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Sox honors (and dis-honors) for the first half

Jul 9th, 2007 by Bill Burt

I have a column in Monday’s Eagle-Tribune Publishing’s sports pages on 10 things we know about the Red Sox thus far.  

Here are my awards for the first half of the season:

MVP: Kevin Youkilis.

This was a tough call, with Josh Beckett taking the ace’s role, but Youkilis has been the toughest out in a mediocre lineup. Youk is not just an on-base machine. He can hit. His versatility and the fact that he can bat anywhere in the lineup has saved this club a few losses while Julio Lugo and J.D. Drew continue their season-long swoons. Youkilis is hitting .328 with 44 RBI. We saw how bad the offense looked without him around in Detroit for full-time duty.

Honorable mention: Josh Beckett, Hideki Okajima

Biggest surprise: Hideki Okajima.

Okajima’s a surprise in that we thought he was a supposed to be Dice-K’s caddy. Well, his work in the bullpen has been nothing short of perfect. He has allowed only four runs in 43-plus innings. He’s filled in at closer when Jonathan Papelbon has been rested. Lefties are hitting .157 and righties aren’t much better at .163. Is an MVP candidate on this team while making up for some bad decisions on free agents.

Honorable mention: Julian Tavarez.

Biggest disappointment: Manny Ramirez.

This was a close race, among four players – Julio Lugo, J.D. Drew, Ramirez and Coco Crisp — and I decided to go with the guy we expected the most from. Manny is not having a bad year. He’s just not pulling his weight. While Drew could easily cop this honor (we might make up one for him), Manny needs to understand this lineup is mince meat if he’s not knocking in 135 runs.

Honorable mention: J.D. Drew, Julio Lugo and Coco Crisp.

Biggest disappointment by a free agent acquistion: J.D. Drew.

 There, I found an award for Drew. It’s too easy to hand this over to Julio Lugo. He has been brutal. But the expectations for Drew were much bigger. He was supposed to be protection for Manny Ramirez in the No. 5 hole, not a fill-in at the leadoff spot. He is being paid $14 million to produce runs and he isn’t doing it with only 33 RBI. He is not handling the pressure well. He still seems like an outsider. What he needs is a walk-off home run and he needs it soon, to lift his spirits, and this team.

Honorable mention: Lugo, Joel Pineiro.

He’s better than we thought Award: Dustin Pedroia.

The best move by Theo Epstein this season has been the one he didn’t make, which was to bow to pressure and send Dustin Pedroia to Pawtucket after his early struggles. It appears the Sox have found their second baseman of the future, which is one less thing to worry about every off-season. Pedroia is a very good fielder. He’s a dirt dog, out of the Trot Nixon mold. And he has quietly had some big hits in late innings. I questioned Pedroia a year ago, but I was wrong.

Honorable mention: Julian Tavarez, Kevin Youkilis.

Underrated performer: Mike Lowell.

This category was a tough one. I am trying to create an award for Julian Tavarez, who has more than met expectations as a No. 5 starter. And Alex Cora’s role with this team is always underrated. But Lowell has quietly had a great year, if that is possible here in Boston. He leads the team in HRs (14) and RBI (63). He has been consistent since Opening Day. While defense hasn’t been up to his standards (13 errors), he has played the position better the last month.

Honorable mention: Alex Cora, Julian Tavarez, Jason Varitek

That’s all for now.

Send me yours and we can debate them. My guess is Manny’s award won’t be universally accepted.

Posted in Red Sox | Comments

  • I can't agree with your opinion that Drew has been more disappointing than Lugo. Yes, he was brought in to protect Manny, but Lugo was brought in to be a better hitting shortstop/leadoff. now he's hitting ninth, and was below .190 before last night! how is that not more than a drop off. Drew at least had a great first month and helped carry the team near the beginning, something Lugo hasn't done at any point. And Drew has also been better defensively than Lugo. While Lugo has corrected some throwing errors, he still botches the occasional routine play.

    I also think you have to give Drew credit for staying healthy. It was thought that he would be quick to break down, and while there may be some power outage due to nagging injuries, he has stayed on the field. I think you don't give Drew enough credit for what he has done and I believe Lugo has been a far bigger disappointment.
  • I agree with all of these except one:

    Julio Lugo & J.D. Who? have both been bigger disappointments than Manny has....both have been good ballpalyers in the past

    And lets face it.....Ortiz needs to show more power in the second half too
  • Tom
    We've been very patient with Drew. I said it in the post, he needs a walk-off homer like I need to breathe. He still seems like an outsider. He looks defenseless against good pitching. I based my disappointments on expectations and I expected this guy to be really good.
    I can not stick up for Lugo. He's been worse than bad. The only thing he had going through May was he knocked in 30-plus runs.
    To give Drew credit for not being hurt is a little too nice. I wish I had you passing out grades in Microeconomics 101 my freshman year. Drew's here to produce runs, that means about 100 RBI on a good team like the Red Sox. Is he even going to touch 70?
    It's early, but like I said, he needs a big hit soon.
  • Brad
    I agree on Ortiz. I don't remember the last big hit he has had. The problem is he hasn't gotten a lot of chances. He either faces lefties at the end of games or he's walked ... which brings us back to Manny. If Manny's hitting, I believe everything else falls into place.
  • Manny has been a huge disapointment ... In fact, while Ortiz' numbers have dipped as well. his are somewhat acceptable considering what Manny provided behind him for much of the first two months of the season.

    I completely agree with your premise that if Manny was hitting, Ortiz' numbers are better (and maybe even Drew's?)

    I would put Beckett as a co-MVP with Youkilis, and regarding the most disapointing free agent, I have to go with Lugo. He almost went 0 for June.

    Tim - I don't see how you can give credit to someone for being healthy (in terms of Drew). Would you use the same argument for Lugo ... 'hey, at least he hasn't been hurt!'

    With the way Drew has looked at times, we might all have been better off if he did take a trip to the DL.
  • Mike,
    I live outside of LA and have heard Drew for the past couple years when he was with the Dodgers. before last year he got a lot of the fans upset by saying that he wouldn't play unless he was 100%. Obviously they didn't like hearing that a player wouldn't be willing to put himself on the line for the team. I say that I'm happy Drew has been playing because I really think that it is a big deal with him. I haven't seen anything like the attitude that he had in LA, but it seems like he is fighting through things. Everyone was questioning whether he would be out there playing regularly, and he has. It would be easy for him to sit and say he's hurt like he would in LA. but he hasn't. I think you should give credit where credit is due.
  • Tim - If you credit him for battling through injuries and still remaining on the field, then I agree with you. I thought you were simply giving him credit for being healthy.

    The thing that bothers me about Drew is that he was supposed to be the hitter behind Manny that would hit .300 and drive in 100 runs. That's not going to happen. I made the argument that if Manny was hitting better, Ortiz likely would as well. Same thing goes here; perhaps if Drew were hitting better, Manny's numbers would be better. Granted, I understand that Manny has never had a deadly hitter behind him, but naturually, if Drew were batting .300 with some power, no one is pitching around Manny.
  • I agree with what you say about Drew. I'm not saying he has been a success by any means, but he has been better than Lugo. He carried the offense at the beginning of the season and has stayed on the field. He has actually done ok in the leadoff, drawing some walks and bringing up his average. Lugo has just been a disaster.
  • I'm sorry, but thats stupid to say that Drew is in anyway a bigger disappointment than Lugo. The guys is getting on base at a .370 clip. That is better than Tek, Lowell, Crisp, and Lugo. Only 3 Right Fielder rank ahead of him in the AL. Not to mention that he runs the bases well, plays great D (mainly because his arm is so underrated), and is a patient hitter that wears down pitchers. Has he played to his potential, not at all. But he has still been an above average player. Basically you are punishing him because Theo and Tito are stupid. Drew is in no way a 5th hitter. He is a 2nd to a tee. If they didn't know that prior to acquire him, there is something wrong. Drew has more talent than any hitter on this team (he has passed Manny since his bat speed as dropped soooooooooo much). So far his BABIP, LD%, and GB% are were they always are. That means he is basically getting unlucky or is hurt. I don't think the latter is true, so i expect him to improve naturally. I just don't understand why everyone give him such grief. Is it because he isn't a "dirtdog" like Trot.
  • what? there are other sports? huh?
  • J. Lee
    I live pretty close to LA and am very happy JD Drew is no longer with the Dodgers. There's something about "money ball" general managers that seem to draw them to this guy, but all of the statistics can't measure someone's heart, and I think that's why people seem to be very critical of Drew. I believe in money ball to some extent, but people are not automatons. Drew needs to show that he loves this game. For 14 million, that's not asking much. Everybody, at some point, has wanted this guy to succeed, but he comes off as a person who is interested only in money--nothing else. It also doesn't help that he has Boras as his agent. As a Dodgers fan, I remember Boras "snake oiling" the Dodgers with Darren Dreifort; we paid that guy 55 million for may 10 games pitched. We also got jacked with Kevin Brown for over 100 million. I don't think he won a 100 times during his tenure.
    Nobody knows for sure why this guy is so hated, but Drew has never defended himself either. He's always kept to himself, and knowing Boston Red Sox fans, I know that they don't tolerate an individual who doesn't have a passion for the game. And as Tony La Russa once said, this guy is 70% effort.
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