I read the first half of the article (posted on the wall at eye height in CCSP at a place I was standing for about a minute
). I think up thread I said I also was concerned about the spray chart I had seen. He does not have a history like Boggs or Lynn of going the opposite way. That said, Boz was completely mistaken in his evaluation of the Red Sox offense going into last season (they were 2d in runs in baseball when he was saying that they blew it by emphasizing defense in their position pick ups and letting Bay walk).
I think Fenway has some unique advantages for a fast lefty, including the two corners (CF and RF) that have extra base potential and the deep power alley. The other thing to think about is that, back in October or early November, the Red Sox announced they were pulling in the RF fence. Ya think maybe they knew they'd be this left handed next year? Crawford says he's working on walking more. I'll believe when I see it.
The Red Sox say that Allard Baird took in over half of Crawford's games after the All Star break last year. The significance of that is that he is the scout in Theo's inner circle and pretty trusted. When they say that they were after him all the way and it was not reactive, they may not be blowing smoke. They and the Angels may have been duped into to going high by the Tuesday dinner Cashman had with Crawford and his agent (Angels reportedly had a 6 year offer at $108MM with a vesting option, the Red Sox a 7 year offer at < $120 MM, then bumped it up when the Angels gave Crawford a deadline), but I do think they wanted him bad.
I'll stick to my view that, as a fan of both teams, I'd rather have Werth in Fenway and Crawford here, but I'll also recognize that the sum of my baseball knowledge is equal to a 3 year old's pee in the ocean when compared to Rizzo, Epstein, and Baird.
