A Clear Signal

ATTENTION RED SOX NATION

John Henry, Larry Lucchino, and little Ben Cherington are sending out signals.  They want the rest of baseball, Red Sox fans, both diehards and pink hats alike to know something.  They are determined to be mediocre next year. That's right, you heard them. No last place finishes, no embarrassing nationally televised games in front of a largely empty Fenway Park. No sir. They will finish at least 4th.  How do they know you ask them?

Have you seen the news???

They are throwing around money at veteran free agents like it's December 2010.

But they learned their lesson. The want you to know that too. Instead of the 7 year mega deal they gave to speedy but aging right fielder Carl Crawford almost exactly two years ago, they only gave a 3 year deal to speedy but aging right fielder Shane Victorino.
They don't do long term deals anymore see?

And instead of the 7 year contract they gave power hitting first basemen Adrian Gonzalez in April of 2011, they have 3 years to power hitting first basemen Mike Napoli.

With the addition of "clubhouse guy" Jonny Gomes to a 2 year deal, it would appear at first glance that the Red Sox are priming for another run at a title.  It feels like the mid 2000's doesn't it?

After all, they've got their gritty, dirt dog right fielder in Victorino (Trot Nixon), their dead pull hitting, clubhouse jokester in Gomes (Kevin Millar anyone?) and they even tended the contract of insane, yet talented Alfredo Aceves (how can he not be compared to Ugueth Urbina?).

As vague as these comparisons may be, the direction of the Red Sox is finally clear -- they want to be as relevant as possible, keep fans interested, until they can either sell the team, or feasibly contend.

I wish it were different and I truly believe that they do too.  The last two years have been embarrassing, and the casting off of Gonzalez, Crawford, and Beckett showed that management has learned the error of their ways.  But as things stand now, they really are not shaping up to be a very awe-inspiring team.  Examine the following:

By signing Gomes and Victorino the Red Sox outfield seems to be complete.  Gomes will play left field and be spelled by Ryan Kalish (in retrospect who wishes we gave him up instead of Josh Reddick in the Andrew Bailey deal?), while Ellsbury will most likely play out the last year of his deal in center.  Ideally the Red Sox will be able to move Ellsbury at the trading deadline or will face the prospects of heavy competition from the Yankees to sign him to a extension next off-season (Curtis Granderson is aging fast).  The Victorino signing is a vast overpay at $39 million over 3 years.  He is a nice player but saw his OPS sag to a career worst .704 yet still received a per year raise of almost $4 million.  He provides above average defense, doubles power, and some speed (something the Red Sox rarely utilize).

The infield consists of holdovers Will Middlebrooks and Dustin Pedroia.  Middlebrooks, who should be hitting 3rd, in front of David Ortiz, should provide a nice power average combination.  Pedroia, who had a somewhat disappointing year, needs to prove that he is over his wrist injury that plagued him all last season.

Newcomer Napoli will play first, and while his fielding may be shaky at times, first base defense is the most overrated stat in baseball (I am looking at you Doug Mientkiewicz).  Napoli should hit very well at Fenway, and his swing has suited him well there in the past (19-for-62, 7 HR). His average should settle somewhere between his dismal .227 of last year and his incredibly fortunate .320 of 2011.  

Shortstop is an area of concern, as slick fielding Jose Iglesias does not seem to be the answer.  Anyone who is going to hit .210 with no power has no place on a major league roster, not matter how well he gloves it.  The Red Sox are rumored to be looking at trading for Yunel Escobar, he of the racial slur eyeblack,who would provide some power and an average glove to the position (Update: Escobar was traded to the Rays).  Either way, the Sox seem to be bridging the gap until Xander Bogaerts is ready to take over in two years.

At catcher the team now has a surplus after signing veteran Davis Ross.  Saltalamacchia or Lavarnway should be moved before the season starts, though I am not sure either will fetch big league talent.  

Rounding out the lineup is David Ortiz, who somehow managed to get a 2 year $26 million contract coming off a season when his strained achilles limited him to just 90 games.  If healthy, and that is a big if, he should continue to hit for power.  Just remember however, that this is a guy who is 37 (we think), has been caught using steriods, and now has a nagging injury.  This is not the steroid era, and guys with that description don't suddenly get better.

The pitching staff is a whole bundle of fun.  As starters go, Jon Lester has proven that he is not an Ace, and even reuniting with John Farrell is not going to change that.  Clay Bucholtz showed some glimpses of putting his immense talent to good use last year, but still seems to have focus issues with men on base.  

Beyond the top two, the picture gets a bit cloudy.  Felix Doubront seems to have real potential as a front of the rotation power arm, and it is up to Farrell to get him to take that next step.  Franklin Morales is apparently going to work in the spring as a starter, and while he performed admirably last season in that role, he has never pitched more than 76 innings in his career.  John Lackey will supposedly be ready to start the season, but the only thing he has proven in his time with the  team is that frogs and people really aren't that different. 

Who fills out the back end of the rotation is anyone's guess. They could sign Ryan Dempster or Kyle Lohse or go with Junichi Tazawa or Alfredo Aceves.  Their minor league pitching depth is very thin, with the exception of Matt Barnes who seems to be at least a year away.  

The bullpen is even murkier.  Last year they traded for Mark Melancon and Andrew Bailey, only to see them completely flop.  Craig Breslow is a nice lefty in the pen and should be heavily sought after at the trade deadline.  Other than those three they have Aceves, Bard, and Andrew Miller.  Of that trio, I see no sure thing.  Aceves is bat shit crazy, Bard spent last year impersonating Ricky Vaughn, and Miller finally had a solid year after a career of failed promise.  

This is the area of the team that appears to need to most help.  They missed out on low-risk high- reward option Joakim Soria, who was snagged by the Rangers, and may target a big name like Mike Adams or Jason Grilli.  However, chances are the team will be reluctant to give a reliever more than a 2 year deal (can't say I blame them).  Even if they do sign a reliever or trade for one, having Bailey and Aceves at the back end provide huge question marks entering the season.

All in all, the Red Sox seem be shaping up as a team that will score plenty of runs, have a unstable and inconsistent starting rotation, and an unpredictable bullpen. Sound familiar?

Yes, the $120 million John , Larry, and Ben spent on Ortiz, Ross, Gomes, Napoli, and Victorino sent a clear signal.

It reads: keep buying tickets, and wait till next year(s).

Hockey Withdrawl

Something is missing from my sporting life. If you know me, that may sound confusing. After all, the Patriots are hitting their yearly second half stride and looked poised for a deep playoff run, the Syracuse men's basketball team is once again ranked in the top 10, and the new look Celtics are showing small glimpses of the team they will be down the stretch.

Why so sad then?

I miss hockey.

There, I said it. The same guy who ranted in a previous post about how the NHL was, and always would be, a AAA sport, misses it.  Actually, I don't miss it. I need it.

Somewhere in the last five years, they got me.  I tasted the forbidden fruit of a game I never played as a kid, and couldn't get enough.  Now I consume everything related to hockey that I can get my hands on, watch every Bruins game, play NHL on XBOX nightly, and even bought an authentic Bruins jersey.  I am on the stuff, hardcore.  And now that it has been taken away from me, I am losing my shit.

I need the ability to sit down in front of the TV and watch an exciting sporting event in less than 3 hours that is not constantly being started and stopped by commercials and instant replays.  I need a sport where big hits are still greeted with praise rather than scorn, one where the players police themselves rather than an overbearing league office sifting through game film, and celebrations are saved for accomplishments actually deserving of exuberance.  I miss the insanely over the top television commentary of Jack Edwards and the smooth baritone of Bob Beers on the dial, as well as the edge of your seat tension during the end of game flurry of a close game.

No other American sport can offer these things.  Watching football is a lesson in commercialism and committee meetings, the NBA is a elaborate jump shooting contest, and soccer is well, soccer.

I have intentionally kept myself away from the details of why the NHL season is in serious jeopardy of being erased for the second time in 7 years.  I honestly don't care.  In my head it is like any sports strike or lockout -- a bunch of greedy owners and a bunch of players getting advice from a greedy leader arguing over minutia of just how rich they will all be.

I refuse to take a side or pretend to care.  Just get it done.  Make nice, shake hands, compromise, change leadership, whatever.  Do what you have to do to start playing hockey. At this point, it really is that simple.

Just give me my hockey.  I won't wait around forever.

Once and For All

Sunday is the most important day in the history of the New England Patriots. As Boston radio personality Michael Felger would say, this is fact, not opinion. The Patriots are 414-365-9 in their regular season history, and 23-15 in the playoffs. They have won three Super bowls out of six appearances, but this one means more.  Here is why.

Clean Laundry

Throughout the Patriots run of dominance in the NFL, people have always doubted the legitimacy of their titles.  First it was the injustice of the "Tuck Rule" game against the Raiders in the 2001 AFC Divisional game.  Experts, players, and opposing fans alike argued that while it was the correct call, the stupidity of the rule somehow nullified the legitimacy of the Patriots Super Bowl victory.  In fact, Charles Woodson, the Raiders cornerback who knocked the ball out of Brady's hand, continued to complain that the ring was taken from him just last year when his Packers prepared to play the Patriots.  However silly it seems that people argue against a rule that was correctly recognized and enforced, the masses will continue to say that the 2001 improbable Patriots run was, at least in part, impure.  Aside from the media created phantom scoreboard operator that somehow prevented Raven's coach Jim Harbaugh from calling a time out, this one is as pure as can be.

The End of the Witch Hunt

The Patriots franchise and Bill Belichick were forever tarnished in 2007 when the so-called Spy-Gate scandal erupted.  I will admit that I was more ashamed than upset when the details emerged.  The Patriots had blatantly broken a very clear rule that adhered to taping opposing teams practices and defensive signals, yet the ensuing investigation seemed more like a anti-Patriots witch hunt than anything else.  Hell even United States Senator Arlen Specter got involved demanding a governmental probe into the scandal.  Now do I believe other teams did the exact same thing? Absolutely, positively, yes.  But the Patriots got caught and really had no answers.  When it was all said and done, Belichick received the biggest fine handed out to a coach in NFL history and the team was docked a first round draft pick (many New Englanders scoffed at this as we would have surely traded it anyway).  Worse than the punishment was the image it created in the public eye that all three Super Bowls had been won via cheating.  The 2007 team came out the next season on a mission to prove the opposite, but were stopped in the most heartbreaking and ironic of ways; on a botched defensive assignment and a misread of coverage by Ellis Hobbs.  Not only can this game tell off all of the Spy Gate conspiracy theorists, it can remove all doubt of Patriot greatness in the eyes of all New Englanders.

Proof of the Patriot Way

The “Patriot Way” became entrenched in the sports lexicon back in 2001 when a Patriots team consisting of unheralded veterans, castoffs, and a rookie quarterback shocked the Rams and the world by winning the Super Bowl. It became even clearer several years later when veteran slot receiver Troy Brown began playing defensive back when several players went down with injury.  The term has come to mean players and coaches putting the team first at all costs.  As a player it has also meant doing your specific job on the field correctly and not playing for yourself, your stats, or your next contract.  This organizational philosophy, deeply rooted in Belichick’s childhood days roaming the Navy sidelines with his father, has led to a near media blackout, several big name players being let go or traded when they demanded contract extensions (Richard Seymour, Asante Samuel), and consistently dealing out of the first round of the draft in exchange for a higher quantity of smaller pieces to add to the puzzle.  The idea of the “Patriot Way” – all working together for one collective cause, is a noble one.  But along with the class and candor carried by the organization and its players from top to bottom, are questions.  Have the Patriots frugal ways during contract negotiations irreparably hurt them?  Can they really expect to field a solid defense without a solid pass rusher that could have been acquired trading up in the draft? 

These questions are valid ones.

In addition, the team has not won a title since the core group led by Teddy Bruschi, Rodney Harrison, and Troy Brown hung up their cleats.  Team management has not brought in a veteran core to replace them but rather has rebuilt through mid-round draft picks, low level free agents, and waiver wire additions.  The continued method of trying to get more out of less talented players by reducing their responsibilities has seemingly continued to work – until the playoffs that is.  Since their championship season in 2004, the team is mediocre 7-5 in the playoffs, including the two wins this season.

Indeed the Patriot team we have been watching recently is eerily similar to the 2001 team we all fell in love with.  If anything, it is more ragtag.  The 2001 Patriots relied on numerous undrafted free agent acquisitions in their playoff run including Bobby Hamilton, Matt Chatham, and Lonnie Paxton.  Ten years later the 2011 team has outdone themselves, fielding a team with 18 undrafted free agents, many of whom serve important roles, specifically on defense (see: Kyle Arrington, Sterling Moore), and running back (BenJarvus Green-Ellis).  In fact, more than half the roster is made up of players who were either undrafted or taken in the 5th round or later.  The question is can this group finally come up big in the spotlight?  They face a team that is not quite the Rex Ryan opposite of their own, but one that loves to talk big, spend big, and draft high in the first round.  For a man who seems to always carry his father’s legacy and memory with him, Bill Belichick would find beating a team like the Giants and proving once and for all his method effective to be the sweetest vindication of all.

The Legacy

We all know the influence that both Bill Belichick and Tom Brady have had on the NFL.  Combined they have 8 Super Bowl Rings and are the winningest quarterback/coach combo in regular season history.  Together they have reshaped a franchise, established a dynasty, and cemented themselves a spot in Canton as first ballot hall of fame inductees.  But what is at stake on Sunday is above and beyond that.  If the Patriots play four quarters of good football and defeat the Giants, both Belichick and Brady will be indisputably the greatest of all time at their respective positions.

Brady will have won four super bowls, tied for most all time for a quarterback.  More importantly he will have won rings with two completely different groups of players which no other quarterback has ever done. His first three centered around a defensive core of Richard Seymour, Willie Mcginest, Ty Law, Mike Vrabel, Troy Brown, Teddy Bruschi, and Adam Vinateri.  There are only a few remnants left, and those that remain are role players.  But Brady has remained. 

Belichick has already amassed five total rings with the Giants and the Patriots, and three as a head coach.  A win Sunday would tie him with Chuck Noll as the only coaches to have four Super Bowl Championships as head coach.  He will have won his rings over a 10 year span, showing a remarkable consistency that is evident in his astonishing 139-53 regular season record as Patriots head coach.  He has taken what Bill Parcells started in New England in 1993 and turned it into the NFL’s premier franchise.  More incredibly, he has done it the past few years without assistant coaches.  He has effectively served as the offensive and defensive coordinators since Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel left for greener pastures after the 2004 season.  While he has been criticized for not hiring more high profile coaches in recent years, he has maintained a single-minded approach over the organization.  He has a vision, the players, coaches, and scouts follow it.  And they have done it well.  A win on Sunday would put him above all the rest.

Myra and Robert Kraft

The final reason this Sunday’s game is the most important in Patriot history is less about X’s and O’s and more about something greater.  The 2001 Patriots Super Bowl run began in the shadow of 9/11.  As the country and region mourned the loss of thousands of innocent civilians, the Patriots became something of a symbol of American morals and pride.  Aside from their Patriot logo, the team represented an unwillingness to quit and an idea of continuity and cooperation that the nation badly needed.  Guard Joe Andruzzi’s three brothers were New York City firefighters who responded to the scene when the towers were hit, and it was he who ran onto the field carrying the American flag before the Patriots first game of the season against the Jets.   In one of his more unforgettable moments, Robert Craft addressed a small throng of Patriots fans gathered in Pittsburgh’s Heize Field following the Patriots 24-17 victory over the Steelers in the 2002 AFC Championship game and declared that “it was fitting that a team called the Patriots were represented in the biggest game in this country”.  It seemed that the 2001 team was one of destiny, getting every bounce, call, and break.  It was as if it was just meant to be.

This year, ten years after that improbable run, the team is playing in honor of Robert Kraft's late wife Myra, who passed away before the season began.  Kraft's emotional investment to his wife has been well documented, as has the fact the she was one of the great philanthropists of our time.  While she never tried to directly interfere with her husbands running of the team, she wanted to make sure the organization continued to represent the ideals of integrity and charity that she had always held so dear.  This year the team has been wearing a black MHK patch on their sleeves, and BenJarvus Green-Ellis could be seen tapping it in celebration after a touchdown against the Broncos several weeks ago.  While the death of the women that players still refer to as "Momma" has hurt, her inspiration and the emotional support for her grieving husband has inspired the team.

In this sense, the Patriots have come full circle.  They are once again playing for something greater than football.  The bounces, calls, and breaks are falling their way and they seem like a team of destiny.  They continue to be led by the solid foundation that guided them all those years ago.

Kraft, Belichick, and Brady have established a winning franchise without fanfare, trash talk, and player scandal that is all too familiar in the NFL.

Throughout the ten years much has changed.  The owner, the coach, and the quarterback have not.  They have all continued to strive to demonstrate that their approach is right, their belief system just, and their legacy is that of a champion.

Sunday, they will get a chance to prove it once and for all.