General Managers Meetings

We are a couple days into this years general managers meeting and news is starting to break.  K-Rod and C.C. have ended up in Queens and the Bronx respectively, while things 200 miles north things are a little slow. 

John Smoltz is apparently considering Boston, Detroit and the Mets.  I think this would be a terrific move, potentially the best move available to the Sox this off season.  Smoltz on a short deal would be a perfect fit for the team as it now stands.  Especially, with Atlanta’s ...

Locking up the Li’l Guy

It was just a couple years ago when I was disappointed that the Red Sox picked Pedroia, a seemingly very low ceiling player, in the 2nd round of the 04 draft. And I was just looking back at some of the posts about the early drafts, including 04, which focused on polished college guys, and how that might make the team miss out on some superstars. And here we are, a few years later, and I’m really happy that they got him to sign away his next 6 years for $40.5 mil. (It might be fun if anyone can ...

Let’s Get Kerry Wood

Kerry Wood—66.3 IP, 54 H, 84 K, 18 BB, 3 HR, 3.26 ERA. He’s a big injury risk but when he’s healthy he’s got top-of-the-rotation quality stuff coming out of the bullpen. See if he’ll bite on a short deal to set up for Papelbon. He would be an excellent risk.

ALCS Game 7: It’s All Over

A great comeback that falls just short. The Red Sox just couldn’t push across some runs when they needed to in this game. It was bound to happen one of these years.

ALCS Game 6: Beckett Bounces Back

Josh Beckett met the challenge of throwing a good game without his best stuff. 5 IP, 2 R is more than I expected of him. The pen then held the line while we got a surprising boost from Varitek. A great game and now let’s look forward to another exciting game 7.

One scary thing: Papelbon does not look like his normal dominant self. He faked it pretty well but I’m concerned.

ALCS Game 5: Well, it’s all ov… OH MY GOD!

I was ready to give up on this one in about the 5th. It was just starting to look too much like a repeat of earlier games from this series. Papi’s HR seemed to open the flood gates and Tampa Bay’s defense chipped in did their part. Two big hits from Drew as well.

I’m tired so I don’t have much else to say. You guys fill in the thread with interesting quips and whatnot. w00t! as the kids say.

ALCS Game 4: Tampa Bay Crushes

There’s not too much to say about this game. Wakefield did not have it and the Rays really took advantage. One interesting contrast between these two teams that was illustrated tonight: health. Crawford and Longoria returned from injuries and were just awesome tonight. The Red Sox injured players are either out (Lowell) or don’t look themselves (Ortiz, Drew, and Beckett). Part of this is just lousy timing but another part is probably due to the Red Sox being older and generally more injury ...

ALCS Game 3: We’ve Got Them Right Where We Want Them!

Here we go again, another ALCS, another deficit. Today’s game was pretty bad but not nearly as tough to deal with as last night’s. It was just a good old fashioned butt kicking. It was disappointing that they didn’t bother to pinch hit for Cora or Varitek late in the game, and it was a real bummer that Cora didn’t move up to 2nd the poor throw Baldelli. But they were already down 5-1, so why bother trying to come back.

One of these years, falling behind in the ALCS is going to burn the Red ...

ALCS Game 1: Dice Rolls

After a rocky start, Daisuke Matsuzaka pulled himself together and dominated through the 7th inning. His performance was huge, not only for this game, but because he didn’t burn out the pen, which may well be needed to pick up for Josh Beckett tomorrow. Bringing him out for the 8th after a long layoff and a tight 7th and 107 pitches didn’t seem like such a hot idea. But it worked out. Also, the offense couldn’t seem to quite get on track in this game, but luckily they didn’t have to. ...Read More...

Sox Headed to ALCS to Face Tampa!

This was a much better series than the previous Angels/Red Sox ALDS’s. A very exciting ending after a hard-fought game.

Boston Heads Home Up 2-0

Wow, that was an exciting game. Although the Red Sox should have been happy with a split, it would have been pretty awful to have lost this one after leading 5-1 earlier. I thought that Dice pitched well and got a little bad luck. I really didn’t like Francona’s handling of the pen tonight at all. He left Masterson in when you could tell he had awful control. He probably should have been pulled in the 7th, but apparently Delcarmen is never to be trusted ever again. When Masterson came out for ...

ALDS Preview: Boston vs. LA

I could go into a great deal of detail on this, but I don’t think it’s all that necessary. These are two very good teams with the Angels winning five more games than the Red Sox and the Red Sox putting up a more impressive run differential. Both have strong rotations, good pens (edge to the Angels), and good lineups (edge Boston). Overall, a fairly even matchup. There are two factors in LA’s favor, though. The first is homefield advantage. The Angels were 50-31 at home and the same on the road ...

No Beckett for ALDS?

Per this SOSH thread, Steve Buckley said on NESN that Beckett has an oblique injury and might not be available for the ALDS. I’m not sure what the proper response to this news is, but I think “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” might cover it.

Milestone Watch

Just wanted to make a quick post about fun stats to keep an eye on as the season winds down.

—Pedroia has a couple of interesting things going on. He may still have a shot at the batting title, but it’s a slim one. He’s at .325, but as I write this Mauer is 3-3 tonight and up to .331. He’s currently got 211 hits, 4 ahead of Ichiro. He’s tops in runs at 118—10 ahead of Granderson. His 54 doubles are three more than Roberts. It’s also one of the highest totals for a 2B. Gehringer had 60, Herman ...

Clinch!

The Red Sox finally clinched a postseason berth with their 92nd win. It’s satisfying even if a bit short of the goal of a division title. This year more than any other has been a testament to the importance of depth. After losing major time from Schilling, Dice, Beckett, Lowell, Ortiz, and Lugo, and losing some time from many other starters, the Sox were able to remain a contender because they had players like Casey, Lowrie, Bowden, Masterson, and others ready to step in and contribute. Another ...

Postseason Roster

It looks like the Red Sox are going to make it to the postseason, if only as the stinking wild-card team. This brings up the question of how the post-season roster shakes out. In the first round, they’ll probably need four starters, and I think the 4th starter is the most interesting question. It comes down to Wakefield or Byrd. Based on their performance this year as well as how they’ve done over their careers, I have to take Wakefield. The only reason I could see for leaning the other way ...

The Papelbon Problem

Once again, in today’s game against the Blue Jays, it appeared that opposing lineup was sitting on Jonathan Papelbon’s fastball. They laid off his other pitches, which were generally out of the zone and absolutely smoked his fastball. The results—2 runs—could have been worse if not for some nice defense and some good fortune. It’s become entirely too predictable for opposing teams.

In a recent Amalie Benjamin article, pitching coach John Farrell explained that Papelbon was indeed throwing ...

Dustin Pedroia: A Year Ago and Today

In the course of the discussion of Dustin Pedroia’s MVP chances, there has been some debate over whether Pedroia is a true talent .330 hitter right now or a guy who’s playing over his head. The consensus seems to be that the latter is the case, which makes sense given that a) there are very few guys who are true-talent .330 hitters, and b) Pedroia’s track record doesn’t make it look like he’s one of them. But there is one interesting tidbit of information that may indicate that Pedroia is one ...

What Would It Take to Make Pedroia A Legit MVP Candidate?

About a week ago, I took a look at Dustin Pedroia’s stats, the shape of his season, and the role he plays on the Red Sox. And I started thinking that he might just start getting some MVP votes. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one thinking that way. I’m not arguing that Pedroia deserves it—there are several players who are having more valuable seasons. But I can see a line within Pedroia’s reach that endear him to the writers. I’m thinking he’ll need to…

—Keep his average above .325
—Lead the ...

Bowden Begins

A quick post so that we can discuss the first Major League start of Michael Bowden, which will happen today at 7:05 against the Chicago White Sox. Chicago is 3rd in the league in run scoring and Bowden is still only 21 and just getting the hang of AAA. I wouldn’t get my hopes up too much for great results, but it will be fun to watch him go for the first of his 300 victories. Let’s hope he can keep the Red Sox close and give the team 5-6 IP.

Minor League Thread: Sumoza, We Hardly Knowzed Ya

The Red Sox dealt Luis Sumoza to the Braves for Mark Kotsay. (Kotsay provides depth, I suppose, but I don’t really see much value to having him on the team.)

Sumoza was signed out of Venezuela in 2004 for $200,000. Like many Red Sox prospects, he’s shown a great ability to strike out in huge numbers, and like those other prospects, this has won him a place in Temple’s heart (a heart that nearly burst at this news). He’s 20 years old and was having his first minor league success this year, at ...

Who Can I Blame for This?

That was one awful way to lose the last game of the Yankees series and hopefully the last game the Red Sox will play at this incarnation of Yankee Stadium. After a game like this, it’s easy to look for someone to blame. If player X had only hustled on that play, if the manager had only pullled the starter at the right time, etc. But you know what? The Red Sox are going to lose some games from time to time. They’re even going to lose some close ones in the late innings. And they’ll win some that ...

Last Waltz at the Stadium

I don’t have a whole lot to say about Yankee Stadium. But this is an important series. As much as the Yankees seem out of it, they are only 5 games back—1.5 games ahead of where they were in relation to the Sox a year ago. If they win 2/3, they are within 4, and the Red Sox are now dealing with a similar level of injury problems. It would be really nice if the Sox could take 2 of 3 and put a nice 6-game buffer between them and the Yankees. But looking at the pitching matchups, I’m not holding ...

Why Won’t These Teams Lose?

I thought that the Rays were a good bet to drop off from their 97+ win pace, especially once they were hit by a couple of key injuries. But they are a young talented team and it’s not completely surprising that they have kept up this pace.

What is shocking to me is that the Twins are still as in tis as they are. Their lineup is not all that exciting and their starting pitching doesn’t exactly strike fear in the heart. Yet here they are, at the top of the AL Central, meaning that either they ...

19-17

What a bizarre game to say the least. Throwing away a 12-2 lead in a matter of a couple of innings was a real sight to behold. It wasn’t all that surprising or upsetting to see newcomer Charlie Zink have a lousy game against a good offense. But watching reliever after reliever come in and get lit up was a bit much. Down 16-14, Boston’s hopes appeared to be fading. But give the team credit for hanging and really beating the heck out of a very capable reliever in Frank Francisco. Youkilis, Ortiz, ...

Daisuke Then and Now

What a weird year it has been for Daisuke Matsuzaka. Last year, Matsuzaka put up nice-looking K and BB numbers but high HR and HBP totals on the way to a 4.40 ERA and a 4.35 FIP. This year, Matsuzaka’s FIP is 4.22—very close to what he did last year. But everything else has changed. His K/G rate has dropped from 8.9 to 7.7 while his BB/G has ballooned from 3.5 to 5.2. He’s only hit 5 batters and cut his HR rate about in half (from 1.11/g to .63/g). The biggest difference, of course, has been ...

Kooky Lineups

What are with these crazy lineups? Drew batting first? Bay batting 6th? The Red Sox are so hung up on notting batting Bay 4th and keeping Ortiz 3rd that it is throwing everything else out of whack. Put Ortiz or Bay fourth and everything else falls into place.

Minor League Thread: Internal Bullpen Solutions

With the deadline passing, there are probably going to be a few trade options available to bolster the bullpen. With that in mind, who from the minor league system might be of help? Here are a few guys that might fit the bill:

Chris Smith
Working on his 2nd stint with Boston right now. He’s 27 and has battled injury problems in the past.
AAA: 31 g, 52.1 IP, 44 H, 5 HR, 8 BB, 47 K, 2.24 ERA
MLB: 4 g, 7.1 IP, 3 H, 1 HR, 4 BB, 6 K, 2.45 ERA

Hunter Jones
Big lefty who has had success against ...

Some other Takes on the Manny Trade

Just a few thoughts that I’ve had about the Manny/Bay trade since.

—It might be instructive to think of this as two trades rather than one. Imagine that the Red Sox did one trade where they dealt Manny for the remainder of the season worth of Bay. Since they’re paying all of Manny’s salary, it’d be like paying Bay $9 mil instead of paying Manny $7 mil. That’s a deal you’d probably make with your back up against the wall. The 2nd trade would be after the end of the season, dealing away Hansen ...

Magnum Opus

I cannot believe that it has finally happened after five years. FIVE YEARS! There a lots of great memories with Manny. He was one of the 25, as our SOSH brethren like to say. He had some amazing moments both in the regular season and in the postseason. And he provided some real comic relief at times.

With Manny forcing the Red Sox hand, it’s amazing that they were able to pull off the deal that they pulled off. They got a player who is, when you figure in defense and durability, arguably ...