McAdam On The D.A. Show: Red Sox Struggles And Ortiz' Griping
BOSTON (CBS) - Off of a 2-5 road trip, Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com joined The DA Show Thursday afternoon to talk about the scuffling Red Sox.
The Red Sox are second in baseball with 411 runs scored, but mustered just 14 in their seven games out West. They were shut down by younger talent on both the Mariners and A's pitching staff, but McAdam says a lot of the blame needs to fall on Boston's offensive shortfalls and not stellar performances by the opposition's pitching.
"A lot of the blame has to be on the Red Sox rather than give credit to the other guys," said McAdam. "I've never heard a team talk more "we hit balls hard but right at people." That can't be the case every game. There has to be some blame, and not luck assigned, to whatever they're doing, and they didn't do much on this trip."
"I hear that after almost every loss; 'We hit five or six balls right on the screw but right at people.' Sometimes that's true… but it doesn't happen every single time you lose. Yet, that's what you often hear in (the Red Sox locker room),' said McAdam.
David Ortiz also made headlines Thursday, but it wasn't just for smacking his 400th career home run. Ortiz told USA Today his contract negotiations with the Sox last offseason were "humiliating" and "embarrassing." Ortiz wanted a multi-year deal, but the Red Sox only wanted to sign him for one year. Does Ortiz have a beef here?
"I understand his frustration in the big picture and the numbers he is putting up only fuels the frustration he feels when the team really didn't get into any talks about a multi-year deal in the offseason," said McAdam. "But it's the nature of the market place; whether it's in the business world or the baseball world, it's about leverage and supply and demand. The fact is there were not a lot of teams ready to break down the door to sign a guy that was going to be 36 and limited to DH duties."
Once Ortiz accepted arbitration, he lost a lot of leverage with the team. The Sox were only focusing on signing him to a one-year deal, and while Ortiz is complaining about security, if he does in fact go to arbitration again with the Sox after this season he will likely earn more money and it will be as if he signed a two-year, $30+ million deal.
"If you're going to make $30 million over 2 years, does it really matter if those are part of the same contract or not? In the end, you're walking away with more than $15 or $15.5 per year, even if you have to do it on a year-to-year basis."
Also, should the Red Sox keep Aaron Cook or sell now while his stock is high? Sean McAdam breaks it down with DA!
