Lugo is the new Coco

The past month has marked the turning point in the Red Sox organization. No longer is Coco Crisp the whipping boy or the man everyone blames for loses. The new man is Julio Lugo, and it is hard to not understand why. Lugo currently has a VORP of -10.5 an EqA of .198 and a Rate-2 102. His glove is basically average and everything else is below average. What separates Crisp and Lugo is that when Crisp struggles he brought a great glove (a 122 Rate-2) and good speed. Lugo has good speed and nothing much after that.

Cora started the game last night in place of Lugo. I wonder if this is a sign to come. Lugo has to play, probably about 2/3's of the time at a minimum. The Sox have too much money invested in him to let him rot on the bench, but they have too much invested in this team not give Cora more ABs. This is a situation that will test Tito and his abilities as a manager. Finding the medium between Cora and Lugo may decide this teams future.