On December 4th, the Red Sox made the biggest personnel move of Major League Baseball’s young Hot-Stove season. (Previously known as the “off”-season, but there is no off-season in sports anymore; not with the 24-hour news cycle.) In case you’ve been living in a cave under water on one of Saturn’s moons, then allow me to fill you in. That day, Boston completed a trade with San Diego to finally land the man Theo Epstein has been fawning over for two years, Adrian Gonzalez.
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| Red makes Gonzo smile. |
When the news broke, Red Sox Nation let out an enormous “WOO HOO!” Twitter and Facebook immediately blew up with celebratory posts. Sons called fathers. Fathers called grandfathers. Friends rejoiced. And, the Nation howled “Suck it!” the their rivals to the south.
The Hot-Stove season was immediately successful.
Little did the Nation know, it had only just begun.
News broke on December 9th that the Red Sox had signed the #1 free agent hitter on the market, Carl Crawford. Rumor has it, Lenny Clarke actually fainted into his bowl of Fiddle Faddle when the ESPN crawl reported it. The collective jaw of Red Sox Nation dropped to the floor in disbelief. Surely, the Angels were getting Crawford. That’s what we were told. And, if not them, then the Yankees. Not the Sox. Not after Jayson Werth signed that ludicrous contract with the Nationals. No way. No how. No effing way. NO EFFING WAY! Yet, there it was. Carl Crawford agreeing to terms with the Boston Red Sox.
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| Carl Crawford looks good in red. |
If the Hot-Stove season had been a success after acquiring Gonzalez, the Crawford signing officially stamped it as one of the greatest in Boston history.
In the course of five days, the Red Sox, who were hampered in 2010 with injuries and a sub-par line-up had acquired an All-Star outfielder and a top five first baseman, immediately placing their line-up among the best in baseball, on paper.
With a transaction feast as robust as Thanksgiving dinner, Red Sox Nation officially plopped their asses on the couch, leaned back, put their feet up, unbuttoned their pants, and let out a satisfied sigh. But, the cook is not resting. Not yet. As the Nation digests this deliciousness, Theo Epstein, General Manager of the Red Sox, is still in the kitchen, preparing dessert.
Because, this Hot-Stove season is far from over. And, I’m not referring to the bullpen help that Epstein spoke about on December 10th. That’s more like the post dinner cup of coffee. Nope. Theo’s got something special cooking, something sweet that the Nation will devour. I’m sure of it.
Why? Aren’t the Red Sox recent indulgences satisfactory? Yes. Of course they are. And no, not quite. There’s still work that needs to be done. I can see that. And, seeing as I’m just an observer, I have to believe the master chef Epstein is seeing the same thing.
Like a democrat who can’t get his party’s bid, the Sox lean too much to the left.
