Pitching wins championships, and I'm not sure if the Red Sox can slug their way around their present pitching issues. I'm sure they'd love to have Pedro on the staff right now.
The Sox should have foreseen their current predicament - especially with Schilling's injury last year.
They could have signed a cheaper interim shortstop, and given more money to Pedro instead. Hanley will be ready next year, or the year after, and now the Renteria signing has completely bungled payroll in a couple of ways. First off, he's clearly not worth $10 million per season. Secondly, what are guys like Johnny Damon, or other free agents, worth now?
Omar Vizquel was available, and cheap. He's a 3-time All-Star, a 9-time Gold Glove winner and owns best fielding percentage in Major League history among shortstops. He's been playing great ball in San Francisco and his numbers are similar to Renteria's.
Hindsight is 20/20, but the Red Sox brightest baseball minds should have seen this coming. There are only about ten truly "great" pitchers in all of baseball and the Sox gave up on one who is only in his early 30's. Guys like that don't come along often and are hard to replace.
Yeah, Pedro was a head case and a prima donna, but he could really help right now and in the playoffs - should they get that far. It's clearly not a lock.
Even if Pedro couldn't fulfill the last year of the contract, he might have been worth the money anyway. He has a 2.77 ERA, and 182 strike outs, which are far better than any Sox pitcher. He's averaging a strike out an inning. He's also gone 13-5 for a team that hasn't helped him win many ball games. As of today, Pedro had only given up 126 hits in 182 innings. That's far fewer than any Sox pitcher, and a much better ratio too.
This could be Roger Clemens, part deaux. The Sox should have learned their lesson the first time.
Copyright © 2005 Kennedy's Commentary. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the author's consent.
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