Since coming to the Boston Red Sox last July, Jason Bay has endeared himself to the fans of Red Sox Nation.  But is this love merited?  Has Bay really replaced Manny, or even been an all-star caliber player since joining the Sox?  My answer is no.  I also think that the Sox should have hung on to Manny (discounting the steroid scandal that did not factor into the decision making process), despite his lack of hustle and effort here in Boston.  

For all that was made of Manny not trying here in 2008 he still did remarkably well.  His final line was .299/.398/.529.  Bay, for all his effort, has managed .254/.380/.500, and that was before tonight's 0-4 1BB performance.  For all the crap Manny took in the field his UZR/150 last year was a slightly below average -3.2, Bay's this year is -11.1, and it was -18.2 last year.  For all the talk of Manny dogging it last year he still managed a 136 OPS+ and a slightly below average performance in the field. 

In terms of the contract situation, well, just look at how it turned out.  Manny re-signed for a very reasonable 2yr/45mil, whereas Bay will probably be looking for 5yr/75mil after the season is over.  I'll take the shorter, safer, Manny deal any day of the week.  I don't have the information for it available, but I can guarantee that Manny jerseys and memorabilia would be generating more than the Bay's, which means the team would have a little more money to spend.

Bottom line, Bay is getting off way too easy here.  And his treatment as compared to Manny's really bothers me on many levels.  I honestly believe there is a bit of not-so-subtle racism at play here, from both a historically racist city and a historically racist industry.  Bay is white, and as such can get a pass from the media by being "gritty" and a "hustle player", but when is the last time you heard these adjectives applied to Chone Figgins, or Carl Crawford?  Manny, however, is immediately called out for being lazy and not caring, despite his superior performance on the field.  When it comes down to it, performance on the field is what wins games, two guys can try as hard or as little as they want, but when it comes down to it, the guy who hits and fields better is the player more beneficial to the team.

In conclusion, stop giving Jason Bay a pass.  Sure he's a good player, but he's not an elite one, and he is no where close to as good as Manny was, or is.  When it comes down to it we have to face facts: Jason Bay has accumulated 4.7 WAR in his last 2 1/2 seasons, a timeframe spanning 397 games played by him.  Manny had 6.5 WAR in 153 games last year alone.  To give a further point of reference, Marlon Byrd has been worth 7.1 WAR over the same time-span, Shin-Soo Choo has been 5.7, and Aaron Rowand 9.7.  In fact, Randy Winn was worth just .2 WAR less last season alone.  These players are the company Bay deserves to be mentioned with, not the stars like Braun, Kemp, and Holliday.  Regardless of how hard he tries, all that matters is how he produces, and if that continues to be unsatisfactory, then maybe it is time we should show him the door this offseason.

The Red Sox have just acquired Pittsburgh 1B Adam LaRoche, full details have yet to come to light so we will have to wait and see who we gave up for him.  LaRoche is a classic low average/high power, sort of like 2005 Richie Sexson.  He has seen his power numbers dip this year as his SLG% sits at just .441.

At first glance I don't really understand the deal.  We already have a decent bench, and Kotsay is more than capable of filling in at 1B.  I also don't really see LaRoche as an upgrade over Carter or Bates considering his cost.  But that's just me, what does the rest of RSN think?

Continuing our flurry of recent moves for once great, recently injured pitchers, the Red Sox have signed Takashi Saito to a 1yr/1.5mil contract that could reach 7mil if he pitches well. The team also included an option for 2010. 

In my mind, this is a great move. Saito has always been dominant when healthy, it's not like he has a long history of injury. If he fails, he's not taking up much money at all. And if he succeeds we have a 2010 option on him. Overall, great signing, the bullpen is going to be nasty if everyone remains healthy. 

Dominican publication Impacto Deportivo is reporting that Manny Ramirez is on the verge of signing a 3yr/75mil deal with the Yankees. If this is true, and there's reason to believe it's not, considering the source's track record, this would obviously be a major addition to the Yankee lineup, and would put a whole lot more pressure on us to sign Teixeira. It also, would most likely take the Yankees out of the Teixeira bidding once and for all. If true, what do you guys think of this deal? Both in terms of the Yankees and the Red Sox.

Link for article: http://www.impactodeportivo.com.do/?op=displaystory&story_id=4836&format=html

It's in Spanish, but my high school level Spanish comprehension allowed me to understand it all, so you don't need to fluent to get the jist of it. 

How much do you guys think Bay will command for an extension after this season? Aside from 2007 he's been about a .290/.370/.530 producer since he came into the league, playing average to slightly below average defense during that time. If he puts up another season like he did in 2008 how much do you think it will take to re-sign him? 6yr/100mil, the comparison there being the Carlos Lee deal made before the 2007 season. 

As reported by both the New York Post and Ken Rosenthal:

FoxSports

NY Post

The Yankees have signed left-handed free agent prize CC Sabathia to a 7yr/160mil deal. What are OTM's thoughts on this? Personally I think in a way it's not too bad. This means the Yankees most likely will not be in heavily on Teixeira, which means they'll have failed to address their real need of hitting. I also think that CC will be as good as advertised for the first three years or so, but in years six and seven I think they'll be way overpaying. 

With the Rams already 0-2 with the worst scoring differential in NFL it is not unreasonable to expect them to end up with the #1 overall pick in the draft next april. With that in mind, who should we draft? We have holes pretty much everywhere and could draft someone from pretty much any position. The candidates:

QB: Matthew Stafford

WR: Michael Crabtree, Derrius Bey-Howard, Percy Harvin

OL: Michael Oher, Andre Smith, Eugene Monroe

DL: Tyson Jackson, Fili Moala, Michael Johnson, George Selvie

LB: Rey Maualuga, James Laurinites

DB: Malcom Jenkins, Vontae Davis, Taylor Mays

My vote would be for Michael Oher. Most scouts rate him as the most dominant at any position in college football today. He could anchor the left side of the line for the next 12 years. The only question is how much of an upgrade would he be over Pace or Barron next year. Oher will probably be the best in the long run but a WR, DB, or LB could help us more next year.

So, Rams nation, if we get the #1 overall pick who do you think we should draft?

Today an article was published by the Boston Globe claiming that Manny was on his way out of Boston. Instead of pure speculation the writer seems to talk as if he has some sort of inside knowledge in regards to a deal being made. So the question remains: is this just speculation by Dan Shaughnessy or are the Red Sox seriously considering getting rid of Manny before July 31st? 

Link to the article: http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2008/07/26/now_hes_a_guaranteed_out/

With our current starting catcher hitting .216/.300/.364 and our backup hitting .235/.308/.333 it may be time to start thinking about replacing Cash and/or Varitek. For everything that is made of how well Varitek handles our pitchers, there may be a time where his lack of offensive production and poor rate of throwing out basestealers overshadow his intangibles. And, if you ask me, that time has come. Varitek is essentially a black hole of production at the bottom of our lineup. 

The only difficulty is that young C's are hard to come by, and teams that get them rarely want to give them away. The only team with multiple good young catchers is Texas. To get one of them might mean giving up Bowden, Masterson, or both. 

Which brings us the idea of available veteran catchers, of which there are once again next to none. With the Mariners struggling Kenji Johjima will probably become available, he's an excellent defender and would probably be good for the clubhouse in terms of Dice-K and Okajima, but do we really want a guy hitting .229/..270/.317. Even though he has that atrocious line his struggles may be at least partly attributed to playing for a dysfunctional team in Seattle, and a change in scenery could produce more respectable numbers.

The only other veteran Catcher that's available would be Paul Lo Duca of the Nat's, a player I wouldn't want to touch with a ten foot pole. He's missed significant time this year and is hitting .228/..307/.291, plus he was a steroid user in the past, meaning his body is most likely breaking down.

So what do you think RSN, what should we do at Catcher?