Eleven years ago today, the Red Sox purchased Jorge De La Rosa from Monterrey of the Mexican League. He spent close to two years in their farm system, then was traded to the Diamondbacks as part of the package for Curt Schilling prior to the 2004 season. Here's the latest from Boston…
- Rich Hill's opt-out date was seven to ten days from now, Alex Speier of WEEI.com reports. Boston added the southpaw to the 40-man roster yesterday, an indication that they like his progress as he rehabs from Tommy John surgery.
- "I'm happy with what I got," said David Ortiz to reporters (including Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe), referring to his one-year, $14.575MM contract. "I'm not going to lie to you. I'm happy with it … I'm back, I'm here at least for another year and like I always tell you guys, I'm going to do my best."
- Kirk Minihane of WEEI.com says the Red Sox dropped the ball with the Theo Epstein compensation. They received reliever Chris Carpenter and a player to be named for Epstein and a player to be named yesterday.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports shadowed the energic Bobby Valentine during his first official workout as the Red Sox's manager.
Ah, whining from Boston sports media, and from WEEI. What a change from their normal attitude of complaining.
No kidding. Who outside of Boston did not know this was coming? I even think Carpenter was an over-payment, but that’s just me maybe.
At first I was hoping for at most an ok reliever or part of a Garza trade. Not a straight up thing but any trade usually includes some sleeper prospect that is just thrown in, I was hoping Epstein could replace that piece.
That said, Carpenter is kinda what I’ve realistically expected, a sleeper prospect.
Carpenter is a great kid. His skill set is excellent, he’s just getting a little old for a prospect. As a reliever, he has a lot of upside and really, he didn’t cost Boston anything. Theo was on the way out anyway, right? So win-win for Boston.
It’s kinda funny that people are forgetting that part of the story. There was an article on ESPN talking about how the Braves suffered a collapse as well but the writer was applauding them for not changing everything. The thing that people forget is the departures of Theo and Tito were mutual… not part of some huge plan that people seem to want to make it to be.
So I think your analysis is ultimately correct. Theo was ready to leave soon anyway, a promotion and an opportunity with another great franchise opened up and Theo packed his bags. In the end, the Sox get a B prospect for just saying “Thanks for the 2 WS titles, Theo.”
Theo back to the Sox: “No problem. I had lots of fun. Hope you enjoy Lackey and Crawford as much as I did.”
And shame on the Sox fans who have such a short memory and want to vilify Theo just because he left. They make out like spurned lovers instead of baseball fans.
It has been a pleasure sir.
i know he rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, but i really miss having schilling around – both on the mound and in the clubhouse
Schill was classic.. He definitely had ideas that didn’t fit with the area he was pitching in there and i was loving just about every one of them.. He wasn’t fazed at all by the media and it really got under their skin for a change which was classic.
I never really understood what people didn’t like about him to be honest. I never saw anything not to like.
Schilling was a professional on the mound and in the clubhouse. Nothing to dislike. However, what I did dislike was his constantly spouting “The Lord this” and “the Lord that” Hey, I’m happy he is happy with his Lord and all that. Just don’t keep spouting off about it. Tebow’s taking a knee every once in a while is tame compared to the proselytizing Schilling did/does. But that’s only my opinion.
I missed the 11 years part at first.. was wondering why de la Rosa was still pitching and why the Sox purchased his contract (They can’t be THAT desperate for pitching…. can they?) Thanksfully it just turned into nostalgia for Curt Schilling once I learned how to read
???Do you even know who De La Rosa is? he has been a good pitcher for the Rockies. He is their #1 starter. while yes He had Tommy John surgery last year, he seems to be healthy from reports. Before you blast a player find out who they are first. because you seem to have him mistaken with another player.
Any Red Sox pitcher who considers George Bush as his friend, should not be a friend of Red Sox fandom…
i’m a weirdo. my appreciation of baseball players is based on their performance as baseball players
Anyone who considers George Bush’s successor should not be a friend of the Red Sox uniform.
You have just dissed 90% of the Fenway faithful who do not make it a habit of befriending born again Christians, who can’t make it through a junior college curriculum, yet use their position in professional sports to push the candidacy of an elected official who belongs in jail for crimes he committed against all of humanity.
Arrogance and anger are your friends I see.
Gotta love the media’s fake-outrage on this Theo compensation stuff. There’s no way the Red Sox would win the PR battle on it – the media had it set up to sling mud at them no matter what the outcome would have been.
Had Lucchino played hardball and sent Theo to Sri Lanka on ‘special assignment’ for a year and demanded top-notch compensation, they’d have whipped out the old ‘Larry Lucchino is a paranoid, egotistical sycophant who is taking out years of frustration on Theo and potting revenge as he sits in his gold-embossed office and snaps the legs off kittens” storyline and lambasted him. He’d have been an embarassment to baseball, an obsrtuctionist and whatever dog-s Dan Shaughenessey could have drummed up.
If they let Theo walk, they’d give up all their leverage and in the process be painted as ‘bungling, lacking communication, a mess”, yadda yadda. I know the drill now.
It’s a tired act at this point. They were lucky to get anything. The media should stuff it.
It doesn’t matter what the media says. What matters is what Lucchino said and did. He said that the team should get major compensation for letting Boy Blunder leave early and instead they got next to nothing. Unlucky should have kept his mouth closed about compensation if he wasn’t willing to fight for it.
The Dead Sox keep losing and I love it. I just need the Skanks to blow up and all will be right with the world.
He was fighting for it, and was holding Theo hostage, until Selig stepped in and told them to finalize the deal.
Still linking to the wrong Chris Carpenter…