Of course, all of this is speculation based on the assumption that Ortiz will have a season similar to last year's. If he bursts out and has a great season, say goodbye. There's no way in hell that Theo will give big money to a one-dimensional slugger who will be at least thirty-six during the 2011 season (like all foreign born players, I take his age with a grain of salt). And if he does go elsewhere, what will that be like here in New England?

Four years ago, David signed an extension with the Red Sox, and, according to this story, he made the following comments:

"I can see as long as I've been here any time we walk away from a player or a player walks away from us, people feel that. I think our fans, they need to hear some good news, something nice coming through the organization. The past couple of years I think people were just getting annoyed with it. I'm pretty sure New England is going to take this as the good news. I want to finish my career as a Red Sox player."


We've heard all of that before... Of course, he was referring to the departure of the core 2004 championship teams, Johnny Damon specifically, but how badly does David Ortiz want to stay in a Red Sox uniform? Ortiz means so much to so many; everyone in Red Sox Nation has their own Papi story.

Many are related to the above video...

The first Red Sox shirt I ever purchased with money I earned myself was #34, and I still have it (it's a little small now). For the collective sanity of New England, I hope things come together so David can finish wear that same #34 until his playing days are over (which will likely be sooner than he thinks).

Every little bit helps, everyone!

Interestingly enough, this is my last blog post as a teenager. I'm glad Papi could be its topic.

Down on the Farm

With all of the free-agent signings this winter, it's easy to forget Theo's comments early this offseason, warning of a possible "bridge year." When the Sox GM first dropped the b-word, fans panicked, thinking we would be in for a lackluster year while biding our time for the prospects to pan out. Clearly, that's not the case, but we are in between waves of big-league ready prospects.

The next year or so probably won't see any impact players coming from the farm system - at least, there won't be can't miss guys like Pedroia ('07), or Ellsbury ('08). However, in 2011 and beyond, brace yourself to see a flurry of talent coming up.

We got a sneak peak at Josh Reddick this season, as he had 63 plate appearances for the big club in the second half. The young outfielder hit just .169... but he did clobber two home runs. In 63 games in Portland (AA), Reddick hit .277 with an OPS of .871, but when he made the jump to AAA Pawtucket, those numbers fell to .127 and .373. There have been some theorizing that Reddick's pitch recognition skills just weren't at AAA or major league caliber yet... but that's certainly something that will improve with time. Fun fact: William Joshua Reddick is his given name, and though he throws right-handed, he's a lefty at the plate.

It's official: Casey Kelly is going to be a pitcher. At first, the big righty (6'3") said he wanted to play shortstop, and for the last two seasons in the minors has been pitching to his innings limit and subsequently playing at shortstop. Kelly's numbers as a pitcher are considerably more impressive than those as a batter, as he boasts a career minor-league ERA of 2.08, and a batting average of just .219. Fun fact: Kelly has an extensive baseball genealogy - uncle Mike Kelly and father Pat Kelly both played in the majors, while his brother Chris is currently in the Rays' system. [Bonus fun fact: I'm calling dibs on him. Right now. He's Off the Monster's Dustin of the future.]

Ryan Westmoreland is one of the most impressive young men in the Red Sox system, and that's really saying something. He was an all-star in high school, both on the field and in the classroom, passing on a full scholarship to Vanderbilt to sign with the Sox. He missed all of last season after breaking his collarbone running into an outfield wall, but performed admirably in 2009. Playing mostly as a DH for Single-A Lowell, Westmoreland hit .296 with an .885 OPS. Fun fact: Westmoreland is the first player profiled on Off the Monster who is younger than I (three months, 9 days younger, to be exact, with a birthday of April 27, 1990).

Ryan Kalish is the Golden Boy of the future - heck, he's even an outfielder. However, even if you look beyond the chiseled face (please, look beyond the chiseled face) Kalish is one to watch. Playing most of 2009 in Portland, Kalish hit .271 with 13 home runs and 56 RBIs in 103 games, and according to soxprospects.com he has the potential to be a lead-off guy with some pop. Fun fact: he played center field as a kid, but is open to all outfield positions: "I want to get to the big leagues so it doesn’t really matter where I am at. I’d play first base as long as I make it."

In a position the Red Sox desperately want to fill, Luis Exposito is very promising. He has a career minor-league batting average of .280, with an OPS of .785, and has the potential to be an everyday catcher with good power. One criticism Exposito gets is that his game-calling needs some work - Jason Varitek, your skills are needed here! He has a good arm, and is adequate at throwing out base stealers, something Sox backstops have been struggling mightily with lately. Fun fact: Exposito speaks both Spanish and English, and, by all accounts, has matured into a very positive clubhouse influence.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that the signing of International Free-Agent Jose Iglesias had some bearing on Kelly's final decision to embrace the pitcher's mound. Iglesias is highly touted as an excellent defensive shortstop, and even at the young age of 20, scouts are projecting potential Gold Gloves in his future. His bat is average at best, but an average bat and sparkling defense at shortstop would be a major boon for the Sox, who have been struggling to fill the hole since 2004. Fun fact: Wikipedia lists two different birthdays for Iglesias (January 5 and May 1, 1990), and his age has to be questioned a bit, given the fact that he's a Cuban defector. Still, it's not as if he's secretly 35, but an extra year or two wouldn't be unheard of.

On a totally girly and unrelated note, these boys aren't half bad-looking... I don't know about you guys, but I can't wait to get my butt over to Portland this summer to catch some of these guys in action for less than $10. Hopefully I'll see some of you there!

[Thanks to soxprospects.com and baseball-reference.com for stats and insight!]

John Lackey: Playing to Win

When I was in high school, my field hockey coach had a saying for every occasion, which my teammates and I jokingly termed "Keeley-isms." They were just little quotes that could inspire or motivate, but they've stuck with me. There was one in particular that we would hear at halftime, and it kept us working at 110% throughout the second half: "Play to win. Don't play not to lose."

On the surface, it might seem like it comes to the same thing: if you've won, you haven't lost, and if you haven't lost, you've won. However, the mindset is completely different: if it's field hockey, being up by six goals at the halfway mark can make you complacent (typical field hockey scores are 1-0, 2-1, etc.), but the idea of playing to win keeps you pushing for that extra goal, it keeps you hustling back on defense, and it keeps you doing everything you can to beat the other team. In baseball, of course, there's no clock. The game isn't over until the last batter is out, and so playing to win is of the utmost importance. Baseball teams routinely come from behind to win, scoring as many as twelve runs (1911 Tigers and 1925 Athletics) to seize victory.

So why bring this up now? Well, as I was perusing today's baseball stories I stumbled across a profile about John Lackey written by the estimable Amalie Benjamin, with the following quote from Lackey's former manager, Mike Scioscia:

“John is not afraid to fail. He’s not going out there afraid to lose."

Benjamin goes on to capture the extreme confidence and high expectations that Lackey has for himself:

"[He] elicits a 'Never’ from his former manager when asked if Lackey ever has felt he was ready to be taken out of a game. [He's] the guy who is unyielding as a pitcher, unwilling to give an inch from the confidence that he can and should always win."

In short, Lackey is the guy playing to win. Every day. And because he is a pitcher in the American League, all he can do is take the ball, holding on to it as long as possible. Lackey is not playing for a no-decision; he's playing for that W, every time. Lackey joins Jon Lester and Josh Beckett in a rotation that always wants the ball, and never plays "not to win." I know some of you weren't the biggest Lackey fans while he was playing out in Anaheim, and you may have questioned Theo's decision to bring him to Boston, but he sounds like a great guy to have on your team. I know Amalie Benjamin wouldn't write a profile bashing the Sox's highest profile acquisition, but she's really sold me on Lackey. If he has half the character she describes in her piece (fierce competitor, great clubhouse personality, community guy), I'm thrilled to have him.

So is it time for baseball, yet?

On a semi-related note, don't these two look similar? Do the Angels actively TRY to acquire weird-looking players?

Innocence Lost

The award for least surprising news of the decade (thus far), goes to one Mark David McGwire, for finally admitting that he used steroids during his career, including during his record-breaking 1998 season.

This home run brought to you by the wonderful world of chemistry!

McGwire released a statement earlier today, and it included all of the usual components: apologies, contriteness, and the qualificaton that "I thought they would help me heal and prevent injuries, too."

Oh, Mark. Well, at least it's all out in the open, now... even though we've all known as much for the last ten years. I don't know about the rest of you, but I was eight years old in 1998, and I was as aware of the home run race as anybody else: one of my teachers told us that Sammy Sosa was clean, and that McGwire was on steroids, so the consensus in my third-grade class was support for Sosa. Now, of course, we know that neither man was clean, and that the true single-season home run king is Roger Maris, despite the fact that his record of 61 has been "broken" six times, by Sosa (3), McGwire (2), and Barry Bonds (1).

The most stirring sentiment in McGwire's release was the following:

"I wish I had never touched steroids. It was foolish and it was a mistake. I truly apologize. Looking back, I wish I had never played during the steroid era."

I bet that's a wish that countless men share: how many current and former major leaguers live with the dread that they will be the next name published, their name forever tarnished because of one stupid mistake? In 1998, baseball was still struggling to regain its fanbase after the debacle in 1994 when the World Series was canceled, and along came this pair of sluggers in a race to reach one of baseball's most exciting records. Why on earth would the commissioner delve too deeply into such a boon for attendance and television ratings? Let's not pretend that most of us would have acted differently: perhaps we would have done something before things got so out of control; perhaps not.

McGwire then toes the official line in claiming that the game is totally clean now:

"Baseball is really different now - it's been cleaned up. The commissioner and the players' association implemented testing and they cracked down, and I'm glad they did."

Let's not fool ourselves: there are players out there beating the system right now, with the use of HGH (which has no accurate testing procedure). However, the days of rampant and open clubhouse drug use (Hello, late-90's Texas Rangers!) are over, and good riddance. Unfortunately, the game isn't out of the woods yet - that will only happen when the last user retires from the game completely, which isn't exactly in the cards for the next forty years or so. And until then? Well, I plan to be a fan of the game as always... but a little less innocent than I was way back in 1998.

It may be irrational, but...

Exactly a year ago today, I wrote this post about Mark Teixeira's New York press conference. It was my third post ever, and I'll admit that I might have overreacted in some respects. However, I stand by one thing in particular: I LOVE hating Teixeira. But why, exactly, is he as high as #2 on my Most-Hated Yankees List (Contemporary Edition)?

Is it the team-leading 39 home runs he hit in 2009?

Nope.

Is it because his wife wears the pants?

Nah... I don't hold grudges based on that stuff. But just look at her... it's like she's practicing remote mind control.

Is it the idiotic face he makes when he's hitting the ball?

No, but we're getting closer...

I'm pretty sure it's the fact that he can look like this:

Dear god, why? Mark Teixeira just strikes me as an annoying human being. Would I like him if he played for the Red Sox? It's possible... But I don't pretend to be rational about these things. Mr. Leigh is officially #2 on the Most-Hated Yankees List (Contemporary Edition) - brownie points to those of you who can guess my #1.