Ortiz Recovering and Other Stuff

The talk of the town is without question the idea of Johan Santana coming to Boston in lieu of a trade. So what else is going on?



Recovery Underway

David Ortiz is currently recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his right knee earlier in November. Hopefully it shouldn't slow him down when it comes to training for the 2008 season come January.
Ortiz has said to reporters and to the Sox that he won't be hindered by the surgery and recovery time and should be good to go in February and March come spring training time.

Lester Wins Joe Conigliaro Award

Starting pitcher Jon Lester won the Joe Conigliaro Award in Boston Wednesday. The award is handed out on a yearly basis for the player who most exemplifies the ability to “overcome adversity through the attributes of spirit, determination and courage.”

As you probably know, Lester was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2006. Lester went through chemotherapy and a long process of rehabilitation to make it back to Boston in time for the end of the season.

The Joe C award was started 1990 and is the namesake of the Red Sox player who was hit in the eye with a pitch. He missed the entire 1968 season and came back in ’69 and ’70 to hit a total of 56 home runs.

Six Man Rotation?

It’s a theory that’s been posed a few times in the last several years. What if a team with a big bank account could somehow form a six man rotation? The Sox and pitching coach John Farrell are now tinkering around with the idea.

The idea is to have pitchers rested when moving into September and possibly October. Dice-K wore down as the season came to an end, Tim Wakefield missed basically all of the playoffs, Curt Schilling was out for most of the summer and who knows how Lester will pitch over an entire season.

The Sox implied this spin on their rotation when the schedule allowed them to put a sixth man into the rotation (usually Julian Tavarez) late in 2007. The Sox may feature this more prominently in ’08 by the sounds of it.

Santana Talk

So I suppose I'd be a fool if I didn't at least mention something about the Santana thing. I was thinking yesterday's report of the Sox making a formal offer for Santana might put more pressure on the Yankees to come up with something better to offer the Twins. As of Friday afternoon the Yankees are balking if the offer is a bluff.

So if the Yankees take the bait what should the Sox do? Reports are hazy, but possibly putting together a trade for Oakland A's All-Star Dan Haren wouldn't be out of the question. Compared to Santana it would be a better value for the Sox since he's only set to be paid over the next three years $16 million with an option for 2010 or less than $9 million the Sox would have to pay Santana in 2009 alone.

There is more pressure for the Yankees to sell the farm and take Santana than there is for the Sox to pillage the minors and give up prospects. It's a sucker deal too. Crisp and Lester plus two minor leaguers for Santana? That would certainly be a steal for GM Theo Epstein. If it falls in his lap I'd expect him to take it, but I would hope Twins GM Bill Smith would want a little more for a player the entire organization relies on not only on the field, but as the basis for their marketing campaign. With a new downtown ballpark opening soon the Twins would be remiss to let Santana go for the Sox initial offer.