Empyreal Environs

Beattie-fication
For the third time Jim Beattie has met with Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino, this time for dinner. I hope this is a situation where Lucchino is breaking up with Beattie and followed the proper protocol by doing so over dinner in a public place. The longer these auditions continue, the more it appears to me that the Red Sox will go with Jeremy Kapstein until one of the current front office protegés is ready for the job. I would much prefer this scenario, as a similar chain of succession back in 2002 involving acting GM Mike Port enabled Theo Epstein to eventually lead the baseball operations staff.

Although Peter Woodfork is gone, three remain from this January 2005 article profiling the up and comers: Jed Hoyer, Galen Carr, and Brian O’Halloran. Perhaps they will compete, along with others like director of player development Ben Cherington or special assistant to the GM Craig Shipley, for the vacancy. With any luck, that would lead to the strongest contender attaining the position while not rending the group into internecine dysfunction.

Hail to the Chief
right-handed pitching prospect Jermaine Van Buren was traded to the Red Sox from the Chicago Cubs for a player to be named later. How ruinous this is for my freetime, as I can now commence working on the All-Time, All-Presidents Team. The 25-year old pitcher shares a last name with the eighth president, but that’s where the similarities end. President Van Buren was 5'6", the pitcher is 6'1". Prez, white and born in Columbia, New York; fireballer, African American and hails from Laurel, Mississippi. The first lady had the unfortunate name of “Hannah Hoes Van Buren”; the marital status of the prospect is unknown to me at this time. I doubt the former president could hurl a low 90s fastball or a slider.

Some links on the younger and alive Van Buren:

• MLB.com article from February 2005
  This link describes how he was drafted out of high school by Colorado Rockies in the second, never got above Class A four years, and ended up in the Independent League. He got a second chance with the Cubs.
• The Cub Reporter scouting report from July 2005
  With a K/BB ratio of 2.67 in AA in 2004 improving to 3.41 in AAA in 2005, the Red Sox have hopefully picked up Van Buren on the upswing. His delivery is described as sidearm and herky-jerky, which is odd because I usually picture that type of motion as being smoother than overhanded pitching.
• Van Buren named MiLB.com’s Relief Pitcher of the Year for 2005
  He notched a franchise-record 25 saves and 1.98 ERA with 65 strikeouts.

Since the player the Red Sox are giving up for Van Buren hasn’t been announced, a thorough examination of this trade can’t be done. The Red Sox continue to make investments in older pitchers who have something to prove as well as some maturation in both body and mind. I prefer this method to taking chances on raw high school pitchers who so rarely realize their potential. It’s just a bonus that his last name is the same as a former chief executive.