Three Red Sox Players Bring Home the Gold

After all the drama that the Red sox have occurred so far this off-season I feel like some good news is finally in hand. Yesterday the Rawlings Gold Glove awards were given out to three of our very own.

For those of you who may not know but the Gold Glove is. It is given out to the best defensive player at each position on the field and this year’s award winners from the Red Sox were Adrian Gonzalez at first base, Dustin Pedroia at second, and Jacoby Ellsbury in centerfield winning his first.

For Gonzalez this is his third Gold Glove but his first in the American League. Gonzalez had a .997 fielding percentage in 2011, a career high, with only four errors on the season.   

Gonzalez was on ESPN at the time the awards were given out.

"It feels great. It’s pretty awesome hearing Dustin won as well. It’s pretty awesome playing along side him. Being able to win in both leagues I’m pretty grateful to everyone who voted for me," he said.

"I always say pitching and defense is what’s going to win championships. I take a lot of pride in it. I try to be a complete player. You can always go into offensive slumps, but defense is something that should never leave you."

Pedroia is taking the award home for the second time since his 2008 MVP season. In 2011, he had a .990 fielding percentage with seven errors, the most of his career.

Ellsbury has had an amazing season in 2011 after such a poor season in 2010 after only playing in 18 games due to injury. Ellsbury was named last month as the 2011 American League Comeback Player of the year he was also named to his first All-Star team. He has put up numbers that many feel could win him the AL MVP award which he will probably fall short of due to the Red Sox not making the post season.  While he was doing amazing things with the bat this past season he is being awarded for his defensive play as he had a perfect year in center field win zero errors and a 1.000 fielding percentage in a 154 games played at the position.

Kevin Youkilis was named a finalist for the Gold Glove at third base in his first full season back at the hot corner. Youkilis played in 112 games at third with .967 fielding with nine errors on the year. He fail to the guy he replaced Adrian Beltre who also played in 112 games at third with a .965 fielding with 11 errors.

The next awards to be given out will be the Silver Slugger awards which will be awarded on November 10^th and a couple of Red Sox players will probably take him this hardware as well just have to wait and see.

A-Gon in the Outfield Papi at first

Boston fans have been discussing this topic of should Adrain Gonzalez play right field and David Ortiz play first? Well tonight we are going to find if this is best for the team. The line ups are in and both Gonzalez and Ortiz are in the line up. The reason for all this discussion is the long National League road trip that the Red Sox are on. Ortiz who has been smoking hot has only received one at bat each game for the last four games and the problem is the Sox have only won one of those four games. It is clear that the team bats are all needed in the lineup when the pitcher is batting.

So some may ask why Gonzalez in the outfield and has he ever done this before? The answer is yes, once. When he was a member of the Texas Rangers, when he was playing behind Mark Teixeira. He also knowing he would be playing behind Teixeira played in right field during his winter ball while with Texas to prepare him to get playing time. As we all know how that worked out he didn't have to do that and has been holding on to that skill for awhile. Gonzalez is also not the fastest guy in the major league I mean honestly Ortiz could probably beat him in a foot race but as long as he is just dealing with fly ball i believe he will be just fine. Gonzalez has been practicing the position and has even went to Tito to ask if he could play this position. He has shown to be a true team player and this will allow him to work toward his goal of playing in all 162 games this season.

As for Ortiz playing the field this was his primary position prior to becoming a DH he only does this during interleague play and the World Series. I just pray he isn't to rusty at playing the field. I'm not sure I would have put him into the line up tonight with John Lackey on the mound who is considered a ground ball hitter which means a lot of plays to firstbase. I would have probably done it last night while Beckett was getting shelled on the mound or tomorrow with Jon Lester on the mound which may still happen if today goes well.

The Lineups for tonights games are:

Red Sox

CF Ellsbury
2B Pedroia
RF Gonzalez
3B Youkilis
1B Ortiz
C Saltalaamacchia
LF Reddick
SS Scutaro
P Lackey

Phillies
SS Rollins
3B Polanco
2B Utley
1B Howard
CF Victorino
LF Brown
C Schneider
P Worley

In Case You Missed It: Gonzalez Extension Press Conference

Say It Ain't So: Gonzalez Deal is Done

Who would have known? I hope you know I’m being sarcastic at this point but the Adrian Gonzalez deal is finally done. After waiting since December after all the, is he coming is he not coming mess. According to CSNNE, the Red Sox have reached an agreement on a seven year, $154 million dollar contract extension. The Red Sox expected to announce the deal later today.

As we all know Gonzalez come to the Red Sox via trade from San Diego and now he is going to sign the biggest deal for this current ownership group.

Most people who aren’t regular blog readers may ask, what took so long for the deal to get done? There are two reasons why. The first being Gonzalez did just have surgery on his right shoulder that only happen a little over a month and a half prior to the trade. They wanted to evaluate his recover and ability to play following the surgery. This is the reason the Red Sox will tell you.

But everyone knows the real reason is to get around paying to luxury tax on Gonzalez for at least one year. The Red Sox have Gonzalez this year for a bargain price of $6.5 Million for 2011, had they signed an extension prior to opening day his luxury tax value would be $20 Million even though he doesn’t make that much in 2011. You would have to pay a lot more than his value all because you signed on the dotted line to soon. If you recall the Red Sox did the same thing with Josh Beckett’s deal last season.

Most Red Sox fans like me believe that the deal was sign seal and postdated in December seeing they gave up four of their top prospects to get him. If they did not know that they would sign him long term do you really think they would have bet the farm on him? The Red Sox are the smartest team when it comes to using their prospects and they don’t just give them away for nothing.

With Gonzalez signed long term the Red Sox may have to repair the Green Monster because he is going to be hitting bombs off the wall for years to come.

The Buch Rolls In: Clay Buchholz Gets 4 Year Deal

Well after Clay Buchholz pitching performance against the Yankees on Saturday good news was needed. Well the news is here Buchholz and the Red Sox agreed on a contract extension that will leave Buchholz in a Red Sox uniform for four more years.

This deal is set up similar to the contract extensions pitcher Jon Lester that the team got done last year. Buchholz contract is said to be worth around $30 million dollars, which is what Lester is making on a five year deal with a club option. Buchholz deal is only four years with two club option years.

For those of you who do not know the policy of Red Sox of signing players under contract to long term deals who are already under their control like Buchholz is currently. The player must give up their first year a free agency and must have their arbitration years bought out and have to agree to a club option for at least one year. Buchholz had three arbitration years left under his current deal but no longer has those.

"I owe a lot, just about everything, to the Red Sox," Buchholz said. "They drafted me. They gave me an opportunity to come up in Boston and pitch even though the couple of down years. There are always going to be doubts. This game's not near as easy as some of the guys make it seem sometimes. But I definitely got to the highest point of the highs in this game, and then it took its toll on me and I thought I was better than I was at the time.”

So the Red Sox have their one through four starters locked down until at least 2014. The Red Sox hope that this contract is a deal for his pitching as most believe the Lester deal has been for the team so far. Red Sox fans hope the next deal we hear about is Adrian Gonzalez...

Red Sox Line Up Against Yankees 4/8/2011

John Lackey will be on the mound today for the home opener at Fenway against the Yankees. After his last start of with a 22.09 ERA and giving up nine runs. The Red Sox hope to get more out of Lackey and that 2:05 at Fenway Park is Awesome O'Clock at least we can only hope. Lackey will be matched on the mound by Phil Hughes who also has had a rough start to the season with a 11.25 ERA.

Red Sox Lineup

LF Crawford

2B Pedroia

1B Gonzales

3B Youkilis

DH Ortiz

RF Drew

C Saltalamacchia

CF Ellsbury

SS Scutaro

Yankees Lineup

LF Gardner

SS Jeter

1B Teixeira

3B Rodriguez

2B Cano

RF Swisher

DH Posada

CF Granderson

C Martin

Carl Yastrzemski to throw out ceremonial first pitch.

April Woes Continue for Lester as Red Sox Fall to Rangers 9-5

Box Score

Well Opening day is over and the Red Sox fail short to the Texas Rangers 9-5. Everyone was so excited about today and Lester getting his first Opening Day start. But there is one thing Red Sox fans should know about Jon Lester and that is he is not an April pitcher. Every year since he has entered the big leagues April is his worst month of the season.

Today was no different as Lester went 5.1 innings and he gave up six hits and five runs while walking one. This was not the worst Lester gave up all five runs off of three home runs this is the first time in his career he has done that. He also didn’t issue a strike out throughout the game; the last time he went without issuing a strike out was in 2008 against Detroit. Lester’s career in April he holds a 3-6 record with a 4.96.

Another pitcher that is normally lights out but struggled in his 2011 debut is Daniel Bard. Bard came in the eighth inning with a 5-5 after David Ortiz had just knocked out a home run to tie it up. Normally Bard is a flame thrower that is consistent in getting three straight starts as some including myself believe he is the closer of the future. Today was different Bard did not make it through the eighth as he faced seven batters and gave up four runs and was only able to strike out one. It was a rough day for Bard and he was issued the loss.

But there were several good things that came out of this game. I’ll start with David Ortiz getting his first homerun of the season. Last season it took him late into May to get his first homer so this could be a sign of a good start for Papi. Jacoby Ellsbury surprised people who thought that his days at lead off was over as he went 4-for-2 with a walk and on base by error also scored two runs. The most impressive story of the day was the debut Adrian Gonzalez in a Red Sox uniform that went 4-for-2 with three RBI and a stolen base.

So as you see that there was several good things came out of today’s game against the Rangers and remember that it is only the first game of the season. Also a fun fact out there for all of you Red Sox fans, the Sox lost opening day in 2004 and 2007. We know what happened those years we won the World Series. 04+07=11?

Gonzalez and Crawford talk hitting

The two newest members of the Red Sox sit down with Lou Merloni of Comcast New England to discuss hitting. Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez discuss how they face left handed hitting and there time with the Red Sox.

If the video does not fit in the screen click it and it will take you to the direct source