Where Sox are best/good: Ballpark, Rookie, Bryce Cox mention in top prospects, Offseason pitcher acquisition, Manny mentioned in Milestone article, #5 Outfield, Rotation.
Cold plate special: Lineup, Infield, Bullpen.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T. We're all worried about it, from Red Sox fans to Yankee closers. Is ESPN giving us enough respect? Do we care?
"The Worldwide Leader in Sports" has shown a love-hate relationship with the Red Sox over the years. It's no secret that most of their coverage of baseball ends up about the Sox or Yankees, to the delight of us, if to the detriment of some other fan bases.
At first glance, it's not easy to argue with the cold plate assignments. I'm downright scared about our bullpen, depth be damned. The amount of guys in the bullpen who were well above-average relievers in 2006 is negative five. This is a group that could be good, but there's the qualifier right there. So I'm going to excuse Sean McAdam for now. Whoa whoa. Hold on there Klapisch. Your rationale?
Bob? Bob? Pay attention. Unless you count catchers: 2006 Detroit Tigers, 2004 Boston Red Sox (not even a catcher). These are just two recent teams who made it to the WS (hey, one of them won too) with no infield all-stars.
Your turn John Shea:
Aside from the Ramirez saga, most of the Red Sox's offseason headlines focused on their pursuit of Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka and their prolonged contract dilemma with Drew. In the end, Drew is an expensive health concern. Mike Lowell knows his team tried to trade him to Colorado in the Helton deal. And Manny is, well, Manny.
From 2003 to 2005, the Red Sox appeared in three straight postseasons for the first time in club history. Their offense slipped in '06, and their postseason streak ended. We'll see if the bats tell a different story in '07.
The overall point here? It's bad writing, not a lack of respect. FJM takes an example of Klapisch's "writing" and burns it to the ground. In summation, ESPN is not a source for good analytical objective writing, and should be treated as such.