The Shortstop Awards

The World Series MVP
The NL Comeback Player of the Year
The NL Batting Champion
The NL Rookie of the Year

What do those four award winners from 2006 have in common? They're all shortstops, or were for a substantial portion of their career, yes. They are all on NL teams? Yes. But look closer. David Eckstein, Nomar Garciaparra, Freddy Garcia, and Hanley Ramirez were all shortstops with the Red Sox or their high minor leagues. I used to think only the Brewers were cursed by the phenomenon of players getting really good after they leave Milwaukee, but it does appear that the Sox suffer from this as well. The latest hit to Sox pride came yesterday as Hanley Ramirez won the Rookie of the Year.

The second guessers of Red Sox Nation will be happy to question the deal that sent Hanley, along with Anibal Sanchez (he of the no-hitter) to the Marlins for Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell (and the flipped, steriod-addled Guillermo Mota). It sure does look questionable, with Beckett's mixed results this year, and the Sox facing another question at shortstop for 2007. I still think that you have to make the move. You have a chance of getting one of the very best young (proven) pitchers in the majors for a promising but dicey prospect. I would still defend the Sox pulling the trigger on that. And heck, Lowell was supposed to be an albatross, but he was terrific last year.

The other element of the trade I wonder about is the Renteria effect. Renteria was an all-star before he got to Boston. In Boston, he stunk. When he left, he got better. Beckett was really good with the Marlins. He got to Boston, and kind of stunk also. Is it Boston's doing? I think it's probably safe to say that not everyone can succeed in Boston's atmosphere. I'm tempted to think that maybe Hanley was one of those guys. He seemed easily distracted and impressionable. With a slow start, or a mid-season slump, the media and rabid fan base may have carved him up. He had the chance to blossom in Florida out of that crazy scrutiny. Good for him- but not necessarily too bad for us. There's no guarantee those results would have been transferrable to the Hub.

And don't get me started on Papelbon finishing second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting. Verlander did have a good year, and pitched decently. Papelbon had an historic year. One of the best relief performances ever- almost Eckersley-esque. Ahh, screw 'em. Pap can win the Cy Young next year.

In other exciting news, this evening will bring the Matsuzaka announcement. After some rumors that the Rangers may have had the inside track, pretty much every news outlet (which is to say ESPN and everyone who reads or believes ESPN) is now saying that the Red Sox have placed the highest bid with the Seibu Lions, a reported $42 million for the rights to negotiate with Matsuzaka. I'll believe it when it happens, but I have to say that if you don't think of that money as salary (which it is not) and instead think of it as a marketing investment, it is not only easier to take, but it even makes some sense.