Hot Stove Doings...Yankee Fan's Parody...Beltre Wins Silver Slugger

This is from Chad Finn's TOUCHING ALL THE BASES column that appears in the Boston Globe. The Boston Red Sox are said to be interested in Phillies slugger Jayson Werth as well as speedster and incomparable (defensively) left fielder Carl Crawford. Werth would make a great middle-of-the-lineup (#5) hitter and Crawford would be a tremendous lead off guy. He has speed, he's only 29 and last year had personal highs in adjusted OPS (134), homers (19), RBIs (90), slugging (.495), and OPS (.851). As I said in an earlier post, it would be an utter joy to watch him play the Green Monster and use his cannon arm to nail runners trying to stretch a wall ball into a double. Who's the best I've ever seen doing exactly that? No contest. CARL YAZSTREZEMSKI. It ain't even close. Here's a National League scout on Werth and Crawford. Who to choose...

“To me, if I’m fortunate to be on a team that has the money to be looking at one of those two guys, it’s a can’t-lose. Both guys are star players.”

I hope the Red Sox are lucky enough to bid smartly and end up with one of them.The 2011 Boston team will need more hitting pizzaz and a shored up bullpen. I think they'll go with the six starters (five plus Wakefield) they had last year. Time will tell. It always does.

Adrian Beltre was awarded the AL Silver Slugger Award for the amazing year he had at the plate. His 28 homers were the most for a Red Sox third baseman since Butch Hobson belted 30 in 1977. His 102 RBIs were 10th in the AL and tied with David Ortiz for the team lead. Beltre was fourth in the Majors with 79 extra-base hits -- a record for a Boston third baseman, surpassing Hall of Famer Wade Boggs, who had 70 in '87. With all of his production, Beltre proved to be a pure hitter as well, batting .321.

The following represents a typical NY Yankees fan approach to the hot stove market...

"We'll get Werth, and Carl Crawford, and Cliff Lee, and Adrian Beltre, and Victor Martinez, and re-sign Mo, and GIVE JETER EVERYTHING HE WANTS BECAUSE HE'S THE CAPTAIN AND THE TRUEST YANKEE OF THEM ALL AND PITCHERS FEAR HIS INTANGIBLES AND THERE'S NO WAY HE'S DECLINING AT AGE 36 AND HE SHOULD BE ABLE TO PLAY SHORTSTOP AS LONG AS HE WANTS AND HE HIT .270 AND HIS ARM IS STRONG AND SUPPLE!!!"

The fact that Derek Jeter, only an average defensive shortstop, won the Gold Glove Award is a complete joke to me and many other members of Red Sox Nation. The Gold Glove is an award for DEFENSIVE EXCELLENCE, not a popularity contest. My goodness!

Thanks for stopping by and please click on this post's title for more on the Boston Red Sox. Have a wonderfully terrific Friday and as always, BE WELL.