But this seems to keep happening over and over again,

Pedroia, Ellsbury, Cameron - am I missing anyone?

Pedroia - seems as if he was a major push in getting back to the field. Had to be told repeatedly to ease off (supposedly)
Ellsbury - seems to have been misdiagnosed
Cameron - brought back early because of huge need in the OF (supposedly)

And now three other injuries:

Varitek - not rushed back, even with Kevin "I Suck" Cash making an attempt a hitting
Youkilis - remains to be seen *if* the Sox make the playoffs, but has been shut down while the Sox were/are in need of his services
Martinez - does not seem to have lingering effects from his toe injury

Whoever cleared Pedroia to play needs to be fired. I sincerely hope there's a training staff purge this offseason

I disagree w/ both statements. They didn't risk much by testing out Pedroia, and if they were going to test him out it might as well be at the big league level so as not to waste his playing in AAA or a simulated game.

And the problems this year seem to be with at the doctor level of their medical team, not the training staff (or maybe you were putting them all under the same umbrella). The injuries seemed to be freaky on the field things, rather than pulled hammies etc, so it seems like the training staff had these guys in good shape. The mistakes seemed to be at the diagnosis/prognosis level, which seems to me to be above the trainers.

I dont think Cameron situation indicates a problem w/ the medical staff. From all reports, Cameron was the one fighting through the injuries to get out on the field. It wasnt the medical staff making an error, I'm sure everyone was fully aware that Cameron was playing hurt.

Ellsbury seems to be the real stain on the medical staff, but we'll never know the real story there.

#102 - Nate, you're right: I was lumping in the diagnosis folks with the rehab/training folks. It;s the diagnosis folks who should be fired.

The thing with Ellsbury that is/was a mystery to me is the time it took to get him on the table for a CT scan. I understand an X-ray is the first thing you do, but damn it all, when a guy has a "clean" X-Ray and then has lingering pain for a week, you do the damn CT scan then--just to make sure this supposedly vital part of your team has been diagnosed correctly. IIRC it was something like a month before he got the CT scan that revealed the broken ribs (the first time). That's ludicrous and totally amateur hour at the medical improv. A complete joke.

And I do know that a CT scan exposes one to more rads than an X-Ray, and that you don't want to over-give CT scans for that reason... but if that was part of the thinking he then had (I think) 3 more CT scans over the next few months...

Ellsbury's the worst of the situations, by a lot. The rest are a combination of dumb luck, age, and ill responses to rehab/healing (Pedroia's in the latter category, I think). But whoever poo-pooed getting Ellsbury a CT scan a week into that injury needs to be fired.

Trying to grasp at fading strings of memory, but at the time didnt someone say that CT scans dont offer anything more than X-Rays would have in Ellsburys type of injury. Could be wildly off base on this one.

#105--That might have been said, but if that were true, then how did the CT scan ultimately show the broken ribs when the X-Ray did not? Or did--perhaps--someone mis-read the initial X-Rays?

A lot went on here that is fishy.

MDC traded to the Rockies:

Deal on Boston.com

Anyone know about this Balcolm-Miller guy they got. Seems a high-K/BB ratio upside-arm guy in single-A. I would have thought he would have fetched more as being part of a bigger package, but more addition by subtraction, I guess. Now if they can jettison Okajima, I'd be content.

I also want to know about Balcom-Miller's stuff. BTW, my spelling is the correct one--if you try to find him on BBRef or MILB with "Balcolm" you get nothing. :)

Seems a high-K/BB ratio upside-arm guy in single-A.

What I've been reading projects him more as a middle-of-the-rotation starter, not a high upside guy. Seems to be an extreme groundballer.

A mid-rotation guy would be a lot more valuable than Delcarmen, that's for sure. Especially an extreme groundballer. At this point, since this season is all about wishcasting, I'll wish Balcom-Miller into becoming that mid-rotation guy, and having him replace Dice-K when his contract runs out. Hey, why not?

Biff, I split my phrasing badly there... I meant it as two separate things: (1) high-K/BB ratio (2) upside arm (i.e., not "high-upside").

Alas, being an editor isn't all it's cracked up to be. And I spelled the name wrong. I need help.

Goldstein just wrote about him at BP on 8/24, and called him one of the Rockies' better pitching prospects.

you can friend him on FB.

just sayin.

Biff, I split my phrasing badly there... I meant it as two separate things: (1) high-K/BB ratio (2) upside arm (i.e., not "high-upside").

Alas, being an editor isn't all it's cracked up to be. And I spelled the name wrong. I need help.

If you can't trust someone named "Textbook Editor", who can you trust?!?!

I haven't really heard what sort of stuff Balcom-Miller has, either, as I follow the MLB club more than the lower minors. Though I'd never heard him talked about as having top of the rotation stuff. In his favor, obviously the numbers so far look pretty good, and unlike some other prospects higher on the Rockies' chart, Miller's been healthy.

B-Miller might not turn out to be much, but you figure the Rockies value groundballers more than most. I'm not sure why they traded him for Delcarmen unless they think they can turn him around. (I.e., it's all mechanical and/or mental.) Isn't Delcarmen also heading into his 2nd arb year?

Did I miss the part where we figured out what was wrong with Delcarmen?

I'm sad to see him go. I always pulled for him. He's really fallen off a cliff though, and it wouldnt suprise me if theres some lingering injury here thats driving the inconsistency in his velocity.

I like this move. Delcarmen probably wasn't going to be here next year and Balcom-Miller might actually be a useful piece. More likely that it's nothing for nothing in the end but this like Wells for Kottaras on a smaller scale giving up something you don't need for something that has an outside chance of contributing.