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Rotation in the postseason

Alright, so we're guaranteed a post-season spot. It's time to start thinking about personnel.

Our starting rotation looks pretty good, until you get to the four-slot, where we hit a couple of x-factors.

First, Daisuke Matzsuzaka. He hasn't received a winning decision since Sept. 3, taking a loss and two no-decisions in his last three games. In one of those games, the Orioles shelled Daisuke and forced him to leave before finishing the third inning.

Outside of that, his innings pitched have been falling, his ERA has been rising, and he's overall not having a great autumn. I think he'll do better next year, but for the moment I'd like to see him sit down.

That leaves the problem of who fills out the rotation's four and five slots. The top three - Beckett, Schilling and Wakefield - are pretty obvious, but if we remove Matsuzaka from the equation, that leaves Buchholz, Lester and Tavarez to fill out the end.

I know Bucky has cut himself an impressive beginning, with three wins in four decisions, but I worry about the rookie's nerves in the October pressure cooker.

The same goes for Lester. He's returned on the white stallion of a four-game winning streak, but he spent most of the season out of the majors. To go from the DL to the minors to pitching under October skies in as little time as Lester did... I don't know. It feels like a stretch.

That leaves Tavarez. The seasoned veteran is probably better suited to relieving than starting, as reflected by his 6 and 10 record as a starter this year. He may not have raw ability displayed by the young starters,  but I'm not so worried about him crumbling under the pressure.

I say cut the rotation to four, with Lester in the bottom slot. Keep Bucky as plan-B, and Tavarez as the fall-back plan.

Beckett can handle pitching on short rest if he needs to, and Wake seems to never fatigue. If Schilling needs an extra day riding the pine, Francona can pitch Bucky or Tavarez.

But we'll see what Francona does. He knows these players far better than we ever will. Who knows? Maybe the young pitchers will have nerves of steel.

An inside view of Red Sox management

Here's a great article on the Young Turk movement that is afoot throughout baseball in general and the Sox in particular. 

Coming together at the seams

Eyes on the Prize

OK people, let's not get carried away.  Things look pretty darn good in Red Sox Nation, but concerns still abound in the Fens.  Theo Epstein, the wunderkind General Manager of the Sox, amazed the league this week by snagging one of the most dominant closers in Eric Gagne.  Theo and crew executed the deal with the sort of savvy and eye to future that has helped to make the Sox a top flight team.  Securing the services of a hired gun for what will most likely be one season was made that much safer by securing certain guarantees that if Gagne doesn't return to the Sox - the Nation will be compensated with draft picks and salary considerations.  Saying goodbye to young Kason Gabbard who went 4-0 when ace Curt Schilling went down what seems an eternity ago was hard, but in all honesty the Sox are not hurting for starting pitching (Schill is set to return as soon as this weekend) and Gabbard is not proven over the long haul.  The Sox also shed some dead weight by trading Joel Pinero.  The once heralded young arm has not come around and was dealt to the Cards for some minor league prospects.  Consider this a little house cleaning and knowing when to say when and cut your losses.  Best of luck in the pitcher friendly NL Joel.

But the chess-like moves made this week by the front office does not guarantee victory on the field.  The Sox lost the opening game of a three game series last night to the mediocre Orioles.  True, the Sox faced Eric Bedard, who just might be one of the best pitchers in the ALright now, but with Josh Beckett going for the Sox, one would think the Sox should have won this game.  The Sox lost and Beckett lost back-to-back starts for the first time this season.  Series openers are always critical as they often set the tone for the series and can easily put a team on its heels and a strong initial showing can have a devastating impact on the opponents pitching schedule.  On this day only one Sox player had a strong showing - David Ortiz, whose two bombs constituted the entire Sox offense.  Normally I would be cheering two Papi pops, but then I remembered something that scared me...last night Ortiz hit his first homer off a lefty all year.  Ortiz owns lefty pitching and that he hasn't hit a dinger off of a lefty tells me that Ortiz is dropping off in his ability (laughable), not getting pitches (perhaps), or is hiding a nagging injury (likely).  Ortiz's crime dog, Manny Ramirez, is your MLB player of the week, but you are not seeing the same sort of production that makes Manny, Manny.  Hovering just above .300 is not something I am accustomed to from Manny in August.  Add to the mix the fact that Mike Lowell, known primarily for his defense and leadership leads the team in RBI and the still underachieving Coco Crisp and Julio Lugo continue to scrap and grind - pitching only gets more important if the Sox are to make another title run.

Which brings me back to the beginning and Gagne.  This importance of this deal cannot be overstated.  Pitching is always at a premium in the AL and adding Gagne makes an already great bullpen simply dominant.  The fact that Gagne took what amounts to a pay cut and will most likely play second fiddle to ace lockdown artist Johnny Papelbon, tells me EG wants to win.  With Hideki Okajima, who is perhaps the best set-up man in baseball, approaching career highs in innings pitched, Gagne is sure to get in quality innings.  Tito will not be putting Gagne in for just one out. 

So tip your cap to Theo and Co., but let's get back to work.  With a 7 game lead in the division the Sox (anyone remember when the lead was 14) have some quality opponents coming up in Seattle

and Anaheim.  Conversely, the Yankees are threatening to not become the most disappointing team in baseball and as we know 7 games is not a tremendous lead.  Keep your eye on the prize and the Sox will capture their first division title since 1995

What Gagne means

Does anyone out there know what "gagne" means in French? For those of you who don't, it means to win, which is exactly what the Red Sox did the moment they acquired closer (now setup man) Eric Gagne from the Texas Rangers in exchange for lefthander Kason Gabbard and minor league outfielders David Murphy and Engel Beltre.
Gagne, you may remember, was at his best in the Dodgers organization, when he went on a streak to set a record, one that will probably never be broken. (No, steroids won't help you break this one, Barry.) Gagne converted 84 consecutive save opportunities. 84 STRAIGHT SAVES. Any guesses for whose record he shattered? Come on, it's a name any Sox fan will know.
Oh, come now, you really don't know?

...Fine, I'll have to tell you.

Tom Gordon, former Red Sox reliever who had 54 straight saves from April 1998 to June 1999, was the previous record holder.

And now I hear the disappointed sighs of recognition and disbelief.
Ha-ha.

The Sox's bullpen has undeniably now become baseball's best, using the former great to fill the hole left by dominant righthander Brendan Donnelly, who announced today that he is to have Tommy John's surgery, which will sideline him for the remainder of this year and quite possibly all of next.

Quite a filler, wouldn't you say? Gagne has only blown one save all year, and that was to Boston, with the help of Dustin Pedroia, whose homer handed Gagne only his seventh blown save in his entire career. Gagne is also the fastest person ever to reach 100 saves.
But he won't be the closer in Boston, oh no. Jonathan Papelbon fills that role. Gagne will be the Sox's setup man, and close on days when Pap is resting.

But think about this...baseball's best bullpen just got better.
And Gagne waived his no-trade clause so he could gagne at last.

Okajima on the trading block?

To answer my own question...psshh, no, of course not. But that doesn't deter teams from asking.

The Chicago White Sox, in ongoing trade talks with Boston, asked for Sox relief ace and potential AL Rookie of the Year Hideki Okajima in a deal for White Sox outfielder Jermaine Dye.

PLEASE.

"We're trying to conduct a trade here, not humiliate ourselves. Please stop laughing."~Kenny Williams, White Sox general manager
"Really? That's a good one!... Seriously, ask for a fair deal that we both know won't totally screw us over."~Theo

Hahahahahahahaha...Okay, okay, I'm done.

HAHAHAHAHA.

Ok, we all know that didn't actually happen. But doesn't that seem like the type of thing that anyone would expect to hear when they're asking for a dominating setup man/closer in exchange for a above-average outfielder, in the final year of his contract, that only started to hit a month ago?

So that's not entirely fair. Jermaine Dye is an excellent player. I can see why the Sox could give up a prospect or two to have his services for half a year, especially with Ortiz's knee ready to go out and to give slumping J.D. Drew a rest every once in a while, or whenever the Sox are facing dominating lefties. Personally, I would love to have him on the roster.

Would I trade Jacoby Ellsbury or Jon Lester for him? No, I would have a cop check my alchohol levels before I even thought about doing that.

Clay Buchholz, however, I could see being shipped off to ChiTown for Dye. And why not? The Sox's pitching is stronger than ever. Apart from Schilling, every current Red Sox starter is due to come back next year. Hell, we could even slot Tavarez into that fifth spot again.

But trade away Okajima for a half-season outfielder? Got news for you, Ozzie, you're not World Series champs anymore, even if in half your rants you think you are.

Dream on, Chicago. Dreams are all you have now.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Ah, it’s that frantic time of year again. The time that everyone’s running around, trying to pick up the best deals on the best items. No, I’m not talking about Christmas…I know it’s July. The trade deadline is approaching once more.

The Red Sox are looking to boost their outfield depth, with their only backups being an inconsistent Wily Mo Pena, whose strikeout totals probably match the length of his last home run, and Eric Hinske, used primarily as an infielder to back up first baseman Kevin Youkilis and third baseman Mike Lowell.

The Sox are looking to deal Pena, with Oakland’s Bobby Kielty (recently designated for assignment), Tampa’s Ty Wigginton, and the White Sox’s Jermaine Dye as possible suitors for adding outfield depth.

However, any major deals the Sox may make will come at a heavy price. Chicago is asking for Sox top prospects Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester, and Jacoby Ellsbury in exchange for Dye. The Sox want to hang on to all of them, and would only part with them for a great amount of talent in return.

Also on the trading block for the Red Sox could possibly be starting third baseman Mike Lowell. Lowell, in the final year of his contract, leads the team in RBIs so far and, as he is having one of the best offensive years of his career, would demand a high price on the free agent market. The Sox may want to sell high on Lowell.

Originally, while talks for Texas’ Mark Teixiera were ongoing, I thought Lowell would be packaged in any possible deal. The Sox would then shift Youk over to third, leaving slugger Teixiera at his original first baseman position. As trade talks deteriorated with Texas, my musings about Lowell died also. The Sox seem intent to want to keep such a consistent bat and glove on their roster.

The Red Sox are also looking to bolster their bullpen, as offseason acquisitions Joel Piniero and J.C. Romero were both placed on waivers. Romero was claimed, but Piniero cleared waivers and is now at AAA Pawtucket, ready for a possible September callup.

In the Sox’s sights are Royals reliever Octavio Dotel, who, after posting an 10.80 ERA for the hated Yankees last season, underwent shoulder surgery and is now blowing away hitters like a man possessed. He already has 10 saves, a 3.15 ERA, and has struck out 24 in 20 innings pitched as of July 27th after coming off of the DL on May 22^nd.

The Red Sox are also eyeing Pirates lefty specialist Damaso Marte, who has only allowed 18 hits in 30.1 IP this year, with a miniscule 0.99 WHIP, 1.48 ERA, and had also posted 34 Ks. The Sox are exploring a deal with the Pirates that would send Marte and righthander Solomon Torres to the Sox in exchange for Wily Mo Pena.

Such a deal could do wonders for both sides, as more at-bats could boost Wily Mo’s offense, as he has had limited playing time with the Sox, and is unlikely to be getting more any time soon. Marte would be a major upgrade over current lefthander Javier Lopez, and Torres would bolster an already strong setup to dominant closer Jonathan Papelbon, and possibly relieve shaky veteran Mike Timlin.

Red Sox Nation, have faith in Tito and Theo. Come on folks, getting rid of Nomar was the best idea that none of us had, just look how that deal turned out. Trust in them, and we shall be rewarded. Just wait ‘till Tuesday.

*UPDATE July 28th: Devil Rays utility man Ty Wigginton traded to Astros for reliever Dan Wheeler.