A look back at our relationship with Julio Lugo. *cue strings and slow-mo video*
Gonzo is looking for a multiyear deal. Although I (and others) am more than willing to sacrifice his spot in the lineup for his glove, the front office seems inexplicably infatuated with
Edgar RenteriaJulio Lugo. — Paul SF, Oct. 16, 2006
Turns out I'm more prescient than I thought!
Why are the Red Sox so obsessed with Julio Lugo?
31 years old next year, career line of .277/.340/.402/.742, exactly twice as many errors as home runs (136/68). So what if he's fast — he's a mediocre hitter and a poor fielder.
They already dumped Edgar Renteria. So why go after him again? — Paul SF, Nov. 6, 2006
Of course, the cruel irony is that Lugo was not just like Renteria. Renteria had an 89 OPS+ in his one season in Boston. Lugo approached that total only as a pinch hitter this season.
Julio Lugo, apparently in the house, for 4/36M. And the Sox lose a draft pick (I think…). Someone had to have slipped a mickey in Theo's chocolate milk. Can't say I am in love with this move. Someone (not dc!) please help me rationalize this one away. Quick. — SF, Dec. 5, 2006
For the record, my response in the comments was:
I would have been happy at 6-7M per season. I would have been angry at 10M+ per season. So I guess that puts me with everyone else in the, "Well … it doesn't suck too much" category.
If we had only known how much it really could suck.
5 replies on “What Will We Do Without You?”
Oooooof.
When do you start to blame Bill James? Surely he gave a thumbs up, no?
Nobody escapes blame on this one. Nobody.
Of course, the Sox were 1 for 2 during the Lugo era, so I am not sure it is even worth digging in too deep. That’s a pretty good “in spite of” record!
Yeah, but it’s Bill James.
Fun to read those old threads and realize how I’ve stepped into some old arguments here. For the record, Dice-K cost $103 million ;)
Wild line you’ve probably forgotten about:
Julio Lugo hit .385/.500/.462 in the 2007 World Series.
no surprise here…tip of the cap to sox fans, who were lukewarm about this signing from the beginning as evidenced by the old discussion threads referred to here and in the “it’s not you, it’s me” thread, just prior to this one…sorry that you were so prophetic…i’m sure you would have preferred to be pleasantly surprised, but that’s how it goes…clever to characterize 07 as an “in spite of” win sf, and he did have a good series as paul points out, but i think 08 and so far in 09 have been pretty good “in spite of’s” too…one of the things that infuriates me about the sox is that they can still win with some holes here and there [lugo], losing guys [dice.k and manny], or guys underperforming [ortiz]…that’s a good team…contrast that to the yankees who seem to have developed an irrational dependence on arod being in the lineup, like the stuff that was reported about how tex couldn’t hit until arod returned to the lineup…not sure how arod helped cc and aj become better pitchers, but i’m sure some “reporter” has a theory…that’s the stuff that doesn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy about my team’s ability to handle adversity…