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| PORK BARREL BLOG: WBC EDITION |
| This week, the month of March hit the Northeast like a ton of bricks. Snow, ice, and frigid temperatures marked the start of the work week, perhaps giving new meaning to the term “March Madness”. |
| Ahh yes, you know the term, “March Madness” right? Well, most people know it as the NCAA Men’s basketball tournament, a single elimination tournament held each March featuring 65 college basketball teams. You know the tournament, the one where everyone becomes a college basketball fan so they can win some office money – ahh yes, madness indeed! |
| Well, while most of the country will be consumed with every minute of the NCAA tourney (I will be too) there is another bit of “Madness” during this year’s month of March – the WBC. |
| The WBC of course is the World Baseball Classic, a “tournament” where the stars of MLB will spend their next few weeks competing in exhibition play to determine some sort of winner. While MLB Commissioner Bud Selig will try to sell it as the greatest tournament in sports, it’s not even the greatest tournament this month. |
| Sure, fans will watch the WBC to see their favorite players, but what happens if one of them gets hurt? Expecting players to turn up the heat this early on, to me, is only asking for injuries. WBC pitchers in 2006 posted a combined 5.79 ERA that April, and 14 WBC pitchers landed on the DL with arm or muscle injuries in April and May. Players such as, Jake Peavy, Bartolo Colon, Luis Ayala, and Mike Timlin, each suffered from injuries due to extending themselves so early on. If you ask me, I’d rather just watch spring training, and get a glimpse of my favorite team for the first time. |
| Now, with just five weeks until opening day, it’s time to get back on track with our weekly theme here, and preview another of the IronPigs foes in 2009. This week we take a look at the Pawtucket Red Sox, the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. Over the past few seasons, Boston has built a solid core of players thanks to a successful minor league system. Most recently, the Pawsox have produced last year’s AL MVP, Dustin Pedroia, as well as top Boston stars, Kevin Youkilis, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jon Lester and Jon Papelbon. With that being said, let’s take a look at the Pawtucket Red Sox. |
| Last season the Pawsox finished 85-58, good for the second best record in the IL – unfortunately for them, they play in the North division behind the Governor’s Cup champion SWB Yankees. While both teams figure to be contenders in the North division in 2009, it’s the Pawsox who could possess the better offensive lineup of the two. |
| Last year’s team featured a terrific offense led by four players who hit over 20 home runs – Jonathan Van Every (26), Jeff Bailey (25), Chris Carter (24), and George Kottaras (22). While Van Every, Carter, and Kottaras are on Boston’s 40-man roster, it remains to be seen if any of the three could crack the 25-man roster out of spring training. Out of the four youngsters, Kottaras may have the best shot at the big league level as a backup to starting catcher Jason Varitek. |
| Kottaras, who is out of options, jacked 22 homers and drove in 65 runs last season with the Pawsox, earning him a promotion to Boston in September. He’ll compete with others in spring training for the backup spot, but if he doesn’t make the Major League roster out of camp, Boston would need to sneak him through waivers to keep him in the system. If he gets through waivers, he could be back in the Pawsox lineup in 2009, where he thrived last season, perhaps joining the trio of Van Every, Carter, and Bailey. |
| With a crowded outfield in Boston, which is comprised of J.D. Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Jason Bay, and a possible bench of backup outfielders including Rocco Baldelli, Brad Wilkerson, and Mark Kotsay, Van Every, Carter, and Bailey may very well begin the 2009 season with Pawtucket, making the Pawsox lineup a very solid one for the second straight season. |
| While the Pawsox will surely possess a solid offensive lineup, they may also possess a very pitching solid staff led by right-handed pitchers, Clay Buchholz, Daniel Bard, Devern Hansack, and Michael Bowden. While all four stand-out, Buccholz is the one with the most major league experience. In 2007, in just his second major league start of his career, Buchholz became just the third pitcher since 1900 to pitch a no-hitter in his first or second major league start. In nine games with Pawtucket last season, Buchholz went 4-2 with a 2.47 ERA. |
| Bowden, who dominated Eastern League batters in 2008, also figures to be a possible top starter at the major league level someday. After enjoying a successful stretch with Double-A Portland where he went 9-4 with a 2.33 ERA, he earned himself promotions to Pawtucket and Boston in ‘08. He struck out 133 batters in 149 1/3 innings through all three organizational stops, and could find his way back in Boston in 2009 if injury riddled starters Josh Beckett, Brad Penny, and John Smoltz miss any amount of time due to injuries. |
| Keep an eye on: Lars Anderson, 1B. Named the Red Sox Minor League Offensive Player in 2008, Anderson was Boston’s 22nd pick (553rd overall) in the 2006 draft. He is ranked number one in the Red Sox system by Baseball America and in just two pro seasons he’s proven he can hit. |
| Last season, between Single-A Lancaster and Double-A Portland, he posted a .317 average with 18 homers and 80 RBI. 2009 should prove to be a banner year for the youngster, perhaps making his way through the system and into Fenway Park by season’s end. One thing is for sure, Anderson will add his power-hitting stroke to the Pawsox lineup sometime during the 2009 season, which would make their lineup as strong as ever. |
| Thinking outside the pen: Manny Ramirez finally signed with the Dodgers this week, after basically accepting the same deal he was offered back in November, which tells me that Manny was only looking for the biggest contract he could get, and when there were no other interested teams, he settled with the Dodgers. The fact that Manny waited so long is the absolute problem with baseball today. Remember when players were loyal to a team and couldn’t wait to sign with the same team they played with the previous season? Today’s players are all about money – the biggest contract gets the player. Whatever happened to the Tony Gwynns, George Bretts, and Cal Ripkens of the baseball world? Where have you gone Joe Dimaggio? Sadly, those types of players may be long gone. |
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