Gautam Mukunda wrote:
> AL East:
> Boston - Pedro Martinez - maybe the best pitcher in history. Nomar
> Garciaparra - one of the ten best shortstops in history. Manny Ramirez -
a
> Hall of Fame caliber right fielder. This team _should_ be good. It has
the
> misfortune of trying to compete with New York, having a GM with people
> skills that make George Steinbrenner look like Mother Teresa, a history of
> disfunctional clubhouse cultures, and so on. Give Billy Beane this team
and
> the Yankees would be eating his dust in 5 years. But it's not happening
> with Dan Duquette. A good team, but (like the 1996 Seattle Mariners) one
> that just doesn't have the supporting cast in place, and nothing to speak
of
> in the farm system to try and play with.
What do you think of Boston now that Duquette is gone? Or is it too
early to make any predictions based just on his firing?
Julia
Well, I'd say that it is and it isn't. Isn't it amazing how decisive I am
:-) First, I don't know whom they will replace him with. If it were Beane,
for example, as some rumors have it, then I'd be very optimistic. On the
whole, however, I don't think (in the short term) that it matters very much.
In 1996 Duquette made a purposeful decision to ignore the farm system - as a
consequence, there's absolutely nothing there. It's as bad as the Orioles,
actually. They don't even have a first round draft pick this season, much
less any high-minors talent. Without that to work with, it's hard to see
how any GM could affect the outcome of this season's race all that much.
Maybe a little - someone like Beane could, say, swindle the Royals out of
yet another great player for replacement players. But I doubt that the Red
Sox will get anyone that good, and even someone like Beane probably couldn't
swing it given how little ammunition the Red Sox have.
Gautam
