The Red Sox exercised their annual option on Tim Wakefield, according to the Boston Globe.
The perpetual $4mm a year option is a great bargain for the Red Sox and obviously not chump change for Wakefield, who at 42 years old, ranks as one of the oldest players in baseball.
Wakefield has given the Red Sox 27 wins over the past 2 seasons, so while he certainly cannot be counted on for 200 innings anymore, he has proven capable of some quality innings.
The Boston Globe is reporting that Jason Varitek has filed for free agency. No surprise of course, his contract is up after all. Joining him on the Red Sox are Alex Cora and David Ross.
Rumor, yes the kind of rumor that Peter said to ignore 95% of the time, suggest Varitek's agent Scott Boras is shopping his client to the Detroit Tigers in an attempt to get a multi-year deal.
The bet here is that the Red Sox want Varitek back, but but for 2 years and perhaps $6mm or $7mm a year. There is no way Boras and Varitek can, with a straight face, say that Varitek's skill haven't eroded. If they are honest with themselves, they will realize that and probably take a 2 year deal with Boston. If not, see you later Captain.
Like Peter said, with World Series over, things will start to heat up quickly. I love this time of year.
c - ?
1b - Youkilis
2b - Pedroia
3b - Lowell
ss - Lowrie/Lugo
lf - Bay
cf - Ellsbury/Crisp
rf - Drew
dh - Ortiz
sp - Lester
sp - Beckett
sp - Matsuzaka
sp - Wakefield
sp - ?
rp - Papelbon
rp - Masterson
rp - Delcarmen
rp - Okajima
rp - ?
rp - ?
Above you have the Red Sox players currently under contract through next year or with whom the Red Sox hold rights. The obvious hole for the line-up is catcher. To a lesser extent will be who plays short and who plays center. The shortstop answer to me will probably be Lowrie with Lugo being dealt unless Lugo expresses interest in staying in Boston in a hybrid bench/starter capacity. As for Crisp/Ellsbury, I think with Drew's injury history, Crisp and Ellsbury will find plenty of time in 2009, so I think Crisp stays.
The Red Sox need another starter, 2 if they elect to walk away from Wakefield. Clay Buchholz is one idea, assuming he's figure himself out and the Red Sox might decide they prefer Masterson back in a starters role, where he handled himself nicely in 2008.
Michael Bowden is an idea and of course there are a bunch of other AAA guys to consider, but none really standout.
Back to catcher. If Varitek has truly entered the phase we saw in 2008, you know the phase catchers usually enter when they are 32, then he is probably only useful as a defender and pitch caller, but certainly not as a hitter. In the minors their's George Kottaras and Dusty Brown. Of course their's Kevin Cash, but while he did a good job as Varitek's back-up, he's never going to be better than he was this year.
If it were up to me, I'd sign Varitek to a 1 year deal at no more than $4mm, maybe $5mm a year with incentives to boost things if he returns to form (unlikely). I'd use him in a platoon capacity with him getting all of the ABs against lefties and only spot duty against righties. As for the other half of that platoon? Beats me. Maybe a trade is in order, just don't ask me for whom.
The bench was also exposed in the post-season. Even had Lowell stayed healthy, the options off the bench for offense were Cora, Kotsay, Casey, Cash and Crisp/Ellsbury. None of those guys hits for power. I look at Matt Stairs in Philly and think he's the type of player the Red Sox could use. Obviously you want versatile players off the bench, but isn't one of those characteristics in the versatility mix, power? That's a skill set, no?
I'm not saying go get Stairs, but have someone on the bench who can go yard. Jeff Bailey would have been my choice once Lowell went down. Casey is fine, but really, really slow and has no power left. Bailey had a great OBP (.405) at Pawtucket and a great SLG (.567). Someone who can hit the long-ball is needed. Cora, 0 HRs, Casey, 0 HRs, Kotsay, 0 HR, Cash, 3 HR, Crisp, 7 HR (in 409 Plate Appearances). Where was the beef? Bailey for Casey would have been OK with me.
Anyway, just wetting my whistle on Hot Stove talk. More to come.
And if anyone things a major signing (Sabathia, Teixeira) or deal (Peavy) needs to happen, please chime in on who and why.
Jon Lester did not lose game 7 of the ALCS, the Red Sox offense did.
Obviously credit is due to Matt Garza and the rest of the Rays bullpen (David Price for example), but for a gifted offensive team like the Red Sox to lay so many eggs in the ALCS, there's just no excuse.
I'm tempted to start talking about 2009, but the Rays are due their spoils. They were better. They were better in the regular season and obviously better in the post-season.
The Red Sox had a golden opportunity tonight and things got off to a good start, but, as the Rays proved all season, they weren't intimidated by a first inning home run off Garza and went on to take the AL crown.
There will be some significant moves in the off-season, there always are, but one major one is the possibility we just witnessed Jason Varitek's last AB in a Red Sox uniform (striking out mind you). In addition, the fact David Ortiz wasn't Ortiz most of the season suggests a major upgrade in offense is in order. Even with a healthy Ortiz, Mike Lowell and JD Drew, those guys aren't getting younger, something has to change.
Ok, I said I was ready to talk about 2009, but there I go again. Let's let this sink in (phase one, sleeplessness, phase two, nausea, phase 3, projectile nausea, phase 4, anger, phase 5, rage, phase 6, depression, phase 7, more anger, phase 8, well, the list just goes on).
Ahead, Tampa Bay vs. Philadelphia, just what MLB wanted for ratings...ahem.
Lifeless, quiet and stunned. That is a fairly decent description of both the Red Sox players and their fans. There was nothing.
In the 7th, I told myself someone has to do something special to keep this series alive. Well, many Red Sox stepped forward. David Ortiz, J.D. Drew, Jonathan Papelbon, Coco Crisp, Justin Masterson and J.D. Drew again.
Now let's be real here, the Red Sox head back to Tampa Bay down 2-3. Not a pretty picture, but, to dust off a well used cliché, the Red Sox need to take it one game at a time. There was a momentum change and a boost in confidence for Boston. They need to keep it going.
A fantastic game, coming back from 7-0 deficit, but much work remains.
First off, sorry to not post more frequently during this ALCS, but I've been moving around a bit and frequently find myself without internet access.
On to the ALCS:
Boston hasn't hit and hasn't pitched. That basically sums up their performance since game 2 (not that they hit much in game 1). David Ortiz is lost, Jacoby Ellsbury is lost, Jason Varitek remains lost, Kotsay, Drew, Lowrie, all lost! the only ones producing are Pedroia, Bay and Youkilis and to a lesser extent, Coco Crisp.
As a team the Red Sox are hitting .232/.323/.415 in the ALCS. Not good.
But surely their pitching has been good, right? No. 7.17 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP. Ugly.
Well, we can go on and on about who is doing what and what the underlying issues are, but that is a waste of time. The fact is, the Red Sox seem to do this to themselves in every post-season. 2003, down 0-2 to the A's in the ALDS. 2004, down 0-3 to the Yankees in the ALCS. 2007, down 1-3 to the Indians (after winning game 1). Why do they let it get to this point? The Red Sox are a good team, why such a flop in crucial games? Why make life so difficult?
The good news about the aforementioned series is that they did come back in all 3 to win the series in question and in 2 of the 3 years, went on to win the World Series.
But doing it again would be going to the well one too many times. I mean, there is no way they can come back again, right? An absurd thought, correct?
We'll find out tonight and hopefully Friday Saturday and Sunday too. Daisuke Matsuzaka is on the mound and will try to actually pitch well unlike his fellow starters Josh "I'm healthy" Beckett, Jon Lester and Tim Wakefield.
As for Terry Francona, I was frustrated with his decision making in game 2, but there was nothing he could have done in games 3 and 4. The Red Sox players just stunk.
These are maddeningly frustrating times (as in Joe Maddon). Man it would be sweet to see this team put it together tonight with good lead-off hitting and table-setting, good middle of the line-up hitting and productive at bats from the bottom third. In other words, just seeing the Red Sox play how they're capable would be rewarding.
Tampa Bay is a good team, so no matter how well the Red Sox play, it is likely to be tough, but at least go down with a fight.
A quick check-in after game 2. Terry Francona has been a wonderful coach and certainly his body of work with the Red Sox speaks for itself. But last night was clearly an off-night for the Red Sox manager.
First off, Josh Beckett is broken right now. He is firing on only 5 of 6 cylinders right now (using my car as an example, 1 of 2 cylinders). While I can't fault Francona for running Beckett out there last night, I can fault him for keeping him out there. It was fairly evident that he didn't have his fastball (topping out at 92-93, a good 2-4 off the norm) and general game presence.
Why then did he insist on keeping Beckett on the mound? The Red Sox fought back twice to retake the lead only to have Beckett give it up again. By the 3rd inning, Francona should have had enough. Paul Byrd was sitting in the bullpen just ready to be asked to come in and help. But no call came. Why is he on the team? This would have been the best opportunity to use him.
Byrd wouldn't have provided any guarantees, but he would have been a change of pace and perhaps a better option. But Francona pushed the issue until the Red Sox again were behind.
Ok, on to the last inning of the game. Mike Timlin in for the Red Sox. Wait, why? Why Timlin? He has been bad all year and is not a MLB caliber pitcher anymore. In fact, his last season has been a nightmare. You always want players you respect and pulled for to go gracefully into the night, well, Timlin isn't doing that. He has been a disaster and lost 2 big games at the hands of the Rays this year, last night's being the bigger of the two.
But Timlin is a pitcher and he wants to pitch, it is Francona who needed to tell Timlin that he wasn't going to be a part of the post-season. Instead, for whatever reason, he not only put Timlin on the roster, he gave him the ball in extra-innings. Disaster.
I know Francona to be good and I expect he'll continue to be good, but he needs to know that last night's handling of the pitching staff was dreadful.
Back to Boston for game 3, 4 & 5.
The Red Sox beat the best team in baseball last night and they didn't deserve to. Just ask the Angels.
They managed to take 3 of 4 from LA and while it wasn't pretty, it worked.
The irony of last night's game was that Mike Scioscia, who has the reputation of being a master of manufacturing runs, went to the well one too many times. In the 9th inning, with a man on 3rd and 1 out, Scioscia ordered a squeeze. The problem, as most of know by now is that the Angels' Erick Aybar missed the pitch allowing Jason Varitek to tag the runner out before getting to third.
The squeeze is one of those plays that when it works against your team, it just feels awful (I'm writing from a fan's perspective), but when it blows up in the oppositions face, well, there's a feeling of "serves you right." I guess it's the macho notion that runs should be scored via slugging, not bunting. That being said, I have no problem with the squeeze as a legitimate method of scoring, but the primitive part of me thinks it's inherently wrong.
Now if I'm the Angels players, I would be very upset, they did win 100 regular season games and probably had high expectations. Most of them spoke of being angry and frustrated about the loss. Pitcher John Lackey took it a step further "It's way different than last year. We are way better than they are. We lost to a team not as good as us."
Lackey went on to say, "[Referring to Sunday's game] they scored on a pop fly they called a hit, which is a joke. "[Tonight], they score on a broken-bat ground ball and a fly ball anywhere else in America. And [Pedroia's] fist-pumping on second like he did something great."
Classy Lackey, classy. I know you are angry, but try being mature, or maybe that's as mature as you get.
No matter the outcome of the 2008 season for the Red Sox, it should be interesting when the Red Sox face Lackey in 2009. I think Pedroia will try to mix it up a bit. Perhaps by using the Trot Nixon "oops the bat slipped out of my hands while swinging and whizzed right by your head" technique. We shall see.
On to Tampa Bay. This series should be exciting and difficult. More on that later.
Notes: Mike Lowell was removed from the active roster because of his hip. In yet another example Red Sox management reads this site, they acted on a specific recommendation that I made. Yes, I know all...some...very little...whatever.
Lowell was not helping the team and it just makes sense to let him heal. Lowell fully endorsed the move recognizing that his physical condition made playing baseball effectively unlikely.
Lowell was replaced on the active roster by Gil Velazquez. It is near impossible Velazquez finds himself in this situation. As a non hitting career minor leaguer, Velazquez has turned his talents with his glove into a playoff roster spot. Wow. At 28 years old (29 in 10 days), he toiled in the minors until September of this year. A good story, but I'm certainly hoping I don't see him play an inning unless it is in a blow-out.
Round 2.
Dustin Pedroia: 0-13
Mike Lowell: 0-8
David Ortiz: 3-13
Jason Varitek: 2-11
Total: 5-45 = .111
Those 4 hitters are collectively hitting .111 thus far in the ALDS. That isn't good, is it.
The Red Sox were not good last night and the only reason they got the game into extra innings was because of a colossal error (rule a hit) by the Angels that allowed 3 runs to score on a single.
Terry Francona needs to tell Mike Lowell that he is a great guy, but he can't play baseball right now. Jed Lowrie at 3rd, Cora at SS or Youkilis to 3rd, Kotsay or Casey to 1st. No way Lowell can play. He is at 60% tops. His body is a mess and more importantly, he cannot hit with his hip condition. His defense is important, but even that is limited right now. Sit him Terry.
Tonight we see a rematch of game one. It is too bad the Red Sox couldn't finish the job last night as having Lester to start game one of the ALCS would have been great. Now the Red Sox need to focus on tonight's game as there is no way they want to go back to Anaheim.
The Boston Globe is reporting Mike Lowell is a scratch for game 2. So is Jed Lowrie. Lowell is sitting because Terry Francona wants a healthy Lowell vs. Angels game 3 starter lefty Joe Saunders.
Lowrie is sitting because Francona decided before the series began that Alex Cora would get the start. No injury, no benching.
Lastly, Josh Beckett is a definite for game 3.