Sports Redux: In Which We Editorialize

It’s not really heating up, not exactly bubbling yet, but there’s something lightly simmering on the hot stove, and we don’t like it. It involves Adrian Gonzalez , a fine ballplayer who’s been stuck in second-division obscurity and forced to wear dreadful camouflage uniforms in San Diego. He’d make a fine addition to the Red Sox, but that’s not our worry. Our worry is that Theo Epstein might seriously be putting Clay Buchholz and (sigh) Jacoby Ellsbury on the table if trade talks with the Padres get serious. Nick Cafardo walked this ground this morning, but we’d like to add to the chorus and say to Theo: please, give us our Xmas gift early and take Ellsbury out of the discussion. There aren’t an awful lot of one-of-a-kind players in baseball, but this kid’s one of them. You want to make a deal….you want to shake things up…you even want to break up the six-man rotation we have now (which in its own way is stupid, because it’s not like none of these guys are going to the DL anytime next year)…do what you must. But leave Ellsbury in center field. Right now, we assume the plan is to have Mike Cameron in left field, since talks with Jason Bay seem to have gone off the cliff. But

Cameron’s a lifelong CF (although perfectly willing to move around), and Theo is hedging his bets for the moment: "We can’t go wrong no matter which way we align our outfield defense." Cameron was welcomed to Fenway along with new pitcher John Lackey, and Theo had to do some damage control there, too, telling Josh Beckett, "some might speculate that this means the end for you in Boston." Not true, he says. So really, anyone who has even a glimmer of an idea what the Sox’ 2011 lineup will look like, go buy some lottery tickets. Because we’re stumped. Bob Kraft, along with Coach Belichick and everyone on the Patriots, is standing behind Randy Moss (at least in public) and saying that he’s not a quitter, is a perfect gentleman, and still will be an important part of the team. Our Randy-free day yesterday unfortunately meant that we didn’t get to spotlight Coach Bill trash-talking the Panthers’ defensive backs who questioned Moss’ heart. Talking about how teams cover Randy, Coach said, "Watch other teams play against him, they think the same way, other than these two guys from Carolina after they lost another game…they haven’t won a lot of games now." Hee.

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Sports Redux: In Which We Editorialize