So as you could guess, this summer has been a rough one for any Red Sox fan. Trying to root for this team especially April-July was anything but fun and actually became a painful habit of mine. Whether it was David Ortiz bitching about his annual contract situation or Josh Beckett and John Lackey laughing on the bench while the team is getting blown out by Texas 17-2, this season has been painful.
I will be the first to admit, when I first heard of the proposed trade for Gonzalez, Crawford, Beckett and Punto, I couldn't believe Cherington would even give this trade any thought. I'm a Red Sox fan, and for the past 10 years, I have been spoiled with a team that competes year in and year out for a playoff spot. This team doesnt trade away talent at the deadline!! Thats what teams like the Royals and Astros do, but never my team! How could they just give up?? I couldn't fathom trading our most productive player in Gonzalez and possibly our most athletic player in Crawford for a bunch of possible major league prospects. As for Beckett, get the fuck off my team.
As the weeks have passed and the team has fallen further and further into last place, surprisingly I have started to come around about the trade. Cherington was able to free up $250+ million dollars from payroll which would have weighed the team down for the foreseeable future. Not even to mention the headaches that were shipped off to LA, all in all I think in this situation you have to take a loss in order to move on into the future. The one prospect Rubby De La Rosa seems like he may become a number 1 or 2 pitcher as he has a fastball that tops 98 mph, something the Sox definitely need. De La Rosa was included as a "player to be named later" in the blockbuster trade and will officially become a member of the Red Sox after the season due to the Blue Jays screwing up the original trade by claiming him on waivers.
I will admit, since September has started and the Patriots season is underway, I have paid less attention to the Sox then ever before. The one positive to take out of this situation is that we have now seen what we have in the farm system. Looking at some of these line ups from recent games you wouldn't believe they were playing game 142 and would have maybe confused it with a split squd scrimmage with Boston College in early March. I mean I like to consider myself an intelligent fan and someone who pays attention to future prospects in the system, but some of these guys who are logging time in the starting line up I have never even heard of. I will say, Pedro Ciriaco is a player who has impressed with his hitting especially against the Yankees. I wouldn't mind seeing him fill the ever-changing position at shortstop for 2013. He a guy who gives a full effort every night and seems to be able to handle major league pitching.
It is definitely a much different feeling watching a Red Sox- Yankees matchup in September, with the Sox playing the role as spoiler. Nothing to gain but the opportunity to ruin someone else's season. It's not something I think I will ever get used to seeing. I hope the Red Sox management isn't planning on blowing this whole thing up to the point where the next few seasons resemble this one because I cannot handle it. I've had enough trouble watching the last 4 months, I can't do it anymore. I trust Ben Cherington and I think "the trade" was necessary to clean up Theo's mess, but they need to improve from here. Two words of advice for Ben for this coming winter....Josh Hamilton.
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