Wake on DL, Buchholz called up

[jacksonianmarch]

per rotoworld

 

Tim Wakefield may remain in the minors to make another rehab start after struggling to deal with his strained calf Saturday.

 

Wakefield gave up two runs in 3 2/3 innings for Triple-A Pawtucket last night. "It sounds like he threw the ball pretty well," manager Terry Francona said. "There was a noticeable limp, especially after the second inning coming off. It sounds like everybody thinks he can pitch. We don’t know if he can field his position. We’ll continue to try to figure out how he’s doing."

[a700hitter]

Cut his leg off and fit him with a prosthesis. It can be a modern day Monty Stratton story.

[TheKilo]

So, essentially, we're relying on a 42 year old who is limping around to come save our season.

 

Fantastic.

[example1]

Wakefield and Penny could have a "steal off me"-off. A gimpy Wake, unable to do swift moves to 1st, will be especially vulnerable. Sadly, Penny will be better at preventing steals. Yikes.

[Dojji]

There's some speculation that Buchholz and VMart might have hit it off and developed a bit of chemistry. Certainly seems to bear out in the field so far. I'd love to see that happen. The kid needs someone who can anchor him and keep his head where it belongs and VMart is as good at that as anyone else.

 

EDIT: BS alert -- it seems to tie back to one of those ESPN fluff piece articles. Some intersting stuff here, but it sounds just like the lines players say.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4398775

 

"He's been awesome so far for me," Buchholz said of Martinez in New York last weekend. "Little things go wrong and he'll come out and talk to you and he'll try and settle you down. As a young guy -- I'm not really near the veteran stage of my career -- that's a good thing for a guy to come out, tell me to settle down, make a pitch.

 

"It's nice for a catcher to be in the game as much as you are."

 

Buchholz said when Martinez puts down a sign, he does so with conviction. He'll pump his fist, giving Buchholz the confidence that he can throw it. Sabathia echoed Buchholz's words. He said there were times, in the middle of an at-bat, when he shook off a sign. Martinez would refuse to throw down another sign.

 

"He'd make me throw this pitch," Sabathia said. "He'd make me believe in it."

[BoSox21]

with Buchholz, its all mental right now so whatever gives him confidence in his pitches, go for it

[SoxSport]

The handwriting is on the wall with this team. They can't get to the playoffs with teams stealing them blind every game. And they can't survive with their DH hitting .220. They have some hard choices to make, and the sooner they make them the better.

Since I don't think they will, I'm inclined to write the season off at this point. The caveat is they have had so many things go wrong after the all-star break, things are bound to get better in September. For example, Dice-K could come back strong.

 

I think the FO has to take a look at the way they value their young players. They should be dealing from their strengths to correct their weaknesses. No sense in hanging onto surplus talent in one position while another position remains weak. With all this talk about surplus pitching talent, they have been unable or unwilling to find a suitable no.3 starter after DiceK went down.

 

There's still another way to look at this season. The Yankees spent almost a half billion dollars signing the top 3 FAs on the market pre-season. That's when everybody else was tightening due to the uncertainties in the economy and the financial system. At the same time, they managed to finance their new Stadium with taxpayer-supported bonds. Baseball is set up for them to succeed, and it's remarkable the Red Sox have been so successful in spite of this. You have to give them some slack.

[a700hitter]

The handwriting is on the wall with this team. They can't get to the playoffs with teams stealing them blind every game. And they can't survive with their DH hitting .220. They have some hard choices to make' date=' and the sooner they make them the better.[/quote']Their biggest obstacle is that they can't play on the road, and they only play 11 home games in September.

[TheKilo]

Their biggest obstacle is that they can't play on the road' date=' and they only play 11 home games in September.[/quote']

 

They were above .500 on the road last Sunday, before the TB series.

 

That's not the reason. Ortiz has killed the team this season. So has Drew, Lowrie, and to a lesser extent, Lowell.

[Dojji]

Not to mention Daisuke and Penny.

[TheKilo]

Daisuke yes, Penny not really - he's been a pretty serviceable 5th starter.

[BoSox21]

Problem is, Penny is viewed as the #3 since there are only 3 guys who have made all their starts. As a #3 starter, Penny is pretty bad. As a #5 starter, you can't say he's been bad. This rotation would look a whole lot better if Dice-K was giving us what he gave us last year, he's been the biggest key.

[TheKilo]

The pitching has been good all season though, the reason this team is where they are is because Ortiz has given them s*** outside of a three week stretch, Lowrie has given them NOTHING, Drew/Lowell can't stay on the field, and Varitek is cooked.

 

Theo assembled an old team even after it was clear they were an old team last season. He's made this bed and will lie in it, and right now it looks like this team won't be playing meaningful baseball in October.

[BSN07]

The pitching has been good all season though, the reason this team is where they are is because Ortiz has given them s*** outside of a three week stretch, Lowrie has given them NOTHING, Drew/Lowell can't stay on the field, and Varitek is cooked.

 

Theo assembled an old team even after it was clear they were an old team last season. He's made this bed and will lie in it, and right now it looks like this team won't be playing meaningful baseball in October.

 

I'm not ready to give up on the season. But I agree with you to a certain extent about this team being old in certain vital places.

 

I think we could see a decent roster shake up come this off season. Like the one following the 2006 season.

 

 

Holliday should be the #1 option for LF, Bay wouldn't be bad to bring back either. But as we have seen he is very streaky. Either hits everything, or hits nothing.

 

There might be some other options there as well via trade or someone who's option might not get picked up that we don't know of right now.

 

Find a horse SP via trade or maybe sign Lackey. Although his numbers are not good in Fenway.

 

SS needs to be set. Lowrie doesn't look like he's going to cut it. He would be a great super utility player for this club though IMO.

 

Decide what to do with Lowell and Ortiz. Lowell might be able to bounce back next season. With Kotchman/Youk.V-Mart all able to play 1B. Youk should be able to allow the Sox to not over use him, thus hopefully keeping him healthy all season. Ortiz is tough. Maybe someone will trade for him. Maybe they flat out release him. I don't think they should go into the season enxt year as the teams full time DH. they could keep him, but AB's in the DH spot should be spread out more. Ortiz and Lowell just aren't full season guys anymore it would seem.

[jacksonianmarch]

the problem is, how do they shake it up. After 2006, a lot of the burden contracts were expired. After this season, the only burden on the team whose contract is up is Varitek, who may come back based on his own player option. Bay is your biggest FA, and you need him. Papi and Lowell are going to be difficult to impossible to move and Drew still has 2 more yrs. Face it, the sox offense will look VERY similar to this yrs in 2010. The only question will be where Jay Bay ends up and who replaces him. And if that name is Holliday, then it is a sharp downgrade.

[BSN07]

the problem is' date=' how do they shake it up. After 2006, a lot of the burden contracts were expired. After this season, the only burden on the team whose contract is up is Varitek, who may come back based on his own player option. Bay is your biggest FA, and you need him. Papi and Lowell are going to be difficult to impossible to move and Drew still has 2 more yrs. Face it, the sox offense will look VERY similar to this yrs in 2010. The only question will be where Jay Bay ends up and who replaces him. And if that name is Holliday, [b']then it is a sharp downgrade.[/b]

 

Yes because it's unheard of to eat a players salary and release him:rolleyes:

 

Not saying that's what's going to happen. But there are options.

 

Ortiz or Lowell could be an add on in a trade possibly too.

 

Bay would be nice to bring back, but like I said there are other options.

 

If this was a small market team, then yes it would be hard to move some of these guys. When you can eat $ and not have it be a big issue, it's easier to move players.

 

The view of Holliday as being a downgrade is laughable and could only come from someone like you. Holliday's younger, far superior in the field and his bat isn't that much of a downgrade. Of course if the Sox sign Bay, and the Yanks sign Holliday, I'm sure it will take all of 5 minutes for you to show up and tell us how Holliday is the superior player, and how the Sox missed out again to the Yanks...

[TheKilo]

the problem is' date=' how do they shake it up. After 2006, a lot of the burden contracts were expired. After this season, the only burden on the team whose contract is up is Varitek, who may come back based on his own player option. Bay is your biggest FA, and you need him. Papi and Lowell are going to be difficult to impossible to move and Drew still has 2 more yrs. Face it, the sox offense will look VERY similar to this yrs in 2010. The only question will be where Jay Bay ends up and who replaces him. And if that name is Holliday, then it is a sharp downgrade.[/quote']

 

Spot on, their contracts headed in to 2010 are a huge burden to this team and will make it very difficult to upgrade via free agency.

 

Theo says he doesn't like to do that anyway but you can't fill all of your holes internally or via trades. Prospects don't pan out, and trades use a lot of your internal resources.

 

I think this offseason will be very difficult for Theo. They may have no choice but to go into 2010 with their 2009 lineup (with either Bay or Holliday) and just hope everyone stays healthy or rebounds.

[BoSox21]

They might just need to get creative a bit. I think they can trade Ortiz to a club looking to sell tickets and slide Lowell into the DH spot. Then put Youkilis at 3rd and get a nice bat to fill a position where nice bats are plentiful, first base.

[example1]

Spot on, their contracts headed in to 2010 are a huge burden to this team and will make it very difficult to upgrade via free agency.

 

Theo says he doesn't like to do that anyway but you can't fill all of your holes internally or via trades. Prospects don't pan out, and trades use a lot of your internal resources.

 

I think this offseason will be very difficult for Theo. They may have no choice but to go into 2010 with their 2009 lineup (with either Bay or Holliday) and just hope everyone stays healthy or rebounds.

 

If Papi's semi-reasonable deal ends up being an albatross is there still reason for people to scream at Theo for not signing enormous 8 year deals with guys costing more than 20m per year? We acknowledge that the team would struggle to just 'swallow' contracts of 12m a year, so more than 20 would actually hurt this team.

 

Personally, I think they can afford to just let Papi go after this season. If they let him go and traded for, say, Adam Dunn, the lineup would look different and they would pay those two guys something like 24m for a season and then be on the hook for neither the year after. Yeah, its a big chunk of change, but Dunn's OPS is better than Teixeira's and I'd offer that offensively he's about as good (without the switch hitting and gg defense, of course). He'd be a fine DH IMO. They could trade for Dunn and get Holliday or Bay without too much difficulty.

 

Overall I too expect the lineup to look very similar, but I don't see how they can expect anything offensively from Papi and, therefore, how they can plan on keeping him around, even with his pricetag. At this point they can cut him knowing that at least they only have ONE year remaining. Even at 20 HR and 85 RBI he's a big hole on this team because he can't do anything else.

 

I think this completely justifies the FO's general reluctance to go long on contracts or to pay extreme costs for players who are producing at a top level now but who may flame out with years remaining. It doesn't always happen, but when a player sucks after 4 years of a 6 or 7 year deal it can really cripple a team like this.

 

let's face it, there's only one team that can truly afford to swallow longterm deals. As much as Gom or Jacko would love to say "See, the Sox are a big market team too! Stop whining about money!" they can't defend the fact that teams that are "big market" like the Sox or Angels or Mets truly cannot afford to have 14-20m players sitting on their bench or needing to be released. They just can't.

[jacksonianmarch]

Yes because it's unheard of to eat a players salary and release him:rolleyes:

 

Not saying that's what's going to happen. But there are options.

 

Ortiz or Lowell could be an add on in a trade possibly too.

 

Bay would be nice to bring back, but like I said there are other options.

 

If this was a small market team, then yes it would be hard to move some of these guys. When you can eat $ and not have it be a big issue, it's easier to move players.

 

The view of Holliday as being a downgrade is laughable and could only come from someone like you. Holliday's younger, far superior in the field and his bat isn't that much of a downgrade. Of course if the Sox sign Bay, and the Yanks sign Holliday, I'm sure it will take all of 5 minutes for you to show up and tell us how Holliday is the superior player, and how the Sox missed out again to the Yanks...

 

 

whoa, hold up there partner. Thats a major typo. I meant to say anyone other than Holliday replacing Bay would be a sharp downgrade

[a700hitter]

Overall I too expect the lineup to look very similar' date=' but I don't see how they can expect anything offensively from Papi and, therefore, how they can plan on keeping him around, even with his pricetag. At this point they can cut him knowing that at least they only have ONE year remaining. Even at 20 HR and 85 RBI he's a big hole on this team because he can't do anything else.[/quote']He could easily finish with close to 30 HRs and 90+ RBI.

[BSN07]

whoa' date=' hold up there partner. Thats a major typo. I meant to say anyone other than Holliday replacing Bay would be a sharp downgrade[/quote']

 

Okay. As far as FA goes I would agree. Unless someone's option isn't picked up and they become a FA. Like Crawford for example.

[BSN07]

He could easily finish with close to 30 HRs and 90+ RBI.

 

We can only hope. Might bump up his trade value.

[TheKilo]

He could easily finish with close to 30 HRs and 90+ RBI.

 

You think Ortiz hits 10 HRs in 40 games when it's taken him 120 to hit 17?

[BSN07]

You think Ortiz hits 10 HRs in 40 games when it's taken him 120 to hit 17?

 

Very good point:lol:

[a700hitter]

You think Ortiz hits 10 HRs in 40 games when it's taken him 120 to hit 17?

Yes, I think he will. He's a streaky HR hitter, but when he is in a groove, he can hit 3,4 or 5 in a week. It will be difficult to do if they have Varitek batting behind him.

[a700hitter]

You think Ortiz hits 10 HRs in 40 games when it's taken him 120 to hit 17?

He hit 11 HRs in 31 games from 6/6 to 7/11.

[BSN07]

He hit 11 HRs in 31 games from 6/6 to 7/11.

 

And that was his best 4 week stretch of the year. He hasn't done much else outside of it.

[TheKilo]

He hit 11 HRs in 31 games from 6/6 to 7/11.

 

He hit 6 from 4/7 to 6/5 and from 7/12 to 8/16.

[a700hitter]

He hit 6 from 4/7 to 6/5 and from 7/12 to 8/16.

But he is entirely capable of hitting 10 in 40 games.