Bullpen Concerns

[TheKilo]

The Red Sox DH had an MRI at Mass General Monday and it revealed an extensor carpi ulnaris -- a partially torn sheath of his left wrist which is basically what holds the tendon in place according to manager Terry Francona.

 

The tendon itself is not torn and Francona said no surgery was needed.

Team sources also indicated Ortiz will be in a cast for two weeks. It will take another 10 to 14 days to begin swinging the bat and getting into playing condition. The injury is not considered common.

 

Because it's Ortiz's top hand, it's considered an important injury.

 

Francona has several options in replacing Ortiz, mentioning the possibility of Sean Casey playing more.

 

 

[TheKilo]

This seems a bit more positive. Send down Bailey, call up Carter and Masterson tomorrow.

[Thumper]

Not torn! Yay!

 

Good then he'll only be out about a month+ and not for the season.

[BSN07]

Ortiz out sucks. That said the Sox are fortunate enough to have pretty good depth. No we don't have any one person to replace Papi, our line up still won't look bad. Casey at 1B could indicate Youk, or Lowell seeing some DH. Manny at DH for the next month isn't bad. He will save his legs and our OF D will be at it's peak with Ellsbury in LF, Coco in CF and Drew in RF.

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

Brandon Moss. I think he is the best hitter we have in the minors. Let Manny DH and have Moss take his spot in the OF. Coco Crisp can come in as a defensive replacement again.

[jacksonianmarch]

From what I have read, the tendon itself is not torn, the sheath surrounding the tendon is. We all know how important the sheath can be in holding a tendon in place. Regardless, if allowed to heal properly, surgery is not indicated. Although if he is splinted for a month without moving it, I'd expect him to take a long time getting back into the swing of things. He can't even rehab the injury for one month. I'd figure he'd be back a couple weeks after the AS break.

[ORS]

Chris Carter, come on down!!

 

Link

[26 to 6]

So subtract one Red Sox from the starting lineup at Yankee Stadium. I wonder how the Sox fare without his bat in the lineup. Their offense is so good that it probably won't hurt it too too much, but he is the big, beating heart of that lineup.

[Cocos Disciples]

Nice, Carter

[das11209]

Ortiz thinks he can return in 3 weeks

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080603&content_id=2830929&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

 

Hopefully Manny can stay hot now he is past 500.

 

Let's bring up Carter - hopefully he does better than WMP did.

[ksushi]

Much happier prognosis: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3424740

 

Two ortiz threads merged for convenience. Happy time.

[SCM33]

Much happier prognosis: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3424740

 

Two ortiz threads merged for convenience. Happy time.

 

Not suggesting anything here, but in addition to Bonds....Sosa is still available, I know he recently said he would not return to MLB and only will return for the WBC.....but throw some money in front of that self promoting prick, and Im sure hed take it. Then we could have a platoon of Carter/Sosa (if roster room allows it).

 

In either situation......Bonds, Carter, Sosa....anyone else, it is a drop off. Papi has been heating up.

[ORS]

I think the idea of Sosa in lieu of Bonds ignores a very important fact. Sosa sucked the last two years. Approx .300 OBP and .430 SLG. I'm confident Carter or Moss can do that, with Moss providing solid LF defense allowing Manny to DH. Bonds OPS was north of 1.000 last year. He's the best bet to produce like Ortiz.

[SCM33]

I think the idea of Sosa in lieu of Bonds ignores a very important fact. Sosa sucked the last two years. Approx .300 OBP and .430 SLG. I'm confident Carter or Moss can do that' date=' with Moss providing solid LF defense allowing Manny to DH. Bonds OPS was north of 1.000 last year. He's the best bet to produce like Ortiz.[/quote']

 

Point taken, like I said, I wasnt really suggesting it...just throwing a name out there.

 

I cant argue with any of your points. I am also sure that Carter might be able to produce that of Sosa, not sure about Moss....although I do like Moss.

 

Also agree about Bonds, but I really....really really really dont want to see Bonds play here. (Not that it matters, but it gives people more of a reason to hate us, because we all....Boston fans included hate Bonds) I am just not sure if it is worth the risk reward. I think clubhouse chemisty is overrated....its great when your team wins, bad when they lose.....that being said, Bonds attracts a lot of negetive attention. The "chemisty" among all the players may be wonderful....but he brings in a lot of negative heat which I am sure wears on players. I think that if he were to come here, it would be on a very limited basis....we would be renting him til Ortiz returns and then giving him the boot to the ass.

[SCM33]

ORS...something else I was thinking about....

 

Carter or Moss could also be a better option than Bonds.

 

What kind of shape is Barry in (im sure tremendous)?

 

What has he been doing in baseball related activities? When was the last time he faced live pitching?

 

Moss and Carter both have been playing all year. By the time Bonds is ready to go.....Ortiz may be ready to start playing again. Hitters take a while to get their hand eye coordination back, and I am sure Bonds has not been facing MLB quality pitching since last year.

[ORS]

I realize it may take some time for him to be game-ready. That said, I'm not an advocate of bringing him in until a couple of things happen. The first is that Ortiz needs to be out for the year. If he's coming back, there's no need for an external replacement. Second, they won't know for another couple of weeks if he'll be able to come back. If, in that time, Carter is able to pound the ball like he did in Pawtuckett, then bringing in Bonds is no longer something they need to consider. All told, I'm only advocating the signing of Bonds if Ortiz is lost for the year and Carter proves to be unable to handle MLB pitching. The next 2-3 weeks should make that picture clearer. In the meantime, they should contact Bonds agent and let him know that they are interested and would like Barry to focus on being game-ready as soon as possible.

[BSN07]

If Ortiz can't come back and contribute, or needs season ending surgery, I think the Sox will be in on Dunn, if hes made available. Yes it will cost a couple good prospects, but he be a nice DH. That and he will be a FA at the end of the season(type A), so you most likely get a nice pick for him.

[CrespoBlows]

Bonds.

[ksushi]

Nice one word post. No elaboration. No need to get into it. One word and done. Great contribution.

[Taliesin]

Clearly young chippies floating out the Bonds/Sosa combo. I'd prefer we move to Trenton and call ourselves the New Yankees. Why not McGwire. How about we reincarnate Cobb. Got Clemens? I'd rather finish in last place behind the O's thank you very much. f*** bonds. f*** his ilk. That's classic Stein and I suffered through the Bichette years w/ this team, but not the selling of the soul. s***, we are having fun. I called out the really really bad move on Joba to the rotation. Classic closer and they are ruining him.

 

We'll be fine and if not. Eh. Not worth that ********. He is anathema and a scourge. A totem token of all that was wrong w/ the game. We don't need that karma because he can hit a few dingers. No thank you. Not worth the decades of drama.

[Cocos Disciples]

Clearly young chippies floating out the Bonds/Sosa combo. I'd prefer we move to Trenton and call ourselves the New Yankees. Why not McGwire. How about we reincarnate Cobb. Got Clemens? I'd rather finish in last place behind the O's thank you very much. f*** bonds. f*** his ilk. That's classic Stein and I suffered through the Bichette years w/ this team, but not the selling of the soul. s***, we are having fun. I called out the really really bad move on Joba to the rotation. Classic closer and they are ruining him.

 

We'll be fine and if not. Eh. Not worth that ********. He is anathema and a scourge. A totem token of all that was wrong w/ the game. We don't need that karma because he can hit a few dingers. No thank you. Not worth the decades of drama.

 

Dude I totally agree. If we signed Bonds and got the world series, I probably wouldn't even watch because there's someone on our team who cheats. Like Yankees fans hate Pettitte, you know? I probably wouldn't even celebrate if we won the World Series, I'd be so fed up with the front office and their trying to win baseball games.

[Jayhawk Bill]

Dude I totally agree. If we signed Bonds and got the world series' date=' I probably wouldn't even watch because there's someone on our team who cheats.[/quote']

 

FWIW, Mike Lowell used proscribed steroids through the 2004 season. He had prescriptions, but the drugs were disallowed by MLB. When the testing program was going to catch them in 2005, Lowell asked for a Theraputic Use Exemption (TUE). The TUE was denied. Lowell ceased using steroids in 2005. Coincidentally, Lowell's 2005 season sucked.

 

Barry Bonds hasn't popped positive for steroid use from 2005-2007, the same as Mike Lowell. Unless his name is one of the names on the list of 100-odd MLB players who popped positive on "anonymous" tests that were turned over to the government as evidence instead of being destroyed, there's no positive test for steroids for Bonds.

 

I don't hold Lowell's past steroid use against him. He's one of our World Series heroes. Lowell is also a pretty good guy. Barry Bonds is a raging jerk, and I hold that against him. I don't hold his alleged past steroid use against him--steroid use was a part of the game for roughly two decades at the MLB level, and steroids are still being used extensively in Latin America to give desperate kids a chance at The Show.

[Jayhawk Bill]

Chris Carter is hitting .316/.372/.536.

 

Rough MLE of Carter's 2008 AAA stats: .285/.335/.480

2008 BP PECOTA for Carter: .261/.326/.399

2008 BP PECOTA for Carter vs. RHP: .269/.337/.438

 

Chris Carter's actual 2008 MLB stats: .000/.000/.000

 

 

Chris Carter needs regular playing time as a DH to show his stuff--he won't make it as a pinch-hitter. Sean Casey has that role.

 

Want a hint as to Carter's role? Check the Official Red Sox site:

 

http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/team/roster_active.jsp?c_id=bos

 

Chris Carter is listed as the third left fielder and the third right fielder.

 

(Insert banghead emoticon here).

 

Bringing Chris Carter up to the team to sit on the bench and to pinch hit two or three times a week is destructive to his career and adverse to his skill set and his trade value. This is his moment--we've got to see what he can do.

 

James Shields pitches tonight. He's an excellent right-handed pitcher, and he's posted 2.61 ERA since getting lit up by Boston on May 3. Let's see what Chris Carter can do.

[ORS]

This plays into my biggest gripe with Francona. He's totally reluctant to use those on the AAA shuttle. Coco Crisp is on the bench most nights for a reason. He's not that productive. Perhaps he's ready for a night off after the incidents at 2B on his slides. In this instance, I'm using "perhaps" in the sense that I'm driving knitting needles into my Coco Crisp voodoo doll.

[SCM33]

ORS I agree with you. This is also a gripe with me. He doesnt do it only with AAA players though. If you remember a few years back (2005) Millar was struggling horribly. The Sox went out and got Petagine. Most people are here wanted Tito to give him a shot vs righties, but instead he turned into a valueless PH. Petagine may not have produced more than Millar, but we will never know as he never got the chance. That very same season we had Olerud, and Olerud was also used sparingly.

 

I love Tito, but I hate how he stays loyal to a point where it could hurt the team, and he really doesnt positional give guys who are brought up mid season a chance to shine except for Jacoby, and even last year we would have liked to see him take away more of Crisps ab's.

[ORS]

I recall wanting to see more of what Petagine could do with how he was swatting the ball at Pawtuckett and how miserable Millar was that year. As for Pedroia and Ellsbury getting a chance to prove themselves in light of Francona's usage pattern with everyone else, I can't help but think they only got it because of directives from above. With a player like Carter, I'm doubtful that such direction will come and the Francona preference will prevail. It's not like we are talking about a guy who the FO views as a potential long-term starter for the team.

[ksushi]

 

I don't hold Lowell's past steroid use against him. He's one of our World Series heroes. Lowell is also a pretty good guy.

 

That... and he kinda had cancer.

[CrespoBlows]

Nice one word post. No elaboration. No need to get into it. One word and done. Great contribution.

 

Oh, I forgot. You need other people to do research for you.

[Jayhawk Bill]

That... and he kinda had cancer.

 

BTW, did you know that testicular cancer is a common side effect of steroid abuse? Did you know that Mike Lowell had a sudden, unexpected power surge that made him an MLB player, prior to his cancer?

 

***

 

Mike Lowell knowingly and intentionally used steroids contrary to the rules of Major League Baseball. That is a fact.

[Thumper]

BTW, did you know that testicular cancer is a common side effect of steroid abuse? Did you know that Mike Lowell had a sudden, unexpected power surge that made him an MLB player, prior to his cancer?

 

***

 

Mike Lowell knowingly and intentionally used steroids contrary to the rules of Major League Baseball. That is a fact.

 

Considering last year's performance it wouldn't surprise me if he was using recently. He's probably off it now with the recent calls for stricter testing but he's always been in the back of my head as a juicer.