Gratification

When I worked for Bill James, one of my regular jobs was to scour the minor leagues for players the Red Sox might steal from other teams. In the process, I became particularly attached to a handful of guys, players that I thought were as good as a lot of major-league regulars at their positions, but just weren’t getting a shot.

Not once did the Sox get one of my pet players… until now. The first email I saw this morning was from Joe Dimino, reporting that Boston had acquired outfielder Henri Stanley from the Padres. In his minor league career entering this season, the 26-year-old Stanley was a .296/.389/.494 hitter. He also rarely grounds into double plays. I think he’s at least *almost* as good as Johnny Damon, and possibly better.

Anyway, I can’t tell you how cool it is to see the Sox make a deal like that. I’ll be rooting for Stanley, of course (and probably commenting here if anything cool happens).