Man, I can't wait to have a bunch of box scores every day to look through.

Can I find team assignments yet? Minorleaguebaseball.com doesn't seem to be accurate, with lots of guys still in short-season ball. Although they do list Josh Reddick in Portland, which would be interesting.

Reddick finished the year in Portland, but I doubt he'll start there.

Assignments have not been fully announced yet, though SoxProspects.com has been leaking some news here and there. The starting pitching at Portland could be very interesting in April/May, though the weather will be interesting too. Masterson, Bowden, Kris Johnson - maybe Richardson?

Jon Eagen apparently retired, which resolves the question if that was a better pick than Teagarden (iirc, Teagarden was the well known college C, with Eagen being the Rob English pick that the Sox took just prior to Teagarden). I don't think it is usually fair to criticize teams draft picks with hyper sensitivity - after all, every usually makes the same mistake unless we are talking about first or second picks) - but I think it warranted here.

The IF in Pawtuckett, too, could be historically awful defensively - or people may see that minor league defense can really be improved (or prior reports can easily be wrong and repeated): Natale at 2B and Lowrie at SS? The Globe reports, too, that Moss will see significant time at 1B (we are reminded, too, how little control ML teams have over playing time decisions in winter leagues: Moss played only one game at 1B this winter because his team did not have enough OFers).

Natale played only about 30% of his games in Portland at 2B - is there reason to think he'll get more playing time at 2nd next year? The Sox seem to have hopes for him as a bench player with the ability to spot at 2B, not as a full-time second baseman.

The Sox seem to have hopes for him as a bench player with the ability to spot at 2B, not as a full-time second baseman.

[kevin] That's because they have the love child of Rogers Hornsby and Bill Mazeroski at second base already! [/kevin]

Going to see Portland when they open in New Britain a week from today. Can't wait!

Although they do list Josh Reddick in Portland, which would be interesting.

Reddick is actually going to begin the year in Greenville (low-A). From what I understand, he has some personal things to take care of in Georgia in April, so when those are over, and when Kalish is 100%, Reddick will go to Lancaster. Basically, it's not an indictment of his spring training performance or anything.

Will Middlebrooks did not make a team out of Spring Training. So you will either see him in Lowell, the GCL, or Greenville in a couple of months.

Some other draftees that should be in Greenville to start the season:

Hagadone (I personally disagree with this)
Mailman
Rizzo
Austin Bailey (good sign)

Dan Bard will be there too.

Jason Place should be in Lancaster to start the season. I'm a little down on him right now, but not because of performance-related issues.

I'm a little down on him right now, but not because of performance-related issues.

Go on?

Edit- Deleted original post.

He has some maturity issues.

We ever going to play another online game of The Show, Temple? I don't have anyone else on my buddy list, so that's still my only online experience.

not new news to youse, i'm sure - but soxprospects.com supposedly has the lancaster and greenville rosters.

[kevin] That's because they have the love child of Rogers Hornsby and Bill Mazeroski at second base already! [/kevin]

This could go either way. It might be one of the worst player in MLB history, or one of the best.

Well, Temple, you're supposed to be filling this up with good stuff, as promised. Get crackin'!

We ever going to play another online game of The Show, Temple? I don't have anyone else on my buddy list, so that's still my only online experience.

Sorry, Dan. I got your message today when I was in the middle of RTTS. Next time I see you online I'll send you a challenge.

Ryan Dent (Sox 2nd pick last year) is going to start the year in XST.

Egan retired this year to become a roofer.

Luis Soto, Theo's first Dominican bonus baby, was released during spring training.

Players to watch in Greenville:

Anthony Rizzo: Lars with less fanfare. He doesn't have the name or the installed cult following, but the kid can mash and he's more athletic than Lars. This is also going to be his age 18 season; so he's extremely young for the level.

Austin Bailey: Bonus baby signed in the late rounds last year.

Che-Hsuan Lin: Toolsy Taiwaness outfielder. Probably a little slept on my most Sox prospect hounds, but that will change after this season.

Nick Hagadone: I still think they should challenge him a little more. He's in Greenville to work on his changeup, but hopefully we see him in Lancaster by June.

David Mailman: A more athletic Rizzo with less power. Interesting guy to follow.

Jose Alvarez: Only 18, Alvarez doesn't have a tremendously high ceiling, but he's performed everywhere the Sox have sent him.



Chih-Hsien Chiang will be starting the year off in Lancaster. This will give the high-A team 6 players in the starting lineup who are 21 or under: Place, Anderson, Chiang, Engel, Diaz, Sheely/Reddick. The Lancaster pitching staff will be thin however. I'd keep an eye on Adam Mills there. He's a control-artist with good sink on his fastball. He will probably end the season in Portland. Mills is most likely a future middle reliever.

Above high-A, it's pretty standard fare: pay attention to Masterson, Lowrie, and Bowden. Kris Johnson, Dustin Richardson, Mark Wagner, and Aaron Bates bare some watching as well.

Also, check out the list of players to appear on the 2005 Portland Sea Dogs:

Jon Lester
Jon Papelbon
Anibal Sanchez
Dustin Pedroia
Hanley Ramirez
Brandon Moss
David Murphy
Manny Delcarmen

I like Diaz. I get the impression that he might be like, Adam Everett-good in the field. Am I off base there? He might not have to hit at all to be worthwhile

It's a decent comp, other than the fact that it violates Rule #1 of comparisons.

You'll hear a lot of Alex Gonzalez comparisons, because they're both flashy and Venezuelan. They put up comparable OPS's at age 20, but Gonzalez did it in the Eastern League and Diaz did it in the SAL. Big difference. Gonzalez then spent his age 21 season more than holding his own in triple-A. Even Diaz's performance in the HWL (.358/.421/.443) seems BABIP-aided. It's still going to be hard to make a judgment about him after this year (Lancaster effect) unless he plays a significant amount of time in the Eastern League. Which actually seems like a possibility.

Che-Hsuan Lin: Toolsy Taiwaness outfielder. Probably a little slept on my most Sox prospect hounds, but that will change after this season.

Lin looked GREAT at the Olympic Qualifiers. Displayed some range and athleticism in center. Has some work to do with laying off bad pitches, but he drove the ball to all fields and didn't look overmatched against some reasonable pitching.

Chiang was pretty terrible though. Had a terrible defensive stretch, and swung at everything.

Temple--

From looking at Soxprospects.com, it appears that they plan to send a bunch of old, non-prospects to Lancaster this year (though I like Mills). Is it possible that they've decided that with just one more year there, they don't want to subject any of their better pitchers to that launching pad?

If so, it would make sense that they would stash Hagadone in Greenville. If he's ridiculously good, they can jump in to AA. If he's just good (or worse), he can stay in Greenville and quickly move up to AA/AAA in 09.

[kevin] That's because they have the love child of Rogers Hornsby and Bill Mazeroski at second base already! [/kevin]

I'll get you for that, RB! I'll get you if it's the last thing I do!

Egan retired this year to become a roofer.

You got to be shitting me, Temple. Is this really true??

Darren:

I hope that's not the approach they are taking. SoxProspects received anecdotal reports last year from Lancaster season ticket holders that, consistent with what has been true in Lancaster, pitchers such as Justin Masterson and Kris Johnson not only developed their physical tools last year, but they also developed their mental toughness. I actually believe that getting tagged in Lancaster is good for a prospects development, because:

1. Success can be had there. It's very hard, but we've seen it done. Lancaster forces you to make the necessary adjustments and pitch down in the zone.

2. Pitchers learn to worry about only the things they can control. The other day, I was listening to Orel Herchiser talk about the difference between pitching the NL and AL. The main difference he said, is that in the AL, it's inevitable that there will be nights where you get beaten around and there's nothing you can do about it. The pitchers who can bounce back from this right away, he said, are the pitchers who succeed in the AL. I truly think Lancaster allows pitchers to progress their mental development far beyond where most young pitchers are. This is backed up by several posters at SoxProspects who mentioned that Kris Johnson and Justin Masterson specifically, showed improved ability to bounce back from bad innings and bad starts last year.

3. The pitchers who don't make it in Lancaster probably don't have the mental fortuity to thrive in MLB or Boston anyway.

You got to be shitting me, Temple. Is this really true??

Yes. He's make more money doing it and he didn't like living the abnormal life of a professional baseball player, or what came along with it.

n/m

Some other draftees that should be in Greenville to start the season:

Hagadone (I personally disagree with this)

If Boston's high-A franchise were someplace other than Lancaster, I'd agree. But with Hagadone working on his offspeed stuff, I think this is a wise choice - in fact, I could see circumstances evolving to the point where Hagadone would go right from Greenville to Portland. The Cal League isn't the place for someone who needs to sharpen his secondary pitches.

-- MWE

EDIT: I posted this before I read #21. I take the point, but from what I've read and heard Hagadone's secondary offerings aren't as well-developed as either Masterson's or Johnson's were a year ago, and he wasn't quite as dominant at Lowell as either of the other two.

TU-

One problem, I'd guess, is to what degree Lancaster is quantitatively different, and to what degree it's qualitatively different. That is, if pitching in Lancaster just means, like in the AL, that more of your bad pitches will get hit and even some of your good pitches will too, and so you have to learn toughness, that's less of a problem. If pitching in Lancaster means that your curveball doesn't break correctly so you have to start overthrowing or can't work on your best secondary offering, then that's a big problem.

It also seems like you could develop bad habits - pitching in a way that brings success in Lancaster might not be the best way to pitch elsewhere - if you have a good four-seamer that in normal settings is a good strikeout / flyball pitch, but in Lancaster is too often a HR pitch, you probably wouldn't get the opportunity to work on it in Lancaster like you should.

Further, there's the pitch count problem. The harder the park is on pitchers, the greater likelihood of high pitch count innings and such.

Basically, I think it's really stupid that the Red Sox have Lancaster as their A-ball affiliate, and we know that the Red Sox are only in Lancaster because they got kicked out of Wilmington and had no backup plan. It seems most likely that they will try to get out of Lancaster as soon as they can - I've heard nothing from the organization suggesting they're happy to be there. Keeping their best prospects out of such an extreme environment doesn't trouble me much at all.

The Sox should send their prospects to pitch at Koshien. That's harsh.

The Red Sox bought the Salem Carolina League team to move there when their affiliate agreement with Lancaster expires after this season...

I think it's really stupid that the Red Sox have Lancaster as their A-ball affiliate, and we know that the Red Sox are only in Lancaster because they got kicked out of Wilmington and had no backup plan.

They didn't exactly get "kicked out" of Wilmington - the Royals swooped in and made an offer that the Blue Rocks felt they couldn't refuse, and that set off a game of musical chairs which left Boston without a chair when the music stopped.

-- MWE

MCoA:

Whether I agree with you or not isn't important, since it appears that the Red Sox share your sentiments. Prior to the last year, a typical development path would have had the Sox placing Hagadone in high-A. So it appears Lancaster is affecting the decisions the Sox make w/r/t advancement.

if i had to guess, i'd say that the lancaster experience can help the development of some pitchers, while hurting others. a guy like masterson that features a hard sinker might be helped--he has to really focus on commanding it down in the zone.

It seems most likely that they will try to get out of Lancaster as soon as they can - I've heard nothing from the organization suggesting they're happy to be there.

The Sox purchased the Salem team in the Carolina League and will be moving there next year. Not only did they want out, they wanted out enough to reach into their pockets and not just wait for another round of affiliate musical chairs.

Bowden hit 95 today on a fairly accurate New Britain gun.

Pauley was sharp today and both Moss and Kottaras continue to hit with power.

Hell yes! Snyder DFAed! WOOOO HOOO

So who's taking his spot on the roster, Dan?

Never mind, it's Beckett.

Well, I wish Kyle luck. He did his best and I hope he hooks up with some other team.

I wish him luck, but I can't say I'm sorry to see him go.

Temple was in New Britain and didn't drop me a line? I'm hurt. Also, I'm bummed I missed Bowden. I've got to get my priorities in order.

DFA'ing is good, of course, but this team really seems to drag these things out. It's like they spent the last 3-4 games getting their worst relievers into the game as often as possible so they could audtion them. It's not worth it.

No, I just saw a report of the game from someone on SoxProspects.com. Here's the full write-up from ForeverRed9:

Bowden looked very sharp today. This was clearly the best I've seen from him, having seen him twice in the first month after his callup from Lancaster and again at Fenway. It was noticable right from the start with three straight well-located fastballs to get a strikeout without the batter swinging. He then proceeded to end the inning with a 95 mph heater for a swing and miss (not sure how accurate the gun is, but he was sitting at 92 and hitting 94 on occasion). He had great location throughout the game on his fastball, most notably when he finished a long at bat with a well-placed fastball on the low outside corner for a strikeout. His curveball was a lot sharper as well from when I had previously seen him. He threw a lot of strikes with it, generally sitting around 78. He clearly tired in the 5th as his curveball started to bounce in the dirt, and he allowed a couple of walks sandwiched around a hard hit double off the wall in right center field.

Hairps, you will be disappointed to hear that there was a strong wind coming from left field as Tony G crushed one in his second at bat. Unfortunately, the left fielders only had to drop back a few steps to catch it. Without the wind, that would have at least hit the wall. It appears like Tony has a big swing for a small guy but I'll have to watch him a few more times to get a good opinion.

Also, Aaron Bates showed some opposite field power when he lined out to right. I can see why he had such a strong performance in Lancaster. Unfortunately, by the time I left, there really wasn't anything going on at bat. Pinckney had a nice double down the right field line to get the first run in, but New Britain answered in the bottom half of the inning.

And what would a Portland game be without a Jeff Natale HBP. It's nice to see him have the winning HR as he grew up only a few towns south of New Britain.

Thanks to ForeverRed9 at SP.com.

(Darren, do you feel like the gun in New Britain is generally accurate?)

Reid Engel hits his first high-A HR. Kapow. Kids still 20 years old.

Hell yes! Snyder DFAed! WOOOO HOOO

Who goes next? I've got either Corey or Lopez in my pool.

Probably Corey. Aardsma at least has good stuff, and the transient ability to seem good, if nothing more. And Lopez is the designated LOOGY; effective or not, he isn't going anywhere.

Btw, what is up with Corey's jaw?

Really haven't noticed if the gun is fast or slow. Sounds like a good first start for Bowden. Definitely going to try to see him next time they're in town.

Daniel Bard had his first good professional appearance today: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3/0 K/BB, HBP. SoSH poster Someoneanywhere was at the game and posted this:

I am at the Drive game right now -- three rows behind the plate. Bard looks like a totally different pitcher. He is still throwing hard, but he's got some movement. And he's thrown 2-3 devastating breaking balls. The scouts are buzzing.

Jon Still went 3/4 with 2 homeruns for Lancaster. That gives him 4 homeruns on the year. He's got a decent .333/.524/1.133 (1.657 OPS) line for his first 20 PA's.

Kris Johnson made his first double-A start and had a decent outing: 4.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3/1 K/BB. He was pulled because he was on a pitch count.

Jason Place went 5 PA's without striking out today. That deserves some type of mention.

Jason Place went 5 PA's without striking out today. That deserves some type of mention.

Holy ####. Cue the confetti.

Jon Still has 4 homers in 4 games. Anybody know anything about his defense?

He's an excellent fielding DH.

Thanks, Mr. Wetblanket.

He can actually probably play 1B. But it's hard to imagine him sticking at C.

Does he have no arm or something?

He's just not very agile. He isn't a great receiver. He's a big dude (6'3", 215).

Dustin Richardson (Portland)- 5 IP, 2 H, ER, 10/3 K/BB. He'll be a very nice lefty reliever for the Sox within the next year.

Reid Engel- 3/3, BB

Sox trade Christian Lara to the Dodgers for RHP Eric Hull.

Looks like Hull's been decent for the last couple years at the AAA level. Good K-rate. Keeps the ball in the yard for the most part. That's no easy task at Vegas (pretty strong hitter's park, as I recall).

Are there broader implications of this deal beyond simply picking up a guy with a good arm? Is this an indication that Theo is concerned about the bullpen, or is it just a case of "You can never have too much pitching" even if it's 27-year-old minor league pitching?

Can anyone figure out the players from this item in Bradford's piece:


Perhaps no more so than in 2005, when the Red Sox, with two first-round picks and three sandwich picks between the first and second rounds, selected Ellsbury, pitcher Craig Hansen, Buchholz, Lowrie and Bowden. Though Hansen has struggled, he remains with the organization and the Sox are hopeful he will find his way.

As good as that draft sounds, it could have been even better. Though seven Sox prospects are on BA’s current Top 100 list, there is another highly touted rookie whom the Sox nearly grabbed. Instead, they went in a different direction and selected a player who no longer is with the organization.

Chase Headley over Jon Egan?

hansen has looked really strong so far. if he keeps it up, he'll be with the big club pretty soon.

Masterson was dominant tonight: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 7/0 K/BB, 8/0 GO/AO

Is anyone going to the Boston College-Florida State series this weekend? Any players I should look for?

Buster Posey from Florida State. He's a converted catcher and a definite first round pick in this year's draft.

Edit: Also, Shaugnessy's son plays for BC, so feel free to heckle him.

Buster Posey from Florida State. He's a converted catcher and a definite first round pick in this year's draft.

If he's around at #30, he'd be a great pick for the Red Sox.

-- MWE

Agreed.

Have you seen Reese Havens play, Mike? The Sox have a fascination with him that dates back to his senior year in high school. I would think they would be eager to draft him if he gets there (which I would have no problem with). There's talk about converting him to catcher, too.

Have you seen Reese Havens play, Mike?

No. I wasn't able to get to the NCAA games last year.

Havens will almost certainly be available at #30. Most charts I've seen have him pegged at somewhere around the middle of the supplemental round. Posey's probably gone by then; I've seen him at anywhere from top-10 to around 25. I could see Oakland grabbing him at 12.

-- MWE

I looked up the '3-2' kid. He is having a decent season in limited playing time. 70 PA's .309/.457/.636. His living up to the nickname with 14BB and 21K. He has a .500BABIP.


If I heckle the son (and I am tempted to even though I know it's wrong), the old man might blow a gasket and come after me.

What about the Friday starter for FSU, Elih Villanueva?

9 Questions with Chris Province

Villaneuva's no longer the Friday starter - he's been moved to Sunday. Matt Fairel is the Friday starter. FSU has also moved Ryan Strauss out of the weekend rotation, replacing him with freshman Geoff Parker. None are particularly good prospects. Fairel vs Terry Doyle (Friday) should be a decent matchup.

-- MWE

Are there broader implications of this deal beyond simply picking up a guy with a good arm?

They need guys with good arms and minor-league options. Corey, Lopez, Aardsma, and the recently-DFA'ed Snyder are all out of options.

If anyone was planning on going to the BC-FSU series this weekend, the teams are playing a doubleheader starting at noon, Friday due to the forecast of rain over the weekend.

Is Reid Engel a true-talent level 1.120 OPS hitter? Probably not. But hey, you never know.

They need guys with good arms and minor-league options. Corey, Lopez, Aardsma, and the recently-DFA'ed Snyder are all out of options.

Good point, vi. I hadn't considered that. I fear Corey may not be long for this team; he's pitched rather poorly since his first couple appearances.

Big night for a couple pitchers who are on the outside looking in to prospect-hood, but who aren't organizational soldiers just yet.

Daniel Haigwood, once a top 10 prospect in the Rangers org, threw four shutout innings in Portland, with seven Ks and no walks.
Adam Mills, a college stat fave, gave up one run in five innings for Lancaster, with four Ks and a walk.

Some early season glimmers of hope from two lost souls:

Hansen: 6 IP, 1 H, 0.00 ERA, 8/3 K/BB, 73% GB%
Bard: 5 IP, 4 H, 0.00 ERA, 7/1 K/BB, 80% GB%

Jeff Natale hitting a fun .231/.524/.462 with 6 walks and 0 strikeouts.

Edit: Also, Shaugnessy's son plays for BC, so feel free to heckle him.

This is the second Shaughnessy that has displayed at least a respectable amount of athletic ability. I can't imagine someone with a similar genetic complement as CHB being anything other than a complete dork.

Lowell to the DL, Lowrie called up.

Cool.

You'd think he should be starting tonight, with a lefty going for Detroit. Did the move just get made too late?

EDIT: Obviously it isn't cool that Lowell is DL'd, but that move was obvious from the injury. So, the Sox chose to call up their best positional prospect. I like that. Similar to how they called up Ellsbury last summer even though he might not have fit the needs of the team as well as Moss.

Hagadone tonight: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 7/0 K/BB

Doesn't the callup of Lowrie display a good amount of faith in him? They seem confident that he stick by 2010.

Why wouldn't they have faith in him, Mitch? He's already shown he can play.

I fear Corey may not be long for this team; he's pitched rather poorly since his first couple appearances.

And you're correct; he's being DFA today, with Timlin being activated.

No word on Snyder landing with another team. He was DFA on April 5, which means (a) he has passed through waivers by now, and (b) there's still something like 4 days before they have to do something - trade, release, whatever. I can't imagine Snyder being so valuable that a team would trade anything, or even pay the waiver fee, to ensure they get him. If anyone wants him - or if he wants to go anywhere else - we'll probably hear next week.

kevin,
I wasn't referring to just his talent. It was more that the Red Sox are confident that he will crack the lineup and won't be using up all his options.

Another guy having a good start - Dustin Richardson, college lefty. He spent most of last year in Greenville being unimpressive for a 23-year-old, and I didn't notice that he had a nice little stint in Lancaster to end the season. Now he's been bumped to Portland and is pitching good - 14 K, 6 BB, 3 H, 2 R in 11 IP.

And Dan Bard threw two more perfect innings, with 3 Ks last night. I wonder how soon the Sox think about stretching him out. I'd wait a while, even if he keeps this up, given the nearly Blass-level problems he had last year.

Stretching him out to move back to a rotation? Seems doubtful to me. The Blass level wildness seems to be under control, but that doesn't suggest anything about his rudimentary secondary stuff.

I think the real question - if he keeps this up for a while - is how do they challenge him? Pumping 95 mph fastballs by lo-A hitters should get old for him relatively quickly. Can they send him back to Lancaster the site of his meltdown? I guess that would be the conquer your fears head on approach. Would they "reward" him for his meltdown (and quality pitching) and skip him up to AA?

Beats me, but if he's in the Greenville bullpen racking up big numbers in July, then that might be an indicator that the Sox aren't really on board with his mental toughness and would suggest that he'd be a "sell high/can't handle Boston" trade deadline candidate.

I'd be looking to bump Bard up to AA by the end of May if he's still throwing well. He's got just as much to gain from being challenged by better competition as he does from being challenged by a difficult environment and potential psychological baggage.

I think this makes sense from the trade bait angle as well. Hypothetically speaking, what are other teams more likely to be impressed by? Bard having success at a higher level after a rapid promotion (He's shooting through the system), or Bard having success at a lower level where he once struggled (He's conquered his demons)? I think the former is an easier sales pitch to make.

If I had to guess, other teams are most likely to be impressed with Bard's stuff. It seems like he's got a great breaking ball going. The anecdote about him snapping one off and have 3 scouts snap open their cell phones is encouraging.

No word on Snyder landing with another team.

And to follow up my own post - he's accepted an assignment in Pawtucket.

Bard and Hansen are both doing well, which is nice, considering I'd already sort of written the both of them off as failed prospects.

Hansen might be ready for another go-around the bigs, if Aardsma or one of the other back-of-the pen guys falters badly.

Dustin Richardson is having a good start. Can he replace Javier Lopez as the LOOGY by September 09?

Edit: WTF Chiang, he made 3 errors the other day. He's like the Asian Lugo

Errors in the minor leagues are not necessarily a problem, especially below AA. They are often a product of poor field conditions.

-- MWE

Some players to watch:

Che-Hsuan Lin (19 years old, low-A)- .293/.396/.439, 5/6 BB/K ratio. He's probably the highest ceilinged outfielder centerfielder in the system. Lin is a magician defensively, and he's impressed with the bat early on. If you had to pick a guy from outside the Sox top 10 to jump in the top 5 this year, this would be him.

Anthony Rizzo - (18 years old, low-A)- The list of players in low-A who are 18 years old or younger and have an OPS of .700 or over are as follows for the last 4 years (Thanks Hairps):

Carlos Triunfel (17)
Chris Marrero
Billy Rowell
Fernando Martinez (17)
Jose Tabata (17)
Justin Upton
Daric Barton
Delmon Young
Adam Jones

Rizzo is the rare high school draftee who plays his first full season of ball in his age 18 season. Right now he has a .366/.409/.439 line in 41 AB's with a 2/6 BB/K ratio. Not much power or patience, but it's a very impressive when considering his age. He doesn't have a ton of pedigree, but he was a 2nd-3rd round talent last year, who slipped because of bonus demands. Rizzo is an athletic 1B, but is still a 1B. He's someone to watch.

George Kottaras - .270/.341/.622, 4/6 BB/K. Seems like he might be able to step up next year in a back up or split time with Varitek.

Nick Hagadone left this morning's game with an apparent elbow injury. This is bad news, especially coming on the heels of Austin Bailey's torn labrum.

George Kottaras - .270/.341/.622, 4/6 BB/K. Seems like he might be able to step up next year in a back up or split time with Varitek.

I suspect the question we'll be asking as we get closer to the end of the year will be "Can he step up and be the starter?"

what's the situation with Hagadone? I can't find anything online.

There isn't going to be much. He's a prospect in low-A. In a couple days we'll probably see something in the Globe or Herald notebook. I'll try to find something out before then.

soxprospects is saying he looks ok, that it was just tightness in his forearm.

Hansen and Masterson. Wow! Promotions?

Hagadone's been DL'd.

-- MWE

Has anyone seen Hansen pitch this year? Did he get his slider back?

Forgetting considerations such as player development, egos, and money, what is the 25 man roster you want to see the Red Sox run out there?