Keep Papi, No Matter the Cost

David Ortiz looks like the Cookie Monster. Does this make him a good DH? Not necessarily. But among baseball players who resemble Sesame Street characters, he's almost certainly the best of the bunch. And that's got to be worth something.

Why does any of this matter?  Aside from indicating that I've been spending entirely too much time with my 3-year old daughter, Mr. Ortiz is up for an extremely rare arbitration hearing this Monday in Florida--a situation which is summed up nicely here by WEEI.com's Alex Speier. He  writes:

"The $3.85 million difference between the salary that Ortiz is requesting ($16.5 million) and the one that the team is offering ($12.65 million) could, in theory, represent the cost of acquiring a player like Matt Garza near the trade deadline."

Clearly, money spent now is money they won't have in July. Obviously Ben Cherington does not want to burn all of his resources immediately and hang himself out to dry at the trading deadline.

Yet.

What would they do at DH should Ortiz win the hearing and the team choose not to sign him? One possibility would be to give Papi's spot to Kevin Youkilis (which could help some of his injury issues) and hand third base to top prospect Will Middlebrooks. An exciting thought, but Middlebrooks isn't ready just yet, though Soxprospects.com compares his career track to Scott Rolen's.

Rumors are abound that a settlement will be reached, but if Ortiz gets his $16.5 million asking price (as opposed to Boston's $12.65), the team should take it and move on. Sure, he abuses the cookie dough from time to time, but no one's been better than he has at designated hitting over the past few years, despite fan perception that he is falling off.

A quick look at the numbers easily demonstrates this. Last year, of the 11 hitters who had at least 500 at-bats at the position, Ortiz was by far the best. Fangraphs has number 34 sitting atop the fWAR leaders with a total of 4.2, followed by Michael Young of the Rangers at 3.8 and Chicago's Paul Konerko at 3.1. No one else even topped three.

Papi put up a slash line of .309/.398/.554 with 29 homers and 98 RBIs in 2011. Those number would be stunningly hard to replace at this point in the offseason, even with a Youkilis--who is engaged to Tom Brady's sister oh by the way--slash Middlebrooks shift.

From 2009 (a season in which his power stroke, and therefore his career, was considered done) through last year, Ortiz is third in fWAR with 7.0. That's just behind free agent Johnny Damon's 7.3 and Detroit's Victor Martinez's 10.6. The difference being Papi is primarily a DH while Damon added slightly to his value by playing the outfield and ditto Martinez at catcher.

In any case, David Ortiz still has tremendous value on and off the field and Boston will be better with him in the lineup whether they lose the hearing or not.

Oil Can Boyd Used Cocaine During Games

Oil Can Boyd won 60 games while wearing the uniform of the Boston Red Sox. He apparently consumed mountains of cocaine and rarely slept while doing so. The veteran of 10 major league seasons admitted as much in a radio interview from Fort Myers today with WBZ NewsRadio 1030.

Bruce Hurst don't have nothin' on me

"There wasn't one ballpark that I probably...didn't stay up all night, [until] 4-5 in the morning," Boyd stated while indicating the drugs would be in his system from the night before while pitching. He'd even used during games occasionally. The now 52-year old went on to say that he'd been engaged "in a demonic activity. [It was] a very very cold scary world I was living in when I was younger."


I'm a patsy for baseball tell-all books, interviews, etc. Behind the scenes shenanigans get me every time. Which is why this story has two things going for it: it gives me a chance to write the words Oil-Can-Boyd in succession for the first time in my career, and it also burns a quick flashback of 1987, the first year I can remember watching the sport. Anything that can cause those two things to instantaneously occur is okay by me. 


Boyd, who picked up the nickname in Mississippi due to his penchant for downing beers (or Oil Cans), is releasing an autobiography titled They Call Me Oil Can later this year, in which he will no doubt recount just how many cans of oil earns one such a title.


As for the admission, he was a very matter-of-fact about the whole situation. He's not looking for sympathy, and he's certainly not bragging about it, this is a man merely telling it like it was. In light of the recent Josh Hamilton situation, it's pretty clear where I come down on most of these things. Don't judge lest ye be judged and all that jazz.


I will say this though, it seems as if Mr. Boyd was pitching for the wrong team back in '86.

Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

2004: The Remaining Idiots

For the first time since, well since before Scott Hatteberg's catching career threw its arm out and sent itself headlong into the Billy Beane Moneyball machine, Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefield will not be members of the Boston Red Sox. 


1998 to be exact.

Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images

With truck day on the near horizon, the Sox roster is undergoing an out-of-body experience of sorts without the two veterans. Heading into spring with an enigmatic and disjointed team following an offseason which addressed major issues with answers along the lines of "umm" and "kind of," the departure of Varitek and Wakefield has largely flown under the radar. 


Though I wouldn't rule out the possibility of either of the vets returning--especially Varitek--in the face of the very real possibility that  Josh Beckett starts the season 0-3 causing the Texas Tough Guy to send his spittle flying in the face of Jarrod Saltalamacchia in a tidal wave of greasy rage. 


Just sayin'.


But the impending baseball demise of these two franchise icons brings another fact to mind: this has not been a good offseason for the 2004 World Series champions. Or what's left of them. 


Here's a quick rundown of the players from that squad who are still in baseball as of today:


The Holdovers
David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis
And then there were two. With Wake and Tek gone, David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis are the only remaining pair who held roster spots during the '04 season. Clearly, Papi's late inning heroics during those epic battles with Mariano Rivera are surpassed only by the Bloody Sock, while Youkilis was in his rookie year in '04. Youk saw limited playoff action in just a single game versus the Angels in the ALDS with only two plate appearances.


The Departed
Bronson Arroyo
An integral part of Terry Francona's inaugural pitching staff, Arroyo is still sporting his silly haircut in Cincinnati. Despite a down year in 2011 (5.07 ERA,)  Bronson has been good for 200 innings and at least four harrumph inducing imitations of Eddie Vedder per year.


Orlando Cabrera
Some thought Cabrera would give Pedro Martinez and Andre Dawson fits in the competition for best afro in Expos history.  Clearly he did not. 


But what he did do was play for 15 seasons with a respectable .272/.317./.390 career slash-line. Alas, according to this tweet from Enrique Rojas of ESPNdeportes in January, Cabrera plans to call it quits. 


Currently, he's still a free agent and is able to hook on with any team for 2012 so I've included him on this list.


Johnny Damon
Not much to say about baseball Jesus. He's 17 years into his career, and was one of the ringleaders of The Idiots along with Kevin Millar. You all know him, some of you still love him, harbor ire towards him for bolting to New York, or simply adore noodle-armed baseball players. Today he is beardless and searching for a new contract after finishing up last year with Tampa Bay.


Lenny DiNardo
Shocking, but the lefty reliever you probably don't remember is still kicking around. Just 24 years old in '04, DiNardo did not see any playoff action that season and last pitched in the majors in 2009 with the Royals. Yet he was throwing in the A's minor league system in 2011 and a return to the major league club is not impossible.


You can now all hold your collective breath.


Derek Lowe
Can one mention Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek in the same article without bringing up the Heathcliff Slocumb trade? Probably not. I think it's a rule somewhere.


After leaving Boston in '05 to sign a four-year deal with the Dodgers, Lowe has enjoyed the most post-Red Sox success out of this group aside from Johnny Damon. While he never matched the success he had for Boston, his best season after leaving was 2006 when he posted a 4.7 fWAR for Los Angeles. 


The 39-year old righty had a rough go of it last year, putting up a 9-19 record with a 5.05 ERA. This is likely to be his last season as his contract is up ad the end of the year.


Manny Ramirez
Yes he's still facing a 50 game suspension. Yes, he officially retired after failing yet another drug test last season, this time with the Rays. And yes, he should probably stay exactly where he is in lieu of picking up another bat.


But the one thing we always knew about Manny that he was a baseball savant. As nonchalant as his attitude seemed, baseball was and is his life. Not in the Michael Jordan sense of the idea of competitiveness, but in the way that baseball can permeate the very soul of a person.


If Manny gets his way, we'll all get to witness him being himself for one more year.

On Clay Buchholz

Clay Buchholz's back--it was at least as much a part of last season's collapse as beer, Popeye's, and apathy. But  the only talk about the starting rotation these days has been the status of Roy Oswalt and a slew of not so spry arms from the lost and found bin.


After a stress fracture which kept him out for most of the second half of last year, the status of the expected number two starter has flown under the radar this offseason. I don't think I need to mention why.


After throwing bullpen sessions in Fort Myers following the season and seeing a specialist over the winter, there has been...silence.


Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald reports that "Buchholz is healthy, but after all the time he missed last year, he’s hardly a lock to pitch 200 innings. (Asked about Beckett and Buchholz, Cherington said, 'They’ve both had really good off-seasons, and we don’t expect any issues with either of them going into camp. They’re both motivated to have a good year.')"


While that's seemingly positive--a healthy Buchholz is a happy fanbase--this is not entirely good news. Boston  needs him find his guts and toss up something close to 200 innings. An expectation which is ridiculous and unrealistic I realize. 


The 26-year old has been within shouting distance of that mark just once, throwing 173.2 innings in 2010. That's it. He hasn't topped 100 frames in any other season. So to be reasonable, barring any major injury, we might be looking at a 150 inning season at best from the number two starter. Yikes.


Where are all of these innings going to come from? Alfredo Aceves?


We've all seen the results of taking a flier on a talented retreads, a strategy the budget-conscious Cherington is employing this offseason. Bret Saberhagen, Ramon Martinez, and Steve Avery are a few that come to mind. But while they might show flashes of past brilliance, those cases rarely work in the long term. So hopes are not high in that area. Sorry Carlos Silva and Rich Harden.


In addition Daniel Bard is not going to last a month in the rotation, a case which I'll look at more in-depth before the season. Also, as much as Aceves was bullpen-Jesus for Terry Francona last year, his innings load was heavy, and the team would be lucky to get a repeat performance from the 29 year-old (though, according to baseball-reference.com, his nickname is "Ace" which is oddly encouraging,) nevermind expecting him to carry a significant load in the rotation.


So in early February, a grab bag of question marks that would make the Riddler jealous is what we're left with. Let's just hope Bobby Valentine and Co. can count on Buchholz's back in 2012.

In Defense of Josh Hamilton

I'm a sucker for redemption stories. Read my reaction to Josh Hamilton's slip-up here.

Compensation For Theo

It's Groundhog day. So in the spirit of Bill Murray, it's time to review things again and again and again. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Theo Epstein compensation saga!


Listen, Matt Garza is not coming to Boston, and never was. So who, or what, is? The precedent for these things isn't exactly promising, as Baseball Nation's Al Yellon points out:


"In 1994, when the Cubs hired Twins executive Andy MacPhail as their general manager, they sent minor-league pitcher Hector Trinidad — a top prospect at the time — as compensation. Trinidad never pitched in the major leagues."


So the Cubs are the one's stealing everyone's women! I never did trust that little blue bumbling bear. But in a baseball sense, the likelihood that Boston ends up with anything of significance out of this entire process is extremely small. 


Peter Gammons tweeted yesterday that Uncle Bud Selig is still waiting on "written arguments in Cubs-Red Sox compensation case," but the hall of fame writer expects Chicago to send over "an A level prospect." Whom shall that prospect-to-be named eventually be? I won't pretend to have any insight into Uncle Bud's mind, but here's a list of the Cubs' top-20 prospects of 2012 for those of you who are interested.


Here's a list of homegrown Cubs that have done much of anything in the last 20 years: Starlin Castro, Kerry Wood, and Harry Caray's corpse. That's it. Three.


In any case, after a tumultuous but ultimately lackluster offseason, comedian Jim Norton summed up the situation nicely earlier this morning on Twitter: "It's Groundhog Day! Punxsutawney Phil poked his head out and saw the business end of a shotgun."


I simply wonder if there's any room in front of those barrels for a worn out Red Sox fan.

Roy Oswalt: Master Negotiator

As anyone who watches shows like Pawn Stars and other public haggling matches can attest, declaring your intentions before the deal is concluded is terrible form. Almost as bad as stealing Jobu's rum.


Which is exactly why Roy Oswalt has put himself in a terrible position, seemingly sticking by his declaration that he will pitch only for the Rangers or Cardinals this upcoming season. This is starting to resemble one of those slit-eyed retirees who stumble into the shop and simply must sell that Colt .45 under orders from their fire-breathing hag of a wife. Well, it does to me anyway. 


The problem is, it's a tight squeeze for both teams. Foxsports.com's Ken Rosenthal reports that "the Cardinals, perhaps trying to exert their leverage, have not made Oswalt a financial offer that the pitcher deems anywhere close to sufficient, according to one major-league source." Which means Boston still might have a chance if they swoop in with a big offer, especially considering the Rangers don't have a spot in their rotation for him. 


Roy Oswalt can still pitch. Roy Oswalt also has a giant head. These are both facts. Yet aside from that, no one, not even the 34-year old righty knows which color the the size nine cap he sports will encircle his head in 2012.