Every neighborhood has that one crazy guy who walks around talking to himself. “Uh, oh, kids, there goes Crazy Ol’ Mr. Martindale. Let’s cross the street and, for the love of God, please no one mention immigrants.”
In Framingham, it appears that the neighborhood crazy guy is, appropriately, Framingham Lou (though I wonder if you can call him Framingham Lou when he’s actually in Framingham; that might be a faux pas, like wearing the band t-shirt to the concert).
Yesterday, Crazy Ol’ Mr. Merloni took a stroll through those leafy, MetroWest streets, talking to himself and, in so doing, fixing the 2023 Red Sox:
To sum up, here’s what he wants to see:
Lineup
C: McGuire/Wong
1B: Casas
2B: Story
SS: Xander
3B: Devers
LF: Verdugo
CF: Kiké
RF: Two of Tommy Pham, Brandon Nimmo, or Michael Conforto
DH: Jose Abreu
Rotation
Chris Sale (tied to Kutter Crawford for some reason; I think he’s saying he wants Crawford as the #6/long-relief guy, but he does so pretty confusingly)
Carlos Rodon
Eovaldi
Pivetta
Bello
Paxton, if the Sox feel like it
Bullpen
TBD Proven Closer
TBD High-Leverage Lefty
Whitlock
Houck
Schreiber
Barnes
I can’t argue with the fact that the Sox absolutely need to sign one of the top free-agent pitchers, and this team certainly looks better constructed than the 2022 version.