That’s how fast I’d latch on to Peter Gammons’ idea of trading Matt Clement for Derek Lowe. (Via Nick Cafardo in today’s Boston Globe.) Lowe may be no one’s idea of a role model, but he can pitch under pressure. For that matter, in his last two seasons with the Red Sox he showed that he might not be able to pitch except when there’s pressure — the more, the better.
Meanwhile, Clement, I’m afraid, is going to be Matt Young-ized if he stays here, not just because of his own skittishness but because many Boston fans are spoiled, mean-spirited yahoos. (That is, unless you think the hapless Mark Bellhorn deserved to be hounded out of town.)
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Dan, Please, please, please do not go down this road. Suffice it to say, Derek Lowe pitched like crap for 2 years, was escorted (get it?) out of town to the hands-down best pitcher’s park in America and to a league where instead of facing David Ortiz he faces … other pitchers, pitched OK (not great, just OK), and now there’s hue and cry to bring him back. Good god! All it proves is that precious few media writers (including sportswriters) understand the math and statistical tools to properly assess a player’s value (now there’s a column). Better just to point readers to sites like Baseball Prospectus and steer clear of these matters.
Don’t complain, Mike. At least we know DK is still alive; more than we can say for (ahem), the custodian of another media blog in town……..
And here I was thinking it was Bellhorn’s brutally lousy play that cost him his job. Silly me, it is the fans’ fault Bellhorn sucks.
Mike, I gotta disagree with ya. Lowe and Clement have fairly similar career stats EXCEPT for one thing – walks. Clement’s control has been a lot worse, and consequently his ERA has been higher (despite Lowe being in the AL and Clement in the NL for most of their careers). Because of that, Lowe has been a demonstrably better pitcher to this point.Lowe has been maddenly inconsistent over his career, though, and I wouldn’t be in favor of bringing him back.Because I have to disagree with Dan, too. Lowe would be MUCH more likely to suffer Matt Young’s fate – ridiculed as a head case. (It had already started by the end of the 2004 regular season.) Maybe he would be more oblivious to it, but things were going down that road.I’m satisfied with Clement at this point. Next year is key – will he stay healthy, and will he get things under control. He’s always had sich unfulfilled promise. But he’s over 30 now, and the clock is ticking.(And BTW, Dan, if I recall correctly, Matt Young was ALREADY a head case when he got here. He had had a career year the year before he came, but that was after a few really dreadful seaons. But, yes, Boston is not a good place to get the “head case” label.)
and anon 4:05 -Bellhorn’s a lot more effective than he looks (or looked last year). Yes, last year he sucked. I think he’ll land somewhere and play decently.Fans don’t like the strikeouts. But if he hits .260 with the kind of power and walks he gets, he’s a >800 OPS secondbaseman. I doubt we’ll get that kind of production at 2B next year in Boston.
Bellhorn always struck out a lot, but his bat was electric in our magical year of ’04. Better glove than given credit for and knows how to make a DP. The trade at SS still rubs me the wrong way, and I like both players. DK wouldn’t want back here, anymore than Pedro. Baseball is hard to enjoy here and if Manny goes, it’ll be a bore. Cash in seats. Some of the best ball in the country is played on summer evenings on the Cape.
Not to be a spoilsport, but what exactly does this discussion have to do with “the media”?Don’t get me wrong, I love a good baseball discussion but I have dozens of other blogs to get my fix for that. Media Nation (and admittedly Media Log2) are where I usually go to get learned analysis of media issues these days.The possibility of Dan Shaughnessy’s columns influencing Theo Epstein’s decision to leave the Sox? Sure, I’ll grant you is a perfectly legitimate topic. But Derek Lowe? C’mon…where’s the media angle here?- AaronP.S. Of course, if DK is a DL fan…well, hell, it’s DK’s blog and he does get to do what HE wants with it, eh? 🙂
Aaron –Cast your eyes just a few inches north, and you’ll see that Media Nation is about “The press, politics, technology, culture and other passions.”You’re right about one thing: Absolutely no one should come to Media Nation looking for expert commentary on sports.
This is Boston and therefore Red Sox talk is appropriate in any venue at all. :-)But seriously, I think the media and the Red Sox intersect more in this town than anywhere. Few baseball towns have as devoted a fan base. NY, Chi, Cin and StL have the only comparable fans, I think. In NY and Chi, there are two teams and a lot going on, so the baseball issues get pushed down a bit. In Cin, there’s just not a great tradition of sports media, even thought the fans are as rabid as Boston. And in StL, the fans are just too nice.Not to mention that the Globe’s parent company (NYTimes) owns a piece of the Red Sox (how sad is that!), so the Red Sox are a legitimate Media topic.And of course, it’s DK’s blog and he does with it what he wants. 🙂
Here’s what relevant: Dan Shaughnessy pseudo self-plagiarism.When the Red Sox signed Pedro Martinez, the CHB praised Pedro and trashed Roger Clemens. When they traded for Schilling, he praised Schilling and trashed Pedro. And a few days ago when they traded for Beckett naturally he praised Beckett and trashed SchillingMore here.When on earth will the Globe wise up?