Anticipation

I think Carly Simon said it best in her hit song Anticipation. She said, "anticipation." That's what I'm feeling for the 2009 Red Sox season. I know it's months away and we still have the World Baseball classic and hours of game construction for what was previous titled Big League Manager, but that's for a different blog. This one is about the 2009 Sox.

Acquisitions. Lots of them recently, though not the type of blockbusters you'd expect from the Sox after the las few off seasons (though last season was quiet, it was also directly following a World series sweep). The Yankees, meanwhile, have gone absolute bonkers in their winter dealings. A.J. Burnett, C.C. Sabathia, Mark Texiera, Nick Swisher. The Red Sox in turn have picked up John Smoltz, Brad Penny, Rocco Baldelli, and Takashi Saito. Yes, there are others, and yes that's not all the Yankees have done this winter, but let's keep to the big names for the moment.

1. A.J Burnett vs Brad Penny. Both began there careers in Florida with the Marlins. Both pitchers are around 30, Burnett a year older. ERA and WHIP very similar. Burnett racks up more strikeouts but Penny has a better winning percentage, having three seasons with 14 wins or more, while Burnett has only one. Burnett has a very good season in '08 while Penny had shoulder problems the whole year that grossly inflated his numbers. Burnett signs for 5 years at $83 million while Penny gets a one year deal for $5 million. Theo Epstein would never have signed a 32 year old injury prone pitcher, with only 10 more wins than losses over the course of his career, to a 5 year deal.

2. C.C. Sabathia vs. Smoltz and Saito. Granted, this isn't a fair comparison. We're comparing a Cy Young winning, NL-eating demon of fat with an a likely HOFer in his twilight and a closer with an '08 arm injury. C.C. Sabathia is awesome. There's no dispelling that. He's also gargantuan and has never pitched a whole season in a joint like Yankee stadium. The pressure gets to people. And we've all seen what pressure has done to CC (I forgot that he removed the dots officially last year). I've heard him compared to David Wells, and people point out how well he did in the Bronx. Yeah, well Wells relied on a sand wedge curve ball and had a nice easy fat rolling delivery. Sabathia unravels and his arms explodes across his torso, putting his necklace in orbit and everything else. Basically, he has a weight problem. My CC Sabathia Indians cup places him at 290 lbs. Please. He is a triple-pounder, with cheese, easily. Even so, were I Cashman and company, I would have signed Sabathia in a flash. I wouldn't have signed him for 7 years (!) at 161 million. The only pitcher in the majors I'd sign to a deal of 6 years or more is JohanSantana and it's too late for that. So on to Smoltz. Incredible career. He can close, start, spot start-anything. He's coming off an injury plagued year but the Sox got him for 5.5 mil. This one is iffy, but I hope it works out. Then there's Saito, which in my opinion is the biggest steal of the off season. Saito has a career ERA of 1.95, which was "ballooned" by last seasons 2.49. He can still throw in the mid-90's and he's cool as a cucumber. If Papelbon goes down at all next year, the Sox have a bonafide All-star as a set-up man and part-time closer. Again, a one-year deal for $5 million, and I am going to guess that Saito gets 10 saves next year and has an ERA around 2.

3. Mark Teixiera. I put Mark on his own because he's incomparable. Since he came up in '03 with Texas I have been calling him an infield Mickey Mantle. For fielding and switch-hitting power in one package, he has no equal. The Yankees paid a shit load to get him ($180 million over 8 years) but he will probably be worth it. In my lifetime I can't think of a scarier combination than A-Rod and Teixiera. That being said, it is dangerous to sign a player to a deal of that caliber. You better be damn sure he's the player you think he is. Hopefully, for the sake of the Yanks, he is. I think he is. The Sox did a great job driving up his price tag though. Was anyone actually surprised that he went to the Yanks?

4. Swisher vs. Baldelli. I'm tired and I need to eat breakfast. Swisher will probably be traded before the season starts and who the hell knows what they're getting with Rocco. He's still only 27 and at his last physical, doctors were confident that Rocco can take medication to successfully combat his weird mitochondrial disease. Wouldn't that be a great story if Baldelli became a hometown (grew up 50 miles from Fenway) hero for the Sox?