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06/29/2014

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Power Nap!

Although I did not watch the game since I am studying for my Wednesday Constitutional Law final… I did have gameday on and was very happy Lester got the win. Interesting game, with an unexpected homer from Ross, several no-hit innings from Lester, an error from our power hitting shortstop Drew.. correction another 0-4 game with 3 strikeouts. When are the sox going to demote him to AAA so he can regain his timing without harming an already struggling Sox offense. When 50% of the games runs are driven in by Ross.. you know it hasnt been a high scoring game. Put Xander back at SS, Holt can slide to 3rd w/Cecchini/Herrera getting some at-bats.

Removing Drew is the perfect solution for this club.. Not that we dont want Stephen to play at all.. he’s sure handed as it gets, but we cant let him chase high heat.. it’s all too reminisent of Vtek’s end of career struggles. Letting Drew get his “spring training” reps in the minors allows for the ideal roster flexibility. Now Holt can get some infield highlights, Mookie can start in CF with JBJ in right and Nava/Gomes trying to get production out of what was a very successful platoon last year. But Nava went 0-4 in the 2-hole. and JBJ 0-3 with what seemed like too many first pitch outs. Can these guys try some new bats or stand somewhere new in the box.. or just get hits.. preferably big ones?

If drew is going to remain with the club, i admit that I kinda like the Drew/Xander tandem, but 0-7 combined doesnt look good. Xander seems to have lost his patience at the plate, and when he gets 2-2.. which seems like every at-bat… he is chasing the breaking ball on the inside corner.. or fastball high and away.. instead of how he usually takes those pitches. If he can just try to foul off some pitchers pitches, instead of weakly putting them in play.. he’ll have much better results.

Anywho.. Sox have won 100% of their games with Mookie on the roster. Lets hope that continues.. for as long as possible.

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06/28/2014

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Are the Red Sox Gambling with Betts?

Here are today’s baseball links:

http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/2014/06/28/red-sox-lineup-no-mookie-betts-against-yankees-ace-masahiro-tanaka/

http://www.overthemonster.com/2014/6/28/5852272/mookie-betts-red-sox-call-up

Thoughts on Mookie Betts Promotion:

Don’t get me wrong, I’m on the Mookie band wagon much like I am with Xander and JBJ.. and now Brock Holt. But I question if he is really the hero our team needs right now. I find it funny that just a few months ago, this kid seemed stuck behind Pedroia and may have been a brief thought about as the centerpiece for a Mike Stanton mega-deal. I hope the Sox learned from their Gonzo experiment that even a player with such beautiful opposite field power was no savor for this beantown team. Heck.. Jason Bay seemed like a god for a year plus before loosing his talent with the Mets. Now, Mookie, like Henry Owens and Xander seem all but off-limits as this trade deadline approaches. The major problem i have with this call up.. is that there is no real spot for him to get consistent at-bats.

Is this just a cup of coffee? Is this to showcase him for the trade deadline? If the sox are serious about playing Mookie, who deserves his chance.. then a few other moves have to happen.

1) As nice has Herrera has been, he is now redundant with Drew on board.

2) Give Pedroia the occasion day off to let Mookie experience major league 2nd base.

3) Calling up Mookie might result in JBJ spending more time in AAA, (which I’m not for, since he seems to be making progress)

4) trade Gomes/Nava/Middlebrooks/Doubront/Peavy- If we are going to let the kids play, then some of the veterans have to go.

Middlebrooks is just having a Ryan Kalish moment.. a kid who looks so good in spurts but can be replaced by quality ballplayers in the minors. But since RH power is rare.. there is hope to keep him and get him confident. He can always go to the cubs in a year or two.

I want Mookie to get 1 game in at Yankee stadium. I want an outfield of Holt in Left, Mookie in Center and JBJ in right. I want Xander to start hitting the snot out of the baseball. I want Peavy traded so that Rubby and Workman can carry this team to a surprising wildcard spot. I want the Rays to start winning against our AL east opponents. I’m excited to see this unfold.. but right now things just look like dirty laundry.

#mustachepowerup

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06/24/2014

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My ideal Red Sox Lineup

Today we see how dropping Xman into the 7hole will do, but I think this is a big mistake.

1) Putting Xander behind AJP gives me mixed feelings. i guess you dont want a high OBP guy in front of a low OPB guy, but I feel as though  Xander, Drew and JBJ are a weak 7-9. To be honest, i’d rather see Vasquez taking his hacks than AJP, but that lineup wouldnt be scary either.

2) something about having Nava as your cleanup hitter seems odd.. Id rather have pedroia slap a few singles withe men on base than nava pop fly somewhere.

3) Holt in not a Right Fielder. Sorry Brock, I’ve enjoyed you immensely in left and center, but you should have made that catch the other day with Lackey starting. Not that Nava or Gomes deserve RF but Holt in CF with JBJ in Right with his rocket arm couldnt be that bad. i dont want holt having to make throws to 3rd.

4) Is holt your defacto lead off hitter now? or can you drop in down to where Xander hit.

For me, my ideal line-up for June 24th 2014, with the roster we currently have…

1) Holt- you can hit him anywhere, but he’s doing well so keep him there

2) Ortiz- best hitter should hit 2nd.. Ortiz, although low BA, is your best hitter.. imagine the stress of having to get holt out now.. if ortiz looming.. If Ortiz is hitting 3/4.. most likely with a two out.. that is a much less stressful situation, and I’d rather let someone in 3/4 have a higher BA.

3) Pedroia.. has enough speed to beat out a double play.. I’m not a huge fan of having Ortiz/Nap back to back all the time..

4) napoli

5) Nava

6) Xman.. basesloaded.. two out.. who do you want at bat? not AJP

7) AJP

8) Drew

9) JBJ

 

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06/20/2014

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Painting the future of the Red Sox Rotation; This year and beyond

Image Current 1-6: Lester, Lackey, Peavy, Doubront, Rubby, and Clay/Workman Potential Trade Candidates: Peavy, Why you would: Sox are still within striking distance of the division or wild card spot, but want to recoup some value of a veteran picture to a team that doesnt have the same minor league pitching depth as the sox. Trading peavy and inserting a kid could have minimal negative impacts with a big potential to catch lightning in a bottle. Why you wouldn’t: Peavy is a known commodity. You can almost pencil in the results.. 6 innings, 2-3 runs, 3 walks. 110 pitches. Keeping Peavy is good incase another pitcher goes down with an injury, because all too often have we seen an apparent surplus turn into a nightmare quickly. If you keep Peavy and make the playoffs would he be starting a game 3? or would that be Clay/Workman/Rubby? the hottest of the 3.

Lackey: Why you would: Most trade value, Consistent and Effective all year long. Major League minimum salary next year if he doesnt retire. Not a home grown player, so trading him does not have the same sentimental affect like trading Lester would. And arguably you may get more for Lackey especially if that bonus option year is available to any team that acquires him. Why you wouldn’t: He’s you true ace. He just fired 9 innings of shut-out ball and wanted to go out for the 10th. Why trade him now if you think you can contend either this year or next. A kid may produce as well or better than Peavy, but not Lackey. That would be asking for the moon. Lackey.. like Nava.. is a feel good story, and it has this underlying bad karma if disturbed. But if the price is right, and the sox want to go Homegrown while getting a considerable prospect in return, then it may be it is time to say goodbye to one of the John’s on this team.

Lester: Why you would: Sox become obvious sellers and are convinced that they could not resign him, looking to maximize their return. There is also the potential of them trading him and then actually resigning him at the end of the season, but I dont have any statistics to back that up if it has happened before. Trading Lester sends a message that you will not over pay players. Lester is solid, and deserves a big pay day, but is it from the Red Sox. This isnt the same GM that sent away Pedro and Damon, but its the same philosophy. We let Ellsbury go to the Yanks and we see where that got us. I wonder what the outfield stituation would be had we had Ellsbury instead of Sizemore to start the year. He’d probably had collided with JBJ and broken his ribs again. Why you wouldn’t: Lester is our guy. Our Boston Chrome. Our cancer survivor. Our Mentor, our constant. Why would we let that go, especially if we have the money. The talent behind him is unproven and untested. They can turn into Daniel Bards, Craig Hansens, Kason Gabbards. Or they can be our land somewhere in between Pedro and Derek Lowe. When will we know? If we keep Lester, next years rotation will look like this: Lester, Lackey, Clay, Doubront, Workman/Rubby with Ranaudo/Webster/Owens/ect stuck. Not trading Lester means you can make a big package of Prospects like the one we sent to SD- Casey Kelly and co. But who are we landing, Stanton? Kemp? Alex Gordon? I’m not sure. I guess its more of a possibility of being a red sox lifer that is more important. Make up for the Clemens and Hanley Ramirez judgements.

The question remains how to get Webster/workman/Ranaudo/Owens/rubby incorportated into this team in the near future. Assuming Webster and Workman can mesh as relievers until a rotation spot opens.. that just leaves one rotation spot next year, Lester, Lackey, Doubront, Clay and Rubby with the rest as depth. And a year later Lackey would be off the books and you could insert another kid in 2 years. Trading Peavy now would just expedite the process, while trading Lackey now would insure that next year 2 big slots in the rotation are available. Lester, Doubront, Clay, Rubby and Workman/Webster..  could be epic, but is the depth behind that of Ranaudo/Owens/Barnes enough to keep you from worrying. If/when someone like Clay or Doubront or anyone needs a trip to the DL would the sox trade for another veteran step in, or can we trust a Matt Barnes in the Majors for more than a month next year. Moneyball wise.. the answer for me is yes.. and the first good trade to get Lackey out of town would be a bold move. A move that I could live with and be excited to watch at Fenway, on TV, in the news. I fully expect JBJ like struggles, but I dream of Xander/Holt like returns. Especially when their arms are young and fast. Baseball has a hard on for homers, but I love MPH. All that makes Daniel Bards funk a sad thing. I was a supporter of Papelbon in the Rotation back in the day.. and I admit I do miss him now.. not that I dont prefer Koji in almost every way possible.. Its just the same feeling I get when I think of Nomar.. These are your role models.. your idols.. your gods… And although you may respect them.. its the hard truth of saying that so and so is not our Messiah. Thats why trading Lester could be ok.. either you believe in him or you dont.. but having a kid like Owen in the minors makes you think you have the next replacement.. we replaced Clemens.. Pedro.. Beckett.. we won a few rings.. There is no right answer.. there are no perfect predictions.. The 25 man roster is the only chance to let hope play… otherwise we might as well let the rest of the AAA team play for the Oakland A’s.. i once went to a Portland Seadogs game that featured an OF of Ellsbury, Moss and David Murphy.. and i often missed Murphy when he was with Texas.. and Moss has produced well finally with the A’s.. I also liked Jed Lowrie and Josh Reddick.. and Kalish and Rizzo.. and Masterson.. No point.. its just like for the uniform.. I wish these men good luck where ever they are.. but this doesnt stop me from day dreaming for the upcoming Sox Dynasty.. Xander.. Betts.. JBJ.. Owen… Peddy.. Vasquez… ect.. The question is.. who do you want in 5 years.. a well decorated Lester.. or  the possibility of your own Big three like Zito, Hudson, Mulder… that was replaced by Haren and Harden that was replaced with Sonny Gray… you know its like can we have it all…

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06/19/2014

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All Betts are On!: A guide to Red Sox House Cleaning

All Betts are On!: A guide to Red Sox House Cleaning

http://firebrandal.com/2014/06/19/mookie-betts-sooner-rather-later/

I like the article from John Cate, and I 100% agree. If brock holt can go from meer trade throw-in to a Zobrist jr over just a month of play, then there is certainly room for mookie in CF. Push Holt to Left and JBJ /Vic platoon to Right and that looks like a pretty solid hitting and fielding OF.

Doing this requires Gomes or Nava to be traded. And frankly that will be tough to do. Or it would require JBJ to be demoted back to AAA, but I like having him take his licks now, and he’s been making some sensational catches.

I’m glad the Sizemore experiment is over, and its a shame that he didnt produce, because then we could keep Mookie in AAA for the rest of the year.

BUT if the sox want to make the playoffs without become heavy sellers, then they need to ignore some underperforming veterans (peavy/gomes/AJP) and let the hot hands play.

Do the team a favor and get rid of AJP, and an OF and play Vasquez, Mookie, Rubby, Ranaudo, it may not be the worst approach to solve so far a rough season.

If you dont think all of them deserve playing time, then keep mookie in AAA and just bring up Vasquez, limitting the running game with a strong defensive catcher will have immediate dividends. And he can hit better than AJP even though AJ has the 2nd most RBIs on the team.

Your best trade chips could be Nava/Lackey, assuming you intend to resign Lester as your franchise Ace.

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06/17/2014

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Fever Pitch 2.0

rubby

 

Photo from ‘s weei article: http://fullcount.weei.com/?p=73509

Problem: Who’s on the rubber? A struggling veteran pitcher, or an inexperienced kid.
Can Clay become to the sox this year a better version of what Schilling was as a brief stint as relief pitcher. In my eyes, it’s either that, or Doubront has to find a role in the pen, because if the sox want to content they have to trust Rubby and Workman with a greater role. They can’t stash this talent anymore in the minors, and its time to let a veteran pitcher go. Whether thats trade Peavy (which im against, because he’s in the same mold of true ball players like gomes and holt, although his last start was anything but comfortable, he did leave the game in line for the win if it wasnt for a Breslow blunder.) Lackey is one of our most consistent. Lester, Lackey, Peavy, Workman and Rubby, with Clay spot starting and Doubront in the pen or Workman in the pen. Maybe it’s time to get rid of Breslow, I think he was more lucky than talented, but its up to him to prove me wrong. Badenhop has been brilliant and so has Miller (as long as he’s not pitching in extra innings) and Tazawa has been solid (the supposed heir to koji).

Speaking of Koji. We gotta use this guy until his arm falls off. He is in the midst of another potential historic year, and if we can bring him out, not only as our closer but as that almost daniel bard, whenever you need him, use him, type of player. If the sox arent winning games, they arent a lot of save opportunities, so heck if its the 6th inning an on, get koji in there in a close game, not breslow.

PS. Sadly, I’ll make this another thread, but for most of the reasons above.. this will be Lester’s last year. Dont pay him over 20 million for 5 years. He should either do similar to a pedroia deal like 7 years for 15 a year, make him a lifer, or let him walk. He’s not going to get better with age. We got 2 rings with him. You have young talent in need of rotation spots, talent that if they were on the A’s or another contending moneyball team, would be in the starting rotation. Look at CC Sabathia. He had an epic run of dominance far superior to Lester, and now he’s not cracking 90mph with regularity. I admit that Lester has the better pitching frame and the sox have the money to pay him, but I want the rotation of Owens, Rubby, Webster, Doubront, and either Clay or another veteran to be here come 2016/17.

Plus imagine an infield of middlebrooks, xander, pedroia, shaw, and betts/holt being our Zobrist.

Outfield: JBJ, Victorino, Nava, Brentz/Betts/Holt/Margot

I like where this team is headed.

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06/17/2014

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Catching Fire 2.0

In response to Josh Cookson’s article on firebrandal.com – found here http://firebrandal.com/2014/06/13/catching-prospects-ready/

CV

With Baltimore’s Matt Wieters out with tommy john, maybe the time is now to trade AJP or even Lavarnway, for a B/C list prospect or even cash considerations, just to open up room for Mr. RocketArm to control the running game. I’m sure lackey would be in favor of the move. and Lester could still throw to Ross.

Additionally, I’m all for letting the kids play. This is what the fans want. We dont want a push to force playoff contention. We won the WS last year and that is no small feat. Now let the kids get there taste, demote Grady Sizemore and let JBJ play everyday, or most days. We arent trading Victorino, and Gomes got that gigantic sox tattoo.. so its hard to trade him, and he won me over not just with the big hits in the playoffs, but like brock holt, Gomes is a gamer, a baseball player. He hustled out an infield single the other night and I thought that was epic, he didnt score, but had the sox gotten a clutch hit, it wouldve been a game changer. Nava has heated up so its equally difficult to part with him.

To be honest, if the sox do make the playoffs, I hope its with an outfield of Holt, JBJ and Betts.

and Koji, please, just keep doing w/e it is you are doing.

 

Love JT.

 

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04/24/2014

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Michael Pine-head-a

 

Pine-head-a

Pine-head-a

Michael Pine-head-a

I have to admit, I came up with that slogan on the treadmill while the game was in action, just ask Gonzalo.

So apparently Sports writer Jon Heyman and I have a similar appreciation for puns.. since his article this morning, along with his tweet of pinehead/pinhead Pineda.. is the same thing I thought I so cleverly coined. Just goes to show that either I have to become more active on twitter, or I should really make these posts more proximate to when I’m feeling silly-punny.

His article can be found in the link below. This first link i posted offers the dialogue of the players and managers after the game.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/jon-heyman/24537885/the-yankees-pine-tar-pinhead-outdoes-himself-this-time

I have to admit, that who ever wrote MLB.com’s headline of “Tar Wars”… pure genius. I was actually angry that I hadn’t thought of that one too.

Thoughts: First, I was super happy to see Farrell argue it in the middle of an at bat, early in the game, ultimately maybe affecting the yankee pitching staff and bullpen for weeks. And then.. naturally.. thoughts of Clay and Lester having similar habits did require me to second guess my jubilation. However, the Yanks did not challenge any of our pitches that night.. even for semantic reasons.. no one was thrown at, I thought we had entered a mlb blitz scenario, but the only thing classy was the fact that nothing else happened.

Second, Its time for a rule change. if this is an unspoken rule of.. don’t be an idiot, but everyone does it.. or some variation of it like sunscreen and rosin. However, I do understand the slippery slop argument of what changing a rule like that could result in. And I dont blame Pineda for trying. In the midst of a career resurrection… where a strong season could make you tyler perry money.. its unfortunate for him, since obviously he was warned by his coaching staff prior to the game.. and it seems odd the CC or someone else could have should him where on his belt or ass crack to put the shit away from the view of HD cameras.

What really felt bad was the 3 seconds of footage of the dugout camera of Pineda before it was rightfully turned away. He got his 10 game suspension today, so he’ll be skipped in the rotation twice, which is significant since Nova is now out for the season.

Part of me wishes Farrell ignored it, since the purpose is only to get a better grip, and I hate seeing Clay flounder without it. But he really had no choice and it was a smart managerial move.

Plus.. as a Sox fan.. a lot of other more pressing issue than to make fun of a rival that is currently ahead of you in the standings.

Future conversations will include:

1) Nava’s demotion

2) Sizemore’s role

3) Lester’s contract

4) How to integrate our young prospects.

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01/27/2014

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The Clincher: A magic night at Fenway Park (HD)

Big thanks to BRETT COWETT of firebrandal.com for posting some great links this monday. I check that site almost every day and you’ll see me post some captions of their work with my addition commentary, including but not limited to various other writers from MLB.com, Boston.com, Weei, Fangraphs, and many other blogs I frequent.

Just as an fyi, I used to live on Queensberry St for 5 years, 3 blocks away from Fenway, and just moved away for law school this past August and it was quite surreal and infuriating to miss the Fenway Clincher. Especially since my last World Series experience was as a freshman in Smith Hall of Northeastern University, fall 2007, back when i briefly had a brand new razor flip phone that fell out of my sweatshirt pocket as we jumped up and down as strike 3 was recorded and was a small casualty, (in addition to a poor fellows yellow pickup truck).

Some other quick thoughts on the series:
Big walks from x-man, excited to see his rookie year next year. (please baseball gods, keep him healthy). Uppercrust, if that place is still in business should have free pineapple for a month, because the flying hawaiian delivered with a clutch grand slam. Ortiz, give him a 2 year.. 25-30 million dollar deal. I understand the business side of it, and the wait and see approach is nothing but smart, but piece of mind has to be worth something, and I bet stephen drew wishes he took the qualifying offer. Ortiz guy is going to the HOF and I dont want to see his last Frank Thomas-esque seasons with another team. Lester, if he was a lifetime contract give him a 6 year $100 million offer. We have the luxury of having a surplus of talented and cost controlled pitching, the issue is having to find spots in a veteran heavy rotation. With Dempster and Peavy only on the books for one more year, there will be plenty of opportunity to infuse youth with experience.

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10/26/2013

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Pet Peavy: Having to study during the World Series.

This is what I’ve lived for my whole life is to — my whole baseball career, I should say, to have this opportunity to go out there on the biggest stage and have a chance to help your team win a World Series game and a World Series title. I’m as prepared as I’ll ever be, physically, mentally, and we’ll go out there tomorrow night and see if we can execute pitch by pitch, and find a way to win.”

via Full Count » Red Sox starter Jake Peavy says he’s ready for biggest game of his life against team that almost traded for him.

Nice Job by Alex Speier.

Peavy

As I eluded to in my previous post. This World Series could hinge on the perfomance of Jake Peavy tonight as well as the possibility of him starting a game 7 (hopefully ala Derek Lowe results).

I trust him, but then again my memories of him are mostly when he was a Padre.. with a 98mph heater. Now, I definitely have more faith in him than Dempster, Doubront and Workman.. and quite frankly.. that’s why we traded for him. This is why he is here. Much better then sending unproven Allen Webster against Joe Kelly, not that that was an option, but that’s how money ball could have played out if our organization was a bit more frugal. I also love the idea that we get Peavy for another year, and I’ll be hopefully even more sweet as a defending champ. Because otherwise, I’d see it as a logjam in the rotation of which we need to start throwing our minor leaguers into the fire and testing them at the game’s highest level.

Next years rotation is:

Lester, Lackey, Clay, Peavy, Doubront (Leaving off Dempster)

I feel it could definitely succeed with:

Lester, Lackey, Clay, Doubront, Webster/Workman

And a few years from now

Lester, Doubront, Webster, Workman, De La Rosa (assuming clay remains injured) (and having Henry Owens and a few others moving up the ranks)

Anywho.. lets not get ahead of ourselves. I am nervous about tonight, but that’ll be over in about 5 hours one way or another.

Interesting to see what will unfold with the bottom of our lineup.

Will Steven Drew break out of his epic slump? Will we replace him with Xander at short and see the return of Middlebrooks to 3rd in game 4? Will Nave be effective given the little amount of playing time he’s received? Will Dustin’s thumb hold up? Can Ellsbury steal a base? Can Ortiz handle first base?

A good question I heard of when listening to firebrandal.com podcast

Which right handed batter will be used off the bench? Napoli or Gomes

Their answer was Gomes, because Napoli will likely be used a defensive replacement for Ortiz at 1st. And he’s a prone to strike outs.

If I were manager: Tonights lineup would look like this:

Ellsbury, Nava, Ortiz, Pedroia, Xander, Salty, Drew, Peavy and Victorino.

I like peavy batting 8th, because even with the possibility of a quick inning.. I like having Victorino and Ellsbury connected, and pinch hitting for the #8 hitter would not interrupt our speed on the base path.

All of this is outside of my control. Just gonna keep my finger’s crossed.

Go Sox!