Everything On Ice

Now that's a familiar Fenway sight!
(news.wbru.com)

Happy 2010, folks! Great to kick off the year on ice, so to speak, with a true Winter Classic in Boston. It was a classic all the way down to those mobster hats that Claude Julien and the rest of the Bruins' coaching staff were wearing. After trailing for most of the contest, it was former Flyer Mark Recchi who deflected the puck into the net with just over two minutes left in the game to knot up the score. The completion of the rally was simply inevitable as Marco Sturm ignited the Fenway-on-ice Faithful with his goal 2 minutes into overtime, making the Bruins the 1st home team to win the annual event. It was all too fitting that the Bruins rallied after a Fenway of rendition of 'Sweet Caroline' sung by 38,000 Fenway fans. Nothing like a Fenway miracle to keep my mind off the lack of zeroes in my bank account, which has me pondering a possible venture into the military. As much as I don't want to move out of of these friendly, familiar surroundings, the avenues are dwindling along with my bank statistics, leaving me with very few options. Don't worry, my aim isn't to be on the front line in Yemen, as there are many other career options that the military branches provide such as public relations and media. But it seems as if the connection well is drying out, making me wonder whether my credentials, as is, fall short of what the corporate world desires. A stint serving the country could be a resume booster and so much more. Plus, it is real tempting to pay of my entire college loan with the signing bonus alone, while giving a travel-freak like me more vacation time than any company would give me on entry level! These are perplexing times, ladies and gents, and they only get more confusing with this recent Sox signing.

Ummmm, kinda not the Adrian I had in mind.
(totalprosports.com)

I recently ran into a few reports that suggests that Adrian Beltre and the Sox have reached an agreement that is a steal ($9 million for 1 year, player option for $5 million in 2011), especially knowing that Boras was representing the player on the other side of the mahogany desk. Well, I guess Mike Lowell is going to be gone after all, and the Casey Kotchman era is over before it had the ability to gain any steam. It's been common knowledge that the Sox have leaned more on the defense/pitching angle this offseason, and that Adrian Beltre fit the whole schematic very well. However, I'm scared for a couple of good reasons, and yes, some of the issue involves the lack of sticks. With the departure of Bay to that canyon of a ballpark in Queens, we have lost considerable power in our lineup, and Beltre is a question mark at best. It's hard to convince me that possibly going over value for a player who can be considered decent all-around was a better option than giving up a few prospects that might be good in a couple of years for another Adrian who can bring your team security with both his glove and his bat. Sure, Beltre came from the ever-spacious Safeco Field up in the Northwest, but he only hit 8 homers in 111 games last year, making me not only question whether he can be productive, but also if he is gonna be healthy (he is going to be 31 on Apr. 7th). Especially for an organization that values OBP (check J.D. Drew's gigantic contract) and not paying the luxury tax, this particular signing is even more befuddling the more I think about it (.325 career OBP? Yikes!). Apparently, UZR is the new money-making stat that agents will base their client's life stories on when they battle at the negotiating table. Sadly, the members of the Adrian Gonzalez camp, like myself, may have to close up shop considering we now have enough 1st/3rd baseman on our team than we can get rid of, as well as San Diego GM Hoyer's recent comments of how his star slugger is not on the block (for now). So unless a big injury happens to one of the corner infielders around the trade deadline, it looks like the more-desired Adrian will not be wearing Red Sox in 2010 (feeling a slight salty discharge coming out of my eyes), and thus the Beltre signing virtually takes us out of the pursuit to get that bat that will ultimately put us on a level playing field with the big, bad Yanks. After all, we didn't sign Beltre for $9 million just so he can help warm the bench with Big Papi. I see where the Sox organization is going with this run prevention thing, but I remember that it didn't end all too beautifully when we pursued that very strategy the last time out. The only thing that gives me comfort is that we have a deeper pitching staff this year than we had in that dreadful 2006 season, which was anchored by a declining Schilling, a Wakefield that was starting to break, and a Beckett who wasn't quite ready for the American League at that point. I'm sure Casey Kotchman is a nice guy and a solid player, but you have to admit the Beltre/Youk combo surely provides less question marks than Youk/Kotchman. I'm not asking for his monster 2004 season, but if he produces close to a clip like he did in 2008 (26 HR, 99 RBIs, .801 OPS), I will feel less compelled to lump this signing in the Edgar Renteria section of the wall of shame. With all indicators on Beltre's defensive performance, this signing should be far from that. It's important to keep within my offseason optimism, where I believe the master plan will work, well....., until J.D. Drew hits .180 in April. Besides, I should give any guy a chance that had an injury like this in his life (Moment of silence pause for all the men.) As much as I think a Welker-less Pats team can pull off at least one playoff game, nothing gets me more pumped than green grass and the cracking of ash wood. Only 44 days till pitchers and catchers report!

Mochaman's Fantasy Football Report
- Boston Beersquad - 10-3 (1st, Plax's Got a Gun, 1st in Division 2, 1574.30 Pts.) (Final Position: 2nd)
If you are a Patriots fan and refer to anything comparing to Super Bowl XX, it's usually never a good thing. Rough end for a team that survived a lot to be the #1 seed, but I would be naive to think that the Maroney/Bell running back tandem was going to win me a championship (2.2 points in the final, COMBINED!). However, I went so far thanks to the Warner/Fitz combo along with arguably the pick of the year in Vernon Davis (14th rounder). Ran into the most dominant #6 seed ever, who deservedly won the title with a dominant playoff run. And to think this was my favorite team to win my 1st fantasy football championship, but.....

- Killa' Beavaz - 9-5 (2nd, Yahoo Public 179914, 1409.78 Pts.) (Final Position: 1st)
WOOHOO! The wait is finally over! Have to thank Chris Johnson's dominance and Larry Fitz for not falling into the Madden Curse and becoming a huge contributor. McNabb, can't forget that you finally came through with that big game! It's also special when you defeat the #1 team in getting the big prize. It might be the change in success from previous years, but I'm starting to like this fantasy football thing! Can't rest on my laurels now, as baseball drafts are creeping around the corner. May 2010 grant me more trophies and bragging rights! Now who wants some bubbly?