» Julio Lugo

After the first loss to the Phillies this past series, MetsBlog.com writer, Regis Courtemanche wrote, “Win or lose, I love the way the Mets are playing right now.  They seem completely focused on the task at hand, and Citi Field seems to have finally come alive. Still disappointing to let this one get away though.” FYI, MetsBlog is one of the best (Mets) Blogs out there. To be honest, I disagree with the statement, however the Mets are without their starting SS, 1b, 2 SP’s and both our set-up men. That’s right – “both.” Eventually this season, the Mets will have Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, JJ Putz, Billy Wagner, Oliver Perez (and John Maine now) all coming off the DL. The Phillies are only 4 games ahead, but with a bullpen of K-rod, and potentially healthy and effective relievers, such as Wagner and Putz, the Mets rotation will only have to pitch 6 effective innings each night (for the most part). And that’s great because it seems Redding , Maine , and Oliver (and often times Santana and Pelfrey) can never pass that plateau. The offense will have to come out romping, however – something they couldn’t do last year and something they haven’t been able to do this season even prior to Reyes and Delgado going down. With that said, I’m still very willing to “wait and see” how the Mets perform after Reyes, Delgado, Maine, Oliver, Putz, and Wagner come back, however, the question is and will be – is it too late?

Do the Mets need to do something to shake the team up? In a prior post (http://www.majorleagueblogging.com/major-league-baseball/lets-play-gm-mets-crazy-trade-scenarios/), I talked about the potential need to shake up the team, and I threw out some crazy trade scenarios. The reality is, people, reporters, and teams are catching on that the Red Sox have 9 at least effective or ready major league starters. It’s also fairly clear they could use an effective shortstop, which is where, to me, the Mets should come in to play. I love Reyes, but could he land us both Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden? I think he could. I think that’s worth it – for both teams. We could potentially add a catching prospect to the deal (Francisco Pena or Josh Thole) – they’re young, but the Red Sox have and may have a need for a catcher in the future if they don’t trade for/sign Joe Mauer/Twins (after or during) next year. Another potential aspect I would add to to the deal (if I were Omar Minaya) is Oliver Perez. This is only to free up salaray to trade for and sign another need (Matt Holliday)? That’s not essential, but if the Red Sox were willing to take on Perez’s salary in addition to losing their top 2 pitching prospects in the deal, then I would do that. I’d then, however, ask for a more than effective reliever: Manny Delcarmen/Takashi Saito. So i’d potentially like to see:

Mets Receive: Clay Buchholz/sp; Michael Bowden/sp; Takashi Saito/rp; Jed Lowrie/ss

Red Sox Receive: Jose Reyes/ss; Oliver Perez/sp; Josh Thole or Francisco Pena/c

I guess there’s a contingency – Jose Reyes’ health. Would this prevent such a trade? The Sox do still have Nick Green and Julio Lugo to hold down the ss job while Reyes is out. Again this would then allow us to potentially go for Matt Holliday, Mark Derosa, or other outfielders via trade this season or free agency after, so Daniel Murphy could stay at first next year with the assumption that Carlos Delgado will be gone. Our lineup would obviously hurt without Reyes for the rest of the year, but if we trade for another bat for the lineup, the Rotation with Buchholz and or Bowden would be much more effective than Tim Redding.

Agreed?

Jon Lester and the Red Sox have reached a contract extension that will keep the best lefty in baseball in Boston for another five years. Lester is one of three aces in the deepest rotation in baseball, joining Daisuke Matsuzaka and Josh Beckett.

In the WBC, Dustin Pedroia is off the USA’s roster after straining his oblique. In a way, I’m glad the MVP is not going to be at risk for a more serious injury, especially if the team is going to play like this.

Ortiz and Bay are back with the Sox after their WBC teams were eliminated. Papi hit a home run against the Yankees on Friday, as did Mike Lowell. Julio Lugo may have a meniscus tear, as his MRI results were analyzed by a specialist who believes this to be true. Lugo will have knee surgery and may miss some time.

A depleted Red Sox team came into Sunday afternoon’s game vs Tampa at just 3-6 in Grapefruit League play.

A team missing stars Youkilis, Pedroia (USA) Bay (Canada) Ortiz (Dominican) and Matsuzaka (Japan) to the World Baseball Classic has been crushed 15-7 and 12-4 previously against the Rays. Today was a much different story though, as they struck early and often en route to an 8-2 victory.

Julio Lugo helped his cause by going 3 for 3 with 2 RBIs and a walk and Justin Masterson pitched three scoreless innings. Jonathan Papelbon gave up two hits in his inning of work but struck out the side.

It was great to see Lugo succeed, even if it was only a Spring game. I was able to catch parts of the game from a suite at TD Banknorth Garden so I couldn’t watch the whole thing, but I did watch a good chunk of the game while the Celtics were struggling. Once the C’s started making a huge run I lost interist though, so I never even glanced at the TV from the 5th inning on. As I said in an earlier post, I expect Lugo to have a better year and he certainly showed a glimpse of that today.

Jon Lester will make the start against the Pirates tomorrow against the Pirates in what may be his last game before he signs a five-year contract extension.

With a six-year extension under his belt, Pedroia will be looking to show he is worth every single penny.

He’s a little guy but he really packs a punch. Dustin Pedroia will be entering his third season in the Majors, coming off a spectacular MVP season from a year ago and a Rookie of the Year one the year before.

Pedroia is the complete package as a ballplayer-he’s a great hitter, he can hit for power on occasion, he is a Gold Glover, and he is fast. He is definitely going to make another huge impact this year.

The Sox do have a void behind Pedroia though, as Alex Cora signed with the Mets this offseason. This probably gives Julio Lugo the edge when it comes to the shortstop positional battle, as Lugo can’t play second, while Jed Lowrie can. The Sox may address this void later in the year if Lugo struggles early, but Lugo may finally contribute and postpone this until as late as the trade deadline.

Julio Lugo got $36 Million for 4 years before the 2007 season. He knows it's time to give something back.

Julio Lugo, probably the worst signing in the American League in the past few seasons. Signed in the 2006 offseason to the tone of $36 Million for four years, Lugo hasn’t given much back to the team that won him his first ring. He hit just .237 in 2007, although he did have a good second half that year, hitting .280. In 2008 Lugo was looking to bouce back, and did get off to a decent start, but he suffered an injury midway through the season and only got 82 games in.

This opened the door for rookie Jed Lowrie, who more than erased the memory of Lugo constantly hitting into rally-killing double plays. Now Lugo and Lowrie will compete for the starting job, though many fans are calling it pointless and they already view Lowrie as the everyday starter.

However, Terry Francona is hinting that Lugo is the front runner, and I can’t blame him. While Lugo has struggled, he is still a proven veteran compared to the 2nd year Lowrie. Plus, the Red Sox never addressed the loss of utilityman Alex Cora, and are now left without a backup at 2nd Base. Lowrie can fill that position fine, but can you really see Lugo at 2nd Base? He struggled as LA’s utility man three years ago after being dealt by the Devil Rays at the trade deadline.

Anyway, Lugo believes this is the year he finally shows his worth. “I’m ready to do it now,” Lugo said. “I’m ready to get back to the level I was at. I’m hungry every day. That’s why I get paid so much money — to do well. That’s what I’m going to do.”

Well any way you look at it, Boston is stuck with him for another two years, so he may as well give us something to cheer about during this time.