Comments on: How Does This Line-up Make You Feel? http://37feetup.com/2008/05/01/how-does-this-line-up-make-you-feel/ Red Sox Obsessed Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:05:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: jayman http://37feetup.com/2008/05/01/how-does-this-line-up-make-you-feel/#comment-92 jayman Fri, 02 May 2008 05:41:25 +0000 http://37feetup.com/?p=69#comment-92 Yeah...lately the guys getting the promotions have been providing instant contributions. Papelbon a couple years ago. Ellsbury last year. Masterson, Lowrie this year. Craig Hansen...ummm, no. One thing to consider is this. Players in the sox farm system seem to be held back from the big league club until they are truly ready. It seems to be a mandate that they should make contributions right away. On other teams there seems to be a greater willingness to throw young talent into the lineup on a regular basis and let them work it out. Remember when the Sox traded Hanley Ramirez? He was still in Double-A at the time. Then suddenly, he's the everyday starting shortstop for Florida. This past winter in the Santana talks, Jed Lowrie's name was getting thrown around and folks were doing lineup projections for the Twins with him as an everyday infielder. Have no idea if the way sox treat younger guys is a factor of the state of the organizational depth or a fundamental approach to their system. Perhaps its a combo of both. As a fan, hard to say which I like more. Obviously what I enjoy most is the team winning. But, do I want to wait until Jed Lowrie is ready to bat 9th everyday, hitting .315 out of the box? Or is it more rewarding to see a guy like Pedroia struggle mightily, be given the patience then figure it all out to be a major contributor. I was definitely calling for the benching of Pedroia for Cora last year. But watching him turn it around and become the player that he is was one of the best parts of last season. Yeah…lately the guys getting the promotions have been providing instant contributions. Papelbon a couple years ago. Ellsbury last year. Masterson, Lowrie this year.

Craig Hansen…ummm, no.

One thing to consider is this. Players in the sox farm system seem to be held back from the big league club until they are truly ready. It seems to be a mandate that they should make contributions right away.

On other teams there seems to be a greater willingness to throw young talent into the lineup on a regular basis and let them work it out. Remember when the Sox traded Hanley Ramirez? He was still in Double-A at the time. Then suddenly, he’s the everyday starting shortstop for Florida. This past winter in the Santana talks, Jed Lowrie’s name was getting thrown around and folks were doing lineup projections for the Twins with him as an everyday infielder.

Have no idea if the way sox treat younger guys is a factor of the state of the organizational depth or a fundamental approach to their system. Perhaps its a combo of both.

As a fan, hard to say which I like more. Obviously what I enjoy most is the team winning. But, do I want to wait until Jed Lowrie is ready to bat 9th everyday, hitting .315 out of the box? Or is it more rewarding to see a guy like Pedroia struggle mightily, be given the patience then figure it all out to be a major contributor.

I was definitely calling for the benching of Pedroia for Cora last year. But watching him turn it around and become the player that he is was one of the best parts of last season.

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