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News abounds for the Red Sox.  First off and most importantly, Josh Beckett's visit with Dr. James Andrews resulted in the righty being diagnosed with a strained right elbow.  No damage, just a strain.  The Red Sox were so pleased with the results that they have him scheduled to start this Tuesday but not before placing him on the DL retroactive to August 18th.

Also, Sean Casey was put on the DL retroactive to August 20th, Michael Bowden was called up from Pawtucket to make his major league debut today, Julio Lugo was transferred from the 15 day DL to the 60 day DL which usually means a player is done for the year and catcher  David Ross was brought up to Boston as well.

The Ross transaction is puzzling as he could have been brought up when roster expanded, but I guess they wanted him eligible for post-season play.  Kevin Cash, watch out.

So keeping tabs on the 25-man roster was a challenge on Friday.

Back to Beckett, obviously the news is great, but there must still be some doubt in his mind if the elbow doesn't feel right.  Hopefully he is a go for Tuesday.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 12:43 PM | Permalink

Josh Beckett, originally scheduled to start Friday night, has been scratched and will instead visit Dr. James Andrews ESPN is reporting.

Andrew's name is so closely linked with Tommy John surgery that any mention of him sends chills down my spine.

Theo Epstein was quoted as saying that 'though the numbness in Beckett's fingers has subsided, the elbow "doesn't fell 100 percent."

According to Francona, "I think the best word I can use is we're just trying to get some closure.  We never want to send anyone out there that's not 100 percent. We're no more pessimistic about him today than we were, but when he goes out there we want him to be able to pitch with peace of mind."

Just visiting Andrews requires that the Red Sox get ready for a playoff push without Josh Beckett.  Not a good scenario by any means.

The optimist in me says that the Red Sox having been winning without Beckett's "A" game this year and have done well in his recent absence, but the realist in me says sure the Red Sox can win without him, but the job gets much harder.

The Red Sox have piled up the injuries this year with 3 regulars currently on the DL (Lowell, Drew and Lugo) and their ace looking for answers.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 07:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Thanks to blmeanie for this link.  Blmeanie gave us this site which is a hoot.  This guy does some hysterical impressions of Red Sox batters.  He actually has all teams covered and you can find them on his site.

The Youkilis impression had me struggling for breath.  Good stuff.

Oh yeah, Peter Gammons, via ESPN, is reporting that the Red Sox are working on a deal to acquire Mark Kotsay.  Kotsay is nothing special with the bat (.752 career OPS), but he does play good defense and is needed with J.D. Drew going on the DL today with a strained lower back as a result of a herniated disc (previously diagnosed).

A Kotsay deal reminds me of the Bobby Kielty signing last year.  Let's hope he too can hit a game deciding home run in game 4 of the World Series.  By the way, Kielty never made it back to the Majors this year having struggled in the minors.

Anyway, The Fielding Bible by John Dewan, says about Kotsay, "Kotsay covers a good amount of ground in center field.  He combines good range with good reads on the ball, good routes and a strong, accurate arm.  His 18 baserunner kills over the past 3 years (2003 - 2005) is second only to Jim Edmonds in center field in that time period."

So a defensive bench player.  My question, if Coco Crisp is also good defensively (with the glove, not with the arm), what gives?  If Drew comes back is Crisp or Kotsay a goner?  Kotsay has hit better than Crisp.  But, Crisp has another year left at $5.25mm or so.

Interesting development.  Anyway, enjoy the batting stances.  Mo Vaughn was great too.  Also, glad to hear Yaz is back home after triple bypass surgery.  Be well number 8.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 09:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

The Red Sox open a 3 game set in New York tonight marking their last ever regular season visit to Yankee Stadium.

Of course it would have made far more sense to have flip-flopped the locations of the last 2 series meetings between Boston and New York (the 2008 regular season ends with New York at Boston), but some schedule maker was asleep at the wheel on that one.  No matter, we can all expect a barrage of images and memories of all the great games played between these two teams at Yankee Stadium.

Ok, enough on nostalgia, let's talk baseball.

If the Red Sox want to hang on to their 1.5 game lead in the Wild Card, the starting pitching has to come around and get healthy.  Josh Beckett is hurt, Tim Wakefield is hurt, Clay Buchholz was banished to Caribou Maine, Daisuke Matsuzaka remains quite painful to watch while winning, Paul Byrd is doing what he always does (allowing plenty of base runners) and Jon Lester has been good.

As we head down the stretch, I feel comfortable with Lester, Matsuzaka and Byrd.  I say this only because those are the only health starters Boston has.  I'm worried about Beckett as any kind of tingling in the  hand makes me think of Tommy John.  Buchholz is no longer an option in 2008 and Wakefield had to miss a big chunk of the 2007 playoffs with the same injury he is battling now.

Not a good place to be in.  Bartolo Colon is doing well in his minor league rehab and should be an option in 7-10 days, but if the Red Sox want to lock down a post-season spot, they need Beckett healthy.

Beckett, Lester, Matsuzaka, Wakefield sounds much better than Lester, Matsuzaka, Bryd, Colon if the post-season were to start today.

As you'd expect, with these injuries creeping in, the Red Sox pitching has not been good over the past 28 days posting a 5.00 ERA, yet still going 14-10.  Over the past 14 days a 6.25 ERA, but 8-4 and over the past week, 6.00 ERA yet 4-2.  So while the pitching is not good, the offense is.  28 days, .283/.367/.462.  14 days, .297/.383/.507 and over the past week, .275/.361/.477.

A big contributor to the offense has been Jason Bay.  Since being acquired at the trade deadline, he has gone .333/.385/.529 scoring 20 runs, 4 HRs, 18 RBI and 3 SBs.  Bay hustles every play and seems to be actually thinking while playing baseball.  It is refreshing to see.  Add to it, he has played some good defense thus far.  His range is well below league average but that tends to happen in left at Fenway.

Notice few if any have talked about Julio Lugo's return?  Jed Lowrie has done a much better job as his replacement and I don't expect he'll lose his job even if Lugo were to return today.

Jason Varitek has shown some life, going .265/.375/.559 over the past 14 days.  Good to see.

I have not given up on the Red Sox winning the AL East, but the Tampa Bay Rays need to lose a few now and again for that to happen.  Boston has 6 games remaining against the Rays after all and can make up all ground necessary in a matter of days if they play well.  With the injuries to Crawford, Longoria and Percival, I really expected them to falter a bit, but no such luck.  They are good.

Where the Rays are not good is at having good fans.  They drew just 19,157 for Sunday's game against the LA Angels?  That is a joke.  Tampa ranks 26 out of 30 teams in attendance at 21,303 per game or 51.1 % of capacity.

Attendance ranks based on capacity from ESPN:

Boston - 37- 104.1% capacity

Detroit - 39,896 - 99.4%

Chicago (N) - 40,728 - 99.1%

Philadelphia - 42,325 - 97.3%

New York (A) - 52,869 - 92.0%

Los Angeles (A) - 41,204 - 91.5%

Much baseball to be played, but this time of year tends to go by in a flash.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 09:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

A few weeks back a rumor popped up that the Yankees might make a run at Paul Byrd.  I scoffed, as is my way, at the idea of it.  Peter and I engaged in a slight back and forth and I left that discussion thinking the move would be ok, but not really an impact move befitting the Yankees.

Byrd has made some news in the past year most notably his use of HGH which he said was in full compliance with MLB, but turned out it was not.  For some reason, no action has been taken against him as of yet.

No matter, now that Byrd is a member of the Red Sox, to me he is the best pitcher ever.  All kidding aside, as I mentioned yesterday, it is a good pick-up for this time of year.  Is Byrd great, no, far from it, he is probably average in at best.

I was listening on the radio today (WEEI which has little credibility when it comes to evaluations of anything from their hosts) and they said Byrd was the hottest pitcher since the All-Star break.  True?  You tell me.

In his 4 starts since the break he is:  4-0, 1.24 ERA, 29 IP, 25 H, 4 ER, 7 BB, 12 K.  Ok, he has been good, check that, great.  But consider prior the the All-Star break, the same pitcher was 3-10, 5.47 ERA in 102 IP.  That is an extreme and there is no reason to believe Byrd will continue to pitch at the level of a sub 2.00 ERA pitcher the rest of the way or a sub 4.00 pitcher either.

Byrd eats innings, can keep you in games for the most part, but needs a strong offense behind him because he does allow runs.  With Mike Lowell likely headed to the DL (finally), the Red Sox will find scoring runs a bit more difficult, although last night's game was a poor indicator of that.

Other questions on Byrd.  Why didn't the Yankees or the Rangers make a play for Byrd?  How did he slip to the Red Sox?  Perhaps that is an indication that yes he is a veteran, but just isn't the best pitcher in the world.  Regardless, Byrd goes Friday night at Fenway.  With all this action, Charlie Zink, rough night last night, has already been demoted and it seems Clay Buchholz has dodged the minor league bullet for now.  I'm not sure he belongs up here now and think keep him up here but not using him might be worse than sending him to AAA to work things out.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 09:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

In a blockbuster move, the Red Sox overhauled their starting rotation with the acquisition of Paul Byrd in return for Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jon Lester.

Which part of the above is false?

I'll quit playing around, the Red Sox did trade for Paul Byrd today for cash or a PTBNL.  Beckett and company are safe.

Byrd is a throwback and is capable of a decent workload.  He has made 31 starts in each of his previous 3 seasons and is on pace to do so again this year.  In 22 starts, he is 7-10 with a 4.53 ERA.  Far from terrible, but not overwhelming.  Bryd doesn't strike anyone out (56 in 131 IP) but instead tries to keep hitters off-balance (don't all pitchers) with an array of off-speed stuff and a deceiving delivery.

With this trade, I bet we see Clay Buchholz sent down, especially since Charlie Zink has already been named starter for tonight's game.

Byrd represents an approximate $2.5mm rental (if I have my facts straight, Byrd signed a 2 year deal after the 2005 season with Cleveland that contained an option year which he is playing out right now).  If the Red Sox make the playoffs, I doubt Byrd would make the post-season roster, unless Tim Wakefield remains injured and even that isn't a certainty.

Good pick-up, an average arm, about the best you can expect this time of year, to add some depth to the starting ranks.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 04:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Red Sox suddenly find themselves short on starters.  With Tim Wakefield on the DL and Clay Buchholz ineffective, Boston has some decisions to make.

Bartolo Colon isn't going to be ready until later this month.  Justin Masterson was just converted to a reliever and I doubt they'd risk it and switch him back.

Beckett, Matsuzaka, Lester and Buchholz are the current healthy starters.  My guess is that Buchholz gets sent down in the next 48 hours and the Red Sox make a call to Pawtucket for help.  With no scheduled day off in the next 10 days, management will have to work some magic.

Options for the 4th and 5th rotation spots.

Buchholz - I doubt he is a viable option right now.  When you read his quotes in the paper, this kid has lost all confidence and is thinking way too much.  Go figure it out for the rest of the season (i.e. rest of this month) in the minors.

Charlie Zink - A knuckleballer, he makes the most sense as he's pitched very well at Pawtucket.  13-4, 2.89 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 152.1 IP, 129 H, 43 BB, 94 K.  Kevin Cash has proven he can catch the knuckle and the old concern that a team would never carry 2 knucklers at the same time is moot with Wakefield on the DL.

David Pauley - Pauley is no stranger to Boston having made 4 starts over the 2006 and 2007 seasons.  He was lit up overall, but has pitched well in Pawtucket this year.  13-4, 3.32 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 135.2 IP, 132 H, 40 BB, 94 K.

Davern Hansack - He started poorly this year at AAA, but has done well of late, posting 3-2, 2.45 ERA in his last 10 starts covering 66 IP.  Overall he is 5-10, 4.10 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 125.0 IP, 112 H, 36 BB, 118 K.  This BB/K ratio and K/9 are the best of the bunch, so he has a good shot at being called up and pitched fairly well in his brief MLB appearances.

Edgar Martinez - The converted catcher started his pitching career as a reliever, but was converted (again) to a starter earlier this year.  So far so good although his control hasn't been good enough.  Over his last 10 games (9 of which were starts), he has gone 4-1, 3.75 ERA in 50.1 IP.  Overall Martinez is 6-2, 4.03 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 96.0 IP, 77 H, 45 BB, 77 K.

Those are the internal options.  Of course we could see a waiver deal or even a Freddie Garcia type acquisition.  Given Wakefield's injury doesn't seem too serious and Colon might be helpful later this month, my guess is they go with the AAA players, that's what I'd do.

If it were up to me, I would take Zink and Hansack as Zink has earned a shot and Hansack has pitched for Boston before and didn't stink the place up.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 07:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Some final notes on the Jason Bay deal.

Sean McAdam on Sports Tonight said the following:

 - The Red Sox Front Office received and solicited feedback from the players on Manny.  Most of the veteran players said it was time for a change.  They weren't sure they could count on Manny or trust Manny.

 - Jason Bay will be playing his first meaningful game of his career at the MLB level Friday night.

 - McAdam says Bay will hit 5th in the line-up if for no other reason than to limit the comparison to Manny Ramirez as a # 4 hitter.  At least for the time being.  Either Lowell or Youkilis will hit clean-up in the meantime.

 - The inclusion of Brandon Moss and Craig Hansen was interesting.  They both had value, but to move Manny, were necessary to include.

Sports Tonight showed a clip from David Ortiz commenting on Manny Ramirez.

Ortiz Quote:  "Always I had people asking me questions about Manny, you know, like I'm Manny Part 2.  You know, he wore me out, I mean, you know, because I know everyone is going to ask 'hey David, what do you think about what Manny's thinking?'  I don't [expletive deleted] know, you know?"

 - Super (or former Super) agent Scott Boros represents both Ramirez and Bay (and Hansen).  McAdam believes Boros convinced Manny to agree to refuse arbitration to any team that got him thus making sure Manny would not accept arbitration, and thus a mega payday, for the acquiring team.

 - The Florida Marlins were in on a deal but wanted the Red Sox to add an additional $2 million dollars on top of the Red Sox paying all of Manny's salary.  The Red Sox said no and the Marlins eventually said goodbye.

 - By making this deal, the Dodgers essentially gave up Andy LaRoche and Adam Morris for a FREE Manny and 2 compensation draft picks (sandwich between round 1 and 2) in the 2009 draft.  A steal for the Dodgers which makes you wonder why other teams out there didn't get involved.  Why?  (caution, Andy opinion) Because they knew that Manny is potentially the biggest headache in baseball.

 - In answering how desperate Theo Epstein was to move Manny, McAdam said there was a "mandate" from the veteran players to move Manny in order to avoid a sinking ship even if they couldn't get full value for Manny.

Final thoughts:

Are the Red Sox a better team after this deal?  Well, not to anger anyone, that is a difficult question to answer.  With a Manny Ramirez actually trying hard, the Red Sox are a worse team than they were at 3:59pm Thursday.  By far.  So on paper, the Red Sox lose big.

But, Manny wasn't going to try hard.  Or at best, the risk of Manny tanking was too great to ignore.  Jason Bay and the $10mm the Red Sox paid (approx. $7.5mm for Manny's contract for the next 2 months and the $2.0mm they owe Bay) and Hansen and Moss were what it took to rid themselves of a malcontent.

With Bay, the Red Sox have a good hitter who finally has protection.  Consider he hit behind Ryan Doumit and in front of Doug Mientkiewicz in Pitt.  Some protection, eh (Bay is Canadian, so I threw in the local talk).  Now he gets Ortiz, Youkilis, Lowe, Drew or Pedroia protecting him.  A better selection, no?

The age of Manny has passed.  On to the Back Bay Basher.  I guess Fenway isn't in the Back Bay, but rather the Fens.  But Back Bay Basher sounds better.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 12:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)