Schilling Not About the Money
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by Niteowl049
Baseball Notebook
Schilling Not About the Money
It was refreshing to see a player stay with his team even though he could test the free agent market. That player was Curt Schilling who will only get $8 million in guaranteed money for the 2008 season. There are incentives that include a Cy Young vote, six weigh ins and and number of innings pitched that would give him $14 million if he achieves all those incentives.
Most players would have tested the market before signing with their old team but Schilling showed his loyalty to the Red Sox by signing again with them. The future looks bright for the Red Sox with Jacoby Ellsbury being there all next season and with Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz seemingly ready to step into the rotation. The first three slots in rotation are taken with Josh Beckett, Schilling and Daisuke Matsuzaka. If Matt Clement returns he could take the fourth spot and either Lester or Buchholz would be the No.5 starter with Lester having the edge.
With Manny Ramirez and Ellsbury set in the outfield the only question in outfield is if J.D. Drew can improve on his lackluster performance in 2007. However his great postseason hitting may give him the confidence he needs to really help the team.
Julio Lugo may be the only weakness on the team but even Lugo did well in the World Series hitting .385 which may spark him to play better all next season. So from my viewpoint don't see any reason why the Red Sox can't repeat in 2008 but still won't count out the Yankees but right now not sure how many Yankees will be signing with other teams. It's too soon to make a prediction since there are too many questions about the makeup of the 2008 team.
17th Gold Glove for Maddux
Greg Maddux won his 17th Gold Glove eclipsing the record that Jim Kaat had held for many years with 16 Gold Gloves. Maddux would have had 18th consecutive Gold Gloves but Mike Hampton won in 2003 interrupting his streak of Gold Gloves.
Braves and Phillies had two players each win Gold Gloves with Jimmy Rollins and Aaron Rowand, and Andruw Jones and Jeff Francoeur won Gold Gloves as Braves.
