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March 24, 2006

Are They Smarter, Or Luckier?

From the AP, via a tip from WasWatching.com reader JeremyM -

Boston claimed Hee-Seop Choi off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, giving the Red Sox another first basemen to back up starter Kevin Youkilis.

“We have liked Choi for a long time and view this as an opportunity to acquire him when his value is down a bit,” Boston general manager Theo Epstein said. “We like his power, his patience and his hands at first base. Choi provides depth for us at first base and in a way third base as well, considering Kevin Youkilis’ ability to play both positions.”

Mike Lowell, who won a Gold Glove at third base last year with Florida, is Boston’s starter but is coming off a poor season at the plate.

“We’ll see how our roster shakes out, but Choi does have minor league options if we want him to get every day at-bats in Triple-A for a period of time,” Epstein said.

I've been saying for a while that the Yankees should have went after Choi.

So, the question is - did the Yankees try, or, did the Red Sox get lucky because they have dibs before the Yankees in the picking order?

If it's the latter, then I have to ask Bud "Why the hell are they co-champs if it means that the Yankees then don't get to pick Choi at the same time?"

Then again, if it's just a matter of the Sox being smarter here - and the Yankees had no interest - then it's a moot point.

Still, either way, it would be nice to know why this went down the way that it did.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at March 24, 2006 08:59 PM

Comments

Alphabetical order?

Posted by: Raf [TypeKey Profile Page] at March 25, 2006 12:25 AM

The waiver order is in reverse order of last year's standings, meaning the Sawx had dibs before the Yanks

Posted by: Mike A. [TypeKey Profile Page] at March 25, 2006 03:11 PM

That's my point. According to Bud, the Yankees and Sox were co-champs, and the "tie-breaker" was just for ALDS purposes. Then, why not flip for the waiver pick or something like that - since they "both were in 1st"?

Posted by: Steve Lombardi [TypeKey Profile Page] at March 25, 2006 11:04 PM

That's my point. According to Bud, the Yankees and Sox were co-champs, and the "tie-breaker" was just for ALDS purposes. Then, why not flip for the waiver pick or something like that - since they "both were in 1st"?
====================

Maybe they did. Maybe they didn't expect something like this to happen (given the geniuses, probably the likely scenario).

I may be a bit unfamiliar with the waiver rules, but I'd like to know why Choi was able to last so long before being selected by the Sox. I find it hard to believe that all the teams in the NL and teams in the AL with worse records than the Sox & Yanks don't have a use for Choi.

Posted by: Raf [TypeKey Profile Page] at March 26, 2006 09:01 AM