Sox fill in SS hole

Days after the Red Sox filled in the gaping hole in CF with Coco Crisp, the Boston Herald citing multiple baseball sources stated that the club had agreed a three million pound one-year deal with former Florida Marlins shortstop Alex Gonzalez.

As a Yankee fan I'm not overly concerned or fearful of this signing but they of course are famous last words. A career .245 hitter with a sub .300 OBP through his first eight seasons in the bigs is nothing to write home about. He only has a career Fielding Percentage of .971 which also isn't exactly head turning.

This deal does smell a bit of desperation but I suppose the Sox do have enough firepower to overcome a hole at the bottom of the line-up. This move finalizes the probable line-up for '06:

1. Coco Crisp CF
2. Mark Loretta 2B
3. David Ortiz DH
4. Manny Ramirez LF
5. Jason Varitek C
6. Trot Nixon RF
7. Mike Lowell 3B
8. Kevin Youkilis 1B
9. Alex Gonzalez SS

On paper that team is weaker than this time twelve months ago whereas the Yanks seem stronger with no questions about Giambi, an upgrade is CF with Damon and at 2B with Cano over Woe is me Mack.

Still, there's a reason we play 162 games and don't decide things on paper isn't there?