Caution ahead
Now that Peyton Manning has finally won the big one, could it possibly be (gasp) Alex Rodriguez’s turn, too?
With all due respect to our supposed professional hockey and basketball team, the kind-of, not really handoff from football to baseball season took place at just about 10 p.m. last night, right around the time Rex Grossman was deciding if he should find the nearest cave instead of hopping on the charter back to Chicagoland. We’re sort of betting that Jim Nantz still hasn’t slept yet, too busy grinning in bed while visions of Peyton “the architect” dance in his head.
But now that the NFL is out of our weekly lives for another five months, it’s time for most of us to turn to the hardball, even though the particulars won’t convene in Florida and Arizona for another 10-15 days or so. Maybe more for Manny Ramirez.
Barring a revival of the Todd Helton rumors, the Red Sox seem pretty much set to enter the 2007 season with the troops on hand. And since the Rockies first baseman has told the team he plans on vetoing any future trades by virtue of his no-trade clause, that, as they say, is that.
After an offseason that saw the Red Sox toss money around like Montgomery Brewster, it’s inevitable that more than one superstar is going to miss time with injury, a situation the Red Sox were ill-prepared to face last season when Matt Clement, Trot Nixon, Jonathan Papelbon, Jason Varitek, Manny Ramirez, Coco Crisp, Tim Wakefield, and David Ortiz all missed time with various injuries in Boston’s first third-place finish in a decade. You might have blocked it out, but remember how desperate things were last summer? Or do you just want to strike the name Jason Johnson from your memory altogether?
A lot can change in a year, and the Red Sox have spent plenty to strike the 2006 proceedings from the record, which I suppose everyone should be thankful for. Remember, it was just a year ago that there was talk that:
And so on.
Gotta love preseason predictions. Perception is not reality until it percolates into action. And even then, it takes a lot of things happening for it all to fall into place. Let’s face it, Daisuke Matsuzaka could be a Japanese version of Pedro Martinez. Or he could be the next Hideki Irabu. There’s simply no way of telling until we hit April.
As far as sure things go, there are admittedly only a few on this team. Curt Schilling will be an undoubted ace and Ramirez and David Ortiz will be the most feared 1-2 punch in the major leagues. After that, there’s not much else to look at and feel comfortable placing a fifty down at your local parlor guaranteeing an “over”. Kevin Youkilis will walk more than 90 times? Maybe that’s one more.
Beyond that, and your guess is as good as Bill James’s as far as what to expect out of this $150 million conglomerate. Is it more Daisuke Mania and less Kyle Snyder? I mean, everyone with even the slightest vested interest can only hope, right?
So, while we can assume here, on the fifth day of February…
It’s easy to make such assumptions prior to spring training even kicking off. And even then, what do we know about a ballclub? Nothing. Are the Sox better? Sure, but heading into 2006 it wasn’t as if the Red Sox were predicted to be battling the Orioles for fourth in the division. Odds are we won’t even learn the identity of these Red Sox until August, when the pennant race heats up. In 2006, many of us didn’t want to pay attention to the prevalent signs of July that hinted where the Red Sox were going to end up, choosing instead to blame Theo Epstein for not making a move at the deadline.
And wouldn’t you know it, in 2007, those chips that he refused to trade, Jon Lester, Manny Delcarmen, and Hansen, just might play the most pivotal roles of this team heading into the summer. This are the players with the most upside, and how much they mature professionally might determine where this team finishes.
Beyond that, and it’s far too early for predictions and assumptions, too many X factors and things can potentially go wrong. Isn’t that the lesson of 2006?
Hey, Peyton Manning just won the Super Bowl. The Tigers were in the World Series and the New Orleans Saints were in the NFC title game. And let’s not forget, all this revived sports history is happening just three years after the Red Sox themselves won the World Series. There’s great reason to be cautious. It seems we’re in a sports era in which curses, back monkeys, and stigmas are no longer any match. It’s anybody’s guess who’s next to get over the hump.
But good grief, what if it’s A-Rod?
