A couple weeks ago, Pete Abe wrote a piece whose thesis was pretty much that Mark Teixeira is the only Yankee position player who doesn’t have a big question mark surrounding him. I can’t disagree that the Yankees have a lot of guys that have some kind of question regarding what they’ll do this year, but seeing that the Red Sox just released Josh Bard, I’ve got to say this: doesn’t everybody? Let’s look at the Red Sox questions surrounding their lineup this year:
Catchers who can’t hit anymore: Jason Varitek
Players coming off of career years that are likely to regress to the mean: Youkilis and Pedroia
Older players coming off of major injuries last season: Ortiz and Lowell
Young players who haven’t proven they can hit Major League pitching yet: Ellsbury and Lowrie
Left fielders who can’t actually play left field: Jason Bay
Players who are injury-prone and can’t ever seem to string good seasons together: J.D. Drew
These are two of the elite teams in baseball, maybe THE two best teams in baseball, and they both have questions about almost every, single position. If you dig even a little, almost everyone has question marks about them. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Baseball is all about probabilities. As a GM, you bet that the guys you have will probably give you enough to be successful. Questions are okay, as long as the answer to the query is something along the lines of: he’ll probably provide average to above average production for the position. For the most part (except for Varitek) the answer is yes.
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14 Responses to Questions about Question Marks
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TIQ IQ
Tom, its March and they have to write something. God forbid they do a little research and dig up something interesting about someone on the team. Its much easier to recycle this crap every year.
Nice post, Tom. People act as if the Yankees are the only AL East team with question marks. The Red Sox have the same amount, if not more since their rotation features an assortment of tattered pieces. No AL East team is breathing easy right now. Even the Rays have closer issues.
Also, nice job pointing out that Jason Bay is a terrible defensive LF. I did not know that.
Yeah, a minus 19.7 last year despite having excellent athleticism. He’s one of the worst in baseball. It’s very surprising.
You have a point, but I would change one line to:
Two players in their prime: Dustin Pedrioa and Kevin Youkilis.
As much as I hate to admit it, you can’t get much better than those two.
Personally I really like the Red Sox lineup. I’m envious of it. Aside from Catcher and short they are very strong at every position.
The Yankees have a better rotation though.
I was just trying to make a point, but yes, they’re terrific players. I still like the Yankee lineup once A-Rod gets back. If the Yanks are healthy, their lineup is quite a bit longer. No matter what happens, the Sox will be terrible at catcher unless they make a trade.
“Aside from Catcher and short they are very strong at every position.”
The two most important and skilled positions on the diamond. I’d say that’s a huge question mark.
Although most people in baseball feel Lowrie can step in and be an above average everyday shortstop right now. So that may eliminate one of their huge holes. And the Sox do have the pieces to trade for a young above average catcher, it just depends on whether or not they are willing to overpay a bit to get him.
Those holes can quickly disappear.
I agree to an extent, but Lowrie could still very easily fall flat on his face or just not be ready yet. There’s not nearly enough sample to extrapolate him as anything remotely close to a sure thing. Ellsbury was MUCH better in his call up two years ago and he struggled the next season.
Catcher COULD be filled with a trade, yes. The Sox have the chips and the salary flexibility, but why haven’t they done it yet? This offseason was the perfect time – Tek was a FA! They could have just severed ties. I think they’re getting dangerously sentimental with him. He may be a major hole in that lineup all year.
Guys don’t worry about sox SS position. According to Peter Gammons Lowrie should be good for 40-50 doubles this year. Nevermind that only 2 guys in THE ENTIRE MLB hit more than 50 doubles last season. Thats the kind of fair and balanaced reporting you can expect from the WWL
Lol I still remember his column about how Devern Hansack was ready to break out into the next big thing in baseball. It’s like once you put on that Redsox jersey your ability goes through the roof.
Dustin Pedoria….he’s “all about championships”
Dustin Pedoria….he’s “all about championships”
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I love it when they put a tag like that on a player. What, BSox have won two WS in the last 90+ years. Then Mr. October, that’s another one along with Mr.November Jackson hits 3 HRs in a row…all of a sudden, Mr. October. Mickey hit 18 in the WS, they didn’t have play-offs. No one is close to 18 HR’s.
Names such as those, are real killers…ever notice, it is the good steady ballplayers that win the MVP of most Play-offs and the WS?
This is one of the downfalls of living in BOSTON and the love fest of Red Sox fans with their team. I don’t see how ORTIZ, DREW,BAY,ELLSBURY, LOWELL AND VARITEK are any less questions than the those of the Yankees. O I forgot they signed Baldelli Smoltz and Penny all of which are certainties. I think if the Yankess had 20-25 years old superstars at every position and in the rotation-bullpen you would still hear reporters question the team. I can honestly say I dont see a spot where the Sox are definitively better than the Yankees and I will take the Yankees rotation
Is Youkilis a better fielder than Tex, maybe? I’m not sure. Pedroia was definitely better than Cano last year, but I do agree that the Yankees are unfairly criticized for their defense. Sure, it’s not great but it’s not god awful either (and if you’re going to criticize one, make sure to get them all).
I think Tex is considered a slightly better fielder, but they’re both slick glovesmen.