Omar Vizquel

Posted by jayman |  May 8, 2008 – 2:11 pm

Since Gammons started us thinking on this…here’s some quick thoughts regarding possiblity of Sox trading for Omar Vizquel and having him share the SS duties with Jed Lowrie

On the surface, I like the idea.  But it makes for a crowded roster of infielders with Lowrie, Vizquel, and Alex Cora all pretty much in the same role.  Does Cora still have a role on this team with Lowrie and another shortstop around?

Also, Vizquel has been hurt all year.  Has yet to play a game.   He’s making $5 million this year.  Becomes free agent at the end of the year.  Lugo is making $9.25 million this year with a couple years left.  Love, love, love the mentoring Vizquel can provide Lowrie.  But we already know Cora can do provide this as he helped Pedroia a lot last year.

So if you send Lugo plus $5 million to the Giants for Vizquel, would the Giants take it?  Seems pretty enticing to them.  They have a SS for the next couple years.  A guy who can possibly provide some offense (of which they have absolutely none) someone in their order. 

Second question.  Should sox do that?  I say yes. Vizquel and Lowie share SS this year.  Next year, Lowrie becomes full time starter.  Though still can’t figure out what becomes of Alex Cora. 

But why can’t the position sharing happen with Cora and Lowrie?  We’re talking about our #9 hitter.  What’s required is rock solid defense at SS and a batting average of minimum .260, which is around what Lowrie is hitting now. 

Here’s my best argument AGAINST trading Lugo.  Possibility of the double steal this season becomes dramatically diminished. 

Posted by jayman | Categories: 25 Man Roster, Fielding, Hot Stove | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Did Lugo Cost Us A Win?

Posted by jayman |  May 7, 2008 – 8:49 pm

I was tracking the 9th inning of the Red Sox - Tigers game tonight via refreshes to mobile ESPN on my Treo.  A game that Papelbon couldn’t close out after a nice comeback from a 4 run deficit. But saw that there was a Lugo error in the midst of that 9th inning.  So is that a game that Lugo is the scapegoat for?  Is WEEI going to be full of callers pleading for the inclusion of Jed Lowrie in the everyday lineup at shortstop?

By the way, I say that the Blue Jays lost not one, but two shortstops to injury in a single game the other night.  Is it possible that we can trade Lugo to Toronto?  Is there anybody on that team that we want that Toronto might be willing to give up for Lugo?

Posted by jayman | Categories: 25 Man Roster, Fielding | Tagged , | Comments (4)

How Does This Line-up Make You Feel?

Posted by crundy |  May 1, 2008 – 9:08 am

If the sox end up with injry plagued seasons from jd drew, mike lowell and coco crisp the sox typical starting line up would look like this:

cf ellsbury - rookie
sb pedroia - 2nd year
lf manny - old
dh ortiz - old
1st yuke - medium young
rf mossy - rookie
c tek - old
3rd lowrie - rookie
ss lugo - medium young

And the starting pitching:

beckett - medium young
dice k - medium young
wake - old but doesn’t matter
lester - prob qualifies as a rookie
clay - so young he’s dating a penthouse pet - sidebar - what are the vet sox wives saying about this? is she participating in the wives charities? what type of suggestions is she making? Have the other sox players all looked at the pics of her on-line? Is it a team joke? Are the old guys pissed? I need answers.

And if any of them goes down you know Justin Masterful is in the wings…

That’s a whole lotta young on this team. And the amazing thing is that NONE of the 1st or 2nd year guys really worry me that much. I like having them up in key situations. They seem to really relish the moment and not get caught up in it. I remember when Yuke was a rookie - he looked like he was going to pee his pants for three straight days during a late summer series in NYC. Now, the young guys coming in seem completely comfortable with the biggest stage. On the roster above the only guy who scares me is Lugo. I’m not saying everyone is destined for stardom, but they all seem to be gamers.

And that’s cool.

Heck, the only two guys I’d put behind JD Drew on my “Need a clutch hit” list are Lugo and Moss and Moss may pass him this year is he gets enough playing time. He’s certainly more clutch in the field.

So for the first time since the mid-80’s the Sox have soo much home grown talent that they are going to be stocked for the 5-10 years. This means that during this time we will be able to target the big free agents and bring in the heavy hitter we need to put us beyond over the top. I guess the Yankees could out-bid the Sox if they want to on every free agent but seriously, right now, if you were a free agent, where would you rather play? There’s some seriously bad mojo in Yankeedom right now and the Sox are the model franchise.

Posted by crundy | Categories: 25 Man Roster, Farm System, General Thoughts | Tagged | Comments (1)

Fake Bill Simmons’ Twitter Updates for 2008-04-30

Posted by Fake Bill Simmons |  April 30, 2008 – 11:59 pm
Posted by Fake Bill Simmons | Categories: Fake Bill Simmons | Comments (0)

Take it from Bob Marley

Posted by jayman |  April 30, 2008 – 4:00 pm

“Dont’ worry.
About a thing.
‘Cuz every little thing gonna be alright”

- Bob Marley

Thanks to fantastic pitching performance from Jon Lester (and by the way, Roy Halladay, not Johan Santana, is the premier starting pitcher in baseball today) the Olde Towne Team ended their 5 game losing streak last night.  Being on the west coast, it’s difficult to tell how worried the folks back in Boston were about losing 5 in a row, including a sweep at the hanks of Tampa Bay, but my spidey sense tells me there were more than a few concerned people dialing up WEEI and venting some frustrations.

But I’m hear to say that we shouldn’t be worred about what’s been going on.  I’m not even going to zero in on the minor injuries that are piling up.  Nor am I going to focus on the flu bug that was passed around the clubhouse.  By the way fellas, the Mitchell investigation could care less if you’re loading up on Thera Flu so have at it. 

If you haven’t figure it out yet, pitching is the centerpiece of championship teams.  Over the course of the year, hitting has its ups and downs.  Sometimes, the lineup will be hot.  Sometimes, it won’t be.  Consistent starting pitching is the element that carries teams through the ups and downs a lineup goes through during the course of a 162 game season.

That said, there was a lot to like in our starting pitching during the last week.  Especially in the young arms.

Justin Masterson makes his first major league start…gives up only 2 hits in 6 excellent innings.

Clay Bucholz pitches a gem against Tampa Bay…8 innings, 9 K;s.

Josh Beckett strikes out 13 in a 7 inning, 107pitch outing on Sunday. 

And last night, Jon Lester may have pitched the best game of his life.  Keeping the sox in the game by dueling with Halladay.  One hit in eight innings.

The sox may have lost 5 in a row.  They may only be tied for first place, but look at what the young pitchers are showing us.  The yankees would kill for similar performances from Hughes and Kennedy.

Is anyone even wondering when Curt Schilling is coming back?  Do we even care?

Posted by jayman | Categories: Pitching | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Fake Bill Simmons’ Twitter Updates for 2008-04-23

Posted by Fake Bill Simmons |  April 23, 2008 – 11:59 pm
  • cant believe CNN projections for Hillary win in PA after only 7% in? its like NESN predicting outcome of Sox-Angels game after 3rd inning #
  • how many f-bombs does coco utter under his breath everytime ellsbury gets a hit? #
  • run jacoby, run #
  • @DougH do you think i can get mirabelli style escort for when i return strung out from 48 hr vegas trip and just need to get home to crash? #
Posted by Fake Bill Simmons | Categories: Fake Bill Simmons | Comments (1)

10 Games with Ellsbury Leading off. Sox have won 9

Posted by jayman |  April 23, 2008 – 5:51 am

In the ongoing debate about who should be the two hitters at the top of the lineup, we now have a 10 game sample to look at with Jacoby Ellsbury leading off for the Red Sox.  And the sox record in those games is 9-1.  While I’m not able to put my finger on it yet, the Ellsbury / Pedroia combo at the top seems to have a spark to it that a combo with Youklis in the second spot hasn’t been able to match. 

Regardless, having a multitude of guys who can fill the leadoff and second spot in the lineup is a wonderful problem to have

Posted by jayman | Categories: Hitting | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)

Yankees melodrama with Joba explains why Bucholz should stay a starting pitcher

Posted by jayman |  April 22, 2008 – 10:32 am

I’ve been reading all about Hank Steinbrenner’s outbust that Joba Chamberlain should be a starting pitcher right now and Brian Cashman’s response.  All it has me thinking is that I’m glad the Sox aren’t toying around with Clay Bucholz.

Crundy and I actually disagree on this.  Crundy thinks Bucholz should be a bullpen setup guy if there’s not a role for him in the starting rotations (for example,if Schill wasn’t injured).  My opinion is that Clay Bucholz is in the Red Sox system and currently on their 25 man roster because he is a starting pitcher and not as a set up man.

Clay Bucholz’s future on the Red Sox is as a starting pitcher.  Joba Chamberlain’s future with the Yankees is also probably as a starting pitcher.  Yet one guy (Clay) keeps getting ball every 5 days and making a start….whether that start is in the majors or in Triple A doesn’t matter.  Every 5 days he gets to continue to evolve as a starting pitcher.  As for Joba, he’s getting pulled in different directions by his team’s owner, his manger and general manager.  All the while, not being given the opportunity to shine in what his long term role will be.  Joba may be helping his team more today as a reliever, but at the same time his growth as a staring pitcher is being stifled.

Posted by jayman | Categories: 25 Man Roster, Farm System, Pitching | Tagged , | Comments (2)

The Salad Days

Posted by crundy |  April 22, 2008 – 6:06 am

“These were the happy days, the salad days as they say…” H. I. McDunnough.

“We need a Beckett, we don’t have one, and he’s the one that can do it.” Steinbrenner said.

This quote, the worry about the “cursed jersey”, I even heard Yankees fans chanting “Boston Sucks” during one of the games in NY last week…..

Talk about role reversal!

Meanwhile, has anyone noticed how friggin loose the Sox are playing right now? In NY last week there were a few plays where the reactions of the Sox players were almost as if they were playing a game?! How bizarre. It’s like they are actually enjoying themselves out there! On the play where Melkytoast threw behind Ortiz at second base, Ortiz laughed and pointed as if to say, “You almost got me with that trick play you little devil!”…meanwhile Melkytoast didn’t even crack a grimmace. Ditto when Sean Casey was surprised by Wang with a quick swivel and almost-throw to second (only there was no one to throw to) was left scrambling on all fours to get back to the bag the entire Sox team enjoyed it so much they were still teasing him a few innings later…

Right now it’s all Peaches and Cream (I stole that quote from Kevin Garnett).

The sox have 5 starters with OBP’s over .400 and in 6th is a guy named Pedroia who is hitting .337 with an OBP of .398. Heck, if we could just trade Lugo away and put Lowrie at short (or put him at second and move Pedroia over) we’d have another guy close to .400 as well (.389 OBP) >And the capper? None of these guys is Ortiz! So, if Ortiz gets going (which he will) we could conceivably field a nine man team with 8 +.400 OBP guys! Has that ever happened? In a game where everyone gets 4 at bats (36 at bats/game) that would mean you would expect the team to reach base 14 times per game, on average!

All that and smiles too. Imagine if the young pitching comes around by mid-summer.

Posted by crundy | Categories: General Thoughts, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

Fake Bill Simmons’ Twitter Updates for 2008-04-18

Posted by Fake Bill Simmons |  April 18, 2008 – 11:59 pm
  • manny’s on fire. cant believe yankees are actually counting on mussina for anything this year. #redsox #
  • pretty sure i could pitch as good as mussina is tonight #
  • this commercial break brought to you by Mil Mascaras http://snurl.com/24tuo #
  • about to place bid of $30,102 on dug up ortiz jersey: http://snurl.com/24twz #
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