jung

The Bard "experiment" is worth the risk in my estimation. Sox don't have many good options and we will be turning summersaults if this works out although..... I understand why you won't be turning summersaults if it works Jacko. V seems to have figured out that publicly criticizing Bard's efforts was not going to do him any good. If it was supposed to represent some V reverse psychology, it was not working nor do I think it was going to work in Bard's case.

I guess given the expectations, if we are thinkin' about the same thing I was thinkin' Offerman's one "above average" season was the one season he played to expectations but maybe my expectations for Jose were just to high. I guess we are both likely talking about 1999 and I just did not think that season was above expectation for Jose although it was his best season here.

Renteria is a good choice. Jose Offerman was never one of my favorite Sox. Never thought he produced as much as he could have or should have and then sort of ended up on a sour note here.

I am picking myself up off the floor. V with something good to say about Bard????? I am stunned. V was actually more effusive than I thought he would be. Sounds like he is trying to pump the kid up for a change. Maybe the fix is in. V gets Iggy as his everyday SS and Bard goes to the rotation as the concession. I did not think Bard threw as many as 10 changes today. He surely threw more than one and threw it in places where it would do him some good. I still think Bard's upside is what is helping make his case for at least the 5 hole combined with the fact that nobody has really stepped up and grabbed these spots by the balls. I still like Doubront as the 4 and Bard as the 5 and I am not sure I am going to see better options than that. Not saying that it is a great tandem down there at the bottom of the rotation but to me it is the best of what the Sox have for alternatives at this point and if Bard does continue to develop in that role, there is every chance that Bard can become a real contributor in the Sox rotation. I just do not want to take Aceves out of the bullpen. He saves the Sox bacon in that role. I don't see him saving the Sox bacon as a starter. Imagine how ugly the second half would have been last year if Aceves was not coming in and putting out fires time after time after time? Do we really think that the Sox rotation or pen is good enough to pull that kind of productivity out of the relief role?

Lowe and Cook are not the same pitchers. I like Cook and I hope we get something out of Cook this year. Lowe could actually get away with a few pitches in the middle of the plate. I don't think Cook can. Anything up in the strike zone for Cook is headed for orbit.

Doubront has been fine as far as ST pitching goes and deserves the spot probably as the 4. I don't think anybody has been "lights out" when you consider what these guys are gong to face in real MLB line ups day in and day out. Doubront is out of options and has in fact shown signs that he had this kind of potential. I don't think he is as much a pleasant surprise as much other guys have been something of a disappointment. Some of us have been talking about Doubront for months now. Cook is kinda' scary. Wish we had more time to see where he is. If I had my way, Cook would start for the PawSox. Get some more work there and be the first option up as a starter for Boston when the inevitable injuries start happening. As I said earlier, I think Doubront and Cook are the only two guys that have pitched with the presence, composure and mentality of starters. if I had to decide today it would be Doubront as the 4 for the way he has pitched and Bard as the 5 because he has so much upside as a starter and because it is looking more and more like dice is back by July limiting the number of starts Bard would get anyway. Aceves would go to the pen because he is certainly the most versatile reliever in baseball and maybe for that reason (other than the best closer in baseball) the best reliever in baseball. I just don't think the Sox can afford to have Aceves in the rotation.

I did not think he hurt himself. He just did not help himself. If the Sox had legitimate 4 and 5 starters nobody would even be having this discussion. The Sox don't and we are looking for somebody to step up. So far nobody has really stepped up. Two guys are going to end up taking 4 and 5 cause somebody has to be the 4 and 5, not because anybody has distinguished himself to any degree worth talking about. Aceves has to a point but even he is would not be "taking" one of these positions. At one point I would have chosen Aceves cause he had out-pitched everybody else. At this point, he has not out-pitched everybody else by that much and I think Aceves is simply to valuable to the pen. If Cook comes up big tomorrow, Doubront and Cook might be as good as anything else. At this point I would likely choose Doubront and Bard with Bard as the 5. There is no upside to Cook. What we are seeing is what we are going to get and he is iffy as hell. All winter we have said this was going to be an issue it the waters appear about as murky now as they were then. Frankly I am happy guys that Doubront, Bard, Aceves and Cook have pitched as well as they have but none of them have been real confidence builders as starters and none of them have taken these rotation positions by storm.

It was a slightly better outing for Bard than his last. Clearly does not have the presence, composure and mentality of a starter as yet. I would have been way more impressed if he had gotten the last out of the 6th without giving up the tying run. Had the guy 1-2 and left the ball out over the plate for the bouncer to second which was an automatic run scoring from 3rd base with 1 out. Had he gotten that guy out without further damage and gotten out of that inning he would have gone 6 innings, with 5 K's leaving his team with a 1 run lead. That is the kind of thing starters do. Frankly of the guys vying, Doubront and Cook have been the only guys with the presence to pitch that way. Aceves had out-pitched everybody vying up to his last outing but even Aceves has not pitched with that sort of presence as a starter. While winning and losing games is not significant to me in ST, balls, strikes, location and pitching in and out of situations can be important factors. While only once did Bard walk somebody with no outs in an inning once again, every guy walked scored as did the one hit batsman. The walks are killers. I would still like to see Bard get the 5 spot at this point and see Aceves go to the pen. Wish we could see more of Cook but I think he is going to run out of time unfortunately. I think he pitches on Monday. We shall see.

Boy would Avilas like to hit against Laffey for a career or what? Guy would be HOF material.

Bard looked pretty good today in a park that is hard to look good in for a pitcher. The Jays pitchers have my sympathies. Home plate is a launch pad with little guys able to get what should have been medium fly balls to the warning path. The infield is quite possibly the hardest infield I have ever seen, maybe harder than original astroturf infield. I think it was AGons that bounced one just in front of the plate and the next time it hit the ground was just over second base! Bard had two walks in 5 innings but neither were to the first batter of the inning, one coming with 1 out and the other with 2 outs the following inning. The first walk appeared more of a mental error by pitcher and catcher. Why they were pitching so carefully to Mathis, a right hander, not the second coming of Albert with a left hander on deck is beyond me. Next time up Mathis was meat but Bard walked the left hander behind him in that inning. Then the wheels "sort of" came off in the 6th. Hit the first batter and walked the second and followed that with a bouncing double down the left field line. Wish I was there to judge what that double actually was as anything hitting that infield needed to be hit right at somebody to be stopped. Easily the weirdest natural turf infield I have ever seen from the perspective of speed and high bounces. While the walks were not as disconcerting as they had been in previous outings they are still an issue and you hear Strike 1 very few times when Bard is pitching even though the ball:strike ratio was better today. Life would be so much easier for him if he could get Strike 1. Every walked batter scored as did the one batter that he hit. That accounts for 4 of the 5 runs he gave up in 6 innings of work and that is the thing that has to be imprinted in his head. Only one of the walks was allowed with no outs but still every walked batter scored as did the hit batsman. While he got out of that mess in the 6th only giving up one more run, the second run of that inning came in from third on a bouncer to second base. Bard simply got way to much plate with that pitch as it was up and out over the plate on a 1-2 count and had he been able to get that guy out without allowing the runner in from 3rd I would have been way more impressed. Bard would have left giving up 4 instead of 5, having retained a lead for his team while getting 5 K's. Slider was pretty good today and Bard relied on it a good deal. Saw maybe four changes in 6 innings of work. Bard had 5 K's today with the slider the out pitch of choice for the most part. All in all a good days work for Bard. Could have been better but he also could have done himself some good pitching smarter both in the walk to Mathis and the bounding ball to second base in the 6th that got the 5th run home for the Jays. This to me is in stark contrast to Cook for example. While Cook is less likely to make the rotation than Bard, Cook has the composure and mentality of a starter which is something Bard seems to lack at present. While Cook would not have gone off the deep end with that runner on third on the 6th, you get the feeling that if he had gotten to a 1-2 count on the batter he would not have left a ball out over the plate like that for an automatic run. Knowing where and when to bear down over the course of several innings of work is the expressed domain of the starter and something a pitcher has got to learn one way or the other. To me this was a slightly better outing than the one just previous. While Bard throws hard, he cannot afford mental errors and has got to get the walks under control. V will use the walks to drive him out of the rotation although I am still more inclined to Doubront and Bard getting to the rotation with Aceves staying in the pen than having Aceves in the rotation with Bard in the pen. However just the way V talks about Bard vs Aceves tells you want V wants to do. I don't even have to listen to V to hear what he will say after this Bard outing. Bard at least had an outing today that would make him seem valuable again if he returns to the pen, just not as valuable as Aceves is in the pen.

If (big if) but if Bard has a good outing today with respect to walks particularly, I don't wonder that we might something of a tit for tat between V and BC. Seems like the FO would want Bard to the rotation for obvious reasons. Bard's upside as a starter if it could be developed is very high and player development and long range goals are the domain of the FO. V wants Iggy here this year again for obvious reasons. Maybe they compromise with Bard to the rotation and Iggy to the starting SS. Not sure about how Lavarnway will fit. That would seem to me to e a step way over the lines of reason in the discussion of short term goals and long range plans. The Sox do not have a catcher on the horizon that has the potential to be what Lavarnway is. However if Salty is no better than Lavarnway according to V, that is more a comment on Salty than Lavarnway. Lavarnway needs to develop his catching skills more. V should stand down on that one and if he does not stand down then LL should stand him down!

Hard to care about the media questioning Bard's ability when his own manager does. Which of those two do you think are more stressful? I hope he comes out and shuts V's mouth for him along with everybody elses. I am more concerned about walks with Bard than this stuff about not throwing the change. He threw 12 in the stint before his last when he only threw one. In the 4th and 5th innings of his last outing his was mowing em' down without throwing the change up. The way he was going I would likely not have thrown the change if I were him either. Clearly he was not under instructions from V to throw it. V would have told us if Bard was under instructions to throw the change since V tells everybody everything. About the only thing V has not given up so far is the morning bowel movement report. We will likely get that one on a slow day. It must be a bad day for V unless he has something to say about something.

Volcano's want virgin princesses. Volcano is going spit him right back out again.

Today does not diminish for me Aceves value to this team and particularly to this pen. I do wish this whole thing about the rotation would just end so that these guys could start to prepare in earnest for opening day.

Wish I had seen Doubront today but given how late in the spring it is he may well be sticking himself in that 4 slot right now.

Well I do think that if the decision is going to hinge on which of the two Bard or Aceves is the more valuable bullpen pitcher then in my view Aceves is without question the more valuable bullpen pitcher and that would put Bard in the rotation in the 5 hole I think. Can't see that he has done enough yet to prove he is the 4. I did not get to see much of Aceves today. got here to late. However from what I saw it looked like he was the definition of wild in the middle of the plate. Looked like there were a good many pitches up and/or right in the heart of the plate.Tough day for him. 3 HR in one 3 inning stint....ouch. Anyway I don't think it is possible for guys to get good results every time out in ST. These stints are more about balls and strikes, location and stuff. Aceves threw strikes but his location was not so hot and his fastball was up and kinda' flat for him. Although stuff is not really his strength. Location is though and he did not have that today.

NESN was showing some tape of Jenks in standard spring training pitcher outfit throwing the ball. I cannot imagine that was tape of him after he supposedly lost all that weight from his surgical issues. God what a cow! Jesus, I don't know how tall he is but if he is anything like 6' he must have been about 300 lbs in that tape.

Why would you assume that? That language is in the standard contract. The Players Union is not very likely to stand by and allow that language to be used against a player. I know that in one way that does not make any sense but the Baseball Players Union is incredibly strong....always has been. They will not likely lay down for anything or anybody especially when it comes to language that is in every union member's contract. There fear would be a precedent that would lay the groundwork for other similar actions by teams against players. They just will not let it happen in my view. That particular union is not about fairness or right and wrong. It has always been an Us vs Them union. If they are not going to lay down then it goes to court and ends up in an out of court settlement with undisclosed terms or goes the limit. Neither one of those sounds like a one and done at least if I am understanding how you are using that turn of phrase. Now if as was suggested today there is specific language in Joba's contract about the use of a trampoline and an injury sustained because of it, I believe the Union would stand down if the Yanks want to pursue that. If the specific language is there and Joba did in fact injure himself using a trampoline, I do not believe the union would fight. In fact I think they had chosen not to fight in a very similar situation. Darned if I can remember the player though. But with regard to language that is as broad, nebulous and sweeping as the language referred to in the standard contract....I don't think there is a snowballs chance in hell of the Union standing down.

Well if Sean MacAdams has it right maybe we have our answer. MacAdams reports tonight that both Aceves and Bard will not be in the rotation at the same time. He goes on to report the the decision will hinge on which of the two is the more important to the bullpen. If that is the case then I would bet that the rotation will be: Lester Beckett Buch Doubront Bard with Aceves joining the other pen mates which I guess now includes Padilla.

As I noted in my post of a few days ago.....if I had to make a decision that day (couple days ago), Aceves would likely be my 4 because he has out-pitched everybody else vying for the spot by such a wide margin. However the upside for Bard as a starter is much higher than the upside is for Aceves. As for the set up role for Bard, I am not at all convinced that is where he would be best suited at this point. Again his problems with mechanics are not imbedded in this starting role. His problems with mechanics where there late last year in the set up role. What the starting role has done is that it has helped us understand the parameters of the problem from a very practical perspective. Bard is most vulnerable early in innings and early in innings early in stints. We could not really see that in the set up role because while he was in trouble early in those stints just as he has been here in the spring there were not enough innings left in his relief stints for us to really gain a full appreciation for what this really looked like. While Bard is still struggling with his mechanics, the starting role has shown us that given enough innings of work, he for the most part settles in and pitches like we hope he can. Unfortunately by then he has already given up multiple walks with the usual consequences. My problem with giving Bard the ball in the 8th inning is that this is the Bard that ended last season and if we give him the ball in the 8th now we will see what we saw end of last season. Back to Aceves, while I can see enough value in the 4 to be willing to give up Aceves in the pen to have him as the 4, if he is beat out for the 4 I would not make him the 5. He is to valuable in the pen. Will Doubront beat him out will Cook....??????? Allow Bard his two more starts in the spring and make him the 5 at least till dice comes back. Stop screwing around with these wacky questions like "are you still up for this" two stints into the spring and tell him what you expect in these next two spring starts. Don't complain to the world later that he is walking to many guys which anybody with eyes can see anyway. We all know that and big mouth Bobby telling the world Bard is walkin' to many guys does not help anybody. V should have the guts to tell Bard what is expected of him. That's right, guts. It takes guts for a manager in any endeavor to tell his people what is expected of them. It is easy to wait till it is over and complain to the world that you did not get what you wanted from your people. I have seen any number of ******* managers in any number of endeavors that had that particular "quality" and I did not respect them for that exact reason and I don't find it one of V's more admirable traits. I always told my people what I expected of them. For the next start, I would not force him to throw change ups. I would tell him that he can throw the change if that is what he thinks is best for a given situation. However I would tell him that I want him to improve his ball:strike ratio and I would tell him that I do not want to see the first batter in innings walking down the first base path. I want no walks if I can get it and I absolutely want no walks with no outs. I am as convinced as I was a few days ago that Doubront and maybe now Cook have roles to play in this. If Doubront can beat Aceves out for a rotation spot I would be very very happy. If Cook could do it and do it legitimately I would be very very happy as this pen would be way better it Aceves was in it.

By the way....don't want to confuse folks more than is usual for me (at least I know my shortcomings). My comment about people not changing was meant to suggest that V is not going to "toughen" Bard up over the length of a spring training or even longer for that matter. Bard is who he is. V might be able to convince himself that Bard is tough enough to start (whatever that means) if V likes the answers he gets from Bard to his whacky inquiries, his left handed compliments and his right angled advances. However, It will not be because the mighty V has toughened Bard up. It will be V convincing himself of the kid's makeup. Now don't put it past V to take full credit for whatever Bard does this year. The Boston media's penchant for asking loaded questions is tailor made for V. "Bobby, there were reports earlier this year that you were possibly making an effort to steel Bard's resolve or toughen him up for the rigors of starting. Since Bard has done pretty well, it looks like those efforts paid off......No?" "Well he..he.....he..he, ya' know how it is......here we get paid for doing things.....over their at the networks they get paid for saying things....he..he....he..he." Hey in this particular instance I am not really being critical of V for being V. We all knew it was going to be a hell-ofa'-ride with V as manager regardless of the result. I just hope they still offer barf bags on Air Valentine flights or at least aspirin.

We don't know if Bard can or can't start. At this point it would be hard to call a decision that he can't anything but a snap decision made to satisfy someone's short term goals. I don't have distain for V. I just don't like the idea of trading away on a guy's talent because it satisfies a short term, one year mentality. Of course the Sox themselves are as much responsible for this particular mess because recognizing both what V is and what V is not they only gave him a two year contract. It is almost unheard of to give a new Manager a meager two years and rare for a Manager to accept such a short term commitment from ownership. But this is the deal with the devil that both sides made. Nobody has beaten a path to V's door to be a manager for 9 nine years so he was going to leap at just about any opportunity to manage in the bigs again and the Sox wanted somebody that would be a show piece for returning some order to the clubhouse. Again, don't kid yourselves into thinking that this is anything other than what it is and don't kid yourselves that there were not going to be downstream ramifications from offering the Managers job to V with such a limited commitment from ownership.

People don't change overnight if at all. I don't know what V is trying to do with Bard but I think questioning his commitment to starting after two stints is a bit much. Frankly I don't think V wants Bard starting unless he is so terrific that it suits V's short term mentality and goals to have him start. V is all about what happens this year. That is why he wants Iggy up and wants Bard in the pen. While Bard has much more upside as a starter, V is quite prepared to trade that for whatever suits him this year. That is fine. Just don't kid yourselves that this is anything other than V recognizing that he likely not long for this place and wants to make as much out of this year as Manager for the Sox as he possibly can. That may even be what LL has in mind. It will likely create some additional conflicts between Baseball Operations and V beyond Bard and Iggy. As for the two current issues of short term goals and long term results, I think Iggy up makes sense because he can mean additional wins for this team this year and as I have said before, I think the horse was out of the barn on Iggy gaining hitting prowess in the minors before V got here. It was the Sox FO that pushed him up to AAA without giving him time to adapt to AA pitchers. Iggy is not going to make his money with his bat anyway. However screwing up Bard even worse than he is for short term goals bothers me. Bard is a legitimate talent that has the potential to be a big time home run for the Sox as a starter if they handle him the right way. I don't like what V is doing with him and I don't like the fact that he is doing it to satisfy his own short term goals.

That is a tough one to get anything out of. If the Sox got some inkling of whether the Players Union would stand on the sidelines for this one then it might be worth a shot. However I would be willing to bet that even for Jenks, the Players Union will step up to the plate. By the time you are done with all of the legal bull you go through at that point it is likely more trouble than it is worth even given how little we would expect to be getting out of Jenks. What a disaster Jenks has been even for Jenks. Has anybody got anything new on which set of doctors screwed up his surgery or if he is actually suing anybody over that mess?

Well since we regularly question hitters when they move away from the Colorado launch pad, don't we have to cut Cook a little slack for the same reason? That said, it is pretty obvious that he will not throw many fly ball outs. If the ball gets in the air on him it is headed for an ugly spot. It is not headed for some outfielders glove. He must keep the ball down. The only reason Cook is interesting here is because we do not have that many good options down at the bottom of the rotation.