Weekly Minor League Thread: Where you turn your attention the Major League club gets unbearable

Here’s a few things to check out:

—Pedroia has been playing 3B in Pawtucket, presumably in case Lowell is not able to play for an extended period. Not sure how much I like this move. He’s just coming into his own, no need to jerk him around. I’d rather see them stick Youks there, play Papi or Pena at 1B, and perhaps give Murphy a shot in RF. Pedroia there makes for an awfully weak lineup, powerwise.

—Ellsbury’s holding his own at AA with a .309/.363/.383 line, 9 steals, and 11/7 K/BB ratio ...

This team is depressing

As much as I want to be positive about this team, it’s very hard to do so. Each time AGonz completes an AB, I’m thinking that I’m about to see the top of the order again. Unfortunately, there are always two surprise chumps batting after him these days.

The bullpen acceptable, but Francona does not seem to know how to manage it. Any game in which the Sox have the lead, he will go to Delcarmen in the 7th (if needed), then Timlin for the 8th, then Papelbon for the 9th. Sometimes, as with today, ...

Weekly Minor League Thread: Mark Wagner

The 22-year-old catcher was taken in the 9th round last year out of UC-Irvine. After an unimpressive 05 debut, he’s had a very nice year this year at Greenville. He’s hitting .303/.390/.469, and his 30 2B, 40 BB, and 48 K in 320 ABs bode well for the future. Anyone want to comment on his defense?

From Soxprospects.com: Mark Wagner

Walking Wounded

And so ends the Yankees’ exclusive rights to complaining about injuries.

Varitek: out 4-6 weeks
Trot: out 3 weeks
Lowell: left game after fouling ball off his leg
Foulke: Foulked.
Wells: ?
Wake: ?
Clement: ?

These are trying times, I’ll say that. Too bad Tek’s injury didn’t come a day earlier, they probably could/would have found a replacement. Luckily, Mirabelli is pretty good.

We Don’t Need No Stinking Trades - Papi does it again…

No trades for the Sox, but yesterday was still an insane day.  Maybe more insane than if they actually made a trade.  Lot’s of stuff in the rag sheets today lets touch on some of it.

Nick Cafardo has a pretty thorough article up for the Globe “deadline passes as do sox”.  He talks about some of the potential deals that were out their including a Crisp for Buehrle trade, two of Lester, Hansen, Delcarman for Roy Oswalt.  Sox were apparently never really in the Lugo hunt, and the Jones rumors ...

It Just Never Gets Old

Well, as much of a bummer as the trade deadline was, the Big Papi always makes everything better. As I talked to my friend while watching the ninth we were joking about how all Loretta had to do was not hit into a triple and we were guaranteed a win.

And a nice bit of announcing by Jerry and Don to let the moment (and the crowd) speak for itself. I agree: MVP! MVP! MVP! MVP! MVP! MVP! MVP! MVP! MVP! MVP!

The BUZZ: Red Sox Trade Talk for Today

This is the Globes “rumor board” - Some intresting stuff - a couple of 3 way proposals with Lowell being shipped out of town.  More Ryan Sheely talk, which I like as well as kicking the tires on Soriano and Schmidt.  This link will be updated through out the day.

Boston responds to the Abreu trade…

by acquiring Bryan Corey for Luis Mendoza! Globe link.

Take that Yankees! (You can use this thread to discuss the Yankees deal, the Corey deal, or any of the other deals the Sox are supposedly making.)

Kyle Snyder: the 4 inning man

This will be a brief one, but it seems to me that the Red Sox have, in Kyle Snyder, a pitcher who can do a pretty good job for about 4 IP. After that, he sucks so badly that it undoes all the good that his first 4 IP did. His splits don’t show this particularly well because they include one completely disasterous start (which had some extenuating circumstances) that skews the numbers. But in his other 4 starts, Snyder’s given up 15 R (13 ER). 10 R (8 ER) have come in his four 5th innings, which ...

Weekly Minor League Thread: Do the Red Sox have any interesting prospects in A ball?

Of Corsaletti they do. Corsaletti’s maintained his nice K-BB ratio this year and has brought his average up to respectable levels in a tough park. He’s 23, so that’s not so hot, and he hasn’t much power. But a nice name that lends itself to terrible puns is important.

Beckett Signs Extension

The Red Sox have announced that they’ve signed Beckett to a 3/28 extension, with an option for a 4th year. That year kicks in automatically if Beckett pitches 20 games in 09 or 56 over 008 and 09. There’s a $2 mil. buyout and the option is for $12 mil. So it works out to 3/30 or 4/40. Globe Story.

This is a good deal. Even though Beckett has stunk it up this year, all of his numbers except HRs are fine, and HRs are pretty flukey. He’d like get far more by going to arb his final year and then ...

Weekly Minor League Thread: All Pedroia all the time

It seems like before a dork has time to even update his spreadsheet, Pedroia is putting up another multi-hit game to improve his numbers. After seeming months of his .250/.350/.350 act, Pedroia’s 2006 stats have actually reached: .311/.389/.435, with 35 BB and 23 K. MCoA has noted in other threads that this translates to something very much like what Loretta is doing for the big league club right now. If there’s any interest in Loretta out there, I hope the Sox can use him to land something ...

The Looming Trade Deadline

The non-waiver trade deadline is two weeks from today. What are the Red Sox needs? Who should they give up, and who should be untouchable?

The tough part of answering the former question is that the health of Wells/Clement are still unknown. If neither can come back, I’d say getting a mid-rotation starter is the obvious move. But if either of those guys can do the job, it would be an awful waste to deal a good prospect for someone like John Leiber. As to the latter, I’m horrible with that ...

Feeding the Monster by Seth Mnookin

Mnookin’s received practically unfettered access to the Red Sox’ inner workings during the 2005 season, and has written a book about the experience. The failed Pedro negotiations, Theo’s departure, and many other topics are covered. MCoA has read the book and suggested that it would make a good discussion here.

Mnookin also did a chat on SOSH about the book.

The schedule is our friend

The Red Sox start the second half tonight with the first game of an eight-game homestand. As with last year’s schedule (if I recall correctly), the Sox played the most away games in the majors in the first half, so they get a lot of home games the second half—45 out of 78. Happily, the Sox have played very well at home (.730). They have not lost a home game since June 11 against Texas (losing the second game of a doubleheader after winning the first one). They carry a nine-game home winning ...

another New Englander on board

The Sox really seem to like the New Englanders. They entertained the idea of hiring Bowden and Beattie, and now they’ve brought in New Hampshire native Allard Baird to be a special assignment scout.

The Kansas City Star explains that Baird grew up a Red Sox fan in Rochester, NH:

Baird will perform various scouting tasks for Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein, including the evaluation of possible trade targets and free-agent acquisitions.

Weekly Minor League Thread: David Murphy, prospect or suspect?

Murphy’s stats are a little deceiving because it’s tempting to just look at his AAA line. But here’s what his numbers look like when you add them up:

.293 .356 .485, 328 AB, 32 BB, 59 K, 34 2B, 4 3B, 7 HR.

That’s a 24-year-old, in AA/AAA. The doubles are great, and may portend future power (though time’s running out). The K/BB is just okay at best, I think. To me, these numbers, combined with a strong finish to last year, push Murphy into the C+/B- range. Ie, he’s a prospect of some sort, ...

Midseason in Review: Expectations vs. Reality

With the traditional halfway point of the All-Star Break approaching, I thought it would be a good time too look back at what’s happened so far vs. what we expected or worried about in the preseason.

Starting Pitching: There were three very big question marks in the rotation as the season began: Schilling’s health, Beckett’s adjustment to the AL, and which Clement we would see. Schilling has passed every test so far, and even though his stuff doesn’t look as dominant as it did a few years ...

The shaping of the bullpen

As usual, the Red Sox bullpen is in a state of flux this year. Pap is the closer, Timlin’s the primary setup man, Lopez is the Loogy, and after that, it’s just a big crap shoot. As MCoA points out, Francona seems to be holding auditions for remaining spots, with few pitchers seeming up to the task. Delcarmen seems to have had the most success recently and may actually emerge as the #3 man (7th inning guy?). He’s got 17 K, 7 BB, and 1 HR in 19.1 IP. Keeping the walks in check is a new ...

Weekly Minor League Thread: Red Sox International Signings

The big news is the signing of Engel Beltre for $600K. Scouts say he’s a strong hitter and CF, while linguists project him as a cross between Adrian Beltre and Englebert from the Bad News Bears.

Thanks to Temple for pointing this out, and hopefully he’ll enlighten us further in this thread.

This one goes to 11!

First off, I think an apology is in order for the comments I made the other day. Jamie Moyer, if you’re reading this, I am sorry that I compared your fastball to Pedro’s. The Sox really teed off on Martinez, which of course, was no surprise to me. I suspect we would see a lot more of this type of performance if Pedro were still in the AL, but that’s just conjecture.

For now, let’s just enjoy what’s been an incredible run the Red Sox are on. And let’s hope that somewhere Gammo is too. ...Read More...

Weekly Minor League Thread: Yay Yahmed Yema

Yema was a 2005 7th round pick out of FIU, where he put up some pretty nice numbers. In his debut in Lowell, he batted .301 and put up a very nice 17/21 BB/K ratio, and accumulated 17 2B in 219 ABs. He started slowly this year in Greenville but has turned it on and pulled his numbers up to .292/.342/.487, but a lousy 14/40 BB/K rate. He’s lost some 2Bs (14) but has boosted his HR and 3B (6 each). Looking at splits over at Brew Crew Ball, he had 0 BB and 16 Ks in his first month this season, and ...

Bangin’ on all cylinders

The Red Sox have won 8 in a row, outscoring their opponents 60-25 in that span. Their starters have been pitching well, the pen has been decent, Papelbon remains virtually perfect (Pap!), and the offense is humming right along (Papi!). The Sox are leading the AL East by 2 games and are on pace for about 99 wins, a bit better than I was expecting. Let’s hope it stays that way, because it looks like this is the year that the Wild Card will come from the central.

One other note: Not sure when ...

Graduation Day

Delcarmen, Hansen, Lester, and Lopez (which one of these things is not like the others?) were called into Francona’s office yesterday and were told by Tito that the team plans to keep them in Boston. No more Pawtucket shuttle.

Lester will stick in the rotation, while the other three will join Timlin as the bridge to Papelbon. Seanez and Tavarez are going to get the garbage time, apparently.

“I talked to all of them today because I think we’re getting to the point where we’d like to keep ...

Welcome Back Kapler… See you later JT.

Some roster moves - Snow has been taken off the roster and it looks like he will be traded.  Kapler is back.  Van Buren is down, Hansen is up.  Mohr and Holtz DFA’d.

Lots of activity their.  I’m glad to see Kapler back.  He isn’t much of a hitter, and who knows how is glove work will respond after surgery - but as one of the 25 it’s nice to have him.  Plus by all accounts the guy is something special in the clubhouse, and while Mohr may or may not be a better player Tito just wasn’t going to ...

Weekly Minor League Thread: The GCL and NYPL start their season

The short season teams will be starting their seasons on Tuesday. I know nothing about the people on these teams, so maybe some of our minor league gurus will chime in. (Temple, I’m looking at you.)

The Kyle Snyder era has begun

I don’t really have anything to say about Snyder, but I do like the juxtaposition of having him start against Tony “traded-for-Pedro” Armas in the rotation spot of Matt “signed with Pedro’s dollars” Clement.

The more time passes, the more I question the moves the front office has made since the 2004 championship. (But it could be worse, we could have Jim Bowden.)

Despite what the Nats did to New York, they aren’t any good, and the Sox should roll over them, Snyder notwithstanding.

I don’t ...

Beckett: Waiting for Good Throws

I’ve heard a bunch of theories about why Beckett is doing so poorly this year. Here are a few, feel free to add your own:

—He is tipping his pitches. I have to say, when he was getting absolutely pounded by Toronto, it certainly looked to me like the Jays knew what was coming. At the time, I had thought they might be stealing signs, as they often seem to look like they know what’s coming against the Sox. Tipping pitches seems to be a a catchall explanation for any string of bad outings by a ...

The Wild and the Young: Lester and Hansen up to the Bigs!

Hansen was called up yesterday and Lester is expected to pitch in the Doubleheader tomorrow. I know that the Sox are struggling a bit, but these guys both have pretty lousy numbers so far this year. In AAA, Lester has 25 BB and 43 K in 46 IP. His 5 HR and 43 H aren’t too hot either. I suspect he will contribute a Pauley-esque 4 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 4 K performance tomorrow.

Hansen, I feel a bit better about. His numbers at AAA have been scary—23 IP 17 BB, 18 K!—but he’s been pitching 3-4 ...

Unanswered questions of the world

-Who killed JFK?
-What’s the deal with Stonehenge?
-Whither Jimmy Hoffa?
-Why do people care about Paris Hilton?

-Why is Kevin Youkilis batting eighth?

This last one is particularly upsetting to me because if it goes on for any length of time, it’ll ruin my summa! The man has a .434 OBP. I only coach girls softball but even I can figure out that the best hitters should get more at-bats. Strengthen the bottom of the order? Hellooooo…how about the top of the order?