Spudboy

Yes indeed. I hope that there is some way that he returns next year but I have serious doubts that he will or that he will be able to play effectively if he does. Aside from Bradley the Sox don't have really good defensive outfielder on the 40 man ( to the best of my knowledge ). I don't know if Bradley will be the starting center fielder for the Sox next year. If he is and we see Craig in left and Cespedes in right I see the Sox defense in the outfield as horrible. I can't remember seeing much of Craig playing defense so maybe he will be something more than average if he is no longer hampered by ankle problems. Cespedes is about as functional as Gomes was defensively from what I have seen in the past three years. Of course we are all concerned about the rotation being the priority over the off season. The outfield will be a need as well. And the left side infield!! Ben sure has his work cut out for him.

Victorino will have back surgery http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/_/id/11312314/shane-victorino-boston-red-sox-back-surgery I posted a while back that I did not think that he would be back to contribute this season. But my assumption was based on what I knew of his hamstring injury. Now the MRI shows a significant disc problem. I have no idea how long rehab from such surgery is. I kind of doubt that he will contribute in 2015 now. This sucks because the outfield continues to be a mess.

I don't mean to second guess you SFF but why do you say this? What about Webster tells you that he would be a shut down relief guy?

I think anytime you sign an established player you end up paying for his "past performance". It is what his perceived value going forward is based on. Which is not to say that I like the idea of over spending on a player just because he has had success in the past. If a player projects to continue that success and close to that level of performance the big money can be justified.

I found this article which explains the rules regarding trading players after July 31. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/08/explaining-august-trades-2.html It will be interesting to see what, if anything, the Sox will do.

Henry has shown little reluctance to throw money around in the past. The Sox have stated that they want to stay away from long term commitments to players over 30. While we as fans want Lester back, the Sox have their own ideas on how to spend their money to build a team.

Just read this on the ESPN Boston site. OYE! * Despite a tough outing on Saturday against the Yankees, Allen Webster will remain in the Red Sox rotation and is scheduled to make his next start against the Angels on Friday in Anaheim. The right-hander allowed four runs on two hits, with six walks and one strikeout in 2 2/3 innings of work. After the outing, Webster said he lost his release point and couldn’t regain it before the damage was done. “He has a tendency to lead with his body a little bit more and it kind of spiraled in a way yesterday with him,” Farrell said. “As that inning was unfolding, he started leaning more and more with his body and his arm had the inability to catch up consistently to get his release point out front.” While Webster issued four consecutive walks in the top of the third inning, Farrell and pitching coach Juan Nieves were both discussing what the 24-year-old pitcher should work on during his next bullpen session. Still, Farrell believes Webster isn’t too far off. “The one thing we have to be clear with Allen is he’s not as far away as he might seem coming out of that outing,” Farrell said. “Sure, the line score doesn’t lie, but he’s a small adjustment away from being in the strike zone more consistently.”

That could happen. Cechini is probably another year off at this point.

He has 12.25 million reasons not to be lonely. The guy ( no longer a kid ) just seems to be immature and or stupid to me.

While this season sure has been a bust, I remain hopeful that the brass will do a decent job of rebuilding the entire roster ( the rotation is obviously the biggest need now ). The Sox have the chips to make moves to get the team back in contention next year. I see no reason that would preclude them doing so.

There is no question that Bradley is completely lost at the plate. I believe that he should have been in Pawtucket to start the season or at the very latest sent down two months ago to work out his problems with the bat. The problem there is that the Sox had no one available to replace him at that point ( my opinion ). The Sizemore idea was heart warming but proven to be one of the mis-steps in constructing the outfield this year. I am not as quck to conclude that Bradley will never be a major league hitter. He sure looks inept now! I wonder why the Sox coaching staff can't seem to make any progress in helping him to develop hitting skills. I look at Nava and his massive early season slump. He went down and corrected it. His BA is about .120 higher now and he seems to be back to where he was last year ( minus some power ). Granted that Nava was more skilled at batting when he slumped. Bradley has not shown anywhere near the ability to hit. That tells me that he should be down in Pawtucket all along. Bradley has much more athletic talent than Nava. Unless he is really stupid, I don't see why he can't learn to hit. In the minors. I don't pretend to know what Farrell and Cherington are thinking and what motivates them in their decisions. I don't have their knowledge, experience, or access to information. I'm willing to be a Monday morning quarterback sometimes. I questions some moves because on the surface they appear to make little or no sense.

I agree that it is not likely that Lester is resigned and that Sherzer is also too expensive. Your idea is as valid as any other. I have read all the reports about the Sox being in on Hamels. I think that he is making close to what the Sox could have retained Lester for so that does not seem to make sense given the Sox reluctance to sign Lester. Who the hell knows what they will do? I am, however, confident that The Sox will grab at least two arms for the rotation and do the usual bull pen shuffling for 2015. Whatever they do, I hope that they do not do the ( as a700 calls it ) "dumpster diving" to construct the rotation. This team needs one or two front line starters, not a mix of never wases / won't bes and reclamation projects.

I continue to be perplexed by the handling of Betts. In the aftermath of the deadline deals, Farrell said that while the emphasis would be on seeing what the Sox have in prospects and new accusations for the rest of the season, the priority was to win. If so, why keep running JBJ out there while Betts collects dust on the bench? It seems to me that both objectives would have been better served by replacing Bradley with Betts in a close and winnable game last night. And in keeping with that theme, why did Steven Wright remain in the pen while Buch was imploding early in the game? Maybe he had pitched too recently in Pawtucket? If not, send him out there to eat innings and preserve the pen for the Series in St Louis! I would have liked to have seen what Wright could do. Now he will most likely be sent back down. I don't often complain about Farrell. Obviously he knows more about the game than I do. It just seems hypocritical of him not to make those moves given the stated agenda.

Even Webster still has value if only as the 3rd or 4th player in a deal.

Based on the small sample size of his Boston tenure this is what I see too. I think that it's unlikely that he will change his approach just because he is now with an OBP team. We'll just have to see. His current OBP is Bradleyish which is worrisome. But when he starts to run into them few people will care.

Because Buchholtz made a mistake.

He may be. But it's possible that he could have benefited by spending a complete year ( or close to it ) in Pawtucket to refine all aspects of his game. Hopefully his experiences this year will help build him into the player he is projected to be.

I wonder how hard the Sox shopped him around before the deadline. Theo wasn't interested?

I agree. It's not as if the idea of the Sox going out and acquiring two or more top tier players in the off season is without precedent. The idea that the Sox F.O. is cheap is way over blown. They have just become more selective in their spending.

I don't think that you will be disappointed. The brass knows that they need to acquire legit number 1 and 2 pitchers either via free agency or by trade. If they fail in doing so the results will be horribly ugly and it will him them where it hurts. Public opinion and revenues.

I was just taking a look at some numbers. Fortunately I remember how to perform basic arithmetic. Our new "Ace" has allowed 15 earned runs in 17 innings over his previous 3 starts. OYE.

Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO AVG OBP SLG B Holt 3B 0 0 0 0 0 0 .305 .354 .429 D Pedroia 2B 0 0 0 0 0 0 .279 .344 .374 D Ortiz DH 0 0 0 0 0 0 .251 .343 .496 Y Cespedes LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 .256 .303 .462 M Napoli 1B 0 0 0 0 0 0 .269 .387 .448 D Nava RF 0 0 0 0 0 0 .251 .333 .319 X Bogaerts SS 0 0 0 0 0 0 .241 .309 .363 J Bradley Jr. CF 0 0 0 0 0 0 .221 .293 .303 C Vazquez C 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 .292 .341 Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO AVG OBP SLG B Gardner LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 .279 .358 .454 D Jeter SS 0 0 0 0 0 0 .278 .331 .337 J Ellsbury CF 0 0 0 0 0 0 .276 .341 .402 M Teixeira 1B 0 0 0 0 0 0 .236 .338 .462 C Beltran DH 0 0 0 0 0 0 .247 .302 .444 B McCann C 0 0 0 0 0 0 .238 .291 .371 C Headley 3B 0 0 0 0 0 0 .268 .333 .390 S Drew 2B 0 0 0 0 0 0 .174 .260 .326 M Prado RF 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 .333 .200

The Sox will most likely need several homers tonight to win. I have close to zero confidence in numb skull Bucholtz. But hey, GO SOX!!!!

Is anyone concerned that recently acquired Allen Craig aggravated his ankle injury Friday night legging it down the 1st baseline? I like the promise that I see in his offensive stats through last year. Since the September ankle injury he has been putrid ( compared to his career line, not other current Red Sox hitters! ). It's my belief that severe injuries to ankles, hamstrings, etc., never fully go away. They tend to linger for the rest of one's life. I hope that Craig is not the latest Victorino to become a Red Sox. It would suck big time to see him under perform.

I saw a clip of the intro. Lester said something about hopefully continuing his relationship with the Sox. I don't recall his exact words but it will sure fuel the idea that he will return next year. Who knows? Both Lester and Gomes did not smile which is unusual for this type of affair. Imagine how they feel. I can't wait to see a photo of those two having dinner ( and smiling ) with Jake Peavey.