SoxSport

Right now, I would rate Byrd over Penny and Buchholz, off his previous stint in Boston. And maybe Dice-K for this year. And Wake has never come back very well from the DL the past few years.

How do you know he was "clean" those years? Are you the guy testing these players? The public has very little information to go by. I know he had a wrist injury. I also know Nomar had a wrist injury. Nomar also was a suspected juicer. Wrist injuries and other types of muscle injuries are known side effects of steroid use. Where is the test evidence that clears these guys? That's what the public needs. Maybe you should make a better effort to be objective. I'm not concluding anything.

I read that the Guardians would not do both to one team. Theo got a good deal for VMart, but his priority was wrong. He should have gotten Lee.But I doubt he could have gotten Lee for the same package as for VMart. He had the Phillies seriously competing for Lee, and it probably would have cost him Buchholz. What I found disturbing is Theo makes a good deal for LaRoche, who comes in and hits well the first few games. The he deals for VMart and promptly trades LaRoche for Kotchman.That tells me Theo didn't have his head together about what he really wanted to do at the trade deadline. Sure, things can change depending on who suddenly becomes available, but to trade a guy you just traded for to fill a hole--that tells me things were a bit too fluid. You go back to 2007, and the Beckett/Lowell deal that gave them the Championship. Theo didn't make that deal--he was off somewhere pouting at the time about press leaks. Some say he doesn't make the deal if he's there. He wouldn't have given up Hanley R., who was in single or double A ball. If there was no championship in 2007, Epstein's record would look different now. Not that I think he's a bad GM. He's done some great things--and some bad things. He has a lot of money to spend, and tends to be overrated. But there are far worse GMs out there.

Baseball is in a real bind on the steroids issue. It appears now that just about any power hitter who was hitting 40-50+ Hrs in the last 10 years can be suspected of taking steroids.You can say so what, but it does affect the record books. The other thing is the owners, the GMs, the Commish and the PA are all playing dumb on the issue. They didn't know about it. Cmon now, with millions of dollars at stake, they didn't know about it? They are all in the same money boat. Re Ortiz, Papi was clearly juiced up for all those great Red Sox years. His stats have really fallen off lately, and you wonder if that isn't recoil from being off them. Or steroid-related injuries? He starts this year off badly, suddenly reverses to his old self in June, and trails off in July so that he's now back to where he was in April/May. That tells me maybe he juiced for June, then stopped? Who knows. Baseball would have been far better off if it had come clean on this issue and not stonewalled it. Admit this stuff was going on, and make note of it in the record books. No sense in lying about it. You get in more trouble by not admitting your errors.

Van deMeer, by the way, was an average pitcher for his times. Career W-L record 119-121. Never a 20 game winner. If Buchholz isn't better, Theo has overrated him.

Brian Anderson is batting leadoff and playing CF in Pawtucket. Lanky kid. Saw him hit a leadoff HR last week. Just missed a great catch. Has some ability.

I hope you're not serious. The pitching has not been good long before VMart. The real concern is they are stealing Tek blind every game.

You wonder where Smoltz would be if they had started him off in the bullpen. He seemed OK in the first couple of innings of most of his starts. Maybe he needed time to regain durability. I wonder the same thing about Buchholz--though a completely different situation. Mentally, he might have been better off starting in the bullpen, developing some confidence. Remember Johnny van deMeer? Threw two no-hitters in his first two ML starts. That's the last anyone heard of him. You wonder how the new kid, Tazawa, is going to react to being thrown directly on the fire. Not everyone is built the same mentally.

Forget about Halladay. Nobody was going to get him. Not the way Toronto was dangling him. They just weren't serious enough about trading him. Hernandez was also a pipe dream. Seattle didn't want to trade him. The guy they could have gotten easily was Lee. Epstein blew it. His preference was for VMart. The priority should have been Lee. He was not going to get both. Cleveland preferred to deal them to separate teams. VMart was a great deal, and they need him for sure. But Lee was the short term need. Epstein is gambling the season that Smoltz, Wake, Dice-K , Buchholz or Penny will emerge as the reliable no. 3 starter. Scratch Smoltz. Wake and Dice-K won't be available thru most of August. That leaves Penny or Buchholz. But the critical part of the schedule is now, and Theo seems to have missed that.

That's what it looks like now. But they didn't figure their no.3 starter would be out the whole year when they did those signings pre-season. They signed a bunch of guys for the back of the rotation, figuring one or two would work out. None of those guys figured to be a no.3 starter. But that's what they're looking for now--and they don't have one. Did Epstein realize that before the trade deadline? Well, he does now. That should have been his priority, as some of us were saying.

Somebody said "in the old days" young pitchers worked their way into the starting rotation from the bullpen. That is still the practice with many ML teams--just not the Red Sox. They seem to think starters are starters and relievers are relievers. I would like to see Mazz et al discuss that. I wonder about a few things the Red Sox do with their pitching. Obviously, it isn't all bad. But you wonder about 100 pitches and out--sure to wear out a bullpen, and one inning per relief appearance. Why not 2 innings and fewer relievers per game? What is happening right now is Beckett and Lester are being extended late into games to relieve the bullpen, because the other starters can't last 6 innings and the bullpen has been overworked. A case of the starters relieving the relievers. Houston, we have a problem.

They aren't hitting, they have no #3 starter, Tito has no answers, the Yankees are winning everything in sight--in fact overachieving some. I'm tempted to say 6.5 games back by Monday. They could collapse, as in 06. The key to the season has to be Dice-K. That screwed them. They did not plan on him missing the season. They have not replaced him. None of their chancey signings has shown much. Nor has Buchholz, who looks mishandled at this point.

Byrd's 4.7 era is better than any current #3 option they have. I still think Bowden deserves a look in the rotation. You never know. He might be the anti-Buchholz.

5 runs per start seems the norm for Penny. That's not good enough to win on the road. I don't think the Sox are going anywhere this year unless they come up with a consistent no.3 starter down the stretch.

You guys criticizing Francona for his game managing have to realize that's not his strong suit. A good part of managing is getting along with people--the players, the front office and the media--and Tito does that very well. He is a very good manager for a very good team. He is not good in close games. What's their 1-run game record this year? He does not play small ball for 1-run in extra inning games. And he doesn't seem concerned that other teams are stealing Varitek blind this year.Worst in the majors. His reaction to the media last night on this was a bunch of doubletalk.

They don't need another starter. They just need starters who can go 7+ innings more often. That means going to 120 pitches in a quality start. At 100-110 pitches, they are wearing out the bullpen. You can't throw 3-4 BP guys out there win or lose without bullpen burnout in Aug-Sept. The Sox braintrust has to realize the less you use your starters, the more you use your bullpen. Take your pick. That's why the starter needs to go 120 pitches in a quality start. That way, you'll have your bullpen when you need them.

What's disturbing is Wake has these type injuries mid-term every year now, and he is never any good the 2nd half when he comes back.

Keep in mind that there aren't many teams out there willing to put up $15-20M per year for an ace starter. Maybe NY, maybe LA, maybe Chicago. The big markets. Boston? They seem to prefer home-growns.Though Beckett and Pap will soon be up for extension. Eventually, you have to pay the piper.

Don't look now, but the Red Sox just got a guy who's a switch hitter, hits with power and average, and plays 1B and catcher. For a medium talented young pitcher who hasn't been able to get LHd hitters out this year. And this guy is signed for $7M next year. His name is not Teixeira. Extend him now. Regarding Lowell, I look for him to DH against LHP for the rest of the year.They need to improve their defense on the left side of the infield. Ortiz needs to be dropped to 6th again,where he hit well in June, and face only RHP. Fortunately, VMart gives them enough hitting depth to cancel out Papi.

Smoltz better take out life insurance before that start in Yankee Stadium. He needs to find his location fast.

The Mariners should have made the first deal. They should have taken Bard, Buchholz, Bowden and Masterson. Plus somebody else on the list. I don't believe they nixed that deal. I doubt Epstein would have offered that much. Bard was off the table for obvious reasons. That deal of VMart for Masterson was a steal for Epstein.

VMart buys a lot of time. Maybe they'll draft somebody next year.

VMart is sparking this team. Lowell should be DHing more. #3 starter is invisible.

Buchholz is getting bombed again today. Something wrong with that kid.

Saw Duncan play last night.Big tall guy. Bats left. Played LF. Didn't do much. Brian Anderson looked OK in CF. Hit a game leadoff HR. Bates looks pretty good at 1B. Their pitching sucks. Bad defense at SS. Pawtucket does not look like a good team.