Good news/Bad news
Well, the Sox have taken two of three from the Angels (and, from the looks of it, will lose today) and took three of four from Tampa last week. As of this writing, the team is a single game behind the Tigers for the AL Central lead. Gordon Beckham won rookie of the month honors.
This all comes off the heels of the huge deadline deal to bring Jake Peavy to Chicago. And in a big of good news, it has been suggested that Peavy’s rehab might be on a faster schedule than originally thought:
The Sox are looking at the possibility of Peavy pitching in the minors on Aug. 13, Aug. 18 and Aug. 23, with a projected major-league start on either Aug. 28, or Sept. 2 or Sept. 3. The Sox and Chicago Cubs have a make-up game on Sept. 3.
That could be wonderful. Peavy’s going to need as many starts as possible to get into proper form. If the Sox are still in the thick of things—possible, but not probable—his return could spur a nice run to the playoffs and something on which to build next year.
Speaking of next year, we have the unfortunate news that Scott Podsednik remains a valuable player to the team and Ozzie Guillen wants him next year. Podsednik is the prototypical “free talent”-type guy. You get some use out of him and send him back to where he came the second he turns back into the proverbial pumpkin.
The bigger issue is that Podzilla isn’t even the team’s number one target in the coming free agency period. It’s Chone Figgins. This Chone Figgins. The soon-to-be-32-year-old Chone Figgins. The same Chone Figgins who slugs, career, under .400 (.390). The same Chone Figgins with a projected 2010 eqa of .260. Oh, boy. Slightly lower than league average!
No question, that .397 2009 OBP is tastey, but this is a guy who needs to hit .310 to be of any use. His 69% SB percentage is off what it should be.
The Sox are likely to lose Jim Thome this coming offseason. Carlos Quentin is a question mark, health-wise. To fill out the outfield with a slap-hitting 32-year-old may not be the way to go.
