Article:Lugo needs to go!

Julio Lugo has played very poor as of late, and I have wanted to write this for a while and now I have compiled the final list, so here it is. 10 reasons why the Red Sox need to trade or release Julio Lugo.

10) Alex Gonzalez. Okay so he has yet to take a swing in 2008, but he hammered 16 homers in 103 games last year. I seem to remember Theo Epstein saying something about giving up defense to get offense, after letting A-Gonz go and signing Lugo. In 2007 Lugo gave the Red Sox 8 homers and 73 RBI’s. Alex popped 16 homers and drove in 55 RBI’s. Less yes, but Gonzalez did not have the line up around him that Lugo did, and he played in less games. Lugo has guys like David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, JD Drew, Dustin Pedrioa and other guys who get on base. Gonzalez has Ken Griffey Jr. And Gonzo doesn’t play that bad of defense either. Lugo made 19 errors last year, in 147 games. Gonzo made 16 in 103 games, that is the same amount of E6 that Lugo has in 2008 in just 65 games. I would even take Nomah back, or even Orlando Cabrera, didn’t he help break an 86 year curse?

9) The Nine hole. Julio Lugo is the highest paid number nine hitter in the American League, and if the Red Sox played in the National League he would be the highest paid number eight hitter, or bench player.

8) Jed Lowrie. In 17 games in the bigs, Jed has made just 0 errors while playing three different positions. In those 17 games Lowrie hit .310 with one homer and 7 runs batted in. Not to shabby for a rookie. This year in triple A Pawtucket he has hit .277 with a couple of big fly’s and 19 RBIs. He has to be close to major league ready, if not this year, hopefully next year.

7) $9,250,000. That is what Lugo makes a season. That is more than Daisuke Matsuzaka, Kevin Youkilis, Jonathan Papelbon, and many other players on the Sox. Lugo is the 7th highest paid player on the club. Josh Beckett, yea the guy who won 20 games in 2007 and won the ALCS MVP only makes $916,666 more than Mr. E6.

6) E6, E6 and more E6. The scorer should just charge Lugo with one before he even takes the field.

5) 0 for 33. No professional baseball player should ever go 0 for 33. This one pretty much explains it self. Sometimes guys go into slumps, Jason Varitex is in one now, and other times guys just suck, Julio Lugo just sucks.

4) The bullpen. A Julio Lugo trade my not bring out the very best players but after the awful outings of the bullpen in the Tampa series Lugo could be used to get an extra arm for that pen, if he is packaged right.

3) He doesn’t think. Anybody who watches Lugo can see this. In July 2nds game at Tampa Lugo made a slide to break up a double play, seems normal right? Nope not at all. He slid a good four feet from the base and wrapped his arm around the second baseman’s leg. And even if he didn’t interfere, Jacoby Ellsbury would have been safe. He does have some speed, but because of the interference called on Lugo the double play was awarded. Think Lugo, play smart.

2) He is a small market player. Lugo produced so-so in Tampa Bay and he always kicked the Red Sox ass. So once the Sox got a chance to grab a guy that always kills them they jumped on it. You can’t blame them for that. It seems like a good idea, this one has just back fired.

1) Fans. The fans make up a team. And Boston fans are some of the most devoted in all of the land. And they don’t really like Lugo. Especially when he makes comments like “lighten up” or “when things are good I play good” no Lugo you always suck. It is time for Lugo to leave his welcome in Boston has been well over stayed.