jung

Actually I should have said this was the year Lester was expected to step past Beckett which is a little different from stepping up. At any rate, that did not happen in 2011 either. I actually think both Beckett and Lester qualify as "Aces" but if the term is meant to imply a single guy, then it would be hard to anoint Lester as the guy based on Beckett's 2011 and Lester's 2011. Maybe the pitching coach can make a difference in that regard. Since he has seemed to pitch better without the pressure of being the supposed number 1 if they are both healthy it might make sense to have Beckett start game 1 of the 2012 season and let Lester work his way past Beckett without being saddled with that expectation from day one of the 2012 season. Expectation seems to be the one thing Lester did not handle well in 2011 and he is certainly young enough that starting 2012 "behind" Beckett and working past him over the course of 2012 would not seem that big a deal. I would not do that however if Lester pitched really well in the spring as if that happens the Sox will have to acknowledge that I would think.

LL was clearly not happy about Theo saying that if Tito had remained in Boston he would have remained in Boston as well.

I actually found it interesting that Cherington said that the Sox already have their 1-2-3 starters and surely Aceves or Bard moves to the rotation presuming they do sign Paps. I have agreed with those that have posted here that they actually have three 2's which makes for a very strong core of starting pitchers. However none of them proved to be a stopper for this team and i have contended that your number 1 guy most at least have that capability. Beckett is in transition to the back half of his career, Lester is in transition to the beginning of best part of his career but this was the year he was EXPECTED to step up for the first time. That is not the same as pitching without the pressure of expectation. Buchholtz is a shade behind Lester but none were stoppers. Given how important starting pitching is and given Cherington's comments about taking some buy low gambles, it sounds to me like somebody like Volquez is were they might go and take a gamble there and try to take advantage of his upside. That might at least get them to 2013 when it might again make sense to go after a big name FA SP. I think much depends on this manager choice and who gets the job as pitching coach. While the Sox have 3 really good starters they are all in some form of transition, Beckett and Lackey career based, Buckholtz coming off injury....I would love to see a pitching coach that can help them through these transitions successfully.

Well the Lackey controversy is solved. He is a Red Sox for the term of his contract I would guess. He will undergo TJ this off season. So he gets paid, he stays a Red Sox and we don't see him again till 2013 on the other side of a surgical procedure for which there are no guarantees what-so-ever other than that he surely could not pitch worse. TJ is as much about how the pitcher adapts to what is arm does post surgery, how hard he works and then whether he can in fact throw the same arsenal of pitches that made him a MLB pitcher in the first place. It has worked well for some, not so well for others. What bothers me a bit is that it became clear that Lackey has had multiple MRI's that the Sox have reviewed over time. Given that it has only been two years since he left Anaheim, and looking at the issues that Lackey had even in 2010, I am left with even more consternation about that move than I was when they made it. In point of fact you could look at 2010 and see that there were signs that 2011 was on the way in 2010. I have often said that the biggest stat difference for Lackey was swinging strikes as they fell dramatically in 2010 and then went off a cliff in 2011.

Number of saves is a meaningless stat when trying to understand a pitchers performance level. I am simply suggesting that Paps does not get many save opportunities regardless of how good he is. The number of save opportunities only gives you a number that can be used to value his actual and potential contribution to wins and losses. If we are constantly going into the 9th leading by several or losing and not coming back (in fact it is worse than that, if we go into the 7th losing we don't come back), then $15M for a closer would seem a bit over the top and some additional risk at that position might well be absorbed without much actual impact to wins and losses. Maybe Bard is not ready. Maybe if Paps only gets offered 3 years from teams competing for his services then $15M per year for 3 to drop kick this decision makes sense. To be honest in the face of other issues that are more critical I just don't think the issue of closer for this team is all that big a deal and a long way from the central issues they need to resolve. So for 3 years at 15, sign him if they want, don't sign him if they don't want to. As long as I don't have to hear that we could not address the bigger issues because we spent $15M for a closer on a team for which the game is generally over before the 9th inning, I am OK with it. I am truly torn because 3 good starters and a closer with strong work ethic can at least be a good place from which to move forward. Sad that work ethic becomes a possible rational to keep a guy but welcome to Fenway. I am just as inclined to 3 good starters and a good closer as opposed to one with the second best WHIP for all closers being OK for this team. This team has got to get into a position to be in and possibly win more close games before worrying about who is going to pitch the 9th inning. This is not a 2011 issue by the way. 2010 and 2009 were not much different. Lets take the 2011 team and drop it into the post season. Do you honestly think that the closer would make much of a difference in how far the Sox would have gotten?

There is actually one element of risk or I should say value even with Paps. His stats are great. His WHIP is regularly among the best for closers in baseball. However Paps has never been called upon to save many games for the Sox. He pitches in many 9th innings for the Sox but when compared to other top closers he simply never records that many saves. You could argue that he has recorded great stats while not being under much pressure. I am not presenting this data in order to deny Paps his due. I am simply suggesting that the Sox may not need a $15M closer. In fact it would appear to me that from the data, the Sox would have to go through a pretty drastic change in order to truly get the value out of a $15M closer. It would have to be the kind of team that is in tighter games going into the 9th inning. The point is that there is no merit to giving up no runs in the 9th if you are ahead by more than 1 run anyway or if you rarely score in the 9th in games that you are losing. Paps total saves are comparatively low because while always being called on to come in the 9th inning and finish the game, either the Sox are so far ahead that he does not get a save or so far behind that he does not get a save. It has been this way throughout Paps career with the Sox so I don't view this as something that is a one year glitch or something that is going to change anytime soon. If we all agree that at the end of the day it is about wins and losses how much of a contribution can Paps actually make to wins and losses? The Sox rarely come from behind late in games and are rarely ahead and in a tight game by the ninth inning. They are more often than not ahead by several runs in the 9th inning or they are losing and doing very little to come from behind, one or the other. At the same time then Bard or any other closer for that matter may not represent as much of a risk as we perceive simply based on the way the Sox play baseball.

Wow, Larussa out-managed by Wash AGAIN. I might have to check to see if there are pink elephants jumping over a blue moon tonight. Great game though...great baseball entertainment. Probably would have been going completely nuts if one of these teams was my home team.

I thought the Cubs were really left hard up for a closer at the end of 2011 and wouldn't Paps be mighty convenient under the circumstances. Then again the Cubs do have other problems to solve before getting to a front line closer. Are we willing to sign Paps whatever it takes? I would question the logic of doing that. If we assume Paps will get big closer money from someone I would think is makes more sense after serious FO due diligence to take a shot at Bard. Now if the Sox find there are issues with Bard that even we do not know about at this point then that is a completely different story. Remember Bard suffered from mechanical problems that nobody on the Sox appeared competent enough to help him solve. We have pillared Young continually since the end of the season. That has not been happening because he was a competent pitching coach. He was not only lax but he simply seemed to have no answers for anybody about anything. I wonder what Oakland had him doing that they are happy with.... run the day care center. I would hate to pay big money for Paps when in fact Bard was simply a young pitcher that needed help that nobody could provide. However there is no question that Bard is a risk and whatever the Sox do, just assuming he can be a competent closer is the last of them. They have work to do without question.

Ya' gotta' wonder what a healthy pair of legs would have meant to Holiday and the Rangers in this series. That last at bat was all arms....no legs at all in that swing.

Common' Rangers ya' gotta' get Carpenter out of this damn game.

I think most of us are a little paranoid about giving up guys that are proven performers in a year like the one that we have just had and that goes for me as well. But honestly I really don't think at the end of the day Bard pitched badly enough to justify deviating from the plan. Again I am accusing myself of being a little jittery but boy there are some things we can do with that money. In truth if he was not going FA he would certainly be somebody we would consider as a candidate for a trade deal. There is no doubt in my mind that we would be entertaining offers and may have even shopped him. I would think the Cubbies would go ga-ga over Paps so I think somebody is going to toss some real money at him.

Well I gotta' give CJ some credit here. While he has been battling his own demons the whole night that does not mean the battle is not real. He has hung tough while there has not been much going his way and he has not really had an easy inning all night. However he has been calling on his reserves of fortitude since the first inning and there is just so much of that you can do before the floodgates open up. I don't wonder if his post season performance is going to have an impact on his free agency. Everybody has been lauding him as the pitcher at the top of the heap for this FA season and talking about him getting huge money. I really like him but I think all the hubbub may have more to do with who is not a FA this year. Although the goofy announcers are suggesting he might move back into the bullpen for somebody. I can't imagine somebody paying FA money to bring him in intending to send him out to the pen. God I never know which one of these two announcers I am going to end up more frustrated with after 4-5 games. Just not my favorite team.

oh...oh...oh...oh....a four out inning....a chink in the armor.

Damn Carpenter...hes' as comfortable right now as Wilson is antsy.

Way to go CJ! Way to pitch out of a jam.

See the look on Beltri's face starin' over. SS definitely missed that sign. Announcers talkin' about CJ being on a short leash which I can understand. If he gets out of this inning he might finally calm down. If he does not get an out here I think we will see Wash.

CJ keeps lookin' down like he is continually surprised by his footfall. It's almost like he is away from home on an unfamiliar mound. Looked awkward on that ball 4 also.

Love those shut down half innings after a score.

Thanks! I have too much ambient noise in the center channel for some reason and he is getting drowned out by it. Happens every once and awhile around here on the HD channels.

That auughta' loosen' em' up some. Dinger Moreland!

I can't hear Holland. I can't tell if he is just goofin' or what he is doin'.

Man I don't like the way CJ is throwing the ball. What the hell are they doin' this Holland as announcer thing for? Fox is really something. Thank God for the DP.

Even though it is early in the game, this could be an important half inning for CJ. Carpenter is settling in nicely, and the home plate ump is seeing his pitches. CJ needs to settle down. He looks like he swallowed a bee hive. A 1-2-3 half could really go a long way to settling the whole squad. Not sure why they have come out so tight. Wonder if Mr. "Doin the Wash" made the mistake of a pre-game speech. Corrected my own error. I constantly call him TJ.

Geez Wilson looks uncomfortable so far. His front foot is landing all over the place. The rest of the Rangers are not looking like they are playing free and easy either as they have got an early case of "hands of stone". Can't give Carpenter too many runs.

Really hope we get a great game tonight. Wilson against Carpenter at least looks like it should be fun to watch. Wilson has much to make up for this post season. I hate to see young guys just blow away post season opportunities. I hope he does well.