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well sure all things being equal you'd rather have another option, but if he's not ready to stick in the majors in 2009 then he's just another JD Durbin and the sox pick up a couple JD Durbins for free every season


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i agree in general about the option but i think there's a big difference between lester and a guy like durbin, or even hansack for that matter. lester's 23 and he's already shown he can get ML hitters out. he basically needs to get his BB/9 down, get a little more consistency and he's a good bet to stick. if he gets called up later in the year and does no better than last year, i'm not THAT worried. he's still very young, he was called up too soon last year, and he's recovering from f'in CANCER. whereas hansack and durbin are guys who have intriguing stuff, but they're both a good bit older and have had multiple setbacks or obstacles.

lester is also a lefty which definitely counts for something. a left handed starter who can throw 93, walk and chew gum will have a hard time not finding a job somewhere.

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i don't think that's a very good comparison. delcarmen is a pretty good major league right now IMO, so if the sox lose him they'll have really screwed up.

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judging from his peripherals, delcarmen got fairly unlucky last year in some regards. but i'm pretty sure he was also the worst in the majors at stranding inherited runners. i don't think either he or hansen was ready, and now hansen's head seems to be even more screwed up. watching him in spring training was painful. between those guys and meredith complaining about the coaching after he was traded, i have been less than thrilled with the sox' use of young pitching. as i said, i think lester got called up too early too. papelbon has been the only big success so far (albeit a huge one).

delcarmen's got major league stuff for sure. i thought, and continue to think, he's more promising than hansen. but he's not close to being mentally ready.