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Are the Red Sox the new Yankees?
December 18, 2009 by Tony Andracki
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With the recent signings of John Lackey and Mike Cameron, the Red Sox are looking more and more like their division rivals, the Yankees.
With their storied and wildly successful history and their willingness to just throw money at any potential free agents, the Yankees have found their way into one of two categories in baseball fans hearts—the love column, or the hate column. Naysayers think that the Yankees just buy championships, and the $423 million they just shelled out for C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira before they won the ’09 World Series didn’t do anything to help quiet those criticisms.
On the other hand, some fans love them because of their incredible and unparalleled success, as their 27 World Championships would indicate.
However, recently the Boston Red Sox haven’t been much better. The Bostonians went more than 80 years without a Championship to their name, before finding the success the sought twice in four years. The World Series wins didn’t satisfy their hunger (as nobody would expect they would), and instead left the Red Sox with an even larger appetite. Instead of sticking to the game plan that helped them garner their first Championship in ’04, Boston upper management has gone the other route, the route of the Yankees.
The Red Sox are following suit, turning their intense fan base and big-budget owner into enticing deals for potential free agents. The signings of Lackey and Cameron are just further proof that Boston has established itself as a big-budget team. Neither were absolute necessities, as the Red Sox already had five capable starters in Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield and Clay Buchholz and three quality outfielders in Jacoby Ellsbury, J.D. Drew and Jeremy Hermida.
The Lackey deal puts the Red Sox staff into the elite, with three guys of the esteemed ace-caliber. The Cameron deal is just icing on the cake, but begs the question, is that a sure sign that they are not going after Jason Bay? I don’t see how they could afford Bay, both from a money standpoint and from a playing time standpoint. With David Ortiz already entrenched in the DH spot and Kevin Youkilis and Casey Kotchman duking it out for a starting spot at first base, with the other player left to fend for some DH at-bats. Jason Varitek will force his way into the lineup as well, moving Martinez to either the DH hole, or first base, as the Red Sox would not want to be without his bat for any period of time. Basically, my point is, there is already a jumble of players that will be vying for at-bats at DH, so the current outfield, which stands at four players, would get a whole lot more crowded with Bay added to the mix.
Also, the Cameron signing brings about another issue, who’s going to play center field? Cameron is a Gold Glove, run-through-the-wall centerfielder, one of the best defenders in the game. But, he is getting up there in age and Ellsbury can really fly out there, no doubt covering more ground than his older counterpart. So, do the Red Sox just waste his speed by moving him over to left field where he has much less ground to cover, especially with the Green Monster at his back? Or do they shove Cameron in left, thus shunning one of the all-time great centerfielders in the game? Either way, it could become an issue in the clubhouse.
There is also talk that third baseman Mike Lowell could be traded soon, following the same path as the Yankees, who traditionally let go of aging veterans before they wear out their welcome. If Lowell were to leave, it would most likely move Youkilis to third base, but it would also leave a slight run-producing hole in their lineup. If Kotchman were to eat up the time at first, or if Martinez were to move permanently to first and Varitek were to catch full-time, neither option is as beneficial to the lineup as Lowell would be. If the Red Sox are serious about trying to beat out the Yankees (which they have proved they are), that lineup would not be good enough to outscore the Yanks, so it basically implies that Boston is not done in this offseason yet. Adrian Beltre still remains out on the free agent market, as does Miguel Tejada (who may move to third base now in his advancing age).
Forgotten in all of this buzz is the signing of Marco Scutaro to play shortstop, which is maybe the biggest signing of the offseason for Boston. Scutaro scored 100 runs in the Blue Jays offense last year, an offense that should prove to be far inferior to the 2010 version of the Red Sox lineup. He walked 90 times in 144 games, a far cry from the 49 walks Ellsbury drew. If Terry Francona should choose to move Ellsbury, Scutaro should provide more opportunities for the big bats to drive in runs. It could move Ellsbury to the 9th spot, leaving the Red Sox with essentially three leadoff hitters with the lineup turnaround, with Ellsbury, Scutaro and then Dustin Pedroia all squaring off before the big bats like Youkilis, Ortiz and Martinez come a-calling.
The Scutaro deal is also another example of how the Red Sox are operating like the Yankees with offseason deals. It has been almost like Yankee tradition to steal quality players from the smaller-market AL teams, and that is exactly what the Red Sox did when they persuaded Scutaro to head to Beantown rather than continue to play his home games in Canada.
To borrow a phrase from my colleague, Brett Rosin, Boston sort of appears to be signing people just so other teams can’t have them. They’ve made a flurry of moves already this offseason, and all signs indicate that they are not content yet. Yes, on at least some level, the Steinbrenners attempt to buy championships this year. But, driven by the ’09 Yankees’ Championship, the Red Sox are suddenly following suit, proving that if you can’t beat ‘em, you may as well just join ‘em.
