Unbelievable Game tonight For Red Sox Rookie

Dr. Giganto

I understand the merits of having Beckett, I'm just trying to say that Hanley is also a very very valuable player, so it's not a stretch to say that somebody would want Hanley over Beckett.

Is Beckett having a great year? Yes. Is Hanley having a great year? Yes. Does it look like they will both have great careers? Yes.

It would be easier to compare the two if they played the same position, but unfortunately, they do not.

Blitzkrieg

Administrator

I'm not trying to diminish the skill of Ramirez here, that'd be foolish, and I understand you'd rather have him and Santana then Beckett and Tejada but if you win the World Series it doesn't matter.

At the time of the trade, the Sox were desperate for a big arm. Remember, their lineup was as sick as the Yankees. Now this year their lineup isn't as good and I was shocked they didn't try to get a guy like Jermaine Dye to plug in after the horrible free agent pickup of JD Drew, but they didn't.

Will they win the world series this year? They have as good a chance as anyone and after the season it's likely they'll go after a Tejada-type to help out the lineup so looking back, I'd say the Sox made the right move.

Dr. Giganto

Oh, it was certainly a great trade at the time, if for no other reason than the fact that Hanley was still an "unknown" in that he had no track record of major league performance to gauge his skills with, and Beckett had a few good years under his belt.

Although, to be honest, I dont think Beckett is quite as good as he's been this year, and I dont think he's nearly as bad as he was last year. My guess is his true talent is somewhere in the middle...like maybe an ERA in the 3.50-3.75 range, instead of the 3.29 he's got this year and the 5.01 he had last year.

Blitzkrieg

Administrator

No, Beckett isn't a shutdown guy by any means but there's really only a few of them in baseball. I like the fact that he came in to Yankee Stadium and dominated in the WS, it at least proves that he can pitch under serious pressure. I wouldn't expect him to throw gem after gem in the playoffs but if Boston can get some runs on the board, I'd stack up Beckett, Dice K, Wakefield, and Schilling against anyone. Their bullpen should be alright with Papelbon, Okajima, probably Lester and Bucholtz if they don't get a start, and I don't think Gagne or Timlin will be completely horrible.

Dr. Giganto

Well, the Red Sox certainly are stacked, but as I said before, funny things happen in short serieses.

Like, let's say they play the Indians and the bats go cold against Sabathia, Carmona, and whoever the fuck is the third pitcher for the Indians...now 6 months of success go out the window because of three bad games.

That's why I put more value on the regular season...luck plays too much of a factor in the playoffs. I'm more impressed by consistent excellence over 6 months of playing time, which is what the Red Sox have had this season

Blitzkrieg

Administrator

Well, the bats just went cold against Clemens, Wang, and Pettite so I can definitely see it happening. At least in the playoffs though a guy like Lester or Bucholtz will be available when thy otherwise wouldn't pitch.

I'm kinda stuck on what I think is more impressive playoffs or regular season. Of course Atlanta is my main team so I value what they've done more then most would, but on the flip side they probably should have won in '96 and maybe another year on top of the one ws they did win in '95.

It's tough to win 3 playoff series no matter who you are, so you have to give a team some credit. If the Indians beat the Yankees, Sox, and then the Mets in the world series that'd be a hell of an accomplishment.