Who finishes out the sox pen?

[jacksonianmarch]

Now that the sox need to get down to 25 men, who finishes out the sox pen? Right now, if Timlin hits the DL, the sox would have 3 spots in the pen. These spots are currently occupied by Corey, Aardsma, and Snyder. When Beckett returns in the second week of the season and Timlin returns (who knows if he hits the DL for his finger) then the sox might have to choose one of the three named above. All 3 would have to pass through waivers to be kept.

 

For those who would pick Snyder, be forewarned. Snyder was an awful pitcher prior to last season. He had a career ERA of 5.50 and a career WHIP of 1.54. Last yr, after his spoof first half, he had a post AS ERA of 5.24 and a WHIP of 1.46. IE, he reverted to his norm. And the start to the yr wasnt any better when a guy named Jack Hannahan takes you deep for his 4th career tater.

 

If it were up to me, I'd see how much value Snyder's first half bought him and sell him high before he bottoms out again. I'd have a nice battle between Corey and Aardsma before eventually sticking with Aardsma, who I think is the better arm and has the higher upside.

[TheKilo]

Out of the three, I'd keep Aardsma.

[a700hitter]

Of those three, I keep Corey.

[ksushi]

Toss up between Corey and Aardsma.

[msubulldogs21]

Eh, I'd probably go with Aardsma.

[Cocos Disciples]

Aardsma

[BoSox21]

I'd probably take Aardsma but I like everything I've seen from Corey

[mAAAbs]

Timlin was just placed on the DL retroactive to 3/20, so we get to hang on to all three until the Toronto series.

[RobZombie]

They maybe able to put this off a bit by sending out either Lester or Buchholtz assuming they don't need a fifth starter for a spell. Plus stuff happens, injuries etc. and the choice usually becomes obvious.

 

I think that they maybe able to get all three guys through waivers if they so chose.

[jacksonianmarch]

Aardsma and Corey wont float through waivers IMO since both had nice springs and the sox were getting scouted pretty heavily in games where both pitched. For Snyder, he had a solid yr last yr (even though his second half was awful) so I'd think he still has a tiny bit of trade value.

[RobZombie]

I'd bet you that no one wants Snyder and they could get him through waivers. Like you said, he was terrible in the 2nd half, and had poor peripherals. Plus he's owed 825K no matter what, even that sum may cause some teams to balk.

[SCM33]

Ive never liked Snyder, and Ive never thought he was good enough to have a spot on the team. His role (spot start/long relief/mopup) is already occupied by Tavarez and Tavarez does it a whole helluva lot better. Throw in the fact that at some point Colon will be with the team in a currently undecided role, and either way he will be off the team in the upcoming months.

[RobZombie]

If Colon makes it to the majors, it will be as a starter and thus have no effect on any of the three guys listed. Either Buchholtz or Lester will be optioned, assuming no injuries.

[jacksonianmarch]

or one of the other rotation pitchers is injured. I agree Rob

[SCM33]

If Colon makes it to the majors' date=' it will be as a starter and thus have no effect on any of the three guys listed. Either Buchholtz or Lester will be optioned, assuming no injuries.[/quote']

 

Have to imagine it is Bucholz then (although neither had very good springs), just because of his (Lester) experience and his WS performance. A couple of starts in AAA could only help rather than getting hammered and losing confidence like Hansen.

 

I really thnk they give Colon all the opportunities to become an asset. He will get a few starts early to see what hes got.

[jacksonianmarch]

We'll have to see how Buchholz fares. I havent seen him throw this ST so I cannot comment on how his stuff is. My guess is that he was working on things as it is ST. Regardless, your worst pitcher is Lester. He'd be my guess to go down when it is all said and done.

[SCM33]

His stuff is always good, its the other things that hes having a hard time with. I agree that Lester is our worst starter (Im not that high on him) but I would rather see Bucholz get some more minor league innings. Ive said it before, I thought Clement had some of the best stuff ive ever seen, although we saw how that worked out. Bucholz needs some experience, he hasnt thrown all that many minor leahgue innings, let him build up some confidence and experience before we throw him out to the dogs.

 

I was at his nohitter sitting in the RF stands, I saw his stuff first hand, but I would hate to see him fail and never come out of it like Hansen, or Meredith (until the trade). Either way I think in the end though, you are right and Lester will be the odd man out, and become a very valuable trading piece. Everybody loves a LH who throws 95 MPH. Not to mention his determination (cancer) and the fact he won a clinching game in the WS.

[ksushi]

 

I was at his nohitter sitting in the RF stands, I saw his stuff first hand, but I would hate to see him fail and never come out of it like Hansen, or Meredith (until the trade). Either way I think in the end though, you are right and Lester will be the odd man out, and become a very valuable trading piece. Everybody loves a LH who throws 95 MPH. Not to mention his determination (cancer) and the fact he won a clinching game in the WS.

 

I hate this myth that one single failure can kill a persons career or ruin their confidence. Major leaguers aren't born 25 years old and sent to AAA for a little seasoning and then called up. These are the guys who 20 years after the fact are still talked about like heroes in the towns they played little league in. Guys like Clay Buchholz DOMINATED high school and college to the point where they made their opponents look like they were stepping to the plate for the first time. I watched Jeff Allison pitch firsthand in high school, if you don't know who he is look him up - sad story, but he DESTROYED everyone he faced. He made some of the best baseball players I've ever played with look like children. They have confidence. Hansen has been hampered with sleep aphnea which kills your energy and is an actual health concern and would easily affect performance. He still has all world stuff, and could make an impact this year. Cla Meredith went on to be a dominant reliever almost overnight after we dealt him. A career 2.98 in 100+ games at the bigs is pretty impressive. In Boston I think its tough to get out from under the weight of a negative performance and succeed because of the obvious and unrelenting media pressure. But this hampers even established major leaguers. Edgar Renteria, Eric Gagne, thus far, Coco Crisp has struggle with the fact that the majority of Boston fans consider him a banjo hitting defensive specialist, when that might not be the case. Yeah, this has basically been one big pointless aside, but the point is, one bad performance doesn't kill a professional athletes confidence, they've had years and years of building confidence enough to trust their own natural ability. Being in one of the biggest markets in baseball, you're either going to flourish or your not, it depends on how you handle constant scrutiny.