Oct 11th 09
I’m sorry, but the argument last year was that neither the Red Sox nor Manny Ramirez made it to the World Series. And in the 2009 campaign for the trophy, much of Red Sox Nation felt that we could win it without the dreads in the outfield.
Now, in the time when the Sox most needed a clutch bat in the lineup, JD Drew: Nothing. Dustin Pedroia: Nothing. Victor Martinez: Nothing. David Ortiz: WTF?
And what does Lester and Beckett do? None other than pitch their hearts out with no run support and end up losing the games they pitch.
Is this season over? No, they have a game going on right now, and they could easily end up battling for title in two weeks. But looking at the way this team is playing right now, and seeing how they played in last year’s playoffs, they seem to be missing something.
In the midwest, the Dodgers displayed a swagger and looseness very reminiscent of the World Series Red Sox teams of the past. Even Ranirez came through in the final game, running up three hits and 2 RBI to since it for the West Coast Blue.
I am not saying that we need Ramirez, but we all must be aware that the intimidation of our lineup that we have had in the past in the postseason is no longer apparent. No matter how many RBI’s Jason Bay will be behind Texeira for the season, no matter how much JD Drew hits in the postseason ( ps: This contract is way too much. Period ). no matter how much Beckett and Lester will mow down opposing hitters, the Red Sox post-Manny seem vulnerable.
This is no one’s fault. Manny wanted to leave, and we got an amazing hitter in place. But we did ( and we had to ) move a step down in terms of our offensive prowess. Whether Manny struggles or not, his mere existence in the lineup makes us better. It makes us better against good pitching, and not just any pitching.
But the postseason is coming up, and this is where Epstein must make the right decision: He must sign Jason Bay.
We no longer have that dominant lineup that can beat the best pitching in the game. But we are close enough, and we can still win the Championship this year and in future years ( hey, we are a very well-built team ).
But if Jason Bay ends up in the Yankee pinstripes, then we will have to look at the Manny trade as one of the worst trades in the history of baseball. We could end up with two great hitters playing for different teams, one for our arch-enemy, and account balance of $30,000,000 ( $20,000,000 for Manny, $10,000,000 for the Jason Bay rental ) that will culminate into one less dangerous hitter in our lineup.
And hitters are hard to come by. Unless we try to go out and get Matt Holliday ( if somehow we think he will be better than Bay ). Or Adrian Gonzalez. The latter would mean we would never see Bard and Bucholz ever again.
Epstein, the Manny trade isn’t over until you ink Bay. Do the right thing Epstein.
As for the Red Sox, welcome to the post-Manny era. We can at least rely on the best pitching staff in baseball to take us to the title for many years to come.
October 11th 2009 — Baseball + Maniac Articles + MannyWATCH + MannyWHINERS —
