A forum to discuss anything and everything that occurs in the Boston Sports World

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

Did Big Unit Lose Something Over The Winter?

Pinch me because I must be dreaming. Based on some very preliminary exit polling from the west coast of Florida, it seems possible that the Big Unit may have lost a couple feet off his fastball over the Winter. This isn’t as good as Johnson blowing out his cartilage-starved knee, but I’ll take anything I can get. Last night, in his first Spring Training start with the Yanks, Johnson topped out at 94 on the radar gun and press reports suggest most of his fastballs were in the low-90s. I realize that this is just a Spring Training game and it is possible that Johnson was taking it easy, but I have my fingers crossed. This guy is going to be 42 this summer and it has to come to an end at some time. So why not now? There is no doubt Johnson is a freak and as such, normal rules and precedent don’t apply. But who is to say that Johnson won’t suffer the same fate as Warren Spahn, the man many consider to be the greatest lefty of all-time. Spahn was a forty-something horse in 1963, going 23-7. But he fell off a cliff the next year and was out of baseball two years after his 23 win season. Things can go in a hurry and I am just wondering if we are about to see history repeat itself. It is obviously too early to tell, but I am going to keep an eye on those radar splits this spring. Johnson is all about power and if he has indeed lost something, he is going to have a hard time earning the $48 million the Yanks owe him through 2007. And how do you think the cranky unit is going to respond to questions that he his gas has lost some octane? Such questions drove Pedro Martinez crazy last year and the bet here is Johnson will be even less diplomatic.

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Clemens for Bigs and Finley?

The Boston Globe reported this morning that in 1993, the Red Sox were a heartbeat away from sending Roger Clemens to Houston for Craig Biggio, Steve Finley, Pete Harnisch and gift certificate to Circuit City. The story comes to us courtesy of former GM Lou Gorman, who is on the cusp of publishing his memoirs. If this story is true, and there is no reason to think its false, it begs the question of what the Sox would have looked like if the intellectually challenged Gorman had pulled some different levers in the early 90s.

The story in today's Globe suggested that the trade would have gone down before the start of the 1993 season, the year in which Clemens began a terrible four-year stint for the Sox. Had Gorman pulled the string on this deal, the Sox would have been set at second and centerfield for the rest of the decade. That alone would have been tremendous since it would have spared Sox fans from the pain of watching Jeff Frye, Luis Alicea, Jose Offerman, Darren Bragg and Darren Lewis. The Sox spent the entire decade of the 90's looking for a centerfielder and leadoff hitter and its dissappointing to find out in 2005 that both were avaialble in 1993. Had this trade been made, the Sox would have had a very different decade.

I think its an interesting exericse to consider what the Sox would have looked like if Gorman had made the Biggio trade and a couple different decisions back in 1990. In that particualr year, Gorman earned his stripes by trading Jeff Bagwell for Larry Anderson and balking at a trade that would have sent Mike Greenwell to Atlanta for Tom Glavine. Just imagine what the Sox would have looked like in the mid-90's if Bagwell had been kept and Greenwell discarded.

By mid-decade, the infield would have had Mo Vaughan at first, Bigs at second, John Valentin at short and Bagwell at third. This could always be adjusted by DH'ing Mo, moving Bagwell to first and sliding Tim Naehring over to third. That would have meant no Luis Alicea at second and no Jose Canseco at DH. That is a big time infield. As far as the outfield goes, Greenwell would have been gone in the Glavine trade but Finley would be available to roam center. That gives you an outfield of Lee Tinsley, Steve Finley and Troy O'Leary. That is more then servicable. And as far as starting pitching goes, the rotation would shape up as follows: Glavine, Harnisch, Eric Hanson and Tim Wakefield. That staff is fine so long as one assumes that Glavine matured in Boston like he matured in Atlanta. That is a pretty big assumption since he is a lefty and he would have had to grow up without the help of Leo Mazzone.

While the pitching would ahve been somewhat ordinary, this would have been a big time club that would have scored a ton of runs. Can you imagine a lineup of Bigs, Finley, Bagwell, Mo and Valentin? Biggio would have scored 150 runs with those guys behind him and Bagwell would have put up Foxx type numbers hitting ahead of Mo. The 2003 and 2004 teams scored an awful lot of runs, but I am not sure they could have done much more damage then this crew. At the very least, I think Bags and Bigs would have headlined a 900 run offense and been a real threat to the big bats in Cleveland.

Its easy to second guess Gorman on this one, but in his defense, it was probably a tough call to deal Clemens before 1993. Afterall, he was only a year removed from a Cy Young and no one could have predicted his subsequent fall from grace. Moreover, Biggio had not yet exploded and Finley was half the player he was in the late 90s. With that said, this trade was not a layup. However, on the flip side, Lou handed other teams layups on more then a couple of occasions so is it too much to ask that he get one of these right? Its too bad he didn't nail this one because if he had, I wouldn't have had to sit through 1200 freightening Darren Lewis at bats.

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Brown Is Gone But Is This Really It?

It was just a matter of time until this news broke. Last week it was Ty Law and today its Troy Brown. If I were Teddy Johnson, I wouldn't buy a new house in Boston just yet.

Well, the Patriots made it final yesterday - Troy Brown has been released and is now free to seek out greener pastures. Was this piece of news a surprise? Absolutely not! Troy Brown was due to receive a $2.5 million dollar roster bonus in coming weeks and there was no way the Patriots were going to cut this check. When you add in his salary, Brown was set to carry a five million dollar charge against the Pats 05 salary cap. The Pats simply had no option but to release Troy at those numbers. You just can't fork over five million dollars for a guy who catches 40 balls a year, regardless of whether he plays some nickel back. Unfortunately, this is how professional football works. Its all about money. As much as teams speak about loyalty, it becomes secondary when big cap charges are at stake

I am going to be the first to admit that I will be sorry to see number 80 go. He has been a tremendous contributor during the Pats Dynastic run and his presence will be missed. Brown was not a flashy guy, but he was about as clutch a receiver as this franchise has ever had. Moreover, Brown always seemed to play big in the playoffs. You want examples? How about the punt return against Pittsburgh in the 2001 AFC Championship. That touchdown was a game changing moment and it went a long way towards propelling the Pats to the Super Bowl. And once that team made the Super Bowl, Brown made the big catch over the middle that allowed Vinaterri to kick the game winner. The same thing happened in Super Bowl 38 when Brown made an impossible catch to keep the Pats game winning drive alive against the Panthers. If Brown drops that ball, the Pats are going into overtime with no momentum and a devastated secondary. In other words, if Brown drops that ball, the Patriots probably lose that game.

Troy Brown is a free man today, but I am not quite ready to write his New England eulogy just yet. While he and the Pats couldn't work things out this week, I am not so sure Brown won't be back in a few weeks. I can't see there being a ton of demand for his services and I think he will soon realize that he is not going to get rich on the open market. Once this realization sets in, I think its likely that he will give the Pats a shout. And given the fact that some important locker room contributors like Pfeiffer and Bruschi may not be back next year, I think the Pats would love to have the well-liked Brown back at the right price. At the end of the day, I suspect that Troy does not want to play out the string in Cincy or Minnesota or Seattle. He has always been a Patriot and I think he ultimately will retire as a Patriot. If I am wrong, I bid Brown a fond farewell. He was the consummate professional and his hands will be missed when the team needs a big fourth quarter first down.