Apparently I'm the only one fascinated with old non-prospects mashing in the low minors.

Hey, I track Corey Coles' progress day to day for the Mets farm. Yes, it's pathetic but you're not the only one fascinated by potential Ken Phelps All Stars.

I was just confused. Are you hoping that Bell turns into a 24 yr old AA DH hitting 250/358/313 next year?

No. I want him to be an INJURED 25 yr old AA DH hitting 250/358/313 next year.

Lars Anderson with a HR tonight, now up to 317/394/491 for Greenville (with too many K's). Lowrie 2/3 with a BB. Bell, ho hum, 2-3 with his 14th HR and a 2B. Ellsbury 2/5 at AAA, where Gabbard continued his HR ways, giving up 2 more. Travis Hughes lowered his ERA to 0.32.

How long until Hughes is in Boston and who is cut?

I think it's until there's another couple injuries. The six with MLB contracts won't budge - well, maybe Romero, but I doubt it - and of the three minor leaguers, Snyder and Lopez have been impressive, and Delcarmen deserves a shot too. Timlin's rehabbing, so the six contract guys will be up together soon.

I'd like to see Breslow or Hughes get a shot, but they're stuck in line, and the only way the line's gonna move is with injuries.

and the only way the line's gonna move is with injuries.

so, what you're saying is that somebody has to put a hit on pineiro and romero?

There is also the problem that, IIRC, Snyder is out of options so that he can't be sent down either. Breslow, if called up, can't be sent down, which is probably why Manny D got the call ahead of him.

When I was doing this week's mL thread, I thought about making it about the group of interesting to good relievers the Sox have at AAA. Breslow's right at the front of that bunch--he's done nothing but dominate the minors the past few years, and has a career MLB ERA of 2.86. Hughes has had excellent K and HR numbers in AAA, but just walks a few too many, which he may have moved past this yaer. Delcarmen seems ready for another shot. I think any of these guys would be worthy candidates to take over for Romero or Pineiro at some point.

Why didn't Delcarmen get into the game last night. Seemed like a good opportunity for him before being shipped out.

MCA,
Why do you think the Red Sox will be hesitant to cut a contract? The Red Sox need another strikeout pitcher in the bullpen. If they cut Piniero or Romero, they have a bunch of pitchers they can run through to find a replacement.

What is Hughes option status?

Why do you think the Red Sox will be hesitant to cut a contract?

Under Theo and Tito, Sox don't cut contracts. They have a long history of staying with their guys in season. Maybe Farrell can convince them to take another route, but I'm skeptical.

The Sox, generally, don't make an investment and then give up on it. They trust, for better of for worse, that they knew what they were doing when they signed the guy. I said that Romero might be a special case, because he's on a pretty cheap contract, but I'd be shocked if they cut Pineiro.

Whatever happened to the original Jeff Natale?

Under Theo and Tito, Sox don't cut contracts.

They just R-enter-rear people out of town

The Sox DFA'ed both Bellhorn and Embree in season, and in both cases, it wasn't exactly a slam dunk that they were finished. That said, I too would be surprised if they cut Pineiro. They could probably deal him to the NL for something if they ate most of his salary. They'd also get something for "I can still get lefties out" Romero.

How long until Hughes is in Boston

THE Travis Hughes?

Levski,

I know this is asking a lot, but try to have a point when posting stuff here.

Sorry, Darren. Snarkiness is often lost in translation.

My point... yes, you can say the Red Sox don't cut contracts... until they eat a chunk of someone's contract to send him out of town, like they did with Renteria. It's a convoluted way to cutting a contract... except you don't eat as much of his salary. In the case of Romero and Pineiro, they can probably DFA them and some team will claim them off waivers... and they might even get something for them in trades... but it's wrong to say the Sox never cut contracts.

Furthermore, I'm just shocked that Travis Hughes is getting so much love here. This is the same Travis Hughes that has failed to stick in the majors for the last several years, despite putting up decent numbers in the minors. He has no prayer in the AL east. None.

See, that's a lot more informative than "the Travis Hughes?" I don't think Hughes is getting so much love here. People are saying that, after putting up a 0.32 ERA this year, he deserves a shot at the back of the bullpen. A shot. At a mop-up role. I can't argue with your characterization of his pedigree, though.

As you can see above, I agree with you that the Red Sox do cut contracts, and in fact do so in the middle of the season. I don't think anyone would pick up Pineiro's whole contract off waivers. They'd wait to see if they could get him for the minimum.

I think MCA is overstating the "they don't eat contracts" thing.

Are Pineiro/Romero (or whomever) much different than David Riske?

He was a guaranteed contract releiver who never really fit coming in the odd undercard of the Marte-Crisp deal. He didn't do much with the Sox and they dumped him on June 15 for the now useful Javier Lopez.

I think there's a good chance they'll end up doing a Riske style trade for a fringy minor leaguer before too long.

I will try harder, Darren; after all, I always rent from Avis...

Yes, Pineiro's contract is rather big... but the Sox can always trade him to Reds for Adam Dunn.

Hughes's ERA of .32 is deceptive, as he has 3 unearned runs to his credit as well. Last year in AAA, his ERA was 2.32, but he also had 11 unearned runs to go with his 19 earned runs.

I don't think he'll be any better than Pineiro, for example, and Pineiro's got the big contact, so he'll stick around in the mop-up role unless he fools with Manny's wife Julianna in the pen.

I want to see if Hughes can K more batters than he walks and average close to a K/IP. It would be nice to have a guy who can come in before the 7th if the team needs to get out of a jam.

Yes, Pineiro's contract is rather big... but the Sox can always trade him to Reds for Adam Dunn.

Badass

Lowrie just keeps hitting. He's up to .283/.422/.442 with a 33/25 BB/K ratio.

I was just gonna post about Lowrie. What do people think about him? Is his defense an asset at 2b?

I think he's about tied with Brandon Moss for the #5 prospect in the system.

Nicholls State is D-I by the way

Aw crap, why did I think it was D-III? Oops.

Buchholz on NESN at 1 PM today.

Got to see an inning of Buchholz. That curveball is dirty. I can see why the Sox think he needs a touch more fastball command - he was missing a bunch today, though 7 BB coming into the game suggests that's atypical, and it doesn't seem to have a ton of movement, so he'll need to locate it well. But, really, he's probably a solid MLB pitcher right now.

Strikeouts by game for Buchholz: 2, 8, 8, 9, 8, 11, 7, 8, 8

Those first two games are kind of outliers. They both came after long layoffs due to rainouts.

-Bowden walked four in his start, still struggling a bit to adjust to AA.

-Lester had an excellent start (5,4,0,2,6), 80 pitches. With the little forearm tweak cleared up, he should be threatening for a job by mid-June.

-Travis Hughes allowed two homers in a third of an inning, taking a little of the bloom off that 20 game rose.