Eff the pen. Go to four starters and let Wright and Buch piggy back.

Yeah i know...never happen

At this point I think they might be best off just going 1930s and letting the starter go nine regardless of what happens.

This team is like watching The ALCS Game 7 in 2003 every single day . I start getting twitchy when the starter gets to 100 pitches and know that we have a Grady Little quality manager running the team .

I'm not sure if I want to savour this bizarro fun season , or hide in a corner .

one word Phil; bourbon.

I mentioned it in one the Arizona Fall League threads before I saw this one, but John Farrell is publicly suggesting Moncada should be called up. That seems a bit more explicitly playing GM than you usually see from a manager these days.

I mentioned it in one the Arizona Fall League threads before I saw this one, but John Farrell is publicly suggesting Moncada should be called up. That seems a bit more explicitly playing GM than you usually see from a manager these days.

Surely he would not mention that Yankee without knowing they were bringing him up ?

and it's official - he is coming up . Just received a notification

one word Phil; bourbon.

I've just discover Enzymes Digestives - they are helping....

It appears the Moncada news came out as I was typing #5. Timing does suggest Farrell might have known it was in the works, although it does seem a bit more public than the usual comments on such matters.

Dombrowski has been aggressive. Benintendi got pushed aggressively and even if Moncada isn't going to start (I think he will) he's a weapon on the bases.

That said Farrell seems to be a real champion of kids. By all accounts he was a big reason Bradley opened 2013 with the big club, he put Shaw ahead of Fat Panda to start this year and of course Bogaerts, Betts and Vazquez all got promoted. Some of that of course is a great crop of young players but during his tenure the Sox have seemed more aggressive than previously.

My impression is he and DD are on the same page on this stuff. Dombrowskis comments recently about Moncada have been pretty similar to Farrell's. What's interesting is that while the Sox under Farrell have done very well with the position player promotions the pitchers they have promoted have not done well and Farrell has seemed to lose confidence in the pitchers faster than the position players (see Bogaerts and Bradley in 2014).

This team is like watching The ALCS Game 7 in 2003 every single day .

Wow. Yes. Hadn't thought of it in those terms but... Yes.

I suppose the Papelbon flirtation is over, right? It's now 9/1 and he's not signed with any club (I don't think), so he's not postseason eligible.

I'd give it even odds he simply... stops playing. Not retires. Just... stops. Collects the $ and rides off into the sunset, laughing.

This team is like watching The ALCS Game 7 in 2003 every single day . I start getting twitchy when the starter gets to 100 pitches and know that we have a Grady Little quality manager running the team.

Except the club in the ALCS actually had a bullpen that was performing well, which everyone except the 80-IQ manager realized.

and know that we have a Grady Little quality manager running the team .

Is it really Farrell making bad decisions on who comes in from the bullpen? Or is it just a ridiculously inconsistent bullpen?

Is it really Farrell making bad decisions on who comes in from the bullpen? Or is it just a ridiculously inconsistent bullpen?

I think it's the latter. He's far from perfect with his bullpen handling but I think he's trying to make chicken salad out of chicken ####.

I'm surprised Noe Ramirez wasn't called up. It seemed like a no-brainer move. He's been outstanding for a long stretch and if he was just good enough to be the 26th player in double-headers, why isn't he good enough to get an immediate September call up? At the very least it's a good thing to get as many arms as possible in the bullpen for potential extra innings games or so Farrell can mix and match or do whatever he thinks is "strategic." I thought maybe Pawtucket was in a playoff race and the Red Sox didn't want to deplete their bullpen but no, they've been eliminated from the playoff race. Oh well, I guess he'll be up eventually.

Joe Kelly, Deven Marrero and LHP Robby Scott called up. Ryan Hanigan being activated. Scott has been wiping out LHB in Pawtucket so it sounds like he's going to get a chance at that role. I haven't seen anything about a spot being opened on the 40 so maybe my math is wrong or they just haven't decided yet. With Hanigan being activated I wonder if that might be Holaday.

Robby Scott's stats make him very intriguing. One video of him had his velocity in the 86-88 mph range. I'm a sucker for LOOGYs, particularly ones who throw sidearm and frisbee sliders. I don't think Scott is necessarily that type though. He does step way across his body against lefties and looks like he's going to throw sidearm but then he throws more like low over the top. I hope he can be an effective weapon against lefties but I'm not sure if he's going to give lefties a really difficult look.