| 18 February 2009
Other than watching David Ortiz, Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett prepare for "bounce back" seasons, there isn't much excitment coming out of Fort Meyers, but one story many of us were excited about was the battle between Jed Lowrie and Julio Lugo at short stop.
But Sean McAdam says this "battle" is really more of a dog and pony show. I thought Pedroia was the "pony" so don't ask me who the dog is...
McAdam says that Lugo would have to get hurt again or "have the most horrific spring of the 60 or so players in camp" for him to lose his starting job to Lowrie. Lowrie was the better player in 2008, but McAdam makes a few good (and perhaps obvious) points that lead to Lugo starting and Lowrie replacing Alex Cora as the utility infielder this season:
1. Lowrie can play short, third, second, and if he had to, first base. Julio Lugo can play second, third and even spent some time in the outfield, but he's clearly most comfortable at short stop.
2. Lugo will make $18 million over the remaining two years of his contract. Between the injury and his ineffectiveness over the past two seasons, Lugo has made himself untradeable. The Red Sox signed Lugo in 2007 hoping he would be the player he was while in Tampa Bay... At this piont they would love it if he comes anywhere close to those numbers, if for no other reason than to increase his trade value going forward.
3. Lowrie is much more equipped to slide over to thrid base if Mike Lowell is not ready to play come April. This gives Terry Francona the freedom to keep Kevin Youkilis locked in at first base.
Bottom Line: Julio Lugo says he's in the best shape of his life and with Lowrie breathing down his neck, he should be motivated to have his best season in Boston. I'm still skeptikal... but starting Lugo at short and using Lowrie's versality to our advantage makes sense.
I just hope all that bouncing around doesn't hurt Jed's development as a big league player.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
