Boston Red Sox 6.5 Behind Yankees: Defending Theo's Offseason

(Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

The Red Sox are where they are.  Six and a half games out of first place, with the division seemingly wrapped up, at least according to the statheads.  And I include myself in that group.

No, I haven't given up completely.  Not on the division—even though it's a longshot now.  But I do know where the Red Sox stand, and that is atop the Wild Card standings. 

Sure, they aren't playing well, and sure, good teams are beating them.  But it could be much, much worse, you know, like actually being out of the playoffs if they started today.

One can point to one move, or non-move, that is the reason the Red Sox are so far out of the division.  And that is the Yankees acquisition, via free agency, of Mark Teixeira.  Had the Red Sox, rather than the Yankees, signed him, it could very well have made up the difference.   Maybe the two teams are tied right now, rather than six-plus games apart.  Tex is currently raking at a clip of .284/.382/.557 and he's stellar with the glove as always.  His WAR (wins over a replacement player) is 3.6.

Basically, adding Tex would have given the Red Sox one of the best corner infielders in the game.

But we didn't add Tex.  Instead, we decided upon saving tons of money—especially some probable dead money at the back end of Tex's contract.  The organization felt it was best to put their stock in the players on the farm like Lars Anderson, rather than expensive veterans like Tex.

So the Yankees ended up with Teixeira and it looks really good in the short term.  

But what about in 2011?  How will it look then? What if Anderson is a 3-4 WAR player at a small fraction of the price?  The short term can be deceiving, my friends.

Of course, there is always the other side of the spectrum.  What if Anderson never pans out?  What if he ends up a 1 WAR player, defensively challenged, and lacking power?  Then the Tex inking will be emphasized even more than it is now.

However, I like to approach talented players like Anderson with optimism.

Since Tex was a "non-move," then it is only fair to address the Red Sox actual moves.  None of the Big Leaguers they brought in have done much, but I agree with the signings, even the failures, or sub-par performances, they have brought with them.

John Smoltz was recently designated for assignment.  The experiment failed, but the main part of this was that Smoltz was signed to a one-year deal. The money lost kind of stinks, but at least it was only for one year. 

If the experiment fails—as it did—then simply move on.  Throw another arm into the rotation.  Smoltz was signed as depth, became a piece, then became expendable, based on poor performance.  He is gone.  Move on. At least he won't suck up a roster spot or potentially available funds down the road.

Taking a chance on the future Hall of Famer was worth a shot.  It simply did not go as planned.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?