[CJFusco]

I know people give me crizzap for jumping into every Red Sox thread practically instantly, but I want to point out that pwd gave me the heads-up on this one.

Ellsbury has a very bright future - his projections have had him as a speedier, better defensive version of a young Nomar Garciaparra since about 2003. Hopefully he will avoid injury. His numbers might dip a bit next year (his official rookie year), but probably not for long. Don't forget, Dusty Pedroia batted lower than .200 until June...

Has anyone read the WS recap issue of SI? The whole article was essentially about the Red Sox scouting and player-development depts., which are quickly becoming considered by all to be the class of the MLB. They really are becoming the Patriots of baseball - drafting well, developing well, making good deals, hiring quality management. Think about it - of the Red Sox incoming 2008 lineup, SEVERAL players (Youkilis, Pedroia, Ellsbury, Lester, Delcarmen, Buchholz, Hansen, Papelbon) are still in their original, pre-free agency ML contracts. In other words, we have the best closer in the game, an all-star caliber gold gover, the 2007 ROY, the probable 2008 ROY, the clinching pitcher from Game 4 of the WS, a kid that's already thrown a no-hitter, and a couple other quality hurlers, making near the league minimum, under the Red Sox control until around 2011 or 2012.