Wily Mo

On the radio last night, they were pointing out the error by Wily Mo during yesterday's game. He had a ball bounce out of his glove for a home run. That mistake gave Papelbon another chance at a save opportunity, but in the end changed nothing about the game.

The question was put forward, can the Red Sox afford to 'train' Wily. Everyone says he's a rough talent and that he 'may' become a star some day, although most are extremely alarmed when they see his strike out rate. Since the Red Sox are contenders every year, having a player like Pena on the team is out of character. Kansas City and Tampa Bay can have players like him on the field every day, since his power offsets his mistakes and they aren't going to make it into the playoffs anyways.

I say the Red Sox need to keep one eye on today and one eye on the future. If they want to succeed, and keep succeeding, they need to develop players, not just buy them. Look at the Yankees. They have bought all the big name free agents out there. Yes, its kept them in contention every year, but they haven't won it all in quite a while. And when they did win it all, it was because of players like Jeter who came up in their system.

Signing big names for big salaries makes for great headlines, but they don't necessarily help you next year or the year after that. Wily Mo may not pan out for the Red Sox, but you have to keep trying to develop your own.