Free agent 1B Sean Casey signed to 1yr contract
Posted on February 5, 2008
Filed Under 2008 Season | Leave a Comment
Transaction: The Sox deepened their bench today when they finalized a 1yr/$800k contract with 3-time All Star Sean Casey. Casey has played the past year and a half with the Detroit Tigers and is a career .301 hitter.
My analysis: Perfection. It may seem like we have All-Stars at every position on the field but our bench seemed to lack a solid left-handed stick to swing with. After declining Eric Hinske’s option over the offseason, there was nobody left to back Youk at 1st and Lowell at 3rd. With this addition, Casey can take over for Youk when he needs a day off or is covering the opposite corner for Lowell. Casey hits well for average (.301 BA lifetime), has a decent eye at the plate (.366 OBP lifetime), but is relatively weak in the power category (.450 SLG lifetime.) All in all for 800k, he sounds like a pretty good pick to me.
As for the non-baseball side of the signing? I’ll just give you this excerpt from the ESPN article:
“I’m at a stage in my career where I really wanted to come to a place where I had a chance to win,” he said. “Playing first base, you get a feel for what the guys are like. I remember playing them last year in Detroit, thinking, ‘What a great bunch of guys.’”
Casey had some success in Detroit, reaching the 2006 World Series before the Tigers were swept by the St. Louis Cardinals.
“That was the first time in my career I was like, ‘This is what people must feel here,’” he said. “In Boston, they have that feeling a lot.”
Casey heard stories about playing in Boston from Todd Jones, who was with the Red Sox before joining the Tigers.
“He said it seems like Game 7 of the World Series every night,” Casey said. “When I was coming in here as a visiting player, I always thought it would be cool to hear that on the home side.”
Source: ESPN
Comments
Leave a Reply