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The same is already true with Halladay.

I have little fear of meeting Cliff Lee in a WS. Roy Halladay would have been a different deal. The Sox have the advantage because their "big pitching prospect" is already MLB ready, and they have a number of other very good 'specs waiting in the wings (Bowden, Tazawa, Kelly) who will be developoing over the next few years. That allows them to still have some cost-controlled options to hang their hats on if they give up their Drabek equivalent in Buchholz.

I have always advocated for saving prospects, but I think now is the time for Theo to swoop in and nab Halladay. I doubt he does, but Halladay is like adding an in-his-prime Schilling to the rotation. He does give them an unbelievable rotation in the playoffs and down the stretch and if they resign him and Beckett then they are able to contend for years to come. If they don't resign him they let a type-A FA go and get some picks. I actually LOVE the idea of Buchholz staying in the division too. If our fear was that he would develop into a Yankee and Ray killing machine over the next few years then he'll have plenty of chances in Toronto just like Halladay did. I don't know about the rest of you, but every time Halladay pitched against the Yankees I was definitely hopeful that the Jays would pull one out. Two starts each of Halladay, Beckett and Lester in any 7 game series is really, really hard to beat. Get it done Theo.

All of this is maddening. First, who knows what is true? This later report sounds more reasonable (Buchholz, Bowden/Masterson/Anderson, +, +) than Buchholz, Bowden and Westmoreland, but who the hell knows? What does appear to be being reported is that the Sox are making legitimate (Buchholz + offers for Halladay), so they clearly covet him. Whether those represents the offer the Sox have made to Toronto, or some renewed, higher interest offer they recently made I don't know. One thing I do know is that if this team moves forward with Bowden and Masterson (less Lars), or Masterson and Lars (less Bowden), or Bowden and Lars (less Masterson), they are in pretty good shape. I think any situation where they go into next year with Bowden or Masterson as their "project #5" pitcher would still be a perfectly suitable one.

I don't have release point data (or much feel like looking for it) but a quick examination of his splits, specifically how batters do in different situations, show that over his career he has an OPS over 1.000 with men on 1st, about .600 with a man on 2nd, and about .400 with a man on 3rd. With man on first his career line is .357/.443/.655 With nobody on his career line is .246/.327/.375 This variance may have to do with his ability to see the runner and feel in control. I'm not sure. There may be nothing to it, but I've noticed the same thing as Dipre. He seems, at the very least, uncomfortable with runners on and he doesn't attack them the same way... at least he hasn't historically. His 2-seamer seems like a great first pitch with men on, throw it for a strike and he may get a DP ball or a taken first strike.

He really does have an active motion. It's a subtle thing that people who haven't watched a lot of baseball wouldn't notice, but he's long and lean and he seems to maxamize every joint in his body with his release. So did Pedro, so does Lincecum, so does Oswalt. Clearly athletic motions but a lot of moving parts to make great velocity from such a small frame. Fortunately for Buchholz (and the pitchers listed above) his motion allows for a devistating curveball and changeup. Compare his motion to guys like Beckett and Lester, who seem to drive down and through the zone with tremendously strong legs and upper bodies. They pitch "bigger" like Clemens did, and can still hit 95 with an easy slide step. Buchholz really has to throw the ball.

Given that all but one thread in this forum discussed today references making a change to the team, it seems like a legitimate concern if someone is truly interested. If they're only interested because the Sox have been losing, then screw'em. I've been following the threads for awhile pretty closely, and it seems that the hierarchy would be: 1) THE IMPOSSIBLE -Upgrade SS to someone like Hanley Ramirez (not happening) 2) THE IMPROBABLE -Upgrade 1B to Adrian Gonzalez, slide Youk to 3B, not worry about what happens to Lowell 3) THE POSSIBLE, BUT DEBATABLE -Get Roy Halladay. Unsure how much that would take, whether the Jays would charge double for in-division dealings, whether Halladay would be willing to resign, etc., but certainly a way of improving the team for the short term. Longterm uncertain if Buchholz is dealt. 4) THE POSSIBLE, BUT DEBATABLE -Get Victor Martinez. He offers some great positional flexibility and most of us think he's capable of being at least a lower middle of the order bat; I think he's capable of 100 RBI between C and 1B. He doesn't have the offensive punch that will push this team over the edge for sure; and, his price tag might be too high. 5) THE POSSIBLE, BUT DEBATABLY BAD Jack Wilson? Orlando Cabrera? These guys are okay, but this team's problem right now isn't in getting routine outs. Their problem is hitting and putting together a string of runs in an inning. These guys can be had for cheap, but to what end? Is Cabrera going to start at SS over Lowrie? Let Green go? Just doesn't seem that important given the other obvious needs. OTHER NAMES FLOATED ABOUT: Cliff Lee. Matt Holliday (SOLD). I could be forgetting a few. Long story short, my perception is that this team undoubtedly needs a corner IF, preferably a 3B but more likely a 1B. I think they actually have a team that can compete for a WS this year--very similar team to 2008, without Dice-K but with a better bullpen. Therefore there is probably a lot of reason to stay put--especially after trading nothing to get the decent LaRoche. They don't really need a SP, and certainly shouldn't trade good SP prospects (Bowden, Tazawa) for SP talent now, unless it's Halladay, and even then they should set their limit and stick to it. It could be an easy situation for the Blue Jays to squeeze talent from the buyer.

I was at the Lackey game last year when he took a no-no into the 9th before Youkilis broke it up. If you're at home, and the fans have had nothing to cheer about all game, you want to cheer for that base hit. No doubt. Regardless of score.

I grant you all of your points Dojji. I agree that Theo is traditionally very conservative with his prospects and espouses that philosophy at every turn. That said, let's project forward a bit here. Who are they likely to get in the next few years that will be that impact bat? I assume that they need to find that bat and sign Jason Bay if they want to remain competitive with the Yankees and Rays the next few years. If they get those guys and retain the core of their pitching staff they will be dominant. But they need another bat, not just for this year but for the forseeable future. I think it would be valid to ask how good Gonzalez is. He's been a .370 OBP/.500 SLG type player (this year .390/.520), which compares poorly to a bat like Youkilis, but at 27 he's comparable to Youkilis in 2006. At 27, in 2006 Youk went .381/.429; in 2007 he went .390/.453. I'm not sure their career paths are the same, but his power is already there. So how much would a team pay for that type of impact bat? What if they didn't see any of those players available on the market? I'm not saying they'll do it, but I'm not at all shocked if they do. I think their farm would be okay afterward too.

I just don't see the going deep into games problem as being near the top of the list. It would be nice, but that's also a reason to have a deep bullpen. I don't think the pen has been overworked too much, though I agree it is nice to keep them healthy and rested and at their most effective. I don't think pitching has totally hurt this team lately. They definitely need some offense in the OF though. Ellsbury has looked like a stick figure up there recently and it is really frustrating. He's an exciting player and he can make things happen when he's getting on base, but when he's not getting on he's a pitcher at the plate. I am one of the biggest Ellsbury defenders here, but jesus his overall production has been s*** pretty much all year.

I thought the all-star break was bad and boring, but I'd rather they didn't play than that they lose. Perhaps another all-star break is in order. Or a World Baseball Classic.

This team is really, really, really cold right now. There's regressing to career averages, and then there's just sucking and s***ing the bed. I mean, seriously, this is horrible. I realize that Buchholz wasn't great tonight, but I actually thought his 4 (cough) innings were a fairly good way for him to be reacquainted with the bigs (a 2nd time). The Red Sox should be good enough to put up 4-6 runs per start for most of these pitchers. Instead they're getting nothing, pitching tied or behind (or, if really lucky, ahead 1-0) and it clearly doesn't matter if the staff holds the other team to 3 runs, they will still lose. I'm kind of numb from watching this team though. The swings and misses against mediocre pitchers is pretty nauseating. They will need a boost somewhere, and it isn't coming from LaRoche or Duncan.

Yes. It is on his performance review. Right under 5 of 6 years in playoffs, 2 World Series Championships, etc.,

The pitcher who will go deep into games will be Smoltz or Buchholz or Wake or Dice-K. I don't see them going out and overspending a lot to bring a pitcher in. They've acquired their pitchers for the year in Penny and Smoltz IMO. Smoltz has had a few rough starts; actually, he's had a few rough innings. He gave up 13 of his 18 runs in 3 innings, and otherwise has performed at Smoltz level. Given how he has looked I'm pretty confident that he will be a useful starter for the team. He's a veteran who knows how to make adjustments and how to avoid the situations that have hurt him.

I don't know how this is anything but a good move. We get a player who will see MLB time for two players who were never going to. We hurt nothing about our farm system (NOTHING) and got a guy who is comparable to Nick Swisher in terms of overall production. He hasn't put together seasons like Swisher's best in Oakland, but he has steadily produced a positive WARP over the past few years and has never actively hurt his team (compare to Swisher's -0.5 WARP last year). Again, we dealt nothing and got something. That's fine. Thanks Pittsburgh.

Not for only a few months though, IMO. That's why I'm saying they should package him. Penny's contract is simply too short for another team to give up its really good prospects, but he's valuable enough that they would probably be open to a reasonable discussion about win-now vs. win-later. I can think of a few teams that wouldn't mind adding him as their #3 or #4.

Both are very good relievers. Chamberlain's league debut was undoubtedly better than Bard's. He gave up 2 runs in roughly the same amount of innings; Bard has given up 11. During that time his H/9, BB/9 and K/9 are all worse than Joba's. The only mistake Chamberlain made was having been on a team that moved him out of the bullpen. If not for that he would have been setting up Rivera in the pen for 2 years while Daniel Bard is just getting his training wheels off.

Just to put some structure to my statement above: 2004: D-Lowe's WARP3 -3.7 2009: B-Penny's WARP3: 1.6 We're lucky fans to even be having this discussion. Could you imagine another team giving away a guy like Brad Penny heading into the playoffs because they wanted a better veteran backup-outfielder? Any return on him should be geared either toward the future or should be part of a bigger deal. Even another really solid RP (perhaps if packaged) a la the Ramon Ramirez deal would be better than a guy who just sits on the bench and won't be a critical part of the team.

I think Penny is as valuable a player as they're going to get on the market. If they end up going to the playoffs it certainly isn't going to hurt to have a Brad Penny or a Clay Buchholz available for a start if there is an injury, or if a starter gets hit early in the game and you need someone to come in and shut the door. D-Lowe pitched in all three series clinching games in 2004. He sucked all season. The playoffs are a different beast and the Sox will need to bring every weapon they've got. Penny can hit 95 or 96 on the gun and has games where he can be dominant for a few innings. If they need to bring a pitcher in in the 3rd inning down by 4 he wouldn't be a bad guy to throw out there. I'm a fan of trying to move him, but his value will likely be in combination with other players to get something back that the team really wanted. Not this year's incarnation of Gabe Kaplar or Bobby Kielty.