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Wednesday, January 25, 2006


Now You See Me, Now You Don't 


Wait, now you see me again.

05-06 Off-season 最讓人震驚的事情現在變成最誇張的肥皂劇。Theo Epstein 不但回到了 Red Sox 的 front office,而且拿回了他的老工作: General Manager of the Boston Red Sox。他在萬聖節時拒絕了 Red Sox 的 offer 辭去了 GM 職務不只讓 Red Sox 的球迷震驚,大概所有的人都感到不可置信。在 12/12 Sox 終於放棄了一個多月不認真且沒結果的尋找新 GM 任務,讓 Jed Hoyer 和 Ben Cherington 來擔任 co-GM。我當時對這個做法不以為然,即使這兩個人溝通良好,仍然有可能在處理事情的時效上面出問題。

現在 Theo Epstein 結束了這短暫的 co-GM front office,拿回了他的工作。

這對 Red Sox 是好事,我們也可以藉此來看看 Theo Epstein 的危機管理能力。目前他們在 CF 和 SS 還有兩個洞,在 CF 這一部份他們大概可以得到 Coco Crisp。雖然目前有傳言說 Mota 的 phyrical 沒有過關,不過相信 Red Sox 和 Indians 最後應該會把這個交易完成。問題將在於:Coco Crisp 到底是不是 CF。說他們沒有 SS 並不正確,他們有,而且以目前的報導來看還不只一個。在防守上那裡不是一個洞,但是在 lineup 上是。在現代棒球裡面,沒有什麼 lineup 可以好到不在乎一個棒次,這一點 Red Sox 需要做一些有創意的調度。rotation 和 這兩個位置將會考驗 Theo 的能力,如果 Lowell 的成績跟去年一樣擺爛的話,要如何處理他是另外一個問題,不過這個必須等到球季開始以後再看,現在還拿不了準。

但是故事結束了嗎?如果這是在中西部的球團,這是皆大歡喜的結局。在 Boston 或 New York 這一類的城市,這只是故事的開始。接下來 Boston 的媒體會用放大鏡看著 Theo 和 Larry Lucchino 的一舉一動,找尋 Theo 當初為何會選擇離開的原因。我對 Epstein 一向有很高的評價,這一點大家應該都知道。我認為他應該不會說錯話,接下來可能會出問題的是 Larry Lucchino。許多人揣測他可能在 Theo 之前離開的過程中扮演某種關鍵性角色,下面就看他會不會說出不該說的話。Theo 是回去了,不過 Red Sox 離穩定的 front office 還差一步,他們要把 Lucchino 和 Theo 之間的權責確立清楚整個事件才會真正結束。

即使不穩定也不見得真的要命,Brian Cashman 和 Yankees 還不是就這樣過了八年。

這個事件讓我想起了 Lee Ann Womack 的歌,所以我把歌名拿來做標題。下面是一部份歌詞:

Better take a good look before I disappear
Because I'm just about to be your used-to-be
You might catch a glimpse of my taillights in the dust
And if you notice something missin', well it's me
'Cause I tried and you lied
I cried and you stood by
Well, here's a little magic thing I do

Now you see me, now you don't
First you do but then you won't
Watch me vanish right before your eyes
You might think you see me there
In a cafe on a street somewhere
Yeah, that might be me but I'll be gone
Now you see me, now you don't

最後用一句 Scott Boras 的話來總結整篇文章,我是在 BP Jan. 16-22 的 The Week in Quotes 上看到的:
"When I see Theo, I'm going to tell him, 'You need an agent. If you're going to take a vacation, at least get paid for it.'"
--player agent Scott Boras, on Theo's absence

Comments:
No, he doesn't.

Crisp is very good in LF, but the same can not be said when he was patrolling CF. Damon may be at best an avearge defensive CF right now, Crisp is even a notch or two lower than Damon is.

Let me put it this way. Sizemore is an average CF but Crisp lost the CF job to him. You can tell how good Crisp's defense is from that.
 
Mets has a network and a new stadium on the way. They need to spend money to earn bigger ones. They have a shot in the NL East, but a few others can say the same.

Jays has a strong team if they are healthy. Keyword: healthy.
 
Jason Michaels is not a proven starting OF, but I like his upside more than Coco Crisp too.
 
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