It’s hard to feel good about the Shane Victorino trade
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| Al Bello/Getty Images |
Contributing Writer
Quick, somebody tell
General Manager Ben Cherington this isn’t how a fire sale is supposed to work.
The Red Sox sent Shane Victorino and, get this, $3.8 million to the Angels for a utility infielder who
has been, at best, mediocre in the Pacific Coast League.
No more “Flyin’ Hawaiian”
in right field. No more Bob Marley. It is time to worry because suddenly every
little thing won’t be all right.
Maybe someday Josh
Rutledge will be a player who contributes to the Red Sox. But you would hope
for more in return in the trade of such a major piece of an iconic World Series
champion.
Today it feels like
Cherington had the Angels in the office secret Santa drawing.
An organization that
felt so poorly about its outfield that it twice picked up DFA’d outfielders
this season instead of giving playing time to Rusney Castillo or Jackie Bradley
Jr., the latter who must have somehow wronged Cherington in a past life, suddenly
felt it just had to get rid a right fielder with two World Series rings?
For a guy with a .259
batting average in 266 Major League games? For a guy hitting .274 in Salt Lake
City?
Excuse me, but I want somebody other than Cherington
in charge of this week’s yard sale at Yawkey Way.
Granted, Victorino has a hard time staying healthy and
his days in baseball are probably numbered. His 34-year-old body looks more
like it is 44. That is a byproduct of him selling out every night to help the
Red Sox beat the Rays, Tigers and Cardinals in the 2013 postseason.
Even when he could only bat right handed down the
stretch in 2013 he still hit that grand slam — off a right-handed pitcher — in
the bottom of the seventh inning to put the Red Sox up 5-2 in the deciding Game
6 of the ALCS.
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Even more than the beards, Victorino was the poster of that magical season. His pounding of his chest as he rounded the bases after that shot to the Monster Seats is the image of that team that is burned in the memories of Red Sox fans.
While he only appeared in 33 games for Boston this
season, the Red Sox were a better team with Victorino in the lineup. The guy
was simply a winner on a team full of players who somehow forgot what that
means.
Nobody expected Victorino in the home dugout of Fenway
Park in 2016, but it sure would have been nice to see him there for the final
two months of the season.
Seeing him play for the Angels this postseason will be
hard enough. Knowing that the Red Sox just gave him away will feel like a kick
to the gut.
I cringe at the thought of what the Red Sox won’t get
for Mike Napoli and a few million bucks later this week.
