Dojji

http://bottledwishes.net/mediac/400_0/media/FenwayNightBigLogoWhite.JPG Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2006/scorecard/09/29/truth.rumors.mlb/francona.jpg Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night. http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0dHRbuT9MB2VO/610x.jpg Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. http://faninterference.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/jonathan-papelbon2.jpg Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night. http://www.jpbutler.com/sox-yankees-april-2004/jason-varitek-pensive.jpg Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. http://www.steamysports.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/david-ortiz.jpg And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. http://thestartingfive.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/josh-beckett5.jpg Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night. http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2006/scorecard/09/29/truth.rumors.mlb/francona.jpg Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. http://multimedia.heraldinteractive.com/images/427fe902a0_timlin09192007.jpg Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night. http://cdn.channel.aol.com/aolr/1-mlb-rookies-daisuke-matsuzaka-400a051407.jpg Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. http://www.jpbutler.com/sox-yankees-april-2004/jason-varitek-pensive.jpg And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. http://www.steamysports.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/david-ortiz.jpg http://bottledwishes.net/mediac/400_0/media/FenwayNightBigLogoWhite.JPG

And lo, JoeyMagrane hjas returned.

We don't have an alternative except to use Beckett somewhere. There is some logic to turning Beckett's start into a bullpen game whether it's game 6 or game 7, and there's some more logic to the concept of following up a bullpen game with a quality start to help your relievers get their feet before the big series. The goal is to win the World Series. Right now, Tito's playing like he believes Matsuzaka is our ace, and he's being used now so he can be available for Game 1. Tito's managing with one eye on what happens if we survive and how one balances the rotation in the event we do. At this point survival is improbable so you can argue whether he should be or not, but remember, he's been here before and he should have some idea how to handle it. If Matsuzaka survives, I doubt one day of rest more or less is really going to make a difference whether Beckett will be effetive. Not when a week and a half of rest couldn't save him. I could see the logic of making him pitch the bullpen game in Game 7, but it's just as feasible to make Game 6 the bullpen game, you know, since they're both all out, survive at all cost elimination games anyway. Either way, if Beckett does stumble again you can count on the hook being quick. If this series hinged on Beckett's start in game 6 that's a good thing at this point because we haven't played Game 5 yet.

Enough things need to go right now for us to win this series that a good start from Beckett is one of the less improbable one

Until they have to pay for it.

I still think you set up your rotation to give you the best chance to win any one of the 3 remaining games. Maddon's trying to set up his rotation to stop the series at 6 games. IMHO, that's a mistake, because you're weakening your hand on game 5 and increasing the risk of a game 7. if you initiate intercourse with the canine at your intended chokepoint, you're in a lot of trouble.

2007 might, and it's the closer case to parallel anyway..

I really, really doubt Theo falls for that. If CC comes to Boston it will be because Theo identifies a hole he thinks CC can help the team fill. Which could only happen after the catcher question is resolved, the roles of Justin Masterson and Clay Buchholz are formulated, we get an idea of what to expect from Beckett next year, and Theo is as sure of his depth options as you can be in an offeseason.

Sometimes even when a guy isn't hitting you still have to sink or swim with him. Can you imagine what it'd do to the other 8 guys if you benched David Ortiz? And then comes the question of who you could possibly replace him with that would be worth more than the lottery ticket chance that Papi might recover his swing if you lerave him in there. I think Tito's hamstrung by a weak bench that could have been much stronger. Kottaras, Bailey and/or Carter should be on the playoff roster. Right now we've got a whole bunch of nothing behind a very banged up starting 9, that's what's leading to a lot of our offensive issues right now.

That's a bit of revlsionist history, Bosox, since we've also had very prominent Red Sox in that time named Curt Schilling, Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefield. But yeah, it's certainly not like we're exactly afraid of players of color or anything. This whole color thing has more to do with a policy in the '04-'05 drafts of going after college players than it does with any kind of racial preference. Players of color include: Javier Lopez, Manny Delcarmen, Hideki Okajima, Alex Cora, David Ortiz, Mike Lowell (surprised?) Coco Crisp. Arguably also Kevin Youkilis depending on where you place Jews. 4/10 of our top prospects are also minorities (Almanzar, Navarro, Diaz, Lin) with Luis Exposito and Oscar Tejeda as #11 and #13.

http://www.hyperclaw.com/pic/products/carpenter-pincer-1-L.jpg

I still think we'll look at Santana for Ellsbury and Buchholz in the end and be glad we didn't make that deal. What they are now is not all they will be.

We've been here too many times for this to scare us now. Now the Rays are in virgin territory trying to close the series out on the road and they're going to p-ay tight and let us back in the series. Meanwhile, everyone's got a chance to get healthy, get their bearings, and adjust to what they have. Beckett probably threw a side yesterday or will throw one today and Farrell will be with him trying to adjust his game so that he can get through his next start at the Trop. We're something insane like 8-2 in elimination games since the Epstein regime came to town. This is what we do best, and I think we'll do it again!

Seriously, I think Tito gets a lot of credit for getting a team this badly beat up past the first round. It's hard to give the manager credit when the team trails in the current playoff series but when you look at the whole, Tito's done a heck of a job this year just like the last several. Bear in mind that he has a lot less to work with than Maddon right now. The three best hitters in the playoffs right now are Tampa Bay Rays (Longoria, Upton, Crawford) and our bats haven't been doing much with the Tampa Bay rotation while Tito has been forced to mix and match just to put warm bodies on the mound.

Considering we've had three straight such meltdowns, this is perhaps more threadworthy than meets the eye. Our great starting depth really let us down this year with Schill hurt, Colon sulking, Daisuke not eating innings, Byrd and Wake not stepping up and Beckett underachieving all year. Improving our SP corps is looking like a surprise priority of the offseason.

Got Daisuke going in game 5, Beckett in game 6 and anything can happen game 7. On paper, that's matchups you can win, or at least survive.

Are you really trying to aver that the lack of Manny is the only major problem with this lineup right now? The Red Sox have a popgun lineup because of injuries and age-related decline to 4 different players who are not named Manny Ramirez (but are instead named J. D. Drew, David Ortiz, Mike Lowell, and Jason Varitek). Anyone who loses 4 of their big bats from a year ago is going to struggle to score runs.

I was responding to a possible situation in which Ortiz was sulking. Which I don't believe is true, but if he wants to pull an attitude, he's not irreplaceable. Anderson is for real, and he's close. Making room for Anderson is going to start to be a big quesiton in 2009.

Just opens the door for Carter and Anderson if that's true.

That's going to be more than offset by contracts coming off the books from Manny, Schill, Timlin and Tek. There should be enough $ to hit the FA market for some pitching, especially if we replace our catcher with a rookie like Kottaras or Saltalamacchia.. Interesting names for RP's include Dan Wheeler and Kerry Wood. I'd replace Timlin with either of those in a heartbeat. The Mets and Tigers can't buy up ALL the FA relievers can they? I wouldn't touch Sheets or Burnett though. That's an invitation to trouble. Even more trouble in going after Derek Lowe. In the end I'd stay out of the FA starter's market and trust Masterson, Bowden and Buchholz to fill that last starter's role between them. Maybe sign a Byrd type if you want to keep Masterson in the pen and give Bowden and Buck some AAA time. Oh, and I suppose it's not worth asking but... any interesting Japanese catchers?

There is no reason at all that Wakefield would not break camp with the Sox next year. There are 4 certain spots, and one open spot.

I agree in principle but I'd want to see all 5 spots filled with a competent (Byrd-level or better) SP before I was anxious to trade a SP for a C, especially if we have a C prospect who might turn in an average performance if given a chance to do so. One thing I do NOT want to see, however, is re-signing both Varitek and Cash. I think that would be a big problem for the team if both of these guys get re-upped.

Guys, guys, please, no panic moves. Especially not when our starting pitching isn't exactly loaded with superstars right now. I think there's a pretty clear consensus that Varitek is done. The question of how to replace him has many answers. I for one am all for seeing what a Kottaras/Brown tandem can do before we go nuts trying to secure a catcher by trade. Especially if everyone's answer for acquiring a C is to trade away one of our stud SP prospects -- with 4 SP's lined up for 5 spots as it is that strikes me as 1 step forward 2 steps back.