This post is going to focus on ten Boston sports thoughts. The Patriots are 5-0 and look poised to contend for another championship. After giving up 16 goals in their first three games, the Bruins won two games on the road and now stand at 2-3. The Celtics are preparing for their first regular season game on October 28th. The baseball playoffs have been great this year and it has a lot of Red Sox fans thinking about the future possibility of an October run. There’s a lot going on in Boston sports right now and it looks like we’re going to be in for some exciting times in the next few months!
Here are ten thoughts regarding the current Boston sports scene.
1. The Red Sox could almost field an entire team with players in the 2015 MLB Postseason.
Catcher – David Ross, Cubs
First Base – Adrian Gonzalez, Dodgers
Second Base –
Shortstop – Jed Lowrie, Astros
Third Base – Adrian Beltre, Rangers
Leftfield – Jonny Gomes, Royals
Centerfield – Yoenis Cespendes, Mets
Rightfield – Carl Crawford , Rightfield
Designated Hitter – Anthony Rizzo, Cubs
Starting Pitcher – Take your pick between Jon Lester, Cubs and John Lackey, Cardinals.
The team is missing a second baseman. I don’t think Mike Napoli could play second base. This would be a pretty solid team otherwise though. I wonder what Ben Cherington would think…
2. If the Red Sox didn’t trade Cespedes for Rick Porcello, would they have made the playoffs this year? With Cespedes in left field, they likely wouldn’t have signed Hanley Ramirez. We all know how much better the team was when Ramirez didn’t play. Porcello pitched very poorly. Plus you add Cespedes’ bat? It would have been interesting to see an outfield of Cespedes, Betts, and Bradley.
3. When the Red Sox traded Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, and Josh Beckett to the Dodgers in 2012, it was mainly a salary dump with what were considered to be strong prospects in return. Those prospects were Allen Webster and Rubby De La Rosa. Granted, this trade helped pave the way to the 2013 championship, but the Sox couldn’t have received at least one better player in return?
4. The Celtics have four very good power forwards in David Lee, Amir Johnson, Jared Sullinger, and Kelly Olynyk. They all have different strengths and weaknesses. How is Brad Stevens going to find them all minutes?
5. The Celtics open the season with home games against the 76ers and the Raptors. They should win both of these games. Their third game is also at home against the Spurs on Sunday, November 1st. Should they win the first two games, there will be a lot of interest and buzz to see how the Celtics play against a true NBA contender early in the season.
6. David Krejci leads the NHL with nine points. Now that he has some solid offensive talent around him, he could be poised for a big season. By the way, the now 23 year old Tyler Seguin has eight points. But hey, at least the Bruins have Loui Eriksson.
Krejci, Bergerson, Seguin…what could have been.
7. Regardless of the outcome in the Patriots-Colts game, next week’s Patriots-Jets game is for first place in the AFC East. If the Patriots defeat the Colts and were to lose to the Jets next week, the Pats would drop to the #5 seed in the AFC with just one loss. Huge game!
8. Heading into the Colts game, Dion Lewis is on pace for 720 rushing yards, 953 receiving yards, 92 receptions, and 12 touchdowns. Granted, it’s only four weeks into the season, but there are very few players in the NFL who are capable of putting up these types of numbers as a rusher and a receiver. Matt Forte comes to mind. Could the Patriots have found a more perfect running back for their system?
9. Has anyone seen Aaron Dobson since the Buffalo game?
10. Hypothetical question: If the Patriots could trade Tom Brady for Andrew Luck today, would they do it?