Bullpen Concerns

[satch9841]

i agree, his splitter has been well out of the K zone and he has had to come in with his average fastball. Recently oki seems to have come alive. His splitter "looks" to the batter to be in the strike zone. For now i think mdc or aardsma for the 8th inning. Would love to see a deal for fuentes but i think the cost would be too prohibitive. Interesting move grooming masterson for a possible move to the setup role. If it happens someone will go, possibly timlin.

[CalvnHobs6]

The best news of the day Monday for the Boston Red Sox was the approximately 30 pain-free swings (four for home runs) that David Ortiz took in his first live batting practice since injuring his left wrist May 31.

From boston.com

GREAT NEWS. I'm not getting too excited, but GREAT NEWS.

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

Although this deal is complete I wanted to mention the surfaced reports that the Red Sox were involved and the Brewers were asking a combination of players including Michael Bowden, Jed Lowrie, Lars Anderson, and Josh Reddick.

 

I just think it's interesting to know we have the talent in the minors to add a Cy Young pitcher if desired. Also interesting to know what other teams think about our minor league system.

[BoSox21]

For now i think mdc or aardsma for the 8th inning.

 

I do think Aardsma should be next in line for the "setup man by committee" job

[SCM33]

Seriously the worst starting shortstop I have seen as a Red Sox in my lieftime.

 

Not in mine, I started following them in 1991, and not that I knew about all the advanced stats that are out there today.....but I always hated Luis Rivera.

 

1991:

.258AV .318OB .384SLG 8HR 40RBI 4SB 24Errors

 

1992:

.215AV .287OB .260SLG 0HR 29RBI 4SB 14Errors

 

1993-1996 was Valentin, pretty solid.

 

1997-2004 was Nomar, very good if not spectacular.

 

Mid 2004, Cabrera, very good.

 

2005 Rent a wreck.......I really dont think it was as bad as some people thought, especially compared to the almost equally priced Lugo.....his defense was probably a fluke, he was pretty good

offensively (although not exactly what other people expected).

 

2006 Agon....I thought he had a very good season. Spectacular glove, and many believed if he hit .240 along with the glove, it would be a plus, he hit .255 and walked very little but did hit 9 homers and drove in 50. He also had a spectacular 2007 season offensively (by his standards) hitting around .270 with 16 HR and 55 RBI to go with a .325 OB(not very good, but for him, not bad)....hasnt played a game yet in 2008.

 

2007:

Julio Lugo

.237AV .294OB .349SLG 8HR 73RBI 33SB 19Errors.....pretty bad, but not Rivera-esque 1992.

 

2008:

Julio Lugo

.264 .349 .327SLG 1HR 19RBI 11SB 16Errors....in 80 games.....pretty terrible defensively.......obviously he has no power, but is hitting for an average to below average clip, does get on base, and can run.

 

I hate Julio Lugo....but Luis Rivera was worse.

[Soxfan1]

I loved A-Gon. Him and Pokey were two players I overrated big time.

[mannyforpres]

The best course of action is to dump Cora and platoon Lowrie/Lugo/Pedroia...there's plenty of ABs to go around with those three. Lowrie can even spell Lowell if he has to.

 

i dont think that the words platoon and dustin pedroia should ever be mentioned in the same sentence. but dumping alex cora would be a great idea to free up time for lugo and lowrie to split time.

[Beckett95]

Short Term= Let go of Cora, bring up Lowrie and have him get most of the time at short with Lugo playing every once in a while. Lugo and Lowrie can both play any infield position so that be nice to have.

 

But Id love to see the Sox try to make a deal with PIT to acquire Wilson, Doumit and Marte

[BSN07]

Short Term= Let go of Cora, bring up Lowrie and have him get most of the time at short with Lugo playing every once in a while. Lugo and Lowrie can both play any infield position so that be nice to have.

 

But Id love to see the Sox try to make a deal with PIT to acquire Wilson, Doumit and Marte

 

Would be interesting, but the Pirates are going to want a decent package for that. Lowrie is probably part of any deal like that.

 

Send Lugo back as well even if the Sox have to eat 75% of the contract or more. But more likely Lowrie, plus a RP prospect of low level SP, plus another OF prospect plus maybe 1 or 2 more prospects.

 

Not sure if the Sox will pay that hi of a price for a D minded SS, A Young C in Doutmit who has potential but is far from prooven, and Marte, a NL RP....

[Beckett95]

Wilson is atleast better at all facets of the game then Lugo, except for stealing bases. I still expect Lowrie to be the starter next year. Doumit could split time with Vtek and hopefully light a fire under his ass. He'd be the everyday starter next year. And Marte hopefully could bring us some relief help.

 

Reddick/Kalish, K Johnson, Lugo (eat some salary) and Kottaras/Wagner would be my starting offer

[jacksonianmarch]

Would be interesting, but the Pirates are going to want a decent package for that. Lowrie is probably part of any deal like that.

 

Send Lugo back as well even if the Sox have to eat 75% of the contract or more. But more likely Lowrie, plus a RP prospect of low level SP, plus another OF prospect plus maybe 1 or 2 more prospects.

 

Not sure if the Sox will pay that hi of a price for a D minded SS, A Young C in Doutmit who has potential but is far from prooven, and Marte, a NL RP....

 

 

A decent package? They would want a HUGE package. They have been asking for ridiculous packages for Marte alone. Then to add in Jack Wilson who is a serviceable batter but a solid SS and then their best offensive chip who just happens to catch? The Pirates have been asking big for a reason. Wilson will likely be a type B FA and Marte a Type A. Add in Doumit whose worth is immeasureable right now and you'd be giving up half the farm

[ksushi]

Doumit will not be traded. The pirates would be crazy to move him if they ever hope to be competitive again. Unless we were dumb enough to offer one of Lester or Buchholz along with a Bowden, Lowrie or Masterson with at least a couple Michael Alamanzar/Oscar Tejada types.

[Beckett95]

i doubt they'd move Doumit to, but Paulino had 2 solid MLB years before this year, and since they sent him down to AAA he's 16/39 with 4 HR. Maybe they still have some hope for him to regain form and would be willing to move Doumit for the right package. Your right though, the Pirates would demand a lot.

 

I dont want to get off topic here, but the Sox need a young catcher and Teagarden is not the anwser. Doumit would be my number 1 option for a young catcher that could be had for a reasonable price possibly.

[TheKilo]

Woulda been way too much to give up.

[TheKilo]

i dont think that the words platoon and dustin pedroia should ever be mentioned in the same sentence. but dumping alex cora would be a great idea to free up time for lugo and lowrie to split time.

 

I think you should read my post. Why can't he play 2nd once every two weeks or so?

 

Lowrie can spell Lugo, Pedroia, and Lowell. That's what I meant.

[TheKilo]

i doubt they'd move Doumit to, but Paulino had 2 solid MLB years before this year, and since they sent him down to AAA he's 16/39 with 4 HR. Maybe they still have some hope for him to regain form and would be willing to move Doumit for the right package. Your right though, the Pirates would demand a lot.

 

I dont want to get off topic here, but the Sox need a young catcher and Teagarden is not the anwser. Doumit would be my number 1 option for a young catcher that could be had for a reasonable price possibly.

 

But Doumit can't be had for a reasonable price. So, there you go.

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

Julio Lugo may have seriously injured himself last night. Looks like we are going to get our wish an Jed Lowrie will be making his return. This team will have a very different look after the All Star break....

 

Ortiz will be returning, Lowrie will be playing SS, Buchholz will be in the rotation, Masterson will be in the bullpen. Speaking of...Masterson pitched his first inning of relief in AAA not allowing a hit or BB and getting 1 K.

[a700hitter]

I think we will miss Lugo's range. He could make some excellent plays from the hole and behind second base. His fileding slump for the season has come and gone, and he had been pretty steady lately.

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

I think we will miss Lugo's range. He could make some excellent plays from the hole and behind second base. His fileding slump for the season has come and gone' date=' and he had been pretty steady lately.[/quote']

 

I'll agree he has good range but he appears to create errors on routine plays. Hopefully (if Lowrie comes up) he can make the routine plays and upgrade our offense. He may not be capable of the big play on defense but I hope his offense makes up for that.

[VA Sox Fan]

Red Sox place SS Lugo on disabled list

 

July 12, 2008

 

BOSTON—The Boston Red Sox have placed shortstop Julio Lugo on the 15-day disabled list with a left quad strain.

 

Lugo was injured Friday night while running out an infield single in the ninth inning of Boston's 7-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. Lugo began to limp as he approached first base, then dropped to ground shortly after hitting the bag.

 

The Red Sox on Saturday called up shortstop Jed Lowrie from Pawtucket to replace Lugo. Lowrie was in the lineup for Saturday afternoon's game with Baltimore.

 

Lugo was hitting .268 with 12 steals for Boston this season. Lowrie hit .310 with 7 RBI in 17 games with Boston earlier this year.

[VA Sox Fan]

He was SO embarassingly SAFE last night at first. Unreal.

[das11209]

Ideal situation would have been if Cora would have got injured.

 

Oh well.

[YAZMAN]

Ideal situation would have been if Cora would have got injured.

 

Oh well.

 

1) Underpants

 

2) ?

 

3) Profit

[BoSox21]

When speaking to the media yesterday, Jonathan Papelbon came out and said he feels he deserves the ball for the American League in the 9th inning of tonight's all-star game ahead of Mariano Rivera, despite the fact that the game will be played in Yankee Stadium.

 

"We've both earned that right; us, by winning the World Series and having the opportunity of having our manager there and our team being represented, and Mariano by what he's done for this role, we're in Yankee Stadium and blah, blah, blah," Papelbon said. "It's not that easy. Everybody thinks it's a cut and dry answer, but it's not.

 

"If I was managing the team, I would close," Papelbon said. "I'm not managing the team, so it don't matter."

 

But Rivera feels the same way about taking the mound for the ninth. "It's definitely tough, but we're here in Yankee Stadium. I think I should get the shot," Rivera said. "I definitely would love to. Knowing [Red Sox manager] Terry Francona, I have a feeling he'll put me there if we have the opportunity to close the game."

 

However, later on in the day, Papelbon backed off his comments somewhat, most likely after someone approached him to explain that his comments might not go over very well.

 

"I'm making a statement right now, saying I don't want it, I want [Rivera] to have it. I said all that earlier, but that's the way I feel about it," Papelbon said.

 

"This is what I think, of course I want to close the game out. I wouldn't be Jonathan Papelbon if I didn't want to close the game out," he said. "But at the same time, there's also things within this game I have to understand and people have to understand. It doesn't always work out that way.

 

"I feel I owe a lot to this game and that's one of the things I owe to this game, to let an elder statesman go ahead of me."

 

Personally, I think every great closer has the attitude that they always want to be the go-to guy in the 9th, regardless of the significance of the game and like I've said before, Papelbon's attitude sometimes provides stupid comments, but it's also part of the package that makes him a great closer.

 

- ESPN.com

[yeszir]

I think Paps and Mo need to have a dugout fist fight to decide who goes in.

[ORS]

Papelbon wants to close a game in which he is playing.

 

In other news, Alaskan winters are cold, water is wet, and Jacko thinks the Yankees drafted 6 HOF'ers this year.

 

He's a nincompoop for how he gets this message across, but it's not earth shattering news. He wants the ball, yet at the same time gets why Rivera will get it. Non-story.

[Gom]

He's an outright idiot. Rivera is better than Papelbon in nearly every statistical category this year. Careers don't even match up. I would let Krod close before Papelbon. In fact, statistically, he's the 5th best closer...in the AL. What a f***ing joke.

 

It also happens to be the final All-Star game at Yankee stadium. f*** Papelbon. Now on my list as favorite Red Sox players to hate with Youkilis and Crisp.

 

I do like Manny and Tek though. Lowell is cool as well. Paps and Youk? *******s. Thank God you guys didn't trade Youk for Tex. Best non-move you guys did to help us Yankees out.

[ksushi]

Pap is an idiot. This story is retarded.

 

But seriously, next time you basically take an article from ESPN.com, put it in quotes.

[BoSox21]

Pap is an idiot. This story is retarded.

 

But seriously, next time you basically take an article from ESPN.com, put it in quotes.

 

I did mean to mention ESPN, but I only used their quotes

[BoSox21]

Thank God you guys didn't trade Youk for Tex. Best non-move you guys did to help us Yankees out.

 

Probably as good as not trading Manny for A-Rod. BTW, how's that acquisition going for you guys?