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| (Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP) |
Prior to the $70 million acquisition of
Stephen Drew's big bother, the great
Bob Ryan famously asked then-GM
Theo Epstein:
"What's the fascination, if it is true, with J.D. Drew?" We have to paraphrase the great Ryan and ask,
"What's the fascination, if it is true, with Chris Young?" According to
ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick,
the Red Sox are looking at the former Oakland A's outfielder as a possible replacement should Jacoby Ellsbury leave.
Chris Young? This is a guy who has never really sustained his vaunted "upside" (he finished fourth in
Rookie of The Year voting in 2008). For example, last year he hit an abysmal .200 in 107 games. While it's true that Young
used to have tremendous extra-base power (71 in 2008—including 32 HRs), he has a grand total of 26 HRs over the last two years. His
career batting average is .235 with a measly .315 OBP. And he strikes out a lot. Defensively, Young has good speed and can go get the ball with the best of them—but his arm is just 'OK'. Since his full range of offensive and defensive liabilities are likely to worsen in his 30s, we say, all in all,
"No".
