Sports Insider by Frank Coppola: Red Sox fans breathe sigh of relief

January 31, 2008

Red Sox fans breathe sigh of relief

This week's announcement that the Minnesota Twins have agreed to trade ace pitcher Johan Santana to the New York Mets was great news to members of Red Sox Nation.

Even if the reasons were slightly different.

Sure, Boston fans were drooling at the thought of teaming the two-time Cy Young winner with Josh Beckett, Dice-K and friends in the Red Sox rotation, a move that might have locked up a second straight World Series title.

But the price would have been steep. Like Mount Everest steep.

Santana is supposedly after a contract extension in the neighborhood of six years, $130 million. Clearly a ton of money for any pitcher, even one as dominant as Santana. But as most of us know, money isn't really a top concern for the Red Sox, who have turned Kenmore Square into a virtual ATM machine in recent years.

The price that many Red Sox fans were unwilling to pay involved young, speedy outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, who won us over by hitting .353 in 33 games during the regular season, then .360 in the playoffs. All while burning up the basepaths and playing a terrific center field.

The Twins wanted Ellsbury bad in any trade for Santana. The Red Sox reportedly were including Ellsbury in a package for Santana during the winter meetings, then took him off the table and included young left-hander Jon Lester instead.

If you're a Red Sox fan who happens to be a woman, this made you very happy (Ellsbury is quite the hunk, don't you know). Err, at least that's what I'm told.

Anyway, by the end of the season Ellsbury one of the most popular players on the team, and it would have been tough to see him go, even if Santana was the consolation prize.

But the biggest reason for Red Sox Nation to cheer is that Santana isn't going to the Yankees. Because, after all, it's still all about the Yankees. It's hard to believe, but there's potential for this rivalry to get even more heated in coming years. I mean, have you heard the insane things that come out of Hank Steinbrenner's mouth? The guy's a lunatic and has an ego the size of the Grand Canyon. Let's just say the apple didn't fall more than an inch from the tree in this case.

Starting pitching has been the Bronx Bombers' downfall in recent years, with their lack of a true ace being the No. 1 reason why the World Series trophy hasn't called Yankee Stadium home for eight years.

And now, without Santana, they still don't have one. Sure, Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain showed potential last year, but they're both young and untested over the long haul under the New York spotlight.

Other than that, you've got Andy "HGH" Pettitte, Mike Mussina and Chien-Ming Wang. Mussina is 39 going on 50, and Wang was 0-2 with a 19.06 ERA in two playoff games.

Josh Beckett he's not.

So, even though the Yankees brought back A-Rod and Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera, the team is basically the same one that finished second to the Red Sox last season and got beat by the Indians in the first round of the playoffs.

Santana would have made things interesting if he were wearing pinstripes. Alas, no such luck.

Hey, at least Hank is around for comic relief. Only Yankee fans aren't the ones who are laughing.

Frank Coppola is the assistant sports editor for Seacoast Media Group. He can be reached at fcoppola@seacoastonline.com.

Posted by Frank Coppola at January 31, 2008 12:21 PM

Comments

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31