Red Sox almost certainly will exercise Wake's option

[riverside sluggers]

4.13 ERA, opposing .228 avg, 181 innings (2nd most on team behind Lester). With the bad luck he had with the bullpen blowing his leads, he shouldve won 15-20 games easily. Its a no-brainer to pick up his option

 

Just a tidbit, next season he would be in line to pass Roger Clemens for tops in franchise history for starts and innings pitched

[a700hitter]

I just wish that his last injury had been something more serious like a rotator cuff injury. I can't stand watching him pitch. With a $150 million offense and defense behind him, he no better than a coin flip's chance of winning. Knuckleballers are tremendously inconsistent. Only the Niekro's had any real ML success. That is why I don't consider him a real pitcher. He's a freak show with a trick pitch. Save the wear and tear on the team and flip a coin with the opposing team on the day Wakefield is scheduled to pitch.

[riverside sluggers]

couple more seasons like his and he'll have 200 Wins and over 2000 Ks. Pretty solid for a one pitch pitcher, especially a pitch thats become a dying breed

[Dojji]

Earlier in the year you said the most important characteristic of a pitcher was pitching with a lead...

 

I said it was the ability to hold a lead. Let's get the facts straight, shall we?

[BoSox21]

I said it was the ability to hold a lead. Let's get the facts straight' date=' shall we?[/quote']

 

what the hell is the difference?

[TheKilo]

Dude, you argued with me that the primary job of a pitcher is to hold a lead, instead of giving up as few runs as possible.

 

You couldn't be more wrong.

[Dojji]

Kind of like arguing whether the proper purpose of a rifle is to fire a bullet or hit a target with one.

[Cocos Disciples]

Isn't it kind of like saying that if a pitcher doesn't have a lead, then he's not doing his job?

[BoSox21]

I just wish that his last injury had been something more serious like a rotator cuff injury.

 

That's really not a very nice thing to say at all.

[Dojji]

Downright ****y, in fact.

[a700hitter]

couple more seasons like his and he'll have 200 Wins and over 2000 Ks. Pretty solid for a one pitch pitcher' date=' especially a pitch thats become a dying breed[/quote']But he'll be 50 years old when he does it. He'll be so old that he may die on the mound. Then he would really be a dying breed. Bring back Mirabelli and by time he's 50 he'll have 200 HRs.

[a700hitter]

That's really not a very nice thing to say at all.

It's not like I am wishing him to get a serious illness. I just want him to get a non-life threatening condition resulting in the end of his mediocre career. He has stuck around longer than any mediocre ballplayer in my time.

[Youk Of The Nation]

I'll take 11-15 wins in the fifth-spot with DiceK, Lester, and Beckett at the top of our rotation for 4 million a year any day. I mean, look at some of the other team's equivalents of Wake last season. (Mediocre bottom guys)

 

Josh Fogg? Jorge De La Rosa? Some guy on the Nationals whose name I can't even recall off the top of my head? Sidney Ponson?

 

Wake is a solid option, and with his soft delivery he can pitch for a couple more seasons at least.

 

And a700, I understand what you meant by your comment, but remember what has happened to the last people who mocked or wished injury on players around here. I'm not threatening you, (because I realize the other ones were idiots, and you aren't), I'm just letting you know how people feel about it by and large. There has to be a way to get that point across without wishing injury on someone. My rotator cuff is what got me discharged from the Army (at least in part) and I can assure you that though non-life-threatening, it is by no means painless, and wishing pain on a guy who has been so good for and to this team (or, in fact, wishing pain on pretty much anyone) is not the way to express your opinion.

[a700hitter]

I'll take 11-15 wins in the fifth-spot with DiceK, Lester, and Beckett at the top of our rotation for 4 million a year any day. I mean, look at some of the other team's equivalents of Wake last season. (Mediocre bottom guys)

 

Josh Fogg? Jorge De La Rosa? Some guy on the Nationals whose name I can't even recall off the top of my head? Sidney Ponson?

 

Wake is a solid option, and with his soft delivery he can pitch for a couple more seasons at least.

 

And a700, I understand what you meant by your comment, but remember what has happened to the last people who mocked or wished injury on players around here. I'm not threatening you, (because I realize the other ones were idiots, and you aren't), I'm just letting you know how people feel about it by and large. There has to be a way to get that point across without wishing injury on someone. My rotator cuff is what got me discharged from the Army (at least in part) and I can assure you that though non-life-threatening, it is by no means painless, and wishing pain on a guy who has been so good for and to this team (or, in fact, wishing pain on pretty much anyone) is not the way to express your opinion.

I was just joking about it. I just wish he would retire.

[Youk Of The Nation]

When he does I hope the Sox retire his number. I know he doesn't meet most of the qualifications, but he has pitched for more than a decade for this team, been a great person, taken a hometown discount for a long time, and generally has been a prescense for the Sox that will be sorely missed by fans and players alike. Maybe not retire his number, but some sort of honoring needs to be done by the team when that day comes.

[example1]

I just wish that his last injury had been something more serious like a rotator cuff injury. I can't stand watching him pitch. With a $150 million offense and defense behind him' date=' he no better than a coin flip's chance of winning. Knuckleballers are tremendously inconsistent. Only the Niekro's had any real ML success. That is why I don't consider him a real pitcher. He's a freak show with a trick pitch. Save the wear and tear on the team and flip a coin with the opposing team on the day Wakefield is scheduled to pitch.[/quote']

 

It is amazing, but I mostly agree with you here a700.

 

I can't argue with the IPs he eats, and I can't argue with the fact that he has been magical at times and nearly unhittable in 1/4 of his starts. At the same time, I can't stand watching the guy pitch. I can't stand it that they have to be so particular with their catchers because of him, and that any team can tee off on him at any given time. It seems like even Paul Byrd would be a better #5 option at this point, but more realistically the Sox can acquire someone via FA or through the minors who can give more productive innings.

 

I respect his 'rolling contract'. I really do. I think he has been really helpful and a Red Sox through and through and I would love for him to somehow have a chance to coach or manage in the Sox system someday (same with Tek). I just look around the league and see teams with much better pitchers bringing up the back of their rotation.

 

It's true that he's cheap and available and durable. I suppose there's a good chance that I'm vastly underestimating these traits. I guess it is just safe to say that I will be happy the day that they announce that someone with some "stuff" is taking over for him.

 

It does often feel like a coin toss, which just doesn't seem good enough for my beloved Red Sox. I go to watch a MLB baseball game and a slow pitch softball game breaks out. Enough to make me change the channel in Wake's innings.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

It is amazing, but I mostly agree with you here a700.

 

I can't argue with the IPs he eats, and I can't argue with the fact that he has been magical at times and nearly unhittable in 1/4 of his starts. At the same time, I can't stand watching the guy pitch. I can't stand it that they have to be so particular with their catchers because of him, and that any team can tee off on him at any given time. It seems like even Paul Byrd would be a better #5 option at this point, but more realistically the Sox can acquire someone via FA or through the minors who can give more productive innings.

 

I respect his 'rolling contract'. I really do. I think he has been really helpful and a Red Sox through and through and I would love for him to somehow have a chance to coach or manage in the Sox system someday (same with Tek). I just look around the league and see teams with much better pitchers bringing up the back of their rotation.

 

It's true that he's cheap and available and durable. I suppose there's a good chance that I'm vastly underestimating these traits. I guess it is just safe to say that I will be happy the day that they announce that someone with some "stuff" is taking over for him.

 

It does often feel like a coin toss, which just doesn't seem good enough for my beloved Red Sox. I go to watch a MLB baseball game and a slow pitch softball game breaks out. Enough to make me change the channel in Wake's innings.

 

Very well said.

 

 

 

Slow pitch softball isn't the reason I tune out Wakefield though...

[example1]

I'll take 11-15 wins in the fifth-spot with DiceK, Lester, and Beckett at the top of our rotation for 4 million a year any day. I mean, look at some of the other team's equivalents of Wake last season. (Mediocre bottom guys)

 

Josh Fogg? Jorge De La Rosa? Some guy on the Nationals whose name I can't even recall off the top of my head? Sidney Ponson?

 

Wake is a solid option, and with his soft delivery he can pitch for a couple more seasons at least.

 

I guess I see the 5-spot as being a place for developing talent. I agree that Wake is on par with many of the other #5 guys, but I think the Sox rotation would be best served if Beckett, Lester and Dice-K didn't have to pitch like All-Stars because #4 and #5 were exceeding expectations.

 

The ideal situation for a #5 in my book is someone who is waiting for his chance to step in as a #2 or #3, not someone who has been penciled in the #5 spot until 2015. Does having Wake keep guys from getting their shot? Even guys like Hansack or Pauley or whoever else has had a chance the past few years... It is hard to find a diamond in the rough when you don't look for them.

 

God love Wakefield. He's about as good a Sox and (from what I can tell) man as Boston has had. That's why it hurts to write negative things about him, and why it hurts to look the preverbial "gift horse in the mouth" when we complain that he only gives us 'average' results from the #5 spot. But I said the same things last year. When the team is generally moving to get younger and more versitile, an old horse like Wake slows down that process IMO.

 

I would rather have Sonnanstine or Price as a #5. (or Masterson or Bowden or Hansack or Buchholz... on the Sox)...

[redsoxrules]

If the sox sign Wake that leads me to beleive they arent pursuing a big name pitcher in the off season

 

1 beckett

2 lester

3 Dice k

4 Masterson/Buccholz/Bowden

5 wake

[Cocos Disciples]

Or they could and just have Masterson in the pen and Buchholz and Bowden in AAA.

[example1]

I know I'm blowing in the breeze on this one, but Wake is right on that line of useful players to me. He's just good enough, versitile enough and experienced enough to be better than "average", but he is no longer good enough to be "good".

 

The question is, are the Red Sox good enough to not have to deal with "just better than average" anymore, or is that unrealistic for any team?

[BoSox21]

I know I'm blowing in the breeze on this one, but Wake is right on that line of useful players to me. He's just good enough, versitile enough and experienced enough to be better than "average", but he is no longer good enough to be "good".

 

The question is, are the Red Sox good enough to not have to deal with "just better than average" anymore, or is that unrealistic for any team?

 

By no means am I happy with Wakefield being the 4th starter and I don't think the FO would be either which leads me to believe that their plan is for him to be the 5th starter

 

Wakefield gives you 10-12 wins with a low to mid 4s ERA. "Better than average" would mean your 5th starter would give you about 15-17 wins with a mid to high 3s ERA. How many teams have a 5th starter who can boast those stats?

 

Wakefield remains one of the best 5th starters in baseball IMO

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

Something that concerns me about Wakefield being the fifth starter; because of Francona's decision to not use off days to break up the rotation and not use the fifth guy (unlike a lot of teams), Wakefield could end up in quite a few 1 vs. 5 matchups, which isn't comforting to me, to say the least.

 

 

Probably a silly worry on my part, but I can't help thinking about it.

[Cocos Disciples]

Over the course of the year there are plenty of rotation shakeups, so its not like he'll be going after the #4 and before the #1 all the time.

[riverside sluggers]

But he'll be 50 years old when he does it. He'll be so old that he may die on the mound. Then he would really be a dying breed. Bring back Mirabelli and by time he's 50 he'll have 200 HRs.

 

He's at 178 Wins, 1907 Ks... itll take him 8 more years to tack on 22 more wins and 93 more Ks?

[a700hitter]

He's at 178 Wins' date=' 1907 Ks... itll take him 8 more years to tack on 22 more wins and 93 more Ks?[/quote']I was being sarcastic, but It will likely take him 3 more years to get to 200 wins, which would bring him to age 45 if he does it at all.

[Cocos Disciples]

Lets not base our rotation on an arbitrary milestone, thanks.

[CalvnHobs6]

Yeah' date=' it comes down to about [b']$22,222.22[/b] an inning, one of the best bargains in the league.

 

I just threw up a little bit in my mouth.

[BoSox21]

I just threw up a little bit in my mouth.

 

Carl Pavano made $322,580 per IP this year

[SCM33]

Im glad hes coming back and all, but I really dont want another year of Cash and Varitek....yes, Cash did well but there is a reason he is a .247 hitter in the minors, and a .184 career hitter in the bigs.

 

That being said, Varitek certainly cannot have a worse offensive season......

 

I love Wakefield, and back in 95 when i was about 15, nobody in Boston Baseball was really a hero to me (other than the Hit Dog, Clemens was on his way out) but the fact that he keeps them hostage with the situation of carrying a s***** catcher really sucks.

 

I guess a bit of a catch 22, we want Wakefield bc of the bargain.....but dont like the baggage he brings.