Embarassment of riches

Being a Red Sox fan is pretty OK. Your team is always competitive, has lost it's "lovable loser" moniker and generally seems to care about putting a winning product on the field.

But holy shit is the media awful.

WEEI -- which I listen to often in the car because I hate myself -- is one of the most alarmist, irrational, moronic outlets related to anything, sports aside. Their latest (see: only) topic? How terrible David Ortiz has been. With the Bruins and Celtics done, and the Pats not up to much, there's not a lot going on in the Boston sports scene. And yes, Ortiz has been awful and is a concern, but one would think the Red Sox are sitting in last place, the amount of burn the Ortiz story is getting.

And this phenomenon is one of the reasons being in the Red Sox loop is horrifying.

Ortiz, the number three hitter who is a few seasons removed from hitting over 50 homers, is probably done. He looks old, his may be off the juice, he has no Latin players to hang out with (untrue, but said), he wants out of Boston, he needs a new hitting coach, all these and many more have been thrown around regarding Ortiz.



But the point is, it doesn't matter. It's a joke that this is such a big deal. He's done. Move on. Let him hit down in the order until he gets it figured out. Or doesn't. It happens. Boston is top ten in runs scored, homers, RBI, average, on-base, and OPS. It's not like they are the Nationals here. They have not one, but two MVP canidates from last season, Pedroia and Youkilis, the former hasn't even begun to hit for power yet. They have Bay, who has 16 homers and four more hitters with more than seven home runs. Are those guys playing over their heads? Somewhat, but the lineup is deep, they back each other up. If any other team -- except maybe the Yankees -- had this amount of offensive talent, and was still bitching about one slumping star, while sitting one game out of first, they would be told to shut up.

So I'll do it. Shut up, Red Sox media. Please.

There's so much about "Our number three hitter is a black hole!" Solution that has finally been discovered: Move. Him. Down. Here's what ridiculous lineup the team could have -- and not by making a trade -- but just moving Ortiz down.

Ellsbury, Pedroia, Youkilis, Bay, Lowell, Drew, Ortiz, Varitek, SS du jour.

That is a deep playoff lineup, Ortiz be damned. Your 2-6 hitters should average 20 homers -- with Bay closer to 30+ and Pedroia closer to the low teens -- which is crazy.

I am against trading for Nick "Glassman" Johnson or Victor Martinez, simply because it's foolish. Ever since the Nomar days, there has been this prevailing thought that the Sox need an All-Star at every position, a player who hits 50 homers. Guess what? It's OK to not have a batting champ in the nine-hole. Would I like a Martinez or Hanley Ramirez? Yeah, I guess. But at what cost? And to what end?

This team, as currently constructed, can win the division and make it deep in the playoffs. Our bullpen is great, the starters will be fine, there's help in the minors and the lineup is deep as hell. So forget Ortiz. Let him languish in the seven or six spot. Maybe he gets it together and hits like 20 homers. Crazier things have happened. If he doesn't, whatever. He's your seven hitter. Rotate him with Baldelli and other DH types. Bring up Lars Anderson or something. Just don't trade three of four pieces for some DH.

The Red Sox don't need big bats at every spot in the lineup. It's a little embarassing already.