The Baseball Thread

Five All-Stars is good. . . I wanted nine yet that might be a touch too much to ask. Oh well.

I think it may be time to screw our heads back on. It is time to dump Tavarez for Lester and make a trade for a spark plug like we did in aught-four with Cabrera. This season is looking strangely like that year as we got hot early then played .500 ball until late July. We do have a fair amount of games left against against the hapless O's and D-Rays who we own so I am not too worried about being caught. It almost seems that Theo is keeping the reigns on the monster, letting the pitchers get ready for the stretch run...

Notes:

I called it. Dumped Tavarez for Lester and the 23 year old cancer surviving lefty will start tonight in Cleveland. Good good.

Papi is going to sit for a couple of days with his strained shoulder. He should be alright.

Possible future Sox within the next couple of weeks.
1. Ryan Church (OF- Nationals)
2. Solomon Torres (RP- Pirates)
3. Brian Fuentes (RP- Rockies)
4. Mark Texiera (1B/ DH- Rangers)
5. Jay Payton (OF- Orioles) Note: This is not a distinct possibility as we traded Payton two years ago when he complained of playing time and Boston in general. Though, Epstein could force him to come for outfield depth and Payton would be forced to perform for his next free agent contract.
6. Zack Greinke (RP- Royals) Note: Assuming the Royals trade him. This emotional pitcher is a stud waiting to happen. Things is, the Sox have a couple of those themselves which they may play wait-and-see with.
7/8. Alfredo Amezaga or Josh Willingham: Note: As Ryan Church is listed above I include these two Florida outfielders and the Sox look for a fourth outfielder to finish the season. I have heard no rumors at all pertaining to these players but they look attractive enough if the Sox have their eyes open.


Possible Former Sox-
1. Wily Mo Pena- (OF)- Really, Wily has played such horrid defense that he has played himself out of needed at-bats. Good hitter though and could be dangled to teams such as the Nationals, Padres or Angels with big parks and little power.
2. Kason Gabbard- (P) I love Gabby, really do but with Bucholz and Lester becoming staples in the rotation in the near future (Lester tonight) it may be time to sell high on this clever lefty.
3. Coco Crisp- (OF) Okay, don't rip my head off for this one. Coco would be a big chip only if we made a blockbuster for somebody like Texiera. Though, he is our spark plug right now I do not see him being moved. Just saying it could be a possibility.
4. Craig Hansen (RP- Pawtucket)- Not what we had been expecting from this once dominant college closer. Sell while he still has value.
5. David Murphy- (OF- Pawtucket) Really, with Moss and Ellsbury as potential stalwarts on the Sox roster coming soon it is time to move Murphy. Same could be said for Moss while Ellsbury is untouchable. Sorry PawSox lovers, I know the team is not great right now and these three outfielders are your ONLY offense (the organization has nothing along the line of infielders in the system) but one of them has to go.
6. Julian Tavarez (P) Now that he is out of the rotation he should fetch a decent price for somebody looking for a rubber arm.

That all being said, Ellsbury could be called up to give us that fourth outfielder while Wily Mo is dealt for bull-pen help with the possible inclusion of Julian Tavarez. I have been oddly accurate over the last few years of who the Red Sox have been eyeing (for instance I called the Wily Mo trade months before it happened.) That is why Ryan Church or a guy like Termel Sledge could be on their ways to Boston soon. If not be July 31 then in the off season.

Oh well. Just needed to get that off my chest.

Hey buddy, make that 7 and a half with three games against the Spankees this week. A sweep would be. . . just. . . fun. Embarassment and retribution for the Boston Massacre II (from last season).


Let us revisit the trading season for a second.

Gagne for: Gabbard and Murphy (plus an eighteen year old I have no idea about). Q: Good for ball or bad for ball? A: Bad for ball, very bad. . . at first. Showing signs of turning it around, should revise how we use him. Not an extremely bad trade but Gagne needs to button down the mistakes before Clay Bucholz takes his job starting September 1.

Joel Piniero for: PTBNL. . . always love the imfamous player to be named later. I mean really, as far as I am concerned this was a money in the bank type of trade. Joel has been pitching well for the Cards which means that the player they give us will have to be semi-decent in return. Sign a guy in free agency, give him a chance then trade him. . . . free money. Getting a prospect for a failed adventure.

Wily Modesto Pena for: At first a PTBNL but later it turned into a young man with the surname of Carter. Not bad in a sabermetrics type of move because Carter is a good hitting first baseman and there is next to NOTHING at the corner spots in our farm system and Wily was never going to get out of the Sox dog house where he was never going to see playing time in meaningful situations. Washington is a good spot for Wily where they can live with his horrible defense and launch home runs out of the (presumably smaller) stadium that is being built on the banks of the Anacosta (sp?) river set to open next year. If there is anybody who can hit it out of RFK (the Nats stadium this year) it is Wily Modesto. . . really, I think the guy is going to kill someone with a 490 foot laser one of these days. Carter gives the PawSox some much needed production from the infield and somebody that adds depth in the case that Lowell or Youk or Hinkse suffer any ailments. A: Good for Ball all around.


Final season prediction: With 80 wins and 32 games to play it is presumable that the Sox will will somewhere in the 96-102 win range. . . I am going with 99 (A 19-13 finish. . . could be better than that though) as there is a season ending roadtrip to Minn and Oak that we will probably go about .500 on. To match that the Yankees will need to go 27-5 in the final 32. Considering that they are about to lose 3 games (Tues-Thurs) to the Sox I have my doubts about that actuall happening.

Happy Hunting. . . Pettite v. Dice-K at 7:05 tomorrow night.