jacksonianmarch

Mo has been the savior of our team for 12 yrs running now. That isnt new. But for the first time in awhile, we have a reliable bridge to him. This makes things very difficult for opposing teams. We have 3 pitchers who give quality (Joba, Pettitte and Moose) and two who are hit or miss. If we can meander through 6 innings with a lead or tied, we dont seem to give those up. In terms of how the O is doing, lets put that into context shall we? Our catalyst and leadoff hitter, JD, who is OPSing .857 and also stealing bases is on the DL. As is our RBI man Matsui who is hitting .323. If you took away 2 .320ish hitters with .400ish OBP, and replaced them with a rookie slap hitter and a defensive catcher in the lineup, your O is gonna take a hit.

what has happened is our bullpen has been fantastic. Since getting crushed by the Mutts, our pen has allowed 5ER in 41.2IP and has a sub 1 WHIP. The funny thing is, of those 5 runs, Mo is responsible for 3 of them

Well, the sox sweep and the yankees 4 in a row has us in good position. 4 games ago, the yanks were struggling and facing 4 must win games and they won them all. With Oakland dealing away Harden, they have fallen from the ranks of the wild card contenders even though they are right behind the sox. The twins sweep coupled with the yankees wins will put them a game ahead of the yanks. For the sox, the yankee wins have meant something significant. 3 straight TB losses = 3 consecutive gained games on the previously streaking Rays. And it also starts to beg the question...Can the Rays hold out? They have played 50 of their 90 games at home thus far and to this point are a worse road team than they are a home team. The sox OTOH, are a miserable road team, but the sox have 37 homers left vs only 31 roadies. Also, the DRays have a hell of a stretch to end the yr. To end august, they play 15 of 18 vs .500 or above teams then go into September where they play 6 vs NYY, 6 vs the sox and end with a 4 game roadie in Detroit. To be honest with you, the rays are the kind of team that I think will limp to the finish and likely will be passed by a few teams if they dont have a lead going into that stretch.

Ortiz' wrist should be fine. The biggest thing that this wrist injury did was keep him off his knees which I think will be the limiting factor to his career effectiveness.

so you are going to go on record and say that Jason Varitek deserved to be considered one of the top 3 starting catchers in the AL. You truly believe that?

Joba didnt start out having a miserable time locating. Joba started out gangbusters and never slowed. Bard was wild as hell and has now found his control.

not a bad idea kilo

I dont think he will. Remember Kilo, he's only shown he can locate for one half a season. Prior to this yr he was in the Steve Dalkowski control range. By rushing him to the bigs, you increase the chances that he reverts to his old self. He's a kid I send to AAA and see how he performs in ST next yr.

I knew you would like that. Wasnt that your prior sig?

Stats are like bikinis. What they show is revealing. What they hide is crucial. You can find a stat to pump up your captain to be whatever legendary creature you wish. The fact remains, he is a shell of his former self and will likely see his "legendary" ass on his way out of town. The fact that the players voted a .218 hitting catcher into the AS game is nothing more than assinine

I see a deal this offseason with the sox eating a ton of cash and giving Lowrie a shot. if they could live with Lugo's s***** D, they can live with Lowrie's below average range (but better hands). And if Lowrie struggles, you can attribute it to a rookie getting used to the bigs. In Lugos case, it is a below avg MLBer playing like a below avg MLBer

Sounds like the Rays are targeting Fuentes and their system is the deepest in all of baseball. If they wanna ante up for this championship run, nobody beats them in a deal. As for Marte. From 2005-2007, Marte was pretty much a LH specialist. His OPS against vs righties was near .800 while vs lefties, he was under .600. But this yr, Marte is dominating righties more than lefties. And, over the last 2 yrs he really found his control. He used to be a 5-6BB/9IP guy, now he is around 2-3BB/9IP with high K and low hit rates. He sounds like a gem, but nobody seems to talk about him. Heres the problem. He's 33 and with his new found success comes the drop in velocity. Is it his way to locate or is he starting to slide? He's also a FA at the end of the yr and along with Fuentes, those two are the relief gems of the deadline. And we saw what the sox gave up for a middle reliever last yr. I dont think Theo meets the demands because of his fear that Marte can fall apart. And I dont blame him.

point taken. I didnt account for sheets

Jeter is playing like crap as well, but lets be honest here. I'd take Jeter 10/10 at the plate. Vtek's bat is slowing down. And to those who love his defensive abilities, he isnt able to catch one of the five at all, and he is also setting a career low with CS% at 18% (which is exactly what no-arm Posada has gunned out this yr). I am not sure his mythical "handling of the pitching staff" has anything to do with the fact that the sox pitching staff is actually solid.

It is really hard to respect a player who is hitting .218

2 picks, and none will be in the top 15. They will either get a first rounder or a second rounder from the team that signs them (1st rounder if it is a team in the 16-30 and second rounder if that team is from 1-15) and will get a supplemental 1st round pick.

He used to touch 90 with the heater and had a pretty nice slider before he picked up the knuckleball

The sox were running into a buzzsaw. Houston started playing well and Tampa just didnt quit. But then the trip to NY. Usually a tough trip, but now, the sox are ready to do something that hasnt been done officially since 1993. With TB playing their asses off and the yankees now 9 games back of TB in the loss column, the sox may be the only chance the yanks have at making the playoffs. And now, after watching Rasner squander a 3 run lead vs Beckett, I think yankee fans all over are seeing the demise of the yankee playoff run. Wang is out for likely the yr Hughes was never right and is out until August Kennedy is coming back but has missed 6 weeks Matsui has been in and out of the lineup and now looks to be out for 2 more weeks Posada hasnt thrown a ball with good velocity since last yr and has spent a good amount of time on the DL Cano and Giambi started out awfully and are somewhat to blame for our slow start We have Darrell Rasner, Sidney Ponson and Dan Geise throwing meaningful games in the same turn of a rotation in July. Alan Horne, our hotshot AAA pitcher has had arm trouble. Humberto Sanchez, a hotshot AAA pitcher coming off TJ has been slow to heal Damon has been solid, but in and out of the lineup as well being dinged up and is now out for likely the rest of the series with a shoulder contusion Jeter is having the worst yr of his career ARod was down for 3 weeks, and we went 6-11 in his absence. Hawkins and Farns have been less than stellar. Alabaldejo, who looked really good in limited time is out for the yr Betemit was out for a long time, limiting who was available when ARod was out. the injuries combined with an older team and a ravaged pitching staff has led to this team being nothing more than a bit over .500. And now, 2 games into this series, we are staring directly in the face of a 4 game sweep and if that is the case, we'll be looking at a playoff-less yr. It might be time to become sellers soon Move Abreu to a team needing an RBI man. Move Mussina and Pettitte to teams that need veteran arms for the playoff run. Hell, see if Giambi is amenable to a deal, as he would likely be worth a bunch. Cut Pavano at the end of the yr and then sign Sabathia and Tex at the end of the yr. With a little luck, some MiLB player devt and some health, we could be younger and much better next yr. But this teams health and age has made this team mediocre. And mediocre will no longer make the playoffs.

I see this being a battle of the pens. We typically have a rough O day against lefties and after we have a blowout like we had last night. The sox OTOH have gotten ridiculous production from Drew, and the lefty on our mound should slow that down. I see this being a battle of the pens.

So the sox go from the best pen in the AL last yr to one of the worst. If it werent for their AS closer, Papelbon, they would be the worst. So that begs the question, what should be expected of the rest sans Paps? Well, I made a short segment on Okajima before. In his first 2 months, he had numbers very similar to last seasons. But since the start of June, he has been absolutely awful. 11 of his last 12 inherited runners have scored and 12 of the last 15, to go along with his 9+ ERA and 2.42WHIP since June 1. Does he need a break? Last yr he hit a dead spot and the sox DL'd him for nearly a month. When he returned, he wasnt what he was at the beginning of the yr but he wasnt as bad as he was before he hit the DL. That may need to be considered again. Only this time, the signs arent there. Last yr, his FB velocity dropped prior to his DL stint. This yr, his FB velocity hasnt changed much, but the splitter has damn near disappeared, leaving him pretty much a 1 pitch pitcher. And an 87 mph fastball isnt gonna get anyone by a MLB lineup without a complementary off speed pitch. It would also seem that last night was evidence of Francona's lack of confidence in him. He was brought into a 4-1 game in the 6th rather than his customary 8th inning duty. As for MDC he was dominant to start June. But for a guy who looked like the successor to Oki, he has some disturbing stats. For an 8th inning guy, you want him to be durable and be able to throw 2 or 3 days in a row while on a winning streak. Well, he has given up 7ER in 4.2IP when throwing on 0 days rest. When he has had at least 1 days rest, his ERA is 3.33. Therefore, while he does seem to be a solid reliever in the making, using him on back to back days is a bad idea and hence eliminates him from being a go to setup man. As for Hansen, we kinda know he isnt the answer right now. 25% of the time, he allows multiple runs. Add that to his 6.2BB/9IP and his 1.62WHIP and he looks more like a mopup guy than anything else. He should not have seen action in the game last night because he implodes far too often. Javier Lopez has actually had a damn good yr by his standards, and he may be the best middle reliever the sox have right now. 2.20ERA with a solid split lefties vs righties. He walks a little bit too many, but he is generally around the plate and he doesnt get his hard. His sidearm delivery from the left may make Tito reticent to use him in setup duties, but the numbers this yr point to him potentially being the best equipped for the job. David Aardsma has been a godsend this yr for the sox, but he isnt your ideal 8th inning guy either since he walks 6 batters per 9 as well. So where does the answer lie? If Oki or Delcarmen find themselves, then the infusion of Aardsma and Lopez into more defined matchup 7th and 8th inning roles gives the sox a formidable, if not solid bridge to papelbon. Unfortunately for the sox, right now Lopez is their best RP option and the rest are having trouble with control in and out of the zone. And when you are dealing with guys who havent established themselves as elite relievers, poor control typically will send them on a bad path. One thing I have proposed to sox fans on here with mixed messages is moving Masterson to the pen and bringing up Buchholz to start. If you look at the numbers, Masterson is at 92IP for the yr, which essentially means that halfway through the yr he is halfway to his IP limit. Good for a team not making the playoffs, but the sox have playoff aspirations and if they make it there, will exceed his IP limit in the starting role. Buch, OTOH is on pace to miss his IP limit by a lot, so bringing him up to start and having Masterson in a 2 time a week, 1+ IP role will meet both their IP demands as starters. Plus, I think with Bowden on the way up as well, the sox needs are going to be more in the pen anyway and Masterson's delivery, power sinker and power slider will make him very difficult one time around the order out of the pen. Now what if that doesnt work or doesnt happen. Lets say the sox want to keep Masterson at the big league level in the rotation. What do they change? Well, Colon should be back in a couple weeks, but I dont think he profiles well as a reliever due to his fragility. Also, Buchholz is more of a complete pitcher, someone who would be wasted out of the pen. The other options pondered before also dont look to be cutting the mustard. Daniel Bard was someone who the sox expected to make a fast rise once fully converted to the pen. While they did skip him a level, he hasnt dominated to the degree that they would have liked. While I do see him getting promoted to AAA soon, I dont think he is someone who is going to be rushed. Especially since this is the first yr he is actually throwing strikes. The other option was Bryce Cox. People were saying last yr that he could have closed out of ST. After getting promoted to high A, he has been unspectacular out of the pen. 19H and only 9K in 17IP. He is gonna need some work too. Both of these guys continue to be considered high end arms, but I think both need to show the sox something before they make it to the bigs. Cox needs to show he can dominate better competition and Bard needs to show he can consistently locate. While Bard is more advanced and his numbers indicate he might be ready soon, I think the sox may take the more careful approach since they dont want to take a couple steps back on a kid who has taken so many steps forward this yr. So now that I have discussed the sox internal options, what is out there? Forget the ALE, the only team out of it is Toronto and they wont trade in division In the ALC: The royals may be willing to part with Mahay who has had a hell of a yr. But for a lefty power reliever, the sox will be expected to part with something of value. Unfortunately for trade partners, the royals 2 best pen arms, Nunez and Soria, are young and under royals control for awhile. i dont see either being moved. As far as the Guardians are concerned, I dont see them moving Betancourt or Perez since both are in their long term plans and the Guardians will likely be contenders next season Seattle doesnt have much that is useful. Putz isnt gonna be moved because he'dbe sold low and the only other guys worth dealing for are Morrow and young guys of his ilk. In the NLE, guys like Jon Rauch and Rafael Soriano may be available. In the NLC, I dont see much that would be worth the cost. Maybe Marte, but the pirates asked us for Hughes in return, so I dont think Theo will pay something like that for an old, declining power lefty reliever And in the NLW, we all know about Fuentes. Why is he such a nice commodity? Well, he is an older lefty reliever who is pitching at Coors. His H/A splits show he might actually benefit from leaving Coors as well. He dominates lefties, but also gets hit pretty well by righties meaning that he may not be suited for full innings like the sox need. He's also soon to be 33 and there have been rumors that his stuff is declining. Hence, unless the sox are willing to unload some high level prospects, I dont see much from the outside. And on the inside, the only real option I see is moving Masterson to the pen. If that doesnt work, well, we all know theo is creative. i am sure we'd see Coco be moved for something, and maybe a team like Pitt or Colo could use a speedy, switch hitting CFer. We'll see.

Johjima is hitting only about 10 points higher than Tek this yr. And he was just signed to a 3 yr extension at a lot of cash.

that is an operative emergency. I have seen only 2 and they look like someone put an M80 inside the testicle and set it off. The scrotum stays in tact, but there is just a bag of swelling and testicular pieces.

9 for his last 80 with 27K's. His OPS since the start of June is .370

Eck was totally right. There are times to hit and run. A. You dont hit and run when you have 2 outs to play with and are trailing B. You dont hit and run with a ridiculously slow runner because it will be an auto out if missed. C. You dont hit and run with a ridiculously slow runner and a hitter who swings and misses a lot. Bad move.