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Now you take him out. Walks are not to be tolerated with a lead.

At this point Buchholz is just trying to not walk guys and to throw the ball over the plate. How his ERA will ever get below 4 again this season is a mystery however.

I think every inning offers a fresh opportunity. Pitchers sometimes have horrible innings, all pitchers do that. If he's able to come out and command his stuff and get outs when this team needs it then they should keep going to him. The ability to battle back after a tough inning will be important throughout his career and there is no better time to let him plow through that than when the offense is producing against a crappy pen. Let him get to his 100 pitches or so and take him out. He's at 68 now.

Not to the detrament of the team though. In this case, with a new 8-run lead I think the choice is a no-brainer. If you don't then I don't know what to tell you. Would you rather put in MDC, then Saito, then Bard, then Oki?

Your pessimism is totally not contageous. I think this team, with Victor Martinez batting 3rd, is a much better lineup and is much more balanced than the same team last week. The O's pitching sucks, but this lineup will be formidable against anyone.

I may grant you that, but I think this would be a case of deliberatly sticking with someone rather than a Grady Little stupidity decision. If Buchholz battles through and is able to right the ship then it could be an important moment in his development. You certainly acknowledge that young players need to take their lumps and bounce back, right? If they had an obvious long-relief choice I'd be right there with you, but right now Clay's ability to eat innings is very important.

Now a700's second favorite player, Reddick, comes through too. Yay!

Meanwhile, a700's boy Mike Lowell comes through with some added run support. VMart isn't stealing his ABs now.

He's at 57 pitches. There's reason to believe he can pitch another 2 or 3 innings. I'm willing to bet that Tito agrees with me.

Saving the bullpen some innings, giving him some confidence to keep it to one bad inning, those are both good things that can come from sending him back out.

I think clay stays in until he's at his pitch threshold. how many he have now?

This is definitely a simultaneous two-game day. Yanks on TV, Sox on computer. CC vs. Buerhle is too good to miss.

Thome goes deep! 4-3 ChiSox! Perhaps there's something in the air. CC blows 3 run lead.

FWIW, Dye just tied the game in Chicago. 3-3.

Christ.

I gave Theo an A-. He did a lot of things right: he didn't over-react to a poorly timed slump, he didn't trade away his very best prospects and he got a legit middle of the order bat who plays well for their strengths. Furthermore, we learn that Theo was pushing more aggressively on big splashes like Adrian Gonzalez and Felix Hernandez, guys who it truly would make sense to give up a talent like Buchholz for. The whole world was clamoring for him to give up 5 years of Buchholz and whatever else Toronto wanted for a year or two of Halladay, and the FO kept its eyes on the prize and still managed to upgrade with Victor Martinez. They have a lot of very desirable young players so this year's trade deadline could become more and more typical of deadlines in the years to come. The Sox have a true advantage being able to acquire so many hard to sign or international FA players.

He's still a very good closer. He has less control and doesn't throw the split like he did in the past, but he's still very hard to hit. If your premise is right that Papelbon is losing it, they should him to Seattle in the offseason as part of a package for Felix. It would be a bold move for both teams. He's still a good pitcher and he's better than Aardsma. He would be a good answer for a fan base who will need to know who they got, and he has an obvious replacement in Bard and a few other pitchers who may be able to pick up the role if necessary (MDC, Ramirez, even Oki). Again, it would be bold but would definitely help the team get younger and more dynamic.

They should be willing to pay well above value to get Felix Hernandez on the Sox roster. If Theo could possibly do it before next year then Felix would have two seasons remaining under arbitration. Offer Seattle a huge package of talent for Felix then offer him a long deal in the area of 8 years/152m (a la Miguel Cabrera), and he'd be hard pressed not to take it and help anchor the rotation for years. That's 11m, 15m, 20m, 20m, 21m, 21m, 22m, 22m. At that point he would be 31. The Red Sox can blow their prospects out of the water and get really, really good atheletes from the draft. They drafted a number of them this year who they should pay. Every one of those players is gold in trade situations; players who other teams coveted but who were too expensive in the context of a draft. In the context of acquiring a franchise player, $3m is nothing to the Sox.

I think it is important that fans get some respect and, yes, some autographs from Red Sox players. Personally, I'd be shocked if Papelbon and Lester didn't sign hundreds, maybe thousands of balls every year. Seeing a few kids not get what they dreamed for is unfortunate, but I don't think it represents the intention of Lester or Papelbon as people. Hell, this was a big series for this team and a serious and stressful time for their season--on a tough roadtrip, after some hard losses, behind in the standings, trade deadline day, etc.,. As a sox fan I'm just glad the deadline has passed and they're back to within .5 games. That's how I would spin it to any kid who feels entitled to an autograph. Try going to spring training with some new baseballs or just trying at a lot more games, you'll get autographs. Welcome to the site though.

I still feel like Felix Hernandez will be on the Red Sox someday. I've had that inclination for awhile and have felt that he's the other version of Beckett: young, big and soon to be available. I'm sure he'll test FA so he should be available a year or two before that. He has 2010 and 2011 under contract but Seattle would be smart to start taking offers sooner than later. I would think that by this time next year an offer of Kelly, Bowden and Anderson could be really tempting for the Mariners and would still not affect the Sox MLB club very much.

I can't imagine why the Sox would want a 26 year old who put up an .840 OPS at 24 who saw significant playing time (starter) for the Angels and Braves. He was at the center of the Teixeira trade and the 13th pick overall in 2001. They control him for two more arbitration seasons whereas LaRoche is a FA next year. If he becomes what the other teams thought he would then they just scored themselves a very solid hitter. If he stays where he is they give up essentially two minor-leaguers they weren't going to have much use for to take a chance on a highly touted, still young player. Similar to the Wily Mo Pena move, except that they don't have to keep Kotchman on the MLB roster and he's actually a decent fielder. I don't love Kotchman and I wouldn't have picked him personally, but I can see why the FO thinks this move helps the club overall.

Martinez is 5 years younger and his a career line that roughly resembles Dustin Pedroia in terms of both OBP and SLG [table] Career 162 G AVGs | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | HR | RBI | Martinez | .297 | .369 | .463 | .832 | 20 | 103 | Pedroia | .310 | .370 | .450 | .820 | 12 | 70 | Lowell | .280 | .343 | .468 | .811 | 23 | 98 | [/table] Furthermore, their difference in OBP is significant this year and OBP is much more important than SLG. Lowell's SLG at home has been .572 compared to .413 on the road. Fenway helps most hitters produce, but it really helps Lowell. VMart has a .913 career OPS at Fenway. I guess I simply can't see how this is a bad move at all. They traded their most tradable (not valuable, but expendable) young pitching piece, and two arms that probably were never going to see Fenway, to get a 30 year old, 3 time all star who was the 2nd most valuable player offensive player on his team (22.4 VORP). He can play 1B or C and can offer protection against injury to either Varitek or Lowell. In fact, he and Pedroia both have a 22.4 VORP this year. I can't say I'm shocked that you're complaining a700, but I think any time you can add a bat that makes outs as difficultly as Pedroia you've helped your team.