Red Sox Spring Notes - Feb. 16: Lugo, Bowden bulk up

by Randy Booth on Feb 16, 2009 10:18 AM EST in News Comment 33 comments

A few notes from Ft. Myers this morning:

Julio Lugo said he will wait and see how Spring Training goes before potentially asking for a trade. According to Nick Cafardo, Lugo is 100 percent healthy and added 10 pounds of muscle over the offseason.
Also in Cafardo's notes package, Michael Bowden was a "star" at API over the offseason. Bowden has bulked up to a little over 230 pounds, which should benefit the young righty.
Takaishi Saito is the new No. 24 on the Red Sox. As you all can remember, the last player to have No. 24 was ... ummm ... what's his name again? Crap. I forget. I'm pretty sure he's still a free agent though...
On a more personal note, I love the Extra Bases blog because they usually have at least one video of Amalie Benjamin per day. Although the audio has sucked on all the videos of her, I can't take my eyes off the video.
Bob Ryan writes a nice column on our lil' slugger Dustin Pedroia. Did we ever figure out if Pedroia was the smallest MVP winner ever? I think he's close.
Cafardo has a piece about one of the best closers in baseball, Jonathan Papelbon. I really wish we sign this guy for many, many more years.
The Official Sox Beater Writer of OTM (that'd be Amalie, duh) notes that JD Drew still has back problems. I'm pretty worried about Drew. How does back stiffness last for an entire offseason? There has to be some major issue that either doctors aren't dealing with or didn't see. Drew said the MRI last year revealed only "what he already knew." That's bad news to me. This gets bumped up to No. 1 on the "things to watch this spring" list. I have a bad feeling.
Did anyone see the really skinny guy at Sox camp yesterday? They say it's David Ortiz, but I'm not convinced. Where'd the Cookie Monster go? In all honesty, Ortiz looks great and yes, I am going to call him skinny because the guy did some great work over the offseason. Ortiz is going to mash this year.
WEEI reported the other day that Sox catcher George Kottaras will not play for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic so he can focus on winning the backup catcher job. Good idea, Georgy.

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Re: Papelbon

There’s an interesting piece here which reveals his contract discussions with the Sox.

I’m expecting him to end up on the Yankees eventually. Statements like these suggest that:

"But am I willing to give up money that I deserve? Hell no,‘’ Papelbon said. "And for me that outweighs security. That’s just the way I look at it. I know other players look at it differently, but for me, giving up money I feel I deserve for security, I don’t know about that.’’

The Sox aren’t going to give him enough, especially with his past arm issues.

"It's just a tiny little nick, but it hurts when I get champagne in there."
- Jason Bay, on getting spiked scoring the winning run in ALDS Game Four.

by 0157H7 on Feb 16, 2009 12:42 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Even after the MFY fans tanted his wife?

Manny ain't the only bad man.

by tommy.otm on Feb 16, 2009 6:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

does anyone have a better pic of papi?

by beantownboy171 on Feb 16, 2009 1:04 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I can't find one.

Or anything that says how much he’s lost.

by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Feb 16, 2009 5:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Here’s one:

OverTheMonster.com

by Randy Booth on Feb 16, 2009 5:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

he looks alright

ill have to see him in uniform to notice the difference

by beantownboy171 on Feb 16, 2009 6:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Let's hope he only burned fat...

Well, I'll appreciate for you to keep my zingers outta your mouth!

by BoSox415 on Feb 16, 2009 8:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Kinda hard to burn muscle.

And he still looks built.

by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Feb 16, 2009 8:54 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Ortiz said that he’s read all off-season that he’s through his prime; his body-type doesn’t age well and he won’t fully come back from the wrist injury. Whether or not that’s true, Papi seems very motivated to prove his critics wrong.

"You know you're having a bad day when the fifth inning rolls around and they drag the warning track." - Mike Flanagan, Baltimore Orioles pitcher, 1992.

by SoxDevil on Feb 17, 2009 12:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Plus, look at the logo on his shirt.

He’s obviously pumping iron 24/7.

by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Feb 17, 2009 5:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

georgy boy not playing for canada

a better reason for him to not go to the WBC is to avoid sitting on the bench and watching all-star catcher, Russel Martin, suit up for CANADA

by dougydougydougydoug on Feb 16, 2009 5:55 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Smallest MVP.

Here.

Manny ain't the only bad man.

by tommy.otm on Feb 16, 2009 6:01 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

We'd have to know DP's actual height first to judge that.

by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Feb 16, 2009 8:55 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm guessing 5'6"

as does Bob Ryan – which is the same height as Rizzuto. But Pedroa is stockier than Phil.

Manny ain't the only bad man.

by tommy.otm on Feb 16, 2009 9:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

If stockier = more bad ass, then yes

OverTheMonster.com

by Randy Booth on Feb 16, 2009 9:18 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Drew

If Drew has no obvious physiological problems, then he is only dealing with muscle pain, which all of us have as we age. We can usually overcome this by warming up and biting the bullet a bit. For the friggin money Drew gets paid, he should be able to play and be happy to get paid like that!

Is there a commitment problem to the game and the team here??

by NG on Feb 17, 2009 10:48 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Man

Back problems are a motherfucker, no matter what it is you can’t swing anything. Trust me on this, it’s not like Drew could play perfectly through the pain. Even if it is just muscle pain.

"Hey we got a lot in common here... I'm gonna rape you"

by MerryGoByeBye on Feb 17, 2009 11:59 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Okay so how about these equations:

Big money = Big playing results and time

No big playing results and time = NO BIG MONEY

by NG on Feb 17, 2009 12:06 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

So time = money

But from physics, we know that power = (work/time).

We also know that there is another cliche stipulating that knowledge = power. Making the appropriate substitution, we find:

Knowledge = (work/time).

Again, making an appropriate substitution, we show:

Knowledge = (work/money).

Solving for money we get:

Money = (work/knowledge).

Thus, as knowledge approaches zero, money approaches infinity regardless of the amount of work done. This explains the high salaries of steroid cheats like A-Fraud.

QED.

by RSNexile on Feb 17, 2009 12:54 PM EST up reply actions 3 recs

Note the conjunction "AND" in my post

Therefore in your analysis, you cannot just say:
So time = money

You have to say:
Big playing results “AND” time = Big money

Drew or any other player has to both perform very well and do this often enough to get/deserve big bucks IMHO!

by NG on Feb 17, 2009 1:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Can someone find NG's house and remove the Shift and 1 keys from every keyboard he has?

by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Feb 17, 2009 5:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Rec'd

by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Feb 17, 2009 5:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

That's not his fault

He didn’t put a gun in Theo’s head asking for that kind of money, it was given to him. It’s the GM fault, not the player.

I sympathize with Drew because I had to stop playing tennis and baseball because of back problems (not the kind he had, but still), and it’s pretty amazing that he can still play at a high level even with that.

"Hey we got a lot in common here... I'm gonna rape you"

by MerryGoByeBye on Feb 17, 2009 2:46 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Did you give up any millions because of your pain?

I think these giant contracts should have long term injury pay reductions or insurance contract requirements in them or renegotiation mandates say a year after an injury that is still effecting performance!

by NG on Feb 17, 2009 4:47 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Point is

He had injuries before he was a Sox, so it’s Theo fault for giving him a long term contract that pays him much. He doesn’t have to give up shit, it’s the GM job to see the risks.

"Hey we got a lot in common here... I'm gonna rape you"

by MerryGoByeBye on Feb 17, 2009 5:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

You can't make money make physical pain go away.

But if you were some hobo and a guy offers you a thousand dollars, would you really say “I’m not good enough?” In THIS economy?

Well, I'll appreciate for you to keep my zingers outta your mouth!

by BoSox415 on Feb 17, 2009 7:51 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Hey, careful who you talk to about hobos.

There may be one on now…

by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Feb 17, 2009 8:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

There are injury clauses in DRew's contract:

per Cot’s:

-Boston may opt out of either of final 2 seasons if Drew:

* spends 35 days on the disabled list in either 2009 or 2010 with injury related to pre-existing right shoulder condition, or
* finishes 2009 or 2010 season on the disabled list and cannot play outfield the following season

So, these clause look pretty easy to avoid on JD’s part, but I could see the second one happening. If this back injury is as bad as it seems, it will definitely limit his ability to play the field. The Sox were entirely free to negotiate more clauses as are any teams that sign free agents.

by BTLove on Feb 17, 2009 9:18 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs