Let’s Not Be Hasty

Posted by Adam Hart December 30, 2008 at 2:52 am

I’m talking to you, Florida Marlins. Please come back to the negotiating table. I want Hanley Ramirez in this Red Sox lineup.  Pronto. Read more

To ‘Deal or No Deal’

Posted by Adam Hart December 9, 2008 at 5:13 pm

Somebody might have slipped crazy pills into my lunch.  I’m not sure.  So I’ll ask you to please tell me if you’re understanding this in the same fashion. Read more

Make a Run at Russ

Posted by Mike Giardi November 5, 2008 at 6:43 pm

Okay, so I come up with a foolproof 5-point plan for Red Sox GM Theo Epstein, but that was before the rumors about Russell Martin’s availability circulated. I hate it when that happens. So while I pined for Taylor Teagarden, he drops to number two on my catcher wish list. Sorry TT, but Martin’s
got the credentials.

The Dodgers backstop has played in 151 and 155 games the last two seasons, which no doubt contributed to his slight offensive decline this past season. But the numbers are still worthy of the Sox putting the full-court press on Frank McCourt and his peeps. This is a kid who insiders say calls a terrific game (in fact, during the All-Star game, one of the announcers compared his skills in that department to Jason Varitek), and who just so happens to be a decade younger than the man he would replace.

So why is L.A. willing to shop him? Seems there is some concern about his makeup. Come to find out that’s just code for Martin enjoying the Hollywood scene a little too much. As one of our producers, Craig Kolodny just said, “how can you blame him?” When you are young and in that scene, its understandable. I’m more than willing to take the “risk” on that front.

That leads me to my next question: what would you be willing to give up in order to make that deal happen? The Dodgers have a deep farm system, but a Clay Buchholz, Justin Masterson or Michael Bowden would be one heck of a starting point for any discussion.

My bigger concern is what you would have to take back, in addition to Martin. And by that, you’d figure either Juan Pierre or Andruw Jones. Think about it from the Dodgers standpoint. Wouldn’t you insist that one of those two be part of the package? I mean, if I’m trading one of the best young catchers in the game, I’d better be dumping one of those contracts. Actually, if I’m dealing with the Sox, I insist they take Jones. They’re only one of a handful of teams that could handle the big spike in payroll, even for a player they have little to no use for. I’d make it happen. Jones is only on the books for one more year, and barring an injury, you’ve acquired an All-Star catcher entering the prime of his career.

How about you? What are your thoughts? Would you pull the trigger on such a trade? Or would you chase one of the Texas three? Let us know.

Media Movement All Over The Place

Posted by Bruce August 15, 2008 at 8:30 am

Last night we learned about the changes at the Globe, which included Tony Massarotti moving over from the Herald, and Chad Finn earning himself a sweet promotion.

This morning, David Scott has more on the move, but also reports on new hires at weei.com, which include Jeff Goodman, Alex Speier and wait for it…Ron Borges.

Ron Borges? 

Seriously? Ken Powers wasn’t available? Mike Barnicle turned them down? Patricia Smith wasn’t interested?

My interest and enthusiasm in their new venture just sunk considerably. They were doing things right all the way up until that point. Michael Felger, Rob Bradford, Goodman and Speier are all relatively young guys who understand how things work in the new age of sportswriting. For the most part they have a fresh perspective on things, and don’t stir up stuff just to get noticed (well, except for Felger.)

Borges throws all that out the window. The quotes from Dennis and Callahan in Scott’s piece are just nauseating. Yeah, I’m sure Bill Belichick is shaking in his shoes at the thought of Borges back in Foxboro. That’s provided of course that he knows how to get there. He hasn’t been seen down there in a long time, even before his (wink wink) retirement from the Globe.

I had high hopes for this new weei.com. Borges just about kills it for me. You hire him, you lose your credibility. Simple as that.

Bad move, guys.

——————————
The Red Sox hitters are surely sorry to see the Texas Rangers pitchers leave town. Boston finished off the sweep of the Rangers with a 10-0 victory at Fenway Park last night. The Red Sox scored 37 runs in 3 games off the Rangers…

Globe beat reporter Amalie Benjamin has the game story. Jeff Horrigan has the Red Sox continuing their hot hitting since the Manny Ramirez trade. Paul Kenyon has the Red Sox finishing off their roundup of the Rangers. Jeff Goldberg has Daisuke Matsuzaka once again letting the runners on, and once again not letting them score. Bob Stern has the Red Sox pounding the Rangers one more time. Garry Brown has more on the demolition at Fenway. Phil O’Neill has another big inning leading the way for Boston.

Tony Massarotti has David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis proving to be a formidable 3-3 combination. Barbara Matson has Ortiz especially sorry to see the Rangers go. Ortiz has regain his power stroke in this series, and even enjoyed an early departure last night. Still, I can’t help but remember the reaction from the media when Pedro Martinez left the ballpark early after a start. I’ve got absolutely no problem with Ortiz (or Pedro) going home early, but it’s interesting to note the difference in reaction. Steven Krasner analyzes the lack of success by the Rangers pitching in this series. Massarotti says that the Blue Jays will provide a much stiffer test for the Boston bats.

Marty Dobrow has a minor league notebook in the Globe, and examines a rash of oblique strains in the Red Sox organization. Rich Thompson’s minor league notebook has Bartolo Colon on the road back to the majors.

Benjamin’s notebook has Jon Lester trying to help out Clay Buchholz. Horrigan’s notebook has Dice-K once again walking a tightrope last night. The ProJo notebook has more on Matsuzaka. Goldberg’s notebook says that Kevin Youkilis is making a case for league MVP. Brown’s notebook has Paul Byrd getting ready for his first Red Sox start tonight. O’Neill’s notebook also makes the case for Youkilis as AL MVP.

Patriots

Over on Patriots Daily, Scott Benson examines whether the Patriots can or will carry five running backs on their roster.

Christopher L. Gasper has a look at the Patriots signing of veteran safety John Lynch. Christopher Price has more on the Lynch signing. Carolyn Thornton says that Lynch could end up being a big presence in the Patriots secondary. Eric McHugh thinks Lynch should fit well here. Jennifer Toland writes that Lynch could fill the void left by Tank Williams being placed on IR. Mark Farinella looks at this year’s carbon-dated addition to the Patriots roster.

Karen Guregian says that adding Dom Capers to the coaching staff might be the best move the Patriots made in the offseason. Thornton has rookie QB Kevin O’Connell doing all he can to learn from Tom Brady. Guregian has more on the rookie learning how to play the position in his first NFL camp. Farinella has a look at Kenny Smith, who gets a feature written about him for the second day in a row. Thompson has punter Chris Hanson secure in his role with the team.

Price tells us what to watch for during Sunday night’s game. Ian M. Clark has a Ruud family reunion on tap for Sunday night. Mike McMahon looks at former Boston Patriot Daryl Johnson going into the Morgan State Hall of Fame.

Gasper’s notebook has Jason Webster getting close to returning to action for the Patriots. Guregian’s notebook has more on the signing of Lynch. Toland’s notebook has Dean Pees talking about some of his young players on defense. McHugh’s notebook examines the impact on he safety depth chart that the Lynch signing will have.

Misc

Steve Bulpett and Marc J. Spears report on the Celtics signing first round pick J.R. Giddens.

Spears also has the United States’ men’s basketball team taking care of business with Greece yesterday.

Mark Blaudschun has a media column on NBC Sports reporter Bob Neumeier. Neumy mentions that WEEI wasn’t “fair” in their contract offer to him, which is why he left his show with Dale Arnold.  

Buch won’t stop here - Theo says so

Posted by Ted McEnroe August 12, 2008 at 5:53 pm

Theo Epstein says while the Red Sox needed a veteran presence in the rotation for August and September, he says the team isn’t giving up on Clay Buchholz, despite terrible starts recently. But where will Clay land? Bullpen? Pawtucket? Will he just get some extra rest between starts if he is skipped on Friday? We won’t learn that until tomorrow, it appears.

Meanwhile, Paul Byrd will face the Blue Jays in his Sox debut on Friday - the same team he held to just two runs in a complete game win last week. (Is that a good thing?)

And Charlie Zink will make his debut tonight.

Gabe’s Good Day

Posted by Mike Giardi August 10, 2008 at 10:32 pm

The Sox brass was unhappy that Gabe Kapler did a one and done as their Single-A Greenville skipper, but the Milwaukee Brewers aren’t, especially tonight. Kapler was one of the most genuine, well-spoken people I have ever encountered, in any sport, on any level. I, and a lot of others who covered him in this market, are happy for any success he finds.

Okay, enough with the oooey-gooey stuff…here’s some real deep digging on the failures of Clay Buchholz. Interesting breakdown on the rookie righty since his complete-game effort against the Rays.

• Brian Giles took quite a beating in these here parts for nixing a possible waiver-wire deal to the Sox. I actually applaud the decision. Hey, if we’ve learned anything over the years, its that guys who don’t want to be here don’t play well here. Edgar Renteria tried to talk himself into liking it in Boston. How’d that work out for him, or the Sox? They’re still paying a piece of that guy’s salary.
• Great take by the world-famous Denton (of “Surviving Grady“) on Daisuke Matsuzaka.  The opening two graphs tell the tale. He writes: “Remember the hype? The controversy over the $51 million spent just to talk to the guy? Next came the hushed whispers of the secret pitch, the so-called “gyro ball.” By the time Daisuke Matsuzaka threw his first pitch, I was expecting him to be decked out in full Ninja gear (with the required red “B” of course) and doing some crazy Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon shit on the mound. What we got was a sometimes-brilliant-sometimes-shaky, third starter who threw a lot of pitches and exited games too early.In his second season as a Major Leaguer, Dice-K continues to be inconsistent, but less inconsistent. In his last eight starts, he has given up just 12 earned runs, half of those in a single start against the Angels. In three of his last six starts, he’s pitched into the eighth inning. He continues to walk too many batters, but the walks seldom hurt him as his razor-thin 2.90 ERA shows.”
• My admiration for Dustin Pedroia the baseball player has no bounds. The 29-game road hitting streak…the better than advertised defense…the ability to have a good at bat, no matter what the situation. This group of second basemen, with Pedroia, Ian Kinsler, Chase Utley and Dan Uggla front and center, is as good as I ever remember. And I remember when this guy was just a punch-and-judy hitter, not the multi-media star he’s become.
• I’d love to post something from Bernie Mac, who left of us at the age of 50. But this being a family site, I couldn’t do the legendary comedian justice.
   

Clay House is Crumbling

Posted by Mike Giardi August 10, 2008 at 6:13 pm

It has been hard to watch Clay Buchholz try to reinvent himself on the big league level. Officially, the Sox sent him down to Pawtucket in mid-May to recover from that torn nail on his finger, but in reality it was to change his arm slot. He appeared to develop some consistency with it over three straight starts in Triple-A, but since being recalled to Boston, Buchholz is painfully inconsistent, especially with runners on base.

If my math is correct, with runners in scoring position, hitters are tagging Buchholz at a .364 clip (8-of-22). They’ve also walked 8 times, been hit once and had a couple sac flies. In other words, when Buchholz gets in a jam, it usually gets worse.

After watching Justin Masterson dazzle this afternoon, you begin to wonder if the Sox made the right choice, taking Masterson out of the rotation for Clay. Oh sure, to some degree, the Sox had no choice - with their bullpen in shambles when that move was made. But here’s the thing: Masterson was much better in the rotation than Buchholz has been at any point. Now with Tim Wakefield on the DL, and Bartolo Colon still at least a week off, the Sox may need one or two spot starts in the next 10 days or so.

Are you ready for the Michael Bowden era? Perhaps part two of Devern Hansack? How about we try Charlie Zink on for size? Sox will need someone to elevate, especially as the Rays continue to defy logic, and maybe defy the overall talent on that roster.

Capping a special comeback

Posted by Chris Collins May 19, 2008 at 10:14 pm

If there ever was any doubt that Jon Lester had made it all the way back from cancer after last year pitching the World Series clincher, tonight absolutely sealed the deal.

The Comeback Kid tonight turned into the No-Hit Kid. Lester was brilliant right from the giddy-up. His command was outstanding, working a plus fastball and locating his off-speed stuff — at one point he retired twenty Royals in a row. And he only two guys (an area that has been an area of concern with Lester, but not tonight).

And as always seems to be the case, there has to be one outstanding play made behind the pitcher to make it all happen. Last year, it was Clay Buchholz who supplied the no-no, and then-rookie Dustin Pedroia making the no-hit saving play. Tonight, it was rookie Jacoby Ellsbury with the glove work.

And while young pitchers throwing no-hitters is getting to be routine around the Fens, I don’t think there will ever be anyone who deserved this more than the young lefty tonight — Jon Lester.

Tweaking the System

Posted by Mike Giardi May 17, 2008 at 6:26 pm

Anyone else suspicious that the Red Sox disabled Clay Buchholz strictly to manage his innings? Hey, Theo will never admit it, but with the club trying to keep the slender righty around 175/180 IP’s, it not only is plausible, but intelligent. Plus, it lets you see what Bartolo Colon is all about, likely on Tuesday.

I said it before and I’ll repeat it here: I think the Sox would have preferred to start Buchholz in Triple-A and keep him there until at least June. So maybe camp didn’t break the way they wanted to, but you can still find the kid some quality bus riding time and have him back for when the games really matter later this summer. Hey, its just a thought…

- The big news lately is that Hideki Okajima can’t stop inherited runners from scoring. To me, the bigger news is that the Sox have no reliable third arm in that pen, and until they do, Okie will get overworked and, subsequently, overrun at times. To me, that falls squarely on the shoulders of Manny Delcarmen, who has yet to make “The Leap,” as we all expected. Craig Hansen may get a shot by default, and its already clear - to this point - that David Aardsma (15 BB’s in 20 IP) walks too many for Tito’s liking. That means MDC better elevate. Can’t make it any more simple than that.

- Thoughts and prayers go out to Anthony Rizzo and his family. The member of the Single-A Greenville Drive and a 6th Rounder in 2007, Rizzo has been diagnosed with Limited Stage Classical Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He has begun outpatient treatment at MGH.