Fried Neckbones

Wake's 500th appearance in a Sox uni, and 350th start. Rays down 3-2 in the 9th. :thumbsup: C'mon BJ. You're not THAT bad.

He is in an amateur league in Japan. His team (the Shin-Nihon Sekiyu Eneos ) have a web page, but it's in Japanese, which I cannot read. However, the company that owns ENEOS (from what I can figure a Japanese electric concern) appears to be Nippon - of the infamous Ham Fighters. I have no idea how Japanese baseball works as far as farm systems, but Tazawa hasn't been drafted by anyone yet, and seems to be of the international signing, send him to (I would guess) AA and see what he has. Cagey move, if you ask me. A couple of other websites: http://forums.simcentral.net/blogs/gwynar-646/amateur-league-pitcher-junichi-tazawa-scouted-by-the-red-sox-290/ http://www.eneos.co.jp/company/baseball/ (in Japanese, if you can translate).

jacksonian, gom, 26-6, et al - this one is mostly for you. Why Joba the starter instead of Joba the shut down, slam the door closer in waiting? And don't give me that crap about 200 innings are more valuable to a team than 60 as a closer. Who do you people have waiting to take over for Mo? Edwar? Veras? Please. Unless there is some gem hidden in the minors (and I'm actually asking, not s*** talking) I don't see it. Parallels to Paps in 2005 - hard throwing, groomed to be a starter, breaking into a big league rotation, then he's a dominant closer. I just don't get it - I'm no Steinbrenner but it seems pretty obvious to me. Also, the idea of Joba and Paps going head-to-head as closers for the Yankees and Sox for the next 10 years or so is really cool.

It's a weird MVP race, that's for sure. Seems like all the playoff contenders have multiple options, with no clear-cut head and shoulders above the rest players. Quentin's injury could tip it to Dye if the White Sox stay in it late, don't forget about Morneau if the Twins make a run at it (his stats, especially the traditional power numbers voters like are way above the rest of the Twins), and then there is the potential just because he set a record and his team is kicking ass candidate: K-Rod. And of course, if Dustin keeps playing like he has been and the Sox can overtake the Rays, I think he has a legit shot too. Gonna be an interesting September.

Me too. They were flat/terrible lately. Coincidence, maybe, but Manny's bitching had reached new levels, and his half-assing wasn't cute anymore. Shades of Nomar (attitude-wise) - Nomar was a pissing and moaning malcontent before he got dealt too. This deal makes them better in the long run. Manny was gone after this year anyway. Bay will still be around, on the upside of his career, and gives the Sox 30 HR 100 RBI power. They sign him to an extention midway through next season, cool, if not, they still get the draft picks. The money they save on Manny lets them go after some help in the off season. Think big, people, look to the future. Moss and Hansen were not the answer. Nice pieces, yes, but not irreplacable. This deal keeps this season alive AND makes them better headed into '09 too.

I have a feeling that if this hadn't worked they would have offered him "the Favre" and paid him to just retire.

Pirates will announce "shortly": http://trades.mlblogs.com/ Lots of prospects to Pitt (Hansen, Moss), Bay to us, Manny to LA.

The ProJo Sox blog had a post up by McAdam called something like "After all no moves for Boston" about 20 minutes ago. I went back to see if there was anything else in the meantime. It's gone. Kind of funny, I thought.

Ian Browne reporting the same thing on MLBlogs. http://trades.mlblogs.com/

Damn my slow typing.

Thanks. I totally agree. It's not like they're going to empty the farm to include prospects, and money is only money - Bay is a nice return, and probably about as close to "equal" value that you're going to find a this point. Better to get someone who plays hard than someone who will sit out games down the stretch. The East (and WC) is looking like a few games will decide it.

That's how it's gonna be - everyone knows the Sox want to unload him, so they're going to squeeze them for every last drop.

I agree with Kilo, especially about the lack of punishment part. Mitchell himeslf said in his press conference that 1. you have to apply the rules of the game at the time of the infraction and most PEDs weren't illegal when the players named were using them and 2. there is no point to going back and slapping players for things they did years ago. His report was, in his own words, designed to be prospective rather than retrospective. What it is going to do for the future of the sport I have no idea. The current testing program is locked into place until what, 2011? At which point they have to come back to the player's union and renegotiate a new policy. The report was interesting, yes, but IMO mostly from a curiosity standpoint. Mitchell did his job, and I think did it well under the circumstances. But with no powers to gather information other than saying "pretty please" and no authority to direct new policy I don't know what, if anything, will come of this report.

Ron Sen's most recent post got me thinking. http://redsoxrealitycheck.blogspot.com/ (also on dirtdogs). His point that young prospects are like raw minerals - valuable because of future production, was the one that got me. His conclusions are different than the ones that I drew from the article, however. Yes, raw minerals (or young talent) will certainly rise in value. There are two ways that this can happen, though. The first is that you develop it yourself, mine it if you will, and reap the rewards directly. The second way is to sell off the rights to those materials. Theo and the rest of this ownership group seem to have a good grasp of long term strategy, short term viability on the field, and ways to beat the curve in terms of aquiring players. Big FA signings aside (becuase they can always do that due to having boatloads of $$$), there have been a few different philospohical movements in the Sox FO. At first, they went and got undervalued players - Mueller, Millar, Ortiz, etc. This worked pretty well. Then, their value rose and this philosophy was changed to another: let older FA's go and reap the rewards in the draft. The Sox farm system is currently one of the deepest in MLB. The winds are again changing due to shifts in the compensatory pick rules. So, Theo injects young talent into the big club (Youk, Pedroia, Lester, Paps) again with dividends. The way that I see it, it could be time for another shift in organizational philosophy. Rather than standing pat and using the excess money from having young cost controlled players on the MLB roster, it could be time to use those "raw materials" as a direct means to improvement - by selling off their rights. The big club has a number of cost-controlled players for quite a while. The farm system (especially the lower levels) will not be gutted. Maybe it is time for another shift and time to sell of some of our organizational resources, rather than waiting for contributions from each one, one at a time.

Replace Gagne with Okijima, please, and you've got something there. Unless there is a 10-run difference in the game, and nobody cares about the outcome.

Isn't Pettitte going to retire? That would give you, assuming the deal goes down as you say, Santana-Wang-Joba's 150ish innings-Mussina's 15.00 ERA-Kennedy. :thumbdown for you, :thumbsup: for us. I think the two sides here (Sox and Yanks) are negotiating from different perspectives. The Sox already have a rotation that will be good in 2008, with Beckett, Dice, Schilling, and a better-seasoned Bucholtz, along with Wake and Lester. The Yanks have Wang, Mussina (clearly on the downside of his career), Hughes (coming off an injury and potential velocity decrease), Joba (spent last year in the 'pen, no big league starting experience) and Kennedy and Karstens. They still have Karstens, right? Whatever. The point being, the Sox don't HAVE to go out and get a front-of-the-rotation starter. They can, but it won't kill them if they don't. The way I see it, if the Sox get Santana without losing Bucholtz or Jacoby, awesome. If they make the Yanks overpay, also awesome. Offer a package to Billy Beane for Haren. Or stand pat. I don't see too many downsides to this, other than the Sox giving up Buch AND Jacoby+, and that ain't gonna happen.

I would be careful about trading away both Bucholtz and Lester on this one. If you do, the rotation for 2008 looks like: Santana, Beckett, Dice, Schill, Wake Good God, that's awesome. That's also not the problem. In '09, you've got: Santana (assuming he signs), Beckett, Dice figuring that Schill and Wake are both done after next year. Keep the young 'uns and you get: Beckett, Dice, Schill, Wake, Lester/Bucholtz for '08 and Beckett, Dice, Bucholtz, Lester for '09. I'd rather have one hole to fill rather than two. Yes, Masterson might be MLB ready by that time, or he might not. If Theo & Co are committed to keeping this team both playoff contenders and cost-controlled for the long term, they don't trade both of their MLB-ready starters to get Santana.

Personally (and this is one man's opinion) I think they should make a good solid run at getting Salty if Texas is serious about moving him. Even if it takes Coco and Masterson. The Sox have great organizational depth at pitching - it's not like Masterson is their only good prospect. They are pretty freaking weak at catcher though, and it's not like Tek is going to be around for that much longer. Trading down for Laird or someone as a stop-gap until you can develop the next big catcher? Why? If a player like Salty becomes available, and you have a chance to bring him on with at least one season to play with the likes of Schill and Tek, I say you do it. The way that the Sox mentor young players/prospects when they arrive, he'll practically be living at the Varitek's house. He would be a nice piece to add for the future (and present, given Tek's recent numbers) of this team. I like Masterson, don't get me wrong, and the price may be a little steep, but Salty would fill a big organizational need and Masterson is one of many in the system right now.

I'm in with those who say that it's pretty up in the air until after the upcoming season. This FO does not like to re-sign question mark guys. Look at the Schill situation prior to this year. He is in the last year of a contract, says he wants another year or two with the Sox, and they don't talk to him. He was coming off of two sub-par years, so despite his 2004 WS heroics, they did not jump, make the sentimental decision, and re-up with him. Manny is coming off of a sub-par year. If he has another one, and continues with the nagging injuries (obliques, hammies, etc) there is a good chance he is gone. But the FO is going to wait until they can see how he performs. I think, for $20 mill, that's a pretty good way to go.

I would expect that he would take another one-year deal. If he does want to close in the future (and you can bet your ass that Boras wants him to, as others have pointed out), he needs the opportunity to put up good numbers in save situations again. It's really a no-lose for the Sox if he does agree to a one-year deal. One of three things will happen - he'll recover his confidence and they can a) trade him for talent at the deadline or have a lights out setup man for a year and then let him walk as a type A next year or c) he'll suck and it's only money and he's gone anyway. It won't get any worse than it is now. Edit: You're right jacksonian, he probably will get an offer from somebody, I just think the Sox should make an offer rather than consider him washed up. The upside outweighs the down if he accepts.