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| JACKIE BRADLEY JR. |
THE RED SOCKS BLOG
SENIOR CORRESPONDENT
It's easy to forget where we were a year ago.
The Red Sox were coming off their worst season since 1965 when they won only 62 games.
We were talking about a 'bridge' year and a couple of years after that before our prospects matured.
Heck,we were excited when Jackie Bradley Jr. broke north with the club - he was going to be our future and make us forget Bobby Valentine.
But Ben Cherington brought in some 'free agents' that turned out to be team leaders. Guys like Mike Napoli and Jonny Gomes who knew what it took to play the 'team concept' game. Fellows like Mike Carp who although he never played as a regular was there when called upon.
The result a World Championship !
Suddenly Ben Cherington was the rage of all baseball. He knew the way. Bring in medium priced free agents to fill your roster spots. Perhaps overspend a little to get the player you want. Make sure players hired are of postseason experience. Win championship.
Free agent players you hired go back on market......This is were Ben's philosophy gets a little iffy.
What do you do for a encore ? Repeat the cycle ?
Of course not.
The Red Sox are still the team they were last spring. Down on the farm there are at least two and perhaps three prospects who are ready to be put in the Sox lineup on a consistent basis to gain experience. Ben's philosophy cannot allow a 'bottleneck' to occur in our farm system.
So this year we are actually entering the 'hardest' part of making this work on a seasonal basis.
With 'rookies' come mistakes and with mistakes games are lost. We must be prepared to lose a few games this year that we should have won.
Jackie Bradley Jr. is ready to make the jump to the big leagues. He needs to play everyday at the major league level to mature and fix the flaws he does have. Jackie already is possibly a better defensive center fielder than Jacoby Ellsbury. Jackie needs major league at bats to sort out his pitch selections. When he tries to drive the ball for power he misjudges the breaking balls he should be trying to hit on a line. Only experience against major league pitching will fix this flaw.As for playing Jackie everyday,well as long a John Farrell keeps Jackie down in the eight hole in the batting order he should be just fine. Should Jackie really struggle Shane Victorino could move to center field a position he played full time in Philadelphia.
Xander Bogaerts is ready to replace Steven Drew at shortstop. For someone who is so young,he was not 'awed and overwhelmed' by playing in the World Series. His knowledge of the strike zone and his ability to foul off pitches to prolong an at bat to work a walk was really impressive. Xander's future depends on if Ben Cherington signs a free agent shortstop but he can play third,a position that is Will Middlebrooks's to lose. Some compare Bogaerts to Nomar Garciaparra. The Red Sox have not had a 'phenom' since 1996. They may have one here.
So now Ben Cherington must decide (I'm sure he has already) how to move forward.
If he accepts he will have rookies in center field and at shortstop he only has to replace two free agent departures. If you take into account that Mike Napoli has a 50/50 chance of returning your down to finding a catcher.
On the bench Mike Carp and Daniel Nava add extra insurance to allow rookies to play.
But the real issue is how Ben's new reality will play out. Although last season will go down in history ~ this season will be entirely different.
Players have shown they still want the long-term deal or their not going to sign. The names of the players who are willing to sign for two years are not household names. Guys like Mike Napoli don't come along everyday and lets remember he originally signed for three years not one.
The Red Sox have to allow prospects to grow.
The Red Sox are defending champions. They are a very good team especially with their 'starting piching'.
Will they repeat ? Probably not.
That championship may have come three years too early.
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