TheRivernator

Billy Beane also got Charles Thomas and Dan Meyer for Hudson, both guys busted early....

I wont give any prognostications for this one. 3 straight GREAT pitching matchups and evenly matched throughout. Beckett and RJ- two guys who were aces who have disappointed so far. Mussina and Schilling- two guys who are bouncing back rather nicely from career worst yrs. Chacon and Wakefield, 2 guys who have been quietly solid as #3's thus far. Great matchups and with Coco gone on your side and sheff gone on our side, we are even. Should be a hard fought series. All I can hope for is that the series is decided by the pens, as I think that is our only clear advantage of late....

Mussina has been described as aloof and unwilling to teach the young guys. Thats bout the only knock on his resume. The guy never does anything wrong and gives it his all every game....

Miller was a TOTALLY different case. His injury was in his rotator cuff, and rotator cuff tears are career killers. The shoulder is the #1 fastest way to end a pitchers career. It used to be the elbow, but TJ surgery has revolutionized that. Dotel will eventually get back to his previous velocity, but all that matters is when. Sometimes guys come back throwing harder, sometimes they dont. It is a case by case thing. As far as him being out of baseball for awhile, he has been out almost exatly one year. They say 2 years is when he'll return to normal, but there are cases of guys coming back quickly and being effective. Mind you, I dont think the Dotel of Houston lore will be walking out of our bullpen this yr, but he should have enough gas in the tank (if used properly) to be effective in the roles he is placed in. If he is babied back slowly enough, we should be seeing the reliever we hoped to have by september. If Torre tries to burn him out, then he'll likely be on the DL by september. It is a balancing act. Good thing is, this team has a good enough BP to baby him as evidenced by having one of the best ERAs in the game to this point without him. I was even calling for him to be kept on rehab until august with him throwing 3 innings a week in Colombus and call him up for the stretch run. Doesnt look like that is happening though....

His last 2 yrs as a reliever, he has been good. Plus, he gets lefties out pretty regularly. The problem with him is that he is way overworked the past few yrs and putting him in a less pressure situation might save his arm. He has been good in the situations he comes in for, but I think it is time he occupies Sturtze's role as the second middle reliever behind proctor. Trust me on this one, Villone will have a decent yr overall. He'll be below 4 in ERA and will work his way into the bullpen rotation. I like what I have seen. The only relievers on the yankees that I havent been impressed with are Small and Sturtze. Small looks rusty, Sturtze looks lost....

okay then, but if you want to see similar stuff in a lefty, take a look at Sean Henn. 95 mph heater, ++ slider, NO BALLS and useless in the bigs. Not to say Lester is the next sean henn, but just an example of how stuf and scouting reports are garbage sometimes. Zito is going to be 28 and has won 88 games in his career so far, and he would have won a ton more if he had any run support. Former CY winner and currently having a very good season sans game 1 where he spit the bit on opening day. If Lester is anything close to Zito, then you should be happy....

he puts money into the team. Payroll + Stadium....

Lester will be better than Zito? Cmon man, you havent even seen him pitch one inning in the bigs, you cannot make that assumption....

that's what we have. Our pen is strong on both left and right sides....

good to see that you don't put anything into the first month of the season. I'll believe what I see, which is something that you and hamm advocate. Proctor actually looks better than Farnsworth thus far, and if you watched any of the games, you would see the situations in which he is succeeding. Yesterday he came into the game and blew away the Rangers, blew them away. His 1.33 ERA is nasty so far. Trust me on this one, if, and I know it is a big if, but IF Proctor can locate his curve this season, he will keep this up. If he cannot, then he'll go back to the same proctor. As for Farnsworth, he looks very good so far. Myers is a one man guy but one out a game is pretty good. Villone has been very good. What you are all forgetting is that Dotel will be coming back in about 2 weeks. If he is anything like he has been in the past, then this bullpen will be amazing....

touche, I was thinking the same thing. I was waiting for you to bring it up....

Hasnt been in the bigs since 2002. ERA near or way above 5 in his last 4 years. He aint the answer....

you could get cormier for a bag of balls. Fultz is their lefty specialist, so you wont be able to pull him away while they are still in contention....

Red Sox optioned RHP Manny Delcarmen to Triple-A Pawtucket. David Riske isn't quite ready to return, so maybe the Red Sox have decided they want lefty specialist Mike Holtz on the roster for the series against the Yankees. Riske could then take Holtz's spot this weekend. Holtz would be a good call up, IF the yankee LH hitters cannot hit lefties. Matsui is struggling vs lefties thus far this yr, but he did hit .350 against them last yr. Damon and Cano are holding their own against lefties so far. The onlylefty who has historically struggled against lefties is Giambi who hits about 50-80 points lower vs lefties depending on the season....

The knock on the guy has always been the fact that he couldnt get his curve over. Now he is putting it on the corners and it is f***ing nasty. His heater has always been amazing, but you need more than that to succeed. What I really like about the guy this yr is that he isnt falling apart when things dont go his way. Like when he came into the game with the bases loaded yesterday and just blew everyone away. Guidry worked with him, and btw, Guidry has worked magic thus far......

you wont see him for 6-7 years....

agreed

we don't? Have you looked at the yankee bullpen? Proctor, Farns, and Rivera are very good arms and are lights out thus far. Myers and Villone have been great minus one pitch. Our problem is Sturtze....and the fact that small has been rusty since his return from the DL....

He failed once in Boston, went out to the laid back coast and pitched well, then came back to fail again. The guy doesnt have the cojones to handle the pressure of boston....

also, beckett95 was quick to point out Beckett's history in yankee stadium without pointing our RJ's recent history vs the sox. 5-0 last yr? He'll bring it tomorrow. Should be a good one...

from Olney's blog... The Red Sox are back on track, writes Michael Silverman. Talked to a talent evaluator about Mike Lowell over the weekend. "He just looked terrible in spring training, so bad that one scout said, 'It looks like he's swinging a rubber band,'" said the evaluator. "But what it looks like he's done is stop concerning himself with driving the ball, and focused on hitting the ball hard to all fields. He's not going to hit a lot of home runs with that swing, but he'll hit a lot of doubles. He's made the adjustment, and you have to be happy for him; he's a good guy. I know I thought he was finished, and everybody I talked to thought so, too."

I agree seano, hit nail on head again. People may hate wells all they want, but he is needed on this team. DiNardo does not have major league stuff nor demeanor. At this point, if you had arroyo he'd be your #3 behind beckett and schill, maybe a 4 behind wake. He's certainly better than Clement and DiNardo. Good spring so far, I am loving baseball and both teams got out of the gate relatively hot. It is surprising though that the yankees are running on solid pitching, and the sox of late are relying on solid hitting...

If you have ever been to a yankee board, you will see why we come here. I have actually found a good one currently and post there, but I have been banned by many. If you arent a full fledged ball washing h-mo, you'll get banned, and hence I was banned. Also, coming to a sox board is a good place to go. You should try going to the yankee boards and giving it a try. It provides good balance. On one hand, you see the positives on your board and then you see the negatives on the other. Add in a little statistical analysis and a definite slant and you have baseball discussion. We arent here because we love the redsox, we are here because there is some good conversation and this board is rather lively. I like it....

the funny thing is, I am not sure which guy you are talking about, wells or Pavano, lol....

You might be right seano, if Pavano comes back and is garbage, you better believe we'll be scouring the lines for a pitcher. If he comes back and is decent, I dont see that happening, though. As for the sox, who do you think is the long term answer to #5? If wells is hurt and hangs em up, do you stick with DiNardo or do you go for a starter on the wire?