It was December 6, 2010 when the Boston Red Sox finally landed the impact hitter they had been missing in their lineup since Manny Ramirez was traded to the Dodgers in July 2008. They got the well-rounded first baseman who could hit for power, hit for average, and play solid defense that they came ohh so close to landing just two years previous to the trade (Mark Teixiera).
This guy, who goes by the name of Adrian Gonzalez, was the first overall pick in 2000 by the Florida Marlins, brought tremendous promise to Red Sox nation. Gonzalez became a full-time starter in 2006 with his hometown team, the San Diego Padres, and in those five seasons, hit .288/.374/.514 with 176 2B, 161 HR, and 501 RBI, an average of 35 doubles, 32 HR, and 100 RBI. He also appeared in 3 All-Star games, won two gold gloves at first, and finished 4th in the 2010 NL MVP voting. He probably could have a couple silver sluggers under his belt if it weren't for a guy named Pujols. All this was done playing 81 games a year at Petco Park, notoriously known for being a pitchers ballpark. He also had to play about 9 games a year in San Francisco, Arizona, and Chavez Ravine; yards that wouldn't appear on too many hitter's favorite places to play list.
With that in mind, many wondered just what he would do in playing 81 in Fenway, in a division that includes Yankee Stadium, Camden Yards, the Rogers Centre, and Tropicana Field as the yards used for the AL East Division.
Through about 10 weeks, we have seen just what he could be- one of the best players in all of baseball and an MVP candidate. At this point of the 2011 campaign, he leads the American League in average (.341), hits (91), doubles (22), RBI (60), and total bases (156). He also ranks 6th in the AL in OBP (.392), and 4th in slugging (.584) and OPS (.977). With runners in scoring position, he has hit .376, and has yet to make an error in 65 games at first base.
As for his success Fenway, he is currently hitting .359/.408/.573 in the yard he now call home, compared to .279/.383/.438 in 2010 at Petco.
Gonzalez has been everything the Red Sox expected when they got their early Christmas gift from San Diego GM Jed Hoyer, the right-hand man of Theo Epstein until 2009 when he took his talents out west. This Christmas gift, however, came at a price.
In order to obtain Gonzalez, the Sox had to give up three top prospects, Anothy Rizzo, Casey Kelly, and Ray Fuentes, as well as journeyman Eric Patterson, who was thrown in as the player-to-be-named later. The initial three players were brought in to as a big part of the rebuilding effort in the San Diego farm system, one of key projects of the Hoyer administration.
The most player with the most success thus far has been Anthony Rizzo, who is Gonzalez's long-term replacement in the California's largest city not named LA. Rizzo, a 2007 6th round draft pick by the Sox as well as a Cancer survivor, was named top infield prospect in the Padres system, made his big-league debut on June 9, going 1-2 with a triple, a run scored, and walked twice. He hit his first home run on June 11 off the Nationals' John Lannan, providing the only offense in a 2-1 loss to Washington. Prior to being called up, Rizzo had put up monster numbers in 52 games at AAA Tacoma, hitting .365/.444/.715 with 20 2B, 16 HR, and 63 RBI that punched his ticket to the big club.
The prospect with the most hype in Spring Training, Casey Kelly, has been good as well despite not making an impact at the Major League level. Kelly, the top rated Padres prospect by Baseball America going into 2011, who has made 13 starts at AA San Antonio, going 4-2 with a 3.98 ERA, and a K/BB ratio of 2.75. Fuentes, the #7 prospect in the San Diego organization and 2009 first overall draft pick by Boston, currently leads the High A California League with 27 steals, but has a BB/K ratio of 17/56.
The three guys who were sent out to San Diego have shown promise that they can make an impact with the Padres some day, just like Adrian Gonzalez is making right now.
No comments:
Post a Comment