BoSox Blotter

Boston Red Sox: For all the rumors and potential deals mentioned on ESPN in the last week — involving everybody from Andruw Jones to Coco Crisp to Julio Lugo to Mike Lowell — the Red Sox came away with zip. In light of the Yankees’ deals for Bobby Abreu, Cory Lidle and Craig Wilson at the cost of nothing important, the Red Sox still need another starting pitcher, and a veteran reliever and still wouldn’t mind dumping Crisp, whom they overrated in last year’s deal.
There still is work to be done here. The question is, can they get it done in the waivers-required trading period.
Grade: Incomplete.

Need I really say more?

For the record Crisp went 2-4 and scored a run. And if you watched the game you realized how valuable Lowell is at the 3-bag. As much as I think the Sox can be improved, I’m very glad they didn’t move Coco or Lowell, as I think they can’t still have a very serious impact in the last couple of months.

Wells wasn’t entirely a dissappointment because the Sox won. Getting the jitters out after not throwing in a game for a couple of months might help with Boomer’s next stop: I hope

It doesn’t appear there was any blockbuster deal made before the trading deadline for the Boston Red Sox. That’s correct. All were rumors. No A. Jones. No Clemens. Thank god no Kip Wells. Now we really need Wells, Wake, Foulke and possibly Clement to return and be at the top of their game. If that happens, it’s much better than any trade the Sox could have made.

Tonight could be a very good test as to how well the Sox will be able to assess the rest of the season. David Wells will take the hill for the first time in months. Hopefully he’s Boomer of old and leads the Sox over Byrd and the Los Angeles Angels of Annaheim… If not, really hope we landed that quality starting pitcher before 4 PM.

Trot Nixon is hurt. Everyone from Coco Crisp and Mike Lowell, to Wily Mo Pena and Mark Loretta have been rumored to be on the trading block for the Sox who need a quality starting pitcher to add to a very beaten starting rotation that still finds itself in a half game lead in the AL East. The Sox most likely won’t land Barry Zito from the Athletics, as I’m sure Billy Beane wants a fair share of young prospects that the Sox SHOULDN’T trade away — mabye if they want an Abe Alvarez

The Sox have been rumoured to be trying to squeeze Clemens out of Houston, but I doubt that’s a high possibility, especially with only a couple of hours left until the deadline. It would be a nice add for only a half a season and still complete the fairy-tale ending to a Hall of Fame career and get Clemens a World Series ring with the Sox.

At any rate, I really hope the front office doesn’t slip and trade somoene that’s been valuable to the team this year and who the Sox have locked up for a couple of years. In short, I think trading Crisp now is very premature. Lowell has struggled lately with the bat, but have you been watching his glove and doubles total? Nixon is hurt and most likely won’t be going anywhere; could be an interesting off-season for Trot. How are we going to get a starting pitcher?

… anyone’s guess.

As many of you’ve probably already heard, David Wells is most likely going to skip a rehab start or two in the minors and come right to the big league. How convenient that his return will coincide with the trading deadline. Unfortunately, the Sox have to do more than that. Having Wells as the mid-season starting pitcher (via trade or promotion) is terribly scary. Sure it could work for all the right reasons, but what if it doesn’t?

Wells has been on the DL 3 times this year. He’s well over 40 years old, has knees that barely keep his legs together. Ok, his arm always appears fine, but if he goes out again we don’t have the luxury of trying to trade an acquire an elite pitcher. BTW, we need to not only stay in the fight, we’re leading the AL East and should we surrender it, it might be harder to get back than one can imagine.

I would love to see Wells come back and be David Wells of old, but I’m not willing to bank on it, and neither should the Sox.

I was just reading over at the Globe about Shea Hillenbrand having some rough moments with the organization lately. So, they’ve decided to designate him for assignment. I think the odds are very against the Sox getting him, but it’d be nice to pick up a corner infield hitting .301 with a dozen homes and nearly 40 RBIs.

Shea Hillenbrand, who has been critical of the Blue Jays organization, was designated for assignment Wednesday night after refusing to sit in the dugout with his Toronto teammates after he was chastised during a team meeting. Hours before, Hillenbrand criticized the organization and was upset nobody in Toronto’s front office congratulated him for adopting a baby girl last weekend. The Jays have 10 days to trade or release Hillenbrand, who was hitting .301 with 12 homers and 39 RBIs. Might the Red Sox have some use for a backup corner infielder who can provide some pop off the bench? Of course … but they have a couple of things working against them: 1) Why would the Jays deal him to a team within their division, particularly a team they’re chasing in the standings? 2) If you remember back when Hillenbrand was dealt from the Red Sox in 2003, he didn’t exact leave Boston on the best terms.

Last night rookie pitcher Jon Lester went further in a major league game than he ever has before. Lester finally found a night be economical and effective with his pitches, lasting 8 innings while only surrendering one hit. The catch: it was the Kansas City Royals.

The bottom line is the Sox need to win games. Losing 3 of 4 to the Athletics allowed the Yankees to move into a half game back from leading the division. So it goes without saying, we need to sweep the Royals. It will feel good if we do, but that’s what good teams are supposed to do: beat the Kansas City Royals.

Wakefield’s status isn’t looking promosing, and it’s probably around 2 weeks at best before Wells is able and capable of pitching major league ballgames again. The trade market isn’t very short on supply, unless some GM wants to be stupid and give away a franchise’s future. That said, the Sox need solid starting pitching or the team can forget a play-off birth. Clement coming back, no thank you. Wells would be nice if it’s Boomer of old, not just an old Boomer.

After a 19 inning marathon in which the Sox lost to the Sox, and with the All-Star break mixed in, I’m back to get going on the 2nd half of the season. Jon Lester opens out of the gate against the Athletics. Lester has still yet to have a dominating performance and remains 4-0 with a ERA just barely over 3. Maybe tonight with some extra rest will spur that masterpiece that many scouts think the left hander is capable of throwing.

Since the trade deadline is looming, it’s on everyone’s minds who will get moved. As solid as this Red Sox team is, I really don’t feel that it is capable of a real playoff run without some improvements and tweaking. As it is now, the Sox have David Wells and Keith Foulke on the DL. Neither one was a great contributor this year but looking in years past: the Sox don’t make the 2005 playoffs without Wells, and no way do the Sox win the World Series in 2004 without Keith Foulke (who in my opinion was the MVP of the World Series). Arguments can be made that Papelbon has stepped in exceptionally well to fill the hole as closer, but the bridge getting there has been inconsistent and perhaps the young arms will be able to deliver and a trade might not be needed (i.e. if we can get DiNardo healthy and capable of being a long reliever when needed).

Taking a look around the horn, the infield is solid both offensively and defensively. The outfield has very strong corners offensively, and Crisp, in my opinion, is a step up defensively over Johnny Damon. Crisp however will need to become more of an offensive threat to really have a go out the playoffs and the division this year.

Pitching, pitching pitching. Aside from Schilling, and Lester to date, the starting rotation has been iffy. Wakefield has had solid outings, but has lacked run support on many occassions. It would be nice to add a solid 5th starter and stop this whole experimentation phase now. If the pitching can improve the 2nd half, both in the pen and at the back of the rotation, I think there’s a very good chance of winning the division.

Jon Lester has yet to be dominant, but he’s as fierce a competitor on the mound that there is. After getting in a bases loaded, no out jam against the best offense in the league, he surrendered only 1 run and went on to only give up 2 runs over 6 innings. On top of that, Manny Delcarmen continues to stay in the groove. So glad to see the young arms stepping up, and hope it continues.

On the flip side, how about that Red Sox offense? A-Gonz is hitting .284, not too shabby for a defensive short stop. Fortunately, Mike Lowell showed some signs of coming out of his slum by knocking in a couple of runs with a pair of hits. And Papi just seems to be rolling along — HR after RBI after HR!

Today’s matchup on the mound should be good. Josh Beckett will hopefully rebound after his mediocre performance last time (even though I think it should have been good enough for the win). Freddy Garcia is also a 10 game winner, but maybe more so because of some very good run support.

Since I’m able to blog again and the Sox win when I do (see my previous post), I’m going to go ahead and look at the upcoming Chicago White Sox series.

First off, it’s not great that the Red Sox are playing in Chicago, they fair much better at home. Unfortunately, I don’t make the schedules. Chicago is the team to beat, they are the World Champions and until that title is relieved of them one way or another, all roads to the World Series go through them in the AL. The Red Sox have played some crappy ball the last few games, and really didn’t get much for breaks. The team will have to bring their A-game to Chicago if they want to compete with the White Sox, if they want to show they are real this year.

Jon Lester really hasn’t had a dominating start in his major league career thus far. He’s battled and survived. He’s yet to face a truly powerful AL line-up since his debut against the Texas Rangers. If Lester can come out and compete like he has, meaning giving the team 6 plus innings of quality pitching, it could be a great start to a very important series.

In the past the Red Sox handled Buehrle well. However, most of the Red Sox line up now is completely different. So, time will tell how effective he is against Boston now.

What’s great with this series is the pitching matchups just keep getting better. For the second game of the series we’ll see Beckett squaring off against Freddy Garcia. Both are 10-game winners but featuring plus-4 ERAs. I’m seriously looking for Beckett to step up and dominate.

A Schilling / Contreras battle headlines the finale of the series. Contreras is having a great year and has yet to lose a game, posting a 3.31 ERA. This could be fireworks before the All-Star break, and I really hope it’s a great series that the Sox (my Red Sox that is come out on top.