RavenOfProphecy

How did Justin D. get ejected?

(Sigh) Yet another user who doesn't read half of the stuff posted here and then goes in with some criticism about me calling Theo a moron despite the fact that I've been saying that Epstein is a great GM. Anyways, Duquette fired Clemens after three mediocre seasons (well, not mediocre, but mediocre compared to his usual stuff): 9-7, 2.85 ERA, 168 Ks 10-5, 4.18 ERA, 132 Ks 10-13, 3.63 ERA, 257 Ks When Theo got rid of Pedro, he got rid of one of the biggest parts of a championship team, and Petey wasn't nearly as bad as Clemens over his final three years with the Sox: 20-4, 2.26 ERA, 239 Ks 14-4, 2.22 ERA, 206 Ks 16-9, 3.90 ERA, 227 Ks I mean, you don't even have to be a very big baseball fan to be able to come to the conclusion that Pedro's last three years in Boston were far better than Clemens', and if you look even deeper, it's even more obvious. Pedro got $10.8 million in his first year away from Boston, and Clemens got $8.4 million. Would you pay $8.4 million to a guy with those stats over the past three years? Maybe, but wouldn't you rather go $2.4 million extra for someone with Pedro's numbers? It's not like $10.8 is a ton; A.J. Burnett is getting $55 million over five years. Josh Beckett is getting $10 million next year, and Pedro is better than both of those guys, as good as Beckett is.

Did they say how far it was? On gameday, it looked DEEEP, but I don't get the game.

Mariano Rivera got hurt tying his shoe once (I think it was pretty recently.)

I think you might be underrated Hee Seop a little bit. He's not a terrific player, but he's only struck out 262 times in 915 ABs, so I dunno where you're getting that from. It's a little high, but it's not Mark Bellhorn or Jim Thome high. In 601 ABs over the past two years, he has 30 home runs, which isn't bad at all, with 82 RBIs and 88 runs. He's also 27, so he's going to improve. His career on-base is .349, and in 2004, it was .388. Also, Youkilis wasn't considered to be a good fielder or baserunner either, and Bellhorn was basically the past version of Hee Seop (only with a strength vs. lefties rather than righties) and he stuck around for a while. Also, Abreu is definitely an upgrade over Chistopher Trotman. He's a gold glove outfielder, former silver slugger winner, and has a ton of walks (some record about having 100+ walks in seven straight seasons or something.) He missed SEVEN games from 2003-2005, while Trot missed twenty one more in his most durable season of the three (2003.) Abreu is also a much better baserunner, as he averages 30 steals compared to Trot's five. Bobby's also #8 among active players in OBP with .413. Trot has an OBP of .369 career. Nothing against Trot, but Abreu is the better player.

At least someone agrees with me (at least, on one front.)

I'm not really bashing Epstein, like I said, I'm just trying to point out things that are overlooked, and pointing out that Duquette was responsible for bringing in a lot of the key guys that led us to the championship. Theo pushed the team over the top, but Duquette was a big part of why we were so close in the first place. I mean, does anyone else see Theo going to the ALCS in his first year with the Royals? He had a second-place team with playoff experience coming in and turned them into a second-place team with a ring in two years. I'm sure it's been done before. And again, since everyone is ignoring this, I like Theo Epstein, I'm just trying to be unbiased.

Is that referencing the Cliff Floyd to Boston deal there with "Sing Song", where Beane asks Omar Minaya (or at least I think it was Minaya) to throw Youkilis into the deal? I don't have the book myself.

Chances are that you're one of the 80% that believes Barry Bonds perjured himself, but you'll never prove anything (evil laughter)! Anyways, I'm pretty sure you guys all think I hate Theo Epstein (unless you're just all blindly faithful to Theo), so let me draw your attention to the end of the first post in the topic: "In my opinion, he is certainly one of the best general managers in the game, but not everything he touches turns into gold. I'm extremely happy we have him on the Red Sox..." I don't hate Theo any more than you guys do, I was just trying to take an unbiased look at Epstein from the perspective of a non-Red Sox fan and just point out some of the things that it seems that people just ignore.

I'm confused as to why you say this...the one situation I can recall (reference at the end of Moneyball) was that Beane (regarded as the most cost-efficient GM in the game) would join the Red Sox and Paul DePodesta would receive Youkilis as competition. I think it would be beneficial to us to get the best GM in the game in exchange for a good, but not All-Star quality starter. In fact, the reason Theo was even hired was because Beane had a change of heart at the last minute and nothing was completed. As far as I know, Theo was working with the Padres until Larry Lucchino was brought over, and I wonder why he'd be giving John Henry advice (and even stranger, why Henry would listen to an opposing executive.)

Aye wus juzt jowking inn orderr to prewve a ponte.

True, but he is the reason that Kevin Youkilis IS our current first basemen. Teixeira in '06: .273/.360/.464 with 14 HR, 62 RBI in 392 AB. Youkilis in '06: .292/.400/.453 with 11 HR, 47 RBI in 360 AB. Not a major deal if you ask me. Youkilis is better at producing runs and Teixeira is the more flashy player. If we were talking 2005, I'd be more inclined to agree with you, and I know that Mark is the better guy, but Youkilis has a bright future as well.

I don't know s***? I'm suprised you can even spell that. It's no wonder you went into tax; you have the spelling ability of an eight year old. Hopefully you're better at math than you are at that. Then again, I suppose those fancy $100 calculators help a lot. Anyways, after I learned that I didn't "know s***", I went to go take a look at some of the major leaguers that Duquette drafted. Hey, maybe I would even learn something! 1994: Nomar Garciaparra, Carl Pavano Garciaparra was traded by Epstein after becoming one of the best shortstops in Boston history (him and Joe Cronin are probably the top two.) Pavano was traded by Duquette in a deal that brought us Pedro. I'd say that's worked out pretty well. 1995: Paxton Crawford Was 5-1 with a 4.15 ERA over his short career, but was drafted relatively late and was worth the wins he brought us. Had really good stuff, retired in 2001. 1996: Justin Duchscherer, Shea Hillenbrand, Aaron Harang Duchscherer was traded for Doug Mirabelli in 2001. He's cheap and still in the league (and on the Red Sox, plus Tim Wakefield wouldn't have much success without him) so that worked out okay. Hillenbrand got to Boston in 2001 (age 25) and hit 33 home runs in just over two seasons. Theo traded him for BK Kim, Arizona getting the better end of that. 1997: David Eckstein, Nate Bump Eckstein was waived before he made the majors. 1998: Adam Everett, Mark Teixeira, Lenny DiNardo Everett was traded for Carl Everett - Carl hit 48 home runs in 249 games (34 in 2000 with 108 RBIs.) We got the better end of that. Teixeira didn't sign but wasn't a top pick. 1999: Casey Fossum, Lew Ford Theo traded Fossum for Schilling. He was the main guy in that deal, so we can say that probably wouldn't have happened without Duqette. 2000: Manny Delcarmen, Freddy Sanchez, Kason Gabbard Delcarmen is still on the team, so is Gabbard, both are good young players, both play(ed) in the majors. Your favorite GM traded Freddy (batting .351) and Mike Gonzalez (16 saves, 2.57 ERA) for Jeff Suppan, both at 28 years old. 2001: Kelly Shoppach, Kevin Youkilis, Jeremy Brown Brown didn't sign, Shoppach and Youkilis did. Shoppach was traded by Theo, he's a good young catcher when we need one, and Youkilis is one of our best offensive players. 2002: Jon Lester, Chris Smith, Chad Spann, Brandon Moss, Jose Vaquedano You may have heard of Lester. Spann and Moss are two of our better prospects (probably top ten), and the other two pitchers are pretty good minor league players. So, you might say that Duquette brought in and kept Nomar, Crawford, Hillenbrand, Fossum, Delcarmen, Sanchez, Gabbard, Shoppach, Youkilis, Lester, Smith, Spann, Moss, Vaquedano. Pavano was traded for Pedro, Justin D. for Mirabelli, Everett for Carl Everett, all wins for us. Also, I'm not one for conspiracy theories and giving people undeserved credit when others did the work, so I'm not going to agree with the whole "Theo was the puppetmaster of the Red Sox even when he was away" thing. By the way, in order to be taken more seriously in the future, you might want to spellcheck a bit. You're a big boy, I'm sure you can do it.

BK Kim had a 13.50 ERA, he was our top guy in saves. Brandon Lyon didn't even play...and you were pretty much right, though, because I didn't check these before I posted that. It does seem as though we didn't really have a closer to go to all the time though, other than Williamson, who got three saves. Derek Lowe was called in to save a game and Tim Wakefield went in after Pedro other than Williamson (but I can't quite remember when he last pitched.)

True, he's not great, but was coming off of a season in which he was at least somewhat better. But Marte is one of the best prospects in the AAA minors (definitely one of the best 3B) and it's not hard to imagine him hitting dozens of home runs over the Green Monster for the next ten years. I think he could be a Troy-Glaus type offensively.

I was aware of the first four players, but none of the last three are exactly the kind of players that make a GM's career. David Ortiz, granted, was one of the best signings ever, but did Dan Duquette not make any big signings? Red Sox fans hated him, and he added Pedro Martinez, Derek Lowe, Manny Ramirez, Carl Everett, and Jason Varitek, and drafted Gary Sheffield (albeit for the Brewers.) Did Duquette make a big mistake saying that Clemens was in the "twilight of his career", but Theo failing to bring back Pedro Martinez was basically the same thing. Duquette also brought in Kevin Youkilis and Alan Embree, and Trot Nixon, Tim Wakefield, and a few others were brought in that were major contributors before Duqette. So basically the members of our lineup that Theo was responsible for bringing in were Coco Crisp and Alex Gonzalez, while the co-GMs added Lowell, Loretta, and Duquette added Varitek, Youkilis, Ramirez. Did I mention that Duquette drafted Nomar Garciaparra, Carl Pavano, and David Eckstein? In his second year, 1995, the Red Sox won the division (the most recent win.) So, let's recap: Theo Epstein: David Ortiz, Kevin Millar, Mark Bellhorn, Edgar Renteria, Bill Mueller, Wily Mo Pena, Curt Schilling, David Wells, Matt Clement, Mike Timlin, Keith Foulke. Dan Duquette: Johnny Damon, Manny Ramirez, Pedro Martinez, Jason Varitek, Kevin Youkilis, Alan Embree, Derek Lowe, Nomar Garciaparra, Carl Pavano, David Eckstein, Carl Everett, Derek Lowe. Theo's got a ring, which counts for a lot, but it's not like Dan Duquette was a dud, and he is definitely underrated and underappreciated by Red Sox fans. Had Duquette stayed around, I think the Red Sox would have won eventually. They finished in second place over each of the last four seasons of his tenure, and had two playoff appearances. Most of the pieces Theo got to the World Series with where inherited rather than added.

Guys, don't take this as sacreligious or anything, but I have been wondering for a while whether or not Theo Epstein deserved all of the praise he's getting for bringing the Red Sox a World Championship. I mean, sure, that was a big achievement, but looking at the big picture, (the 2003, 2005, and 2006 seasons), it seems as though he might be a tad overrated, and it seems as though other important executives (Larry Lucchino, Jed Hoyer, Ben Cherington specifically) were overlooked. Let's start off in 2003, shall we? First, Theo got the idea somewhere (Bill James, perhaps?) to try the bullpen by committee approach. This included B.K. Kim (16 saves), Brandon Lyon (9), Chad Fox (3), Mike Timlin (2), and Tim Wakefield, Alan Embree, Robert Person, Bronson Arroyo, Casey Fossum, and Jason Shiell (1 save each) contributing in a bullpen that fell apart in the 2003 playoffs. It was mainly Grady Little's decision to leave Pedro Martinez in too long against the Yankees in Game Seven that killed the Red Sox, but it was a pretty bad idea overall. In 2004, Theo had his best executive year, trading a package of players including Casey Fossum for Curt Schilling and picking up Keith Foulke before the season as a free agent. He traded Nomar at the deadline and received back Doug Mientkiwicz and Orlando Cabrera, two key cogs in the championship run that year. But Theo was back to 2003 form in the offseason, letting Pedro, Derek Lowe, and Cabrera leave and replacing them with Matt Clement, David Wells, and Edgar Renteria, who have all been disappointments. After a very disappointing year which saw Curt Schilling and Keith Foulke completely underperform (below league average), Theo left the Red Sox. Johnny Damon left for New York, and Jed Hoyer and Ben Cherington were tasked with co-GMing the Red Sox. They ended up making trades to bring Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell, Guillermo Mota, Mark Loretta, and Andy Marte to the Red Sox and dumped Edgar Renteria, one of Theo's failures. When Epstein returned, he traded Mota and Marte, plus others (Marte being the best hitting prospect in the Red Sox' farm system) to the Cleveland Guardians for Coco Crisp and David Riske. Riske has since been traded for Javier Lopez, another disappointment. He also traded Bronson Arroyo to the Reds for Wily Mo Pena, who recently returned from an injury and, while good, is nowhere near Arroyo, who is contending for a Cy Young. So, what I ask you is, is Theo really deserving of all of the praise he's gotten? In my opinion, he is certainly one of the best general managers in the game, but not everything he touches turns into gold. I'm extremely happy we have him on the Red Sox, but no more so than if Billy Beane hadn't backed out and was over here putting together winners for dirt cheap.

This is basically what I said in my post (or maybe it was another I made...) I wouldn't mess with Papelbon as long as he's shutting down people like he is now, but if we got Tom Gordon, it might be beneficial to have JonBon throw six or seven innings per game, because Gordon is not one who blows many saves and it would really strengthen our rotation while keeping a solid closer in the bullpen.

I hope you're right with Varitek picking it up, but I believe that RBIs are really a stat of opportunity (depends on the rest of your team, basically), and Mirabelli's .189 average and .274 on-base are both terrible. By the way, he has 14 RBIs in 41 games, so, not that great. Nice to see that Schilling's option was picked up (I don't really follow contract situations as closely as some here), and that'll probably be his last year, as he's said that he plans to retire and spend time with his family (but if he were to come back, it'd only be for the Sox.) I was aware of Wakefield's option, and I hope he comes back for a few more years. I pretty much said that Crisp would get a second chance unless he really deteriorated even further, which covers that, and as far as Papelbon, it's a tough call because every 100 runs saved by a starter is worth far less than every 100 saved by a reliever (as Bill James will surely attest. Check out the Historical Baseball Abstract for more on that, I believe the 1960's is where he talks about it.) Also, you don't want to mess with a good thing, so I would probably keep Papelbon as a closer unless we got someone like Tom Gordon, but that might just be me.

I would be interested in Tom Gordon coming back to play for Boston. He saved 46 games for us with a 2.72 ERA in 1998, and as a setup guy, he's great. With a 2.83 ERA and 23 saves with two blown saves, he's not a huge downgrade from Papelbon, who's got 29 saves and a 0.53 ERA. Obviously Papelbon would still close, but if we got Gordon, we could pitch Timlin in the seventh and then give the ball over to Gordon, who's got extensive playoff experience under his belt and then turn to JonBon in the ninth inning for an all but guaranteed save. Starters would only have to pitch six innings apiece, keeping them well rested, and we'd only have to use people like Chris Hansen and Manny Delcarmen more than we should when a starter totally blows it. Next year, Gordon could be a setup man again, closer if Papelbon switches over to a starter, or trade bait if we have a much bigger need. He would vastly improve our bullpen, and is more valuable than Trot, so I'm kind of perplexed at why Philadelphia would make this move (it's probably just wishful thinking) but, like I said, I would love it.

If I were to be tasked with the improvement of the Boston Red Sox baseball club, I'd probably first evaluate the team without bias. I'd look at the offense and then the defense. At catcher, Jason Varitek is sagging offensively and as is Doug Mirabelli. It's a hard position to fill offensively, but on defense they are above average and I would probably keep them around while looking for someone who might be cheaper than Varitek with the same production offensively (of which there are surely numerous alternatives.) However, it isn't time to get rid of the captain of the club in the middle of a pennant race, and so I would keep him around at least until the end of the year. We need prospects at the position, and we should convert anyone who might be able to play there. First base is a relatively low-priority position in my opinion. Kevin Youkilis has been a solid producer this year, getting on base a lot and posting decent hitting numbers while showing a strong glove, which led to the release of the very talented J.T. Snow (someone I would not cut against their will, but he asked, so...) David Ortiz obviously is the best power hitter in the major leagues right now, and with a $6.5 million salary, he stays as well as Youkilis. Hee Seop Choi can be a valuable pinch hitter against right-handers and is disciplined. At second base, Mark Loretta is definitely a good player as well, having a season far better than he did last year. He stays, and Dustin Pedroia is tabbed as the future of the position. Loretta has a club option this offseason, and while I'm not familiar with the salary he would get if the option were picked up, or the buyout cost, I would probably renew if it were for a reasonable price, and then groom Pedroia a bit more in the minors. Alex Gonzalez has been having a good offensive season, batting around .276, and Alex Cora has been a good pinch hitter. Alejandro Machado can be a solid player in the future and plays here, so I have a pretty good group of guys playing there, especially on defense. Someone like Cesar Izturis or Julio Lugo is not needed here because they are not the balanced ballplayers that Alex Gonzalez has been this year. Mike Lowell is expensive at $9 million per year, and he's agining, so although he's batting close to .300 and could win a Gold Glove at third (but it'll be tough with the season Eric Chavez is having), I'm looking to fill holes with this guy. I love him as a player and a person, but Youkilis is a natural third basemen and it opens up a lot of options if I move him. Youkilis at third, Ortiz at first, Manny DHs, or Youk at third, Choi at first, Ortiz DHs, and that's not including trades. I'm looking for a right fielder with him or a quality pitcher (either starter or setup man.) Chad Spann represents a bright future at the position in the minors. In left field, Manny Ramirez is not the liability we all see him as defensively. He's got a strong arm (he led the league in outfield assists in '03 or '04) and makes some good catches from time to time, but might benefit from playing DH. Wily Mo Pena is batting over .300 this year and is a faster player than Man-Ram, so I might try and get him some playing time in left as opposed to right and improve that defense. This could happen if Lowell was traded to fill a need. We have a lot of prospects to try out in left, including David Murphy, Jason Place, and Brandon Moss in the future. In center, Coco Crisp hasn't been the player that I thought he'd be when he comes in from Cleveland for Andy Marte, who was probably the team's best prospect at the time of the trade. He's batting .260 with a .317 on-base, and this isn't what I expected to get. He's missed games due to injury and his arm and fielding haven't lived up to expectations. He's a fast player on a team that doesn't value speed as much as most. However, there are not many alternatives and I would stick with him until at least the end of the season and perhaps further down the road. Jacoby Ellsbury has an extremely bright future as a Johnny Damon-type, and we're set for the long-term. In right, Trot Nixon has been having a drought, and his average has fallen below .300. He's a free agent at the end of the season and I'm trying to move him to another team because I want to get a right fielder who can produce more runs for me, or land a quality pitcher. Him and Mike Lowell are the biggest names I can offer on the trade block on offense. Wily Mo Pena might not have the fielding ability and arm strength to play right, but he currently does, so I have alternatives. Someone like Bobby Abreu would be nice, but his contract is massive. I already went over a lot of the starting pitching staff in a topic about David Wells (you can check my posts if you'd like to read it), but to summarize: Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield are players that I value and with expiring contracts, it's important for me to extend their tenures with the team (Wakefield having the longest run with the club of any player.) Josh Beckett is a great young pitcher who has a relatively cheap deal (less than A.J. Burnett), and he's won 13 games while losing just five, so he stays. My #4 and #5 spots are up for grabs, though, and I've got a lot of options to fit but no great ones. Jon Lester seems like the best person to play in the #4 spot. He's young, left-handed, 5-0, but has struggled in his last start coming off of a one-hitter against (I believe) Kansas City. Matt Clement was an All-Star last year after winning his first nine decisions, but he's struggled and been injured, so I am looking to move him to a team in need of a starter that'll take on his contract and give me something I need in return. A team like Philaldelphia might be willing to move Abreu for him, and that helps me. Perhaps a four-player deal where I give up Nixon and Clement for Abreu and Lieber, a proven winner in New York? David Wells is set to retire after the year and has made two starts, so I look for a #5 guy. If Wells is healthy, he's a league-average #4 or 5 guy who can really help us, but long-term, I need someone. Abe Alvarez and Kason Gabbard are other lefties with talent, and Kyle Snyder has put together some solid starts as well. Alvarez would be my first choice for a #5 starter for next year, but if a cheap and underrated free agent is available, I want to add him as insurance while dumping Jason Johnson. The bullpen was the team's weakest link in 2005, and while there has been improvement this year, it still needs to be fixed up. Jon Papelbon has been as good a closer as I could ask for, and I would like to keep him there despite his potential as a starter. Craig Hansen is a player I really like, and I would like him to be my setup man of the future, or closer, should Papelbon have to move back to a starter. Mike Timlin and Manny Delcarmen have shown me something, and I believe they are two good middle relievers. Keith Foulke has really tailed off after a good 2004, so I can't count on him and get rid of him in free agency. I'm sure there's a more consistent and durable free agent to be signed that can take over his role. Rudy Seanez and Julian Tavarez are the problems in this bullpen. I went over this in another post as well, so I will just summarize that quickly. Trade Tavarez for whatever you can get bullpen-wise, and then leave Seanez in the mopup role. Javier Lopez can be a one-out lefty in some situations, and I want players who have playoff experience and won't struggle in front of big crowds. Alright, well, there's my analysis. Hopefully this was helpful to someone!

You're right in that Tavarez and Seanez aren't great players, but I think both have been okay for our club this season. Seanez is 2-1 with a 4.34 ERA (although you're right in that he's not getting the losses because he's basically our long reliever and is never in a position to lose), but we're desperate for relievers and he's not too bad. On the bright side, if we can't trade him for anyone, he's cheap at $1,900,000 and he only has a one-year deal. Right-handed hitters are only batting .261 off of him, so we just need to bring him in against those rather than both lefties and righties. He's only allowed 1 ER in the last 7.1 innings pitched (albeit with two earned in no innings the game before.) Seanez also has more strikeouts (39) than innings pitched (37.1), so it's not like he's the equivalent of Mike Remlinger or Keith Foulke last year. By the way, opponents are batting at just .275 against him at home, .002 worse than on the road (not a big deal, I know.) Now for the thing that worries me. According to the 2006 Baseball Prospectus, he only got a ground ball on 37% of the balls he put in play last year, which isn't good when we have a great fielding infield, and our outfield is nothing to write home about. Now, for Tavarez, I will not be nearly as defensive. The main problem with him is that we put him in where he's in a position to lose (basically, tie game in the eleventh inning), and he's not as good as most of the other relievers in the pen (Hansen, Delcarmen, Timlin, Papelbon, Seanez.) Also, last year, he averaged more hits than innings, same with this year. He's also walked 24 batters with just 32 strikeouts, so his K/BB ratio is not too good. He's also completely unreliable when you need a quick inning, which means he could shut the other team down (0 ER in 11.1 innings over five of his last ten games) or get shelled (9 ER over 7.0 innings over the other five), and this is exactly why I don't believe that they should be using him this late, he's completely inconsistent. It's disturbing that we're 0-5 in the last five games he's pitched for us (although, to his defense, he pitched two shutouts in the games and we still lost, including going 4.0 against the White Sox while allowing just one hit and one walk), and perhaps even more disturbing that Theo Epstein though enough of Julian to give him a multi-year deal at the age of 33. He's kept lefties to a .253 average, but righties are hitting .322 against him, and Javier Lopez is a younger, cheaper, and some might say better one-out lefty for us, because of the whole throws lefty thing. Did I mention that opponents are batting .358 against him (higher than Ted Williams' career BA, I believe) at Fenway Park, but .219 against him on the road (better than Mariano Rivera?) So, Tavarez could stick around and just pitch to clusters of lefties in away games and be great, which isn't getting the most for our money, or we could trade him for someone a bit more consistent and cheaper, and not go wrong. I still think Colorado makes the most sense, because Tavarez is a good sinkerball pitcher (over the past three years, 2003-2005, of the balls he's put in play, 67%, 53%, and 52% have been on the ground.) We might be able to get Ray King for him, but he's, in my opinion, even worse (historically, he's got a 1.95 ERA pre-All Star and 4.72 post, which means he's gonna be bad this second half, plus he gets pounded against righties.) So that's just my two cents.

Hm....let's see here, this is what I would personally do: Re-sign: Terry Francona (obviously not a player- club option) Curt Schilling (option) Tim Wakefield (option) Mark Loretta (option) Mike Timlin Alex Gonzalez Doug Mirabelli Willy Mo Pena Kevin Youkilis Jon Papelbon Gabe Kapler Abe Alvarez Craig Hansen Jon Lester Release: Trot Nixon Keith Fouke (option) Jason Johnson (option) David Wells (Retirement) Rudy Seanez Lenny DiNardo Adam Stern Hee Seop Choi Alex Cora However, if DiNardo and Choi were really cheap (and hell, even Cora), I would re-sign them.

Hey guys, this is RavenOfProphecy. My dad's side of the family is from Massachusetts, and I lived in Amesbury back when I was a kid, so even though I live in Connecticut now and am closer to New York than Boston, I'm a big Red Sox fan and most likely always will be. I don't get to watch a lot of the games but I like to read about the games and try and crunch the stats of all the players. My favorite player is David Ortiz (who else?) but historically, Ted Williams is probably my favorite, although Jimmy Piersall is pretty close too, and of course Pedro has gotta be up there. So, if you guys wanted to ask some questions or opinions on anything, I've usually got something to say about most everything if you don't mind a really, really long answer most of the time.

I heard somewhere or another that Wells may be back to start Sunday, but next week seems like the more popular bet, at least in my opinion. We've got a home series against the Angels then, and Wells is 9-1 with a 2.79 ERA in Fenway Park over the last three years. I believe he's 16-2 over the course of his career, but I may be wrong (doubt it!) and I can't find any proof. In three starts against LAA over the past three years, he's given up 10 ER in 22.2 innings pitched, with a 4.15 ERA and 0-1 record, but hasn't walked anyone (however, to be fair, he only has seven strikeouts.) Either way, Wells would be a massive upgrade over the guys we've been trying to fit in (Jason Johnson in particular), and I'm really looking forward to his return. I might be going off on a tangent here, but I really think that the Sox are fine with the rotation they have. Sure, they've got a lot of injuries, and people have been inconsistent, but we've got a lot of depth at starting pitcher and so far Josh Beckett has managed to stay healthy en route to a 12-5 mark (hopefully he can raise that to 13-5 tonight!) He and Schilling are set for the top two guys in the rotation, Lester has been great save for his last start, which was bad but not atrocious, and I've been impressed with some of the guys we've been throwing in (plus, we have Abe Alvarez, who's hardly played.) Our starters: Curt Schilling (21 GS): 12-3, 3.50 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 130 Ks, 17 BB in 141.1 IP. Josh Beckett (20 GS): 12-5, 4.78 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 102 Ks, 40 BB in 122.1 IP. (Has given up major league-leading 27 HR.) Tim Wakefield (19 GS): 7-8, 4.14 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 80 Ks, 43 BB in 119.2 IP. Matt Clement (12 GS): 5-5, 6.61 ERA, 1.76 WHIP, 43 Ks, 38 BB in 65.1 IP. Jon Lester (9 GS): 5-0, 3.04 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 41 Ks, 30 BB in 5.0.1 IP. Lenny DiNardo (5 GS): 1-2, 7.11 ERA, 2.05 WHIP, 15 Ks, 12 BB in 25.1 IP. Kyle Snyder (3 GS): 2-1, 4.91 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 14 Ks, 3 BB in 14.2 IP. David Pauley (3 GS): 0-2, 7.88 ERA, 2.31 WHIP, 10 Ks, 6 BB in 16.0 IP. David Wells (2 GS): 0-1, 8.64 ERA, 1.92 WHIP, 1 K, 1 BB in 8.1 IP. Jason Johnson (2 GS): 0-2, 10.13 ERA, 2.38 WHIP, 5 K, 6 BB in 8.0 IP. Kason Gabbard (1 GS): 0-1, 3.38 ERA, 1.88 WHIP, 3 Ks, 2 BB in 5.1 IP. Abe Alvarez (0 GS): 0-0, 12.00 ERA, 2.33 WHIP, 2 Ks, 2 BB in 3.0 IP. (Note: Red indicates a player on the disabled list, and blue indicates a player in the minor leagues.) I threw Alvarez in because he's a starter in the minors, even though he didn't start in the majors. We know Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett are the #1 and #2 pitchers in the rotation, so what about the others? Tim Wakefield is an average #3, Matt Clement is an average #4, and David Wells is an average #5 when they're healthy. Lester and Snyder have been solid fill-ins who have better statistics than the bottom three pitchers in the rotation, so that's seven starters, but only three are healthy. So who's the other? Now, this is the problem the Red Sox have been having lately. DiNardo looks more like a long reliever to me, honestly, and his statistics are horrible. Pauley's are as well, and it's unlikely he starts again, but I saw the game he pitched in Yankee Stadium (6.2 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 Ks) and I was very impressed with him. So there are two that won't be able to do it. Jason Johnson got a ground ball on 54% of the balls he put into play last year and has a pretty good sinker, plus won his AAA game the other day, so on paper,he's great, but he has been a disaster in Boston or otherwise this year. Kason Gabbard got off to a rocky start the other day but his stuff didn't really impress me (although his 88-MPH fastball certainly looked faster and he really settled down later on), and then we have Abe Alvarez. So, if Wells is able to come back Sunday, we're fine, but if not, I say give it to Gabbard again, or let's see what Alvarez can do. Los Angeles is batting only .254 against lefties, so Gabbard could probably get us a win with decent run support. Well, anyways, thanks for hearing me out (if you actually took the time to read this essay, which I did NOT plan to be this long!), and let me know what you think, guys! P.S. Get well soon, Boomer!