There are some sentences that simply do not look right. "John Smoltz signs with the Red Sox" is one of them, but that's apparently what's going down tonight in Boston as Buster Olney is reporting that the long-time Brave is nearing a one-year deal with the Sox worth $5.5 million. It's another nice move by the Sox to add rotation depth in a winter that's already seen them add Brad Penny to Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett, and Tim Wakefield.
Really, though, seeing this doesn't make me think about Boston's rotation depth. John Smoltz is the Atlanta Braves. I mean, Smoltz got the win in the only playoff game that I've ever attended in person. And that was in Pittsburgh. And I was seven. I'm going to be 24 in ten days. Glavine and Maddux left, but Smoltz always stayed. Starting, relieving, whatever. And now, he's going to Boston. Weird.
I don't want to get on a "baseball has no loyalty soapbox" because this happens to great players at the ends of their careers, so let's look at the Red Sox for a second. They've got the six pitchers I named in the first paragraph and Clay Buchholz all fighting for rotation spots. Presumably, Smoltz should shift to the pen to set-up Jon Papelbon, if needed (his health is also probably an issue), or the Sox could pull the trigger on some kind of trade (Olney speculates Buchholz for Jarrod Saltlamacchia, but it's all just guessing right now).
Sheesh, there's going to be some kind of pennant race in the AL East next year. As if ESPN and FOX needed another reason to show nothing but Red Sox and Yankees games next year.
Report: John Smoltz Nears Deal With Red Sox originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:59:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
