Red Sox West

The Red Sox are coming.  The Red Sox are coming!  In one fell swoop, I now live closer to 16% of our team.  Welcome to Los Angeles boys.

It’s amazing—first Manny and now this.  When the Red Sox need to unload a guy, or three, the Dodgers have certainly stepped up to the plate.  I hope, for their sake, that this move works out better, in the long run, than the Ramirez trade did.  I’m sure it will, and the immediate impact will definitely be huge.  It could very well be enough to propel them past the Giants and into the playoffs.  Although, I don’t know if it’s a good idea for Josh Beckett to play in a city that is famous for its chicken and waffles and where you can buy beer in a grocery store.  Even on a Sunday!

Another amazing thing is, last year at this time, the Dodgers were in bankruptcy, and, today, they made a deal that is going to cost them over $200 million dollars.  That’s what a little “Magic” will buy you, I suppose.  It’s an exciting time to be a Dodger fan.

It is also not a bad time to be a Red Sox fan.  I have a feeling that the team will finish the season strong. More importantly, the Sox have freed up a lot of cash to focus on the future.  They can now afford to give David Ortiz a multi-year deal.  I’d also love to see us sign Jacoby Ellsbury, but with Nava and Kalish, the Red Sox may decide to save the money and put it towards pitching.  Obviously, we need to shore up the rotation and the bullpen.  If you’re watching the game now, you just saw us blow our second 6 run lead in three games.   Without a doubt, our focus in the off-season will be pitching.  It’s too bad that we couldn’t have snuck Lackey and Dice-K into the deal.  Now that would have been hitting the reset button.

We are also in need of a first baseman.  I doubt James Loney will be a long-term solution, but you never know.  It’s funny, if we hadn’t signed Adrian Gonzalez, this mega-deal would never have happened, but, also, Kevin Youkilis would not have had to move from first to third, the Middlebrooks controversy probably wouldn’t have happened, and the Red Sox may not have traded Youk. It’s a shame and ironic…don’t you think?  (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself).

The Red Sox have lost/given up a lot this season, but, the bottom line is, this monumental trade is the clean slate that the Red Sox desperately needed.  A topic we will discuss in further detail, on Monday.

In the meantime, Josh, Adrian, Nick and Carl, thank for your service, and best of luck to you and the Dodgers.  I’m sure I’ll be seeing you soon.