Tippett to speak first

Posted by Reiss' Pieces August 1, 2008 at 3:22 pm

CANTON, Ohio -- Andre Tippett was considered a tone-setter when he played for the New England Patriots, and perhaps that's why the Pro Football Hall of Fame has selected him to be the first inductee to speak at Saturday's enshrinement ceremonies.

So for those planning to watch Tippett's induction speech on television, be advised that -- barring an unexpected change -- Tippett will be the first of the six inductees to address the crowd.

Television coverage, on ESPN and NFL Network, begins at 6 p.m. ET.

Still Feels the Same

Posted by Mike Giardi August 1, 2008 at 8:07 am

So I’ve had a night to sleep on what the Sox did late yesterday afternoon. And my gut feeling now is the same as then: Theo had to do it, but boy, this deal sure reeks of desperation and looks not lopsided, but at least heavily listing in the Dodgers and Pirates favor.

At what point during all of this did you think the Sox would have to include two Major Leaguers (Hansen and Moss), and two draft picks that would have been in the top 40 (when the Sox offered Manny arbitration at the end of the season) and the 7 million dollars all to make sure Manny wasn’t in that clubhouse this afternoon?

You keep hearing addition by subtraction, and having been in that locker room this last week, there’s no question there’s validity to that comment. But now there are no more excuses, except for that inconsistent bullpen. The onus shifts directly onto the players, their manager, and - if this goes poorly - GM Theo Epstein and the ownership that green-lighted such a move. Not a comfortable spot to be in, especially in this ravenous region, but that’s why they get paid the big bucks. As I wrote sometime in the last 36 hours, this is another career-making trade for Theo, and despite the discontent with Manny over these last two months, fans and some in the media will write revisionist history should the season continue to go south.

Me, I continue to believe that the Sox may not be as talented an offensive team as they were the last time Francona wrote out the lineup card, but at least the clubhouse won’t have that festering stench caused by the sullen slugger. That could be huge, mentally, going forward. No more wondering if Manny will ask out of the lineup, or, like he did last Friday, ask to go on the DL with knees that checked out a-okay. No more having to look the other way when he jakes it down the first base line on a ground ball, like he did during Lackey’s near no-no. That almost caused both Dustin Pedroia and Terry Francona’s heads to simultaneously implode.

But the flip side is losing one of the best hitters in franchise - in baseball - history. Jason Bay can’t replace that, can he? Bay and Manny’s numbers are comparable, but until we see how the former Buc responds in this atmosphere, we still can’t answer the question: just how desperate was this deal?

Factoid: Bay vs Manny

Posted by Ted McEnroe July 31, 2008 at 6:24 pm

Since Opening Day 2006:

Jason Bay - 78 HR, 257 RBI, 22 SB, 251 runs, .271 BA
Manny - 75 HR, 258 RBI, 1 SB, 229 runs, .305 BA

Doesn’t look so bad…

Collins: Many reasons for Bay-for-Manny

Posted by Chris Collins July 31, 2008 at 5:36 pm

Addition by subtraction. Grabbing a guy so your rivals can’t get him. There’s a lot more to the Jason Bay trade than just stats. Chris Collins breaks it down.

Best of a bad situation…

Posted by Ted McEnroe July 31, 2008 at 5:27 pm

Sometimes, it’s addition by subtraction.

If you had said to Boston fans at the All-Star break that the Red Sox would be shipping Manny Ramirez out of town at the trade deadline, people would have thought you were nuts. We had Teixeira, Holliday and Bay in the rumors, but for prospects, not Hall-of-Famers.

But Manny forced management’s hand, and today the Sox gave up a guy who gave up on them this week.

That said - JASON BAY WILL BE A BIG CONTRIBUTOR FOR THE SOX. He has two more homers than Manny so far this year, turning in a .282-22-64-7 line for the Pirates. And 64 RBIs in Pittsburgh is a heck of a lot harder than 68 RBIs in Boston.

He’s a decent leftfielder, with a mediocre arm, but he has his head on straight, and because of that, he doesn’t make a ton of errors/ At the plate, he had a lousy 2007 — .247 avg., just 21 HR and 84 RBI (of course, Manny had just 20 HRs and 88 RBI), but otherwise, he’s shown 30-homer, 100 RBI power, a .280-.290 average and double-digit steals.

We may miss Brandon Moss, and Craig Hansen may get it together - but without Manny, the Sox have a chance to get their heads back on straight and make a run. With Manny, this could have been a very talented, very unfocused, third-place ballclub.

Hours Away from An Adios?

Posted by Mike Giardi July 31, 2008 at 10:45 am

I’m not ashamed to say my head hurts this morning. No caffeine is a lousy way to live life. I suspect that Red Sox GM Theo Epstein is on his third large cup from Dunkin’ Donuts. He may have even thrown in a half-dozen honey-dipped doughnuts (mmmm, doughnuts…). There’s nothing like a double jolt of coffee and pure sugar to make yet another career-making trade.

I gave you my thoughts last night, and despite the emotion involved with this, I haven’t changed my mind. The Sox baseball guys love Jeremy Hermida (as mentioned here early this morning), but the feeling is that he wouldn’t be able to offer enough protection in the middle of that Sox lineup, at least not right now. That’s why Hermida would likely end up in Pittsburgh and Jason Bay in Boston. Under the circumstances, considering Manny has put the Sox’s between the proverbial rock and hard place, getting Bay isn’t all that bad (listen to me try and talk myself into this deal. Its soooooooo sad!). But seriously, Bay is more than 6 years younger than Manny, and has good numbers not just this season, but over his career. At 7.5 million for next season, he’s not all that expensive, and rather than give up the farm for Matt Holliday, the Sox have their left fielder in 2009 (okay, so maybe I didn’t utilize “40 Minutes of Hell,” but at least I had my team trapping and switching and gambling to make this sound and look good).

While we get swept up in all this talk, the team has been d-e-a-d, dead. Lifeless and listless. Hopeless and hapless. After a closed door meeting Saturday, to address the Manny stuff, there’s no question the players want resolution as well. I suspect they wonder if they can convince their sullen leftfielder to play hard and play the right way for the next two to three months. Actually, I’m pretty sure they don’t think they can, which is just another reason that Manny might be filling out change of address forms, or at least paying someone to do that for him.

Source Tells Me…

Posted by Mike Giardi July 31, 2008 at 12:49 am

Just got off the phone on my ride home and I can tell you this, a source within the Red Sox organization says there’s much ground to be covered for this 3-way deal to happen with Pittsburgh and Florida. One of the problems from the Boston standpoint is that they think highly of Marlins outfielder Jeremy Hermida, so much so, they might not willing to turn around and flop Hermida to the Pittsburgh as part of the deal. No Hermida means no Jason Bay from the Pirates. Bay seems a better fit for the Sox lineup being a righty who could give protection for Ortiz or Drew depending on where he’s hitting the lineup..

Page 2 of 2«12