Beckett Questionable to Start the Season

[User Name]

Moving bad to start in the middle of the season without any prior preparation?

 

That may be the single dumbest thing i have ever read. That would have ruined the kid for sure.

[Dojji]

They played politics with Wakefield vs Millwood' date=' [/quote']

 

Yeah, that's it. That's why they didn't call up the guy with the Pawtucket ERA north of 4. Politics. Not because, he, you know, SUCKED IN THE MINORS.

 

There may have been possible unexplored or underexplored answers to the pitching issue offseason. Kevin Millwood was ABSOLUTELY NOT one of them.

 

As for Aceves to the rotation, he had his chances there, and wasn't nearly as effective as a starter as he was as a rubber-armed RP.

 

His ERA in his starts was something north of 5 and he couldn't go super-deep into games because he wasn't fully stretched out. Meanwhile the guy threw 90 innings in relief and was still able to get outs in the final game of the season. I don't think putting Aceves in the rotation was the kind of universally brilliant slam dunk you're trying to portray it as.

 

vis-a-vis Buch Epstein got bad advice from a poor diagnosis from the medical staff. He has to do his own job, he can't also do the doctor's.

 

Seriously, the real issue with these guys is that whoever does diagnostic work and identifies the actual nature of injury problems needs to be fired. Trying to rehab a literal broken back is just the end, there's no excuse for that.

[User Name]

^Good post.

[Dojji]

What people need to remember about the rotation issues last year is that we did, in fact, have a good offseason plan that year. It's just that Murphy beat it. That happens sometimes.

 

You can plan for reasonable contingencies, but what we ran into last year was an unreasonable one. If any plan could have survived contact with that much sheer bad luck, I'd like to know what it was.

[a700hitter]

Epstein made some big time mistakes with the pitching down the stretch. Buchholz took forever to come back, and they never really replaced him. They played politics with Wakefield vs Millwood, and they stuck with dead horses like Lackey and Miller. Surely they knew Lackey was struggling with his elbow. They even mismanaged Aceves--sticking him in the bullpen when the need was for a consistent back end starter. They kept Bard-Pap at the back end of the bullpen when the starters were struggling. Maybe they should have moved Bard to starter at that time. It can be done. These things used to be routine.

 

Behind bad performance is bad management. Slow to make changes when needed.

I am in complete agreement with this. The FO made all the wrong moves and no-moves that could have been made down the stretch. Their bumbling became an embarrassment as they were scrambling in the last week of the season to pick up Bruce Chen and Chris Capuano during the final weekend.

[User Name]

^I could not be less surprised. Dogs bark, cats meow, cows moo, and a700 bitches about the FO using the amazing power of hindsight.

[Dojji]

^I could not be less surprised. Dogs bark' date=' cats meow, cows moo, and a700 bitches about the FO using the amazing power of hindsight.[/quote']

 

Indeed. Any plan that didn't work was clearly a bad plan because it didn't work. No thought given to how or why it failed. All failure is caused directly by incompetence because as we all know, there's no random chance and absolutely no unpredictability whatsoever in the sport of baseball. None.

[a700hitter]

Indeed. Any plan that didn't work was clearly a bad plan because it didn't work. No thought given to how or why it failed. All failure is caused directly by incompetence because as we all know' date=' there's no random chance and absolutely no unpredictability whatsoever in the sport of baseball. None.[/quote']My criticism was current and not based on hindsight. I happened to be right that they were heading for disaster. No hindsight from me. I was critical as it was unfolding.

[a700hitter]

UN really has an obsession with A700... don't ya think?

[User Name]

....or a700 has an obsession with UN?.

[Dojji]

My criticism was current and not based on hindsight. I happened to be right that they were heading for disaster. No hindsight from me. I was critical as it was unfolding.

 

By which you mean, you were critical starting in about mid July when a blind baboon who had never taken in a ballgame could have told you that things were precarious, and pat yourself on the back now for pointing out the obvious.

 

Unless you were calling it from April on, you're not prescient. You just have the basic rudimentary observational skills most 13 year olds can boast of.

 

Seriously. Good job.

[iortiz]

By which you mean, you were critical starting in about mid July when a blind baboon who had never taken in a ballgame could have told you that things were precarious, and pat yourself on the back now for pointing out the obvious.

 

Unless you were calling it from April on, you're not prescient. You just have the basic rudimentary observational skills most 13 year olds can boast of.

 

Seriously. Good job.

 

Very few in August thought that this team could fail since some signs were there. Those who dared to do that were called crazy and some gave them bad names. A700 was one of the few who predicted our collapse by the time. The rest is history.

[a700hitter]

By which you mean, you were critical starting in about mid July when a blind baboon who had never taken in a ballgame could have told you that things were precarious, and pat yourself on the back now for pointing out the obvious.

 

Unless you were calling it from April on, you're not prescient. You just have the basic rudimentary observational skills most 13 year olds can boast of.

 

Seriously. Good job.

Well, there were a lot of people here that weren't as smart as blind baboons according to your assessment, because they were arguing with me and others right to the last week of the season. Let me address your snark, by assuring you that I was not patting myself on the back. I took offense to the accusation of complaining with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight. I complain from the get go if I don't like a move or the configuration of our roster. Just because my complaints turn out to be right doesn't make the complaint hind sight.

[a700hitter]

By which you mean, you were critical starting in about mid July when a blind baboon who had never taken in a ballgame could have told you that things were precarious, and pat yourself on the back now for pointing out the obvious.

 

Unless you were calling it from April on, you're not prescient. You just have the basic rudimentary observational skills most 13 year olds can boast of.

 

Seriously. Good job.

BTW, I am on record taking the position that our starting staff is not 8 deep. I don't want to be accused of 20-20 hindsight if 1 or more black holes crop up in the rotation due to injury.

[Dojji]

Well' date=' there were a lot of people here that weren't as smart as blind baboons according to your assessment, because they were arguing with me and others right to the last week of the season. Let me address your snark, by assuring you that I was not patting myself on the back. I took offense to the accusation of complaining with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight. I complain from the get go if I don't like a move or the configuration of our roster. Just because my complaints turn out to be right doesn't make the complaint hind sight.[/quote']

 

It does when you conveniently leave out certain rather obvious parts of the failure. Like the sheer number of things that had to go wrong in order for you to be standing here patting yourself in the back.

 

And then there's the sheer disingenuousness of your self-congratulation when we all know that failure at any of several different points would have been sufficient to have us more or less right where we are right now. We didn't need to miss the playoffs for you to be standing here crowing your own prescience. An ALDS exit or bad showing in the ALCS would be sufficient, and your argument would have been that we were universally picked to go to the World Series and "failed" to achieve it.

 

Your standard for proclaiming failure is so flexible as to be absolutely meaningless.

[a700hitter]

It does when you conveniently leave out certain rather obvious parts of the failure. Like the sheer number of things that had to go wrong in order for you to be standing here patting yourself in the back.

 

And then there's the sheer disingenuousness of your self-congratulation when we all know that failure at any of several different points would have been sufficient to have us more or less right where we are right now. We didn't need to miss the playoffs for you to be standing here crowing your own prescience. An ALDS exit or bad showing in the ALCS would be sufficient, and your argument would have been that we were universally picked to go to the World Series and "failed" to achieve it.

 

Your standard for proclaiming failure is so flexible as to be absolutely meaningless.

Iortiz and I were pretty much on an island by ourselves at the time. I also said several times that if they recovered enough to make the playoffs that there would be no basis for criticism. So, the bolded part is just talking through your hat. I am not looking for a pissing contest with you so let's just end it. You are short on facts and spoiling for a fight. I'm not interested.:thumbdown

[jacksonianmarch]

Indeed. Any plan that didn't work was clearly a bad plan because it didn't work. No thought given to how or why it failed. All failure is caused directly by incompetence because as we all know' date=' there's no random chance and absolutely no unpredictability whatsoever in the sport of baseball. None.[/quote']

 

I do remember a700 saying at the time that Aceves should have been in the rotation. As a matter of fact, I think half the board agreed with him

[SoxSport]

Yeah, that's it. That's why they didn't call up the guy with the Pawtucket ERA north of 4. Politics. Not because, he, you know, SUCKED IN THE MINORS.

 

There may have been possible unexplored or underexplored answers to the pitching issue offseason. Kevin Millwood was ABSOLUTELY NOT one of them.

 

As for Aceves to the rotation, he had his chances there, and wasn't nearly as effective as a starter as he was as a rubber-armed RP.

 

His ERA in his starts was something north of 5 and he couldn't go super-deep into games because he wasn't fully stretched out. Meanwhile the guy threw 90 innings in relief and was still able to get outs in the final game of the season. I don't think putting Aceves in the rotation was the kind of universally brilliant slam dunk you're trying to portray it as.

 

vis-a-vis Buch Epstein got bad advice from a poor diagnosis from the medical staff. He has to do his own job, he can't also do the doctor's.

 

Seriously, the real issue with these guys is that whoever does diagnostic work and identifies the actual nature of injury problems needs to be fired. Trying to rehab a literal broken back is just the end, there's no excuse for that.

 

As bad as Millwood was, he was better than Wake or Miller. He proved that in Colorado.

[Dojji]

As bad as Millwood was in the minors, if you bring him up to Boston, all bets are off.

[a700hitter]

I do remember a700 saying at the time that Aceves should have been in the rotation. As a matter of fact' date=' I think half the board agreed with him[/quote']... and so did David Ortiz

[seabeachfred]

... and so did David Ortiz

 

Back to Beckett for a moment a700....If we can go out and get him five runs we will win the game Saturday. However, no Melancon this time around

[SCM33]

I do remember a700 saying at the time that Aceves should have been in the rotation. As a matter of fact' date=' I think half the board agreed with him[/quote']

 

I said the same thing.

[SoxSport]

No mention in the media that the Sox came back to tie that game yesterday against one of the best closers in baseball--Valverde. Rather the media seems intent on painting the Sox negative until further notice.

 

The fact is Jim Leyland almost blew the game not letting Verlander finish a super effort.

[mvp 78]

Or that it was great to see the offense battle back and get to a closer who didn't blow any saves last year?

 

It was nice to see Sweeney come up big. Maybe it'll help him get on a little roll.

[kapsis21]

Or that it was great to see the offense battle back and get to a closer who didn't blow any saves last year?

 

It was nice to see Sweeney come up big. Maybe it'll help him get on a little roll.

amen to that, i hope he does cuz he definitely screwed up on that flyball that shouldnt have gotten the runner on 3rd base. but its only game 1... if we keep up with the same fighting spirit and tie the game in the 9th i will take that any day (something that was really missing last year, if we were losing by 1 or 2 i dont think i remember a comeback against a good team)

 

 

No mention in the media that the Sox came back to tie that game yesterday against one of the best closers in baseball--Valverde. Rather the media seems intent on painting the Sox negative until further notice.

 

The fact is Jim Leyland almost blew the game not letting Verlander finish a super effort.

totally agree with your first quote but disagree with your second one..

Verlander was at 105 ptiches and they had their best closer waiting who didnt blew a save all year, i dont see why he would put Verlander out there...its not the sox bullpen

[Station 13]

No mention in the media that the Sox came back to tie that game yesterday against one of the best closers in baseball--Valverde. Rather the media seems intent on painting the Sox negative until further notice.

 

The fact is Jim Leyland almost blew the game not letting Verlander finish a super effort.

 

Valverde is not a good closer. He is on edge everytime he is out there. He's been extremely lucky to escape a lot of jams. Ask any Tigers fans how they feel about him. He is always dancing around mine fields. Sort of like the Dice-K of reliving. The law average out in time.

[kapsis21]

Valverde is not a good closer. He is on edge everytime he is out there. He's been extremely lucky to escape a lot of jams. Ask any Tigers fans how they feel about him. He is always dancing around mine fields. Sort of like the Dice-K of reliving. The law average out in time.

 

so was Papelbon, he always had the effin bases loaded against TB gave me a bad feeling everytime but he came thru ...

[Station 13]

so was Papelbon' date=' he always had the effin bases loaded against TB gave me a bad feeling everytime but he came thru ...[/quote']

 

Papelbon has a low 1 WHIP in the AL East, and low BB. Valvede and his 4BB+/9 is not even in the same league.

[SoxSport]

Or that it was great to see the offense battle back and get to a closer who didn't blow any saves last year?

 

It was nice to see Sweeney come up big. Maybe it'll help him get on a little roll.

 

Sweeney looks better than advertised. Too bad he didn't hit that pitch out. Maybe the local headlines would have been different.

 

There's a negative bias against the Sox right now. They probably deserve it from last year, though two of the main culprits are safely elsewhere.

 

They will have to play themselves out of it.

[kapsis21]

Papelbon has a low 1 WHIP in the AL East' date=' and low BB. Valvede and his 4BB+/9 is not even in the same league.[/quote']

 

and Papelbon still blew some bad games against Orioles when it mattered.. so sometimes not all the time we need to look beyond the numbers.