To put it another way, we have 24 games left, if we go 19-5 we'd have 93 wins and would probably be in, or in a sudden death playoff game. Onward, I say.

i say just forfeit the rest of the games before anybody else gets hurt.

I fear the worst for Papelbon. I really do.

Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!

It's official: Toby is now Sunshine, Jr.

On the "no pitching whatsoever" front, apparently Schilling has a strained lat. Which sounds like it could make him either out or ineffective. Sigh.

I'm going to go light a candle each for Lester and Lil Papi.

rage, rage against the dying of the light!

To put it another way, we have 24 games left, if we go 19-5 we'd have 93 wins and would probably be in, or in a sudden death playoff game. Onward, I say.

In 95 the yankees went something like 24-6 in their last 30 games to win the wild card. It can be done.

25-7 after that long losing streak. It's not happening, though - the Yankees were 4 1/2 games back then and still only won the wild card by a game and a half. The 8 extra games is huge at this point and they're chasing better teams - the Sox and Twins are both on pace for 94 wins while the leader at the time, the Rangers, was on pace for 85.

Kottaras is a Sea Dog:

http://tinyurl.com/qb3e5

I'm going to go light a candle each for Lester and Lil Papi.

How about just 2 for Lester instead?

Let's wait and see how we play vs. Kansas ####### City first.

Kason Gabbard must be cheating somehow

I fear the worst for Papelbon. I really do.

Same here. See my comment in the Papelbon diagnosis thread.

Sox pick up another game on the Yanks.

Gabba Gabba Hey!

Hey, Toby, why didn't you suggest this earlier.

Let’s make it interesting.

I'd love to help but I don't think the Red Sox are much interested a 51 year old righthander with a 70 MPH fastball.

i dunno, kevin... you might become the one pitcher in mlb that dusty pedroia could actually hit. he might even top his weight in SLG off you. :)

yall should sign kat osterman

Except, being on the Red Sox, I couldn't face him, Kyle.

I'd love to help but I don't think the Red Sox are much interested a 51 year old righthander with a 70 MPH fastball.

You need to get on the juice.

I'd love to help but I don't think the Red Sox are much interested a 51 year old righthander with a 70 MPH fastball.

If he was lefthanded I bet you he'd be a hot commodity

Red Sox released catcher Javy Lopez.
But we never got to see Javier Lopez throw to him. Surely the Red Sox could have set that up just once. According to manager Terry Francona, Lopez was released so that he might have a chance to catch on with another team for the final few weeks. The Red Sox weren't going to have any playing time for him with Jason Varitek back.

The Red Sox weren't going to have any playing time for him with Jason Varitek back.

Let me fix this for you, levski:

The Red Sox weren't going to have any playing time for him with Jason Varitek back because he couldn't play his way out of a wet paper bag.

And thus concludes Adam Stern's long and winding career as a member of the Red Sox.

Btw, Kevin, those weren't my words; that was from rotoworld.com. I forgot to say so.

I do agree with your sentiment completely. Even though you may have to define the degree of paper wetness.

Mike Timlin, get cancer

not cool, C-Wok.

Physician, heal thyself.

I was at the game last night, and though the ending sucked, I went home happier than I would have if they had lost 8-3 like it looked like they were going to. I also learned that the nosebleed seats behind the jumbotron aren't as bad as you might think.. ;)

If they aren't going to make the playoffs, then I hope they lose as many games as possible, so as to improve their drafting position for next year. Plus, it will force them to view the roster more critically than they might have otherwise, and put some players under the microscope they might have been satisfied with before.

Here is what Bill James wrote about Jerry Remy in 1983:

There are two people who always surprise me whenever I figure anytingfo them-runs created, approximate value, ratings. Sixto Lezcano always comes out looking a lot better than Ithink he will, and Jerry Remy always comes out looking a lot worse.

Why? For one thing, he has less power than anybody else in the league at his position (Tim foli is close). So you say, from the standpoint of a Red Sox fan, that that's not his job, that his job is to get on base in front of the power hitter, which is fine except that he doesn't get on base all that much either. He has a .339 on-base percentage, which is way behind Grich and Randolph and pretty much indistinguishable from Bernazard(.340), Dauer (.340), Gantner (.339), Garcia (.339), or Whitaker (.343). Then he is supposed to be a good secondbaseman but the first thing I look at is double plays, and he doesn't turn very many, and the second thing is range, and he doesn't make that many plays, either. So you've got a negative there with no identifiable positive to offset it, and he's got to rate behind those people. He's a quiet, respectable little drain on the Red Sox efforts. I think they'd win more games if they'd put Stapleton at second and try to find a firstbaseman who can hit.

This brings us back to Mark Loretta. For one thing, he has less power than anybody else in the league at his position (Placido Polanco is close). So you say, from the standpoint of a Red Sox fan, that that's not his job, that his job is to get on base in front of the power hitter, which is fine except that he doesn't get on base all that much either. he has a .351 OBP but that's way behind Carroll and Utley and pretty much indistinguishable from Giles (.351) or Vidro (.351) or Iguchi (.350) or Castillo (.349).

Then he is supposed to be a good secondbaseman but the first thing I look at is double plays, and he turns an average amount, and the second thing is range, and he doesn't make that many plays, either. So you've got a negative there with no identifiable positive to offset it, and he's got to rate behind those people. He's a quiet, respectable little drain on the Red Sox efforts. I think they'd win more games if they'd put Pedroia or Cora at second and try to find another middle infielder.

Re: Loretta.

Yes, kevin. Plus, they had a superior, cheaper middle IF in Graffanino, who has put up a better EQA and Zone Rating than Loretta this year, for less money and no cost in talent.

To be fair to the FO, however, Loretta had some upside offensively (if you look a some of his recent years' numbers) that Graffy didn't have. And also, while they got a negative delta on Loretta this year, they sure as hell got positive ones (relative to my worried state, anyway) on Lowell and Schilling.

not cool, C-Wok.

Better somebody deserving and not Lester.

How fast people forget Timlin had a 0 ERA in the 2003 post season... Ungrateful bastards.

It's time for the Sox to turn it over to the kids and just play Freddy Sanchez, Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez.

I'd love to help but I don't think the Red Sox are much interested a 51 year old righthander with a 70 MPH fastball.

If he was lefthanded I bet you he'd be a hot commodity

If he he was lefthanded he'd be Jamie Moyer.

Best Regards

John

So, how long before we get a "Time to Plan for Next Year" thread? It would sure beat whatever's going on in that Ortiz/MVP thread.

I think that this team, with some better breaks, is not far from contending, and that the Sox should spend money (but not prospects) accordingly. Sign the best FA starting pitcher you can, and probably sign Lugo. Probably try to trade Lowell, move Youkilis to third, and go with a platoon at first (or perhaps explore the trade market there, but only if there's a considerable upgrade or surprising bargain available).

If Aramis Ramirez opts out of his contract, go hard after him and dump Lowell.

Do others disagree?

I disagree on ARam. Last I checked he was a terrible fielder. Is that still true?

This year, according to Dial, A. Ramirez has neither cost nor added a single run with his defense: his line is 0, with 7 NL 3Bmen fielding better and 8 fielding worse.

I don't know anything else about his defense.

No, I thoroughly support the A-Ram plan. I'm not even a big A-Ram fan. But there needs to be some semblance of power in a corner infield spot. On watching him alone, he looks like a below average defender. But I only watch about ~25 Cubs games/year.

A-Ram and Matsuzaka, and you're set.