The Bruins beat the pathetic Pittsburgh Penguins last night 6-3. Once again, the Bruins showed how easily they can score goals with 4 in the 2nd period, and also showed how easily they allow goals. The Bruins changed up their lines and seemed to be less agressive on offense in order to prevent odd man rushes going the other way. They need to do something as they are 0-5-0 within the Northeast Division.
You've all heard that Tedy Bruschi is making an effort to return to the Patriots this season. I have no problem with this so long as it is safe for him to do so. It seems that it is safe for him to play football again. If he did come back and play, and is effective, it will be like Curt Schilling pitching on the bad ankle times 1,000.
I think Bruschi, if he's effective, can help out our defense, but I'm not expecting him to be a savior. He adds another dimension on the pass rush, run defense, and pass defense in the middle, but he still can't go out and defend against the deep ball, which is what has been hurting us.
Bruschi does have a nack for coming up with a huge play when we need it most. His INT 2 seasons ago against Miami in the blizzard game comes to mind along with countless other tackles for losses, forced fumbles, INTs, and big hits. We've really lacked big plays on defense which were keys to our Super Bowl seasons. Tedy can also provide an emotional spark on a defense that has lost leaders like Rodney Harrison and Richard Seymour to injury.
Dale Svuem is finally gone. I liked Svuem as a coach, and a guy in the clubhouse, and I'm sure he's a nice guy, but I didn't like him when he was standing in the 3rd base coach's box. He wasn't fired either! He took a job with Milwaulkee so he could be close to his family during Spring Training. I'm shocked that he was never fired considering how much the Red Sox front office bases their policies on sports radio (See: banning of Yankees Suck shirts, the Gestappo behind home plate that prevents you from talking on a cel phone, et cetera).
Svuem's replacement is DeMarlo Hale, a former Sox player and farm system manager. Hale led our AA affiliate, then the Trenton Thunder to a 92-50 first place finish in 1999. Then he was not promoted to AAA manager and the void in Pawtucket was filled elsewhere. Hale, understandably upset with the organisation, left and became a coach with the Rangers. He's been on the same staff as Francona in Texas and was even interviewed by the Red Sox for the vacant managerial job left by the Grady Little fiasco. It's nice that Hale can get over the bad blood he had with the previous organization and join the new regime.
Boston College moved up in the polls this weekend without even having to play a game. #10 Texas Tech was demolished by #2 Texas 52-17 so the Red Raiders fell way back in the polls. BC is now 11th in the Coaches' poll, behind Notre Dame, Florida State, LSU, UCLA, Miami, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia Tech, Texas and USC. Three of the four highest ranked ACC teams were all taken from the Big East and all four are relatively recent additions to the conference. The highest Big East team is West Virginia at 17th. All other Big East teams are unranked, but Louisville would probably be #26 if it was a ranking. In the AP Poll, the Eagles are ranked 13th behind Penn State and Ohio State. BC might also be able to move up in the BCS poll that comes out tomorrow as Texas Tech was ranked 7th.
Boston College faces their toughest test of the season and the best team in the ACC, their old foe the Virginia Tech Hokies. It's a Saturday night game down in Blacksburg. Virginia Tech is looking to remain undefeated and should have a little bit of fire in them as they played Maryland pretty close until finally pulling away. If BC can somehow pull off te upset, they will most definately surge in the polls, and if FSU loses another conference game, Boston College will win their division and play in the ACC title game. BC will probably lose though. VT is just too dam good.
Boston sports blog featuring Patriots propaganda, and opinions on the Red Sox, Bruins, and Celtics.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Saturday, October 22, 2005
2006 SCHEDULE RELEASED
The 2006 schedule and ticket prices for the 2006 season have all been released. Most ticket prices are the same except for the upper end tickets which have gone up slightly in price. Field box seats went up to $95 and loge box seats went up to $85. Green Monster tickets also went up in price as did seats on the right field roof.
The Sox begin 2006 in Arlington, Texas on April 3rd, a Monday. After an off-day, the Sox fly up to Baltimore for their first AL East matchup of the 75 game divisional schedule. If we want to win the division in '06, we've got to win at least 40 games within the division.
The home opener for the Red Sox is Tuesday April 11th against Toronto. The Sox have a 10 game homestand against the Blue Jays, Mariners, and Devil Rays. At not time in 2006 do the Sox have a scheduled 4 city road trip, or 4 team home stand. However, last season, the Red Sox didn't have many homestands against more than 2 teams for much of the early part of the season. It is nice to see that we will have a few lengthy homestands.
Last season, the blatantly artificial scheudling of New York vs. Boston to begin and end the season has not carried over into 2006. The two teams don't play each other until May 1st. They then play 5 times in 11 days, and 11 times in 39 days. Then they don't play for 70 days. Weird schedule.
The interleague opponents for the Red Sox all come from the NL East. Interleague play will begin on May 19th in Philly. Then AL play resumes, then interleague begins once more on June 16th in Atlanta. Then, the Washington Nationals, Philadelphia Phillies, and New York Mets come to town. The Red Sox end regular season interleague play with a trip to Miami to play the Marlins.
Looking at the schedule, the stretch from May 29th to August 3rd, also known as summer, could prove to be brutal. From May 29th to June 18th, the Sox have to play 15 of 18 on the road. This road stretch includes trips to the Rogers Centre, Yankee Stadium, the MetroDome and Turner Field. We haven't really played well in these places recently. Then there's a 9 game homestand, but they're all interleague games. We typically struggle with interleague games. A 10 game roadtrip including 3 in the Chicago brings the season into the All-Star break. After the break, the Sox should be able to feast on KC and Oakland in Fenway, but then they have to do the West Coast trip to Seattle and Oakland. Then its home against 2 90+ win teams, the Angels and Indians. If the Sox want to succeed, we will need to win alot of games early and late in the season because that middle stretch could kill us.
The Sox begin 2006 in Arlington, Texas on April 3rd, a Monday. After an off-day, the Sox fly up to Baltimore for their first AL East matchup of the 75 game divisional schedule. If we want to win the division in '06, we've got to win at least 40 games within the division.
The home opener for the Red Sox is Tuesday April 11th against Toronto. The Sox have a 10 game homestand against the Blue Jays, Mariners, and Devil Rays. At not time in 2006 do the Sox have a scheduled 4 city road trip, or 4 team home stand. However, last season, the Red Sox didn't have many homestands against more than 2 teams for much of the early part of the season. It is nice to see that we will have a few lengthy homestands.
Last season, the blatantly artificial scheudling of New York vs. Boston to begin and end the season has not carried over into 2006. The two teams don't play each other until May 1st. They then play 5 times in 11 days, and 11 times in 39 days. Then they don't play for 70 days. Weird schedule.
The interleague opponents for the Red Sox all come from the NL East. Interleague play will begin on May 19th in Philly. Then AL play resumes, then interleague begins once more on June 16th in Atlanta. Then, the Washington Nationals, Philadelphia Phillies, and New York Mets come to town. The Red Sox end regular season interleague play with a trip to Miami to play the Marlins.
Looking at the schedule, the stretch from May 29th to August 3rd, also known as summer, could prove to be brutal. From May 29th to June 18th, the Sox have to play 15 of 18 on the road. This road stretch includes trips to the Rogers Centre, Yankee Stadium, the MetroDome and Turner Field. We haven't really played well in these places recently. Then there's a 9 game homestand, but they're all interleague games. We typically struggle with interleague games. A 10 game roadtrip including 3 in the Chicago brings the season into the All-Star break. After the break, the Sox should be able to feast on KC and Oakland in Fenway, but then they have to do the West Coast trip to Seattle and Oakland. Then its home against 2 90+ win teams, the Angels and Indians. If the Sox want to succeed, we will need to win alot of games early and late in the season because that middle stretch could kill us.
WHOOPSY DAISY
Nobody was hurt as construction scaffolding supporting the .406 Club collapsed the other day at the Small Ballpark in the Fens. This little incident demonstrates the difficulty of renovating a 93 year old building, particularly one with such a strange design. No-one knows what caused it.
Renovating the .406 Club so it is open to the air and not just a giant fish bowl is nice, but when are the Red Sox and the people of Red Sox Nation going to realize that we need a new ballpark? They could pay for some of the stadium by selling of pieces of the old one. Hell, they sold pieces of grass for Pete's sake. Think about it, you've got 35,000 old seats that you can sell at $250 a pop. That's $8,750,000. Then you've got pieces of the dugout, dirt from the field, parts of the bullpen, bricks from outside of the building. I think the only things that should be saved are the scoreboard in the Monster, the foul poles, and Ted Williams' seat. Apart from that, the rest of the ballpark should be torn down, sold as scrap/souvenirs, and a new and better one rebuilt in its place.
Anyway, speaking of rebuilding things, the Red Sox off-season has taken on a few new dynamics. David Wells has asked to be traded to a West coast team, preferably the Padres. Wells has a home in San Diego and even though he signed a 2 year deal, only wanted to pitch for us for 1 season. I don't know what it is about players that want to play out West. The weather is nice, but the fan support sucks for the most part except for maybe in Anaheim.
I think the Red Sox should try to deal Wells, but I don't know how much they can hope to get for him. Especially since everyone knows he wants to be traded. If he does leave, it opens up another spot in the rotation. I think the Sox need to address the problems at the top of the rotation if they want to win the World Series in 2006. We need to get at least a good #1 if not an Ace, and then a good #2 right behind him. We can't depend on Schilling like we all did, for some unknown reason, in 2005. If Wells is traded, it will be the 11th time he's changed teams and if he goes to San Diego, it will be the 3rd time he has pitched for the same team in two different stints.
Manny Ramirez may or may not ask for a trade. He may or may not mean it. He may or may not be granted his request. If Manny does ask for a trade, I don't know if the Red Sox would be able to get much for him unless it is someone else with a high contract. And I really don't think the Sox could take the $20M Manny will earn in 2006 and get much to replace his production.
It's awefully late in Manny's contract to trade him. He's got three years left and then the two option years which probably won't be picked up. Frankly, unless Theo can dramatically improve the pitching staff and not just throw together crappy arms like last season, we need a guy like Manny in the middle of the lineup. We need to keep our offense scoring 900 or more runs in 2006 and without Manny, I don't see how that could happen.
Matt Clement might get arthroscopic surgery on his left-knee. The Sox want him to get it but Clement wants another opinion to confirm the diagnosis and need for surgery.
The Red Sox offered Theo Epstein a three year contract extension worth somewhere around $900,000. I think that offer is somewhat of a joke seeing as Billy Beane was offered $2.5 M over 5 years, and many other big market GMs make much more than what Theo makes.
For some reason, the Red Sox have expressed an interest in retaining the services of Matt Mantei. This baffles me. He sucked for us last season and then he had surgery. So not only will he be rehabbing, he will be trying to correct his poor pitching. That's not the type of risk we should be taking.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE COUNTRY
The Red Sox have expressed an interest in Yakult Swallows lefty Hirotshi Ishii. He had 37 saves for the Swallows, 2nd in the Central League of Japan, despite the fact that the Swallows weren't very good last season. He is 28 years old but has missed some time in 2004 and 2003 due to injuries despite this, his ERA has been 2.05 or lower for each of the past 4 seasons. This could be a good way for the Red Sox to acquire a closer. As an added bonus, we'd also be able to expand our image on a global scale. Japanese releivers have typically done well in the States (Hasegawa, Takatsu, Otsuka) so I think this deal could pan out nicely. Ideally, he'd be competing with Foulke for the closers role. Realistically, Foulke would have to take the closer's role from Ishii.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
PATS CAN'T CATCH UP WITH BRONCOS
This was such a winnable game. The Patriots shot themselves in the foot so many times. So many stupid penalties such as two men in motion or the holding penalty on the punt before the Pats began their last drive, or the intentional grounding call to set up a 3rd and 20. So many dropped passes by Givens and Branch. So many innacurate throws made by Brady. An inability to stop the run at the line of scrimmage. An inability to put consistent pressure on Plummer. An inability to defend against the deep ball. Nobody stepped up and made a big play, except Patrick Pass, perhaps. An inability to score touchdowns when we drove the ball down field. Think about this, if we had gotten 2 TDs instead of the 2 field goals we got, we would have had 28 points. Then again, Denver wasn't exactly playing very aggressively in the 4th quarter and probably could have put up at least a field goal on our very bendable and breakable defense.
More on this game later. I'm too pissed to continue writing about this. Thank God Tedy is trying to come back.
PATRIOTS @ BRONCOS PREVIEW
The Patriots face another tough game this week. The scheduling gods and injury gods have conspired to make the outset of the Patriots season unbearable. This is the 4th straight opponent that was in the playoffs last season. This is also the 4th road game of the young season. If the Pats lose this game, they go into the Bye Week at 3-3 which isn't all that bad, all things considered. If they win, they go into the Bye Week with a 4-2 record, 1st place in the division, and alot of momentum.
The key to beating Denver is to stop the run. The Pats did that last week against Atlanta, and by doing so, forced Matt Schaub to beat us, which he very nearly did. Jake Plummer, however, is more sucseptible to being beaten by us. If we force him to make the plays, he will inevitably make some big mistakes. We need to capitalize on those miscues. We also can't afford many screw ups on offense.
We will be without Rodney Harrison, Tedy Bruschi, Tyrone Poole, Richard Seymour, Matt Light and Troy Brown. I don't think Kevin Faulk will be dressing for the game, either. Gus Scott is also out.
Denver RB Tatum Bell and S Nick Ferguson are both probable. CB Champ Bailey will be a game time decision.
I think we will win this one, but it will be extremely close. I think a 24-20 victory will be what goes down at Mile High.
In other New England sports news, #11 Boston College moved into a tie with Florida State on top of the ACC Atlantic Division by coming from behind and beating Wake Forest, and by FSU losing on the road to Virginia. FSU holds the tie-breaker though thanks to their victory over BC. However, if the Eagles can run the table in the ACC, and FSU loses another conference game, we will be on top of the division and play the Coastal Division winner for the ACC championship. I don't think this will happen, but even if we finish 2nd in the division, it says alot about Boston College football.
In order for BC to win their remaining ACC games, they have to beat #3 Virginia Tech on the road next week. FSU can definately lose one more game as they face #11 Florida in Gainesville on the last week of the season.
Charlie Weiss completely outcoached Pete Carroll in Notre Dame's 34-31 victory at the last second. Carroll is merely a beneficiary of Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, and a group of amazing non-skilled position players. Reggie Bush demonstrated to the country that he is a selfish scumbag of a player. Not only did he arrogantly celebrate before getting into the end zone with 3 ND players on his tail, but he stole a kickoff from his fellow return man. I'm glad that players of the ilk of Reggie Bush, regardless of how talented they are, will never play for New England so long as Belichick is the coach.
The Bruins were beaten by Dominek Hasek and the undefeated Senators last night, 5-1. Joe Thornton didn't play due to his back spasms. Without him, the Bruins seem to really struggle to create pressure and score goals. He draws alot of penalties, less than should be called but he isn't a diver so he doesn't get calls, and draws alot of attention which allows his linemates to have more space and also allows other lines to go up against weaker defensive pairings. Andrew Raycroft has not been that outstanding of a goalie thus far. Last night, he allowed 4 goals on 24 shots. That's not what we need out of him in order to win.
The Celtics have started their pre-season schedule. They've lost 2 of their 3 exhibition matches, but they've been putting up points when the starters are playing. I think they will be good this year. Good enough to win it all? No. But good enough to make the playoffs and win a series or two.
By beating the Chicago 1-0 last night, the New England Revolution won the regular season Easter Conference title. They won 17 matches, drew 8, and lost only 7. They'll play the Kansas City Wizards in round 1 of the MLS playoffs. New England beat KC 2-0, tied them 1-1, lost to them 2-1, then tied them 2-2. The series is a two game one with each team getting a home game. The team with the most goals combined in the two games wins and advances to the Conference Championship.
The college hockey season has just gotten under way. #4 Boston College lost 3-2 to #7 Michigan in Ann Arbor. Hockey East newcomers #19 Vermont won the Nye Frontier Classic in Alaska. #14 Boston University opened the Hockey East schedule by beating #18 UMass-Lowell 3-1 at Agganis Arena in Boston. #12 Maine beat #2 Denver twice, 5-1 then 4-2. It appears that the 2005-06 Hockey East championship will once again come down to BC, BU, New Hampshire, and Maine. The Beanpot Tournament should be interesting this year as Harvard is ranked 17th.
The key to beating Denver is to stop the run. The Pats did that last week against Atlanta, and by doing so, forced Matt Schaub to beat us, which he very nearly did. Jake Plummer, however, is more sucseptible to being beaten by us. If we force him to make the plays, he will inevitably make some big mistakes. We need to capitalize on those miscues. We also can't afford many screw ups on offense.
We will be without Rodney Harrison, Tedy Bruschi, Tyrone Poole, Richard Seymour, Matt Light and Troy Brown. I don't think Kevin Faulk will be dressing for the game, either. Gus Scott is also out.
Denver RB Tatum Bell and S Nick Ferguson are both probable. CB Champ Bailey will be a game time decision.
I think we will win this one, but it will be extremely close. I think a 24-20 victory will be what goes down at Mile High.
In other New England sports news, #11 Boston College moved into a tie with Florida State on top of the ACC Atlantic Division by coming from behind and beating Wake Forest, and by FSU losing on the road to Virginia. FSU holds the tie-breaker though thanks to their victory over BC. However, if the Eagles can run the table in the ACC, and FSU loses another conference game, we will be on top of the division and play the Coastal Division winner for the ACC championship. I don't think this will happen, but even if we finish 2nd in the division, it says alot about Boston College football.
In order for BC to win their remaining ACC games, they have to beat #3 Virginia Tech on the road next week. FSU can definately lose one more game as they face #11 Florida in Gainesville on the last week of the season.
Charlie Weiss completely outcoached Pete Carroll in Notre Dame's 34-31 victory at the last second. Carroll is merely a beneficiary of Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, and a group of amazing non-skilled position players. Reggie Bush demonstrated to the country that he is a selfish scumbag of a player. Not only did he arrogantly celebrate before getting into the end zone with 3 ND players on his tail, but he stole a kickoff from his fellow return man. I'm glad that players of the ilk of Reggie Bush, regardless of how talented they are, will never play for New England so long as Belichick is the coach.
The Bruins were beaten by Dominek Hasek and the undefeated Senators last night, 5-1. Joe Thornton didn't play due to his back spasms. Without him, the Bruins seem to really struggle to create pressure and score goals. He draws alot of penalties, less than should be called but he isn't a diver so he doesn't get calls, and draws alot of attention which allows his linemates to have more space and also allows other lines to go up against weaker defensive pairings. Andrew Raycroft has not been that outstanding of a goalie thus far. Last night, he allowed 4 goals on 24 shots. That's not what we need out of him in order to win.
The Celtics have started their pre-season schedule. They've lost 2 of their 3 exhibition matches, but they've been putting up points when the starters are playing. I think they will be good this year. Good enough to win it all? No. But good enough to make the playoffs and win a series or two.
By beating the Chicago 1-0 last night, the New England Revolution won the regular season Easter Conference title. They won 17 matches, drew 8, and lost only 7. They'll play the Kansas City Wizards in round 1 of the MLS playoffs. New England beat KC 2-0, tied them 1-1, lost to them 2-1, then tied them 2-2. The series is a two game one with each team getting a home game. The team with the most goals combined in the two games wins and advances to the Conference Championship.
The college hockey season has just gotten under way. #4 Boston College lost 3-2 to #7 Michigan in Ann Arbor. Hockey East newcomers #19 Vermont won the Nye Frontier Classic in Alaska. #14 Boston University opened the Hockey East schedule by beating #18 UMass-Lowell 3-1 at Agganis Arena in Boston. #12 Maine beat #2 Denver twice, 5-1 then 4-2. It appears that the 2005-06 Hockey East championship will once again come down to BC, BU, New Hampshire, and Maine. The Beanpot Tournament should be interesting this year as Harvard is ranked 17th.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
LOOKING TOWARDS 2006
The Red Sox are going to have 14 players come up for free agency. Here is the list:
RP Mike Stanton
CF Johnny Damon
1B Kevin Millar
1B John Olerud
3B Bill Mueller
1B Roberto Petagine
IF Tony Graffanino
RP Ricky Bottalico
OF Gabe Kapler
OF Dave Berg
IF Jared Sandberg
RP Matt Mantei
RP Mike Myers
RP Mike Timlin
Stanton, Millar, Petagine, Bottalico, Berg, Sandberg, and Mantei should all be gone. Bill Mueller is a questionable one. I think if we can re-sign him to a short one or two year deal, we should keep him. The same goes for Olerud. Graffanino should be re-signed to bring some experience to the bench in case some of the younger players don't work out. Kapler should also be re-signed because he's a good 4th outfielder/pinch runner/right handed bat on the bench. Timlin and Myers should also be re-signed. They are two of the maybe three dependable bullpen arms we have.
The big off-season pageant will be Johnny Damon. I'd like to keep him seeing as he is pivitol to our offense as a leadoff hitter. However, I don't think he deserves what he might ask for. In which case, he can go play for the Yankees and have fun shaving every morning, and trimming his hair.
The one position that has a lot of depth to it on the free agent market is first base. Paul Konerko would be a nice pickup, if you ask me. He would make a really good #5 hitter which is something we lacked for most of the season. We could also attempt to pry Mike Sweeney from the Royals. His contract is about a quarter of their total payroll so they might be happy to dump that.
Second base should be split between Graffanino and Pedroia, as well as some Youkilis. He was the Offensive Man of the Year for our Minor Leagues last year and was an Eastern League Post-Season All-Star with Portland. Pedroia struggled somewhat in Pawtucket, hitting .255 compared to .324 in Portland, but I think it is a perfect time to put him in there. With Graffanino backing him up, he won't be under too much pressure to perform.
Third base should be split between Mueller, if we can re-sign him, and Youkilis. If we can't get Mueller to sign a short deal, I think Graffanino could come over and platoon with Youkilis. Joe Randa and Geoff Blum could also be fillers for a season. I think Youkilis is as ready as he'll ever be to play consistently. I also think if he's given consistent playing time, he'll do pretty well.
Shortstop, unfortunately, will be Edgar Renteria's once again. The only way this might be avoided would be if we can't re-sign Damon and Mueller, sign Rafael Furcal to be the leadoff hitter, and then move Renteria to third base. This is a slim possibility, but you never know. There is no way we could move Renteria with his contract and his numbers from last season.
Left-field will probably be Manny Ramirez, unless the Red Sox work on a deal to move him. It wouldn't shock me that much as they've worked on deals to dump his contract almost every year he's been here. He's a great player, but he takes up alot of salary.
Center-field is the big mystery. I think the Red Sox would like to see Johnny Damon out there in 2006, but there are alot of questions. I don't think he's worth more than $11M. He's not getting any younger. He's prone to injuries, its a surprise he didn't fall apart this season. His 2nd half of 2005 scared me. I think the injuries were finally taking a toll on him. If he has an entire season like his second half, he won't be very useful to us. The scary thing is, the Yankees are looking for a center-fielder.
Potential replacements:
Gabe Kapler - this wouldn't be my first choice as I don't think Kapler is an everyday player.
Hideki Matsui - he's a potential free agent. If the Yankees want to spend money on pitching and a new center-fielder, they might let him go.
Jacques Jones - solid defense and a decent bat. Could benefit from hitting at Fenway.
Jay Payton - proved last year he could hit for us. But then again, he might not hit for us if he's not fighting for a job.
Carl Everett - just kidding
Kenny Lofton - He hit .335 with Philly last season, stole 22 bases (only caught 3 times), and had an OBP of .392. Didn't have huge production numbers, but then again, he was batting after the pitcher AND batting in the Phillies lineup. Scored 67 runs in 110 games. He's going to be 38 years old next season, but I think he could be a good filler before we're able to find a more permanent replacement. With the amount of kids we'll be bringing up, it might help to have some experience on the team in Lofton. He's been to the playoffs quite a few times, but still hasn't gotten that WS ring. Maybe that will entice him to come to Boston. I think we could sign him for maybe $5 million, which would save us some money to help our pitching staff.
Left-field will probably be patrolled by Trot Nixon next season. I'd love to see Kapler stay on this team so we could take Trot out against those tough lefties. That hurt us somewhat down the stretch and in the post-season. We need to be flexbile. We were flexible in 2004, but not in 2005.
I wonder who our DH will be.
Ideally, this would be the offense I'd put out there.
C - Jason Varitek
1B - Paul Konerko
2B - Dustin Pedroia/Tony Graffanino
3B - Bill Mueller/Kevin Youkilis
SS - Edgar Renteria
LF - Manny Ramirez
CF - Kenny Lofton
RF - Trot Nixon/Gabe Kapler
DH - David Ortiz
A potential batting order:
1. Kenny Lofton
2. Edgar Renteria
3. David Ortiz
4. Manny Ramirez
5. Paul Konerko
6. Jason Varitek
7. Trot Nixon/Gabe Kapler
8. Bill Mueller/Kevin Youkilis
9. Dustin Pedroia/Tony Graffanino
I think our bench should look like this:
C - Doug Mirabelli
IF - Kevin Youkilis
IF - Tony Graffanino
1B - John Olerud
OF - Gabe Kapler
Graffanino could be used in the outfield in a pinch. He has little, very little, experience out there but we could still use him.
Now for the bigger challenge, the pitching staff. If we want to win the World Series again, we're going to need pitching. That's why we won it in 2004, as well as 1918, 1916, 1915, 1912, and 1903. Pitching wins championships. We had an amazing offense last season and were swept out of the playoffs in 3 games. We were just like the Cleveland Indians from 1995-2000. Score 950 to 1,000 runs a season, get into the playoffs against good pitching, and then lose.
The pitching staff is full of question marks. But there aren't a whole lot of answers out there. Unfortunately, most of the staff will be under contract next season.
Did anyone know that by winning the World Series in 2004, Curt Schilling's contract was automatically extended thru the 2007 season? His deal actually contains some werid things, here is a summary from MLB4U.com:
"Curt Schilling: 2-Year EXTENSION worth 25M signed after being trade from ARI in Nov. 2003- + the deal includes a vesting option for 2007 based on Red Sox winning WS between 04-06- + the total value of the deal can rise up to 37.5M- + receives 2M raise if Sox win WS- + all performance bonus money is paid to specific chairities- + if he cannot sell ARI or NE(if traded) homes the Red Sox must buy them at the appraised price- + receives personal luxury box at every home game he starts- + receives 50K bonus for All-Star Game start- +100K bonus for All-Star seldction- will make 12M in 04 and 12.5 in 05- + WITH RED SOX WINNING WS in 2004, his 2005 salary rises to 14.5M and his 2007 option worth 13M becomes GUARANTEED (in total guaranteeing him 15M extra than orignal value)- + Bonuses he has earned: 400K for 2nd place in 2004 Cy Young Voting
Agent: Jeff Borris Service Time: 14.134
NOTE: WS clauses are illegal by MLB rule, but officials did not catch the clause in Schilling's contract till after the trade and it was allowed to stand."
So, anyway, here are the pitchers currently on the team and the year in which will be their last year under contract with us:
SP Matt Clement - 2007
SP David Wells - 2006
SP Tim Wakefield - 2006
RP Mike Timlin - 2005
SP Curt Schilling - 2007
RP Keith Foulke - 2006
RP Craig Hansen - 2009
RP Matt Mantei - 2005
RP John Halama - 2005
RP Mike Stanton - 2005
RP Mike Myers - 2005
RP Jeremi Gonzalez - 2005
SP Bronson Arroyo - 2005
SP Wade Miller - 2005
I think the Sox should make an effort to re-sign Bronson Arroyo, but as a bullpen pitcher, not a starter. He might not like this, but I just don't think he has the stuff to be a 200 inning pitcher. We also need to make an effort to re-sign Mike Timlin. We also need to explore the option of putting either Schilling or Wakefield into the bullpen. If we don't, we will have one open spot on our rotation.
There aren't any Aces out there on the free agent market except for one: Roger Clemens.
Why the hell not? We NEED an Ace badly. I know Roger is happy down in Houston, but I would still make an effort to get him. Why wouldn't he? Apart from being happy in Houston, the people he didn't like in the Red Sox front office are long gone. And do you think he likes having to bat? I doubt we'll sign him, but it'd be awesome if we did.
There are some good enough pitchers on the free agent market to fill in our last spot. AJ Burnett, Joe Mays, Jarrod Washburn, Kevin Millwood. We need to find someone who we know will make 30 starts and win at least 15 games for us and have an ERA of 4.00 or below.
Our possible rotation:
1. Clemens, but more likely AJ Burnett
2. Schilling
3. Wells
4. Wakefield
5. Clement
That's actually not that bad. Especially if Schilling is healthy.
The bullpen needs ALOT of work, too. We need Foulke to come back healthy, and we need to re-sign Timlin and Myers. If we do that and keep Arroyo as a bullpen pitcher, we won't be in terrible shape. I think Papelbon should start the season in Pawtucket just because we need him to be a pitcher for us for a long time to come. The same goes for guys like Delcarmen, Alvarez, and Hansen. Either AAA or AA for them.
Tom Gordon will be a free agent this off-season but I doubt the Yankees will let him go, especially to us. A guy like Paul Quantrill, Felix Rodriguez, or Bob Howry might make for a nice set-up man. We're also probably going to make a move to get BJ Ryan to be a potential closer in case Foulke continues to struggle. Our potential bullpen:
Closer: BJ Ryan
Set-up: Mike Timlin
Set-up: Bob Howry
Unkown: Keith Foulke
Mid-relief: Bronson Arroyo
Situational lefty: Mike Myers
That isn't a bad bullpen at all.
The Red Sox have quite a bit of off-season work to do. Hopefully Theo will do a better job at making a team for the 2006 season than he did for the 2005 season.
RP Mike Stanton
CF Johnny Damon
1B Kevin Millar
1B John Olerud
3B Bill Mueller
1B Roberto Petagine
IF Tony Graffanino
RP Ricky Bottalico
OF Gabe Kapler
OF Dave Berg
IF Jared Sandberg
RP Matt Mantei
RP Mike Myers
RP Mike Timlin
Stanton, Millar, Petagine, Bottalico, Berg, Sandberg, and Mantei should all be gone. Bill Mueller is a questionable one. I think if we can re-sign him to a short one or two year deal, we should keep him. The same goes for Olerud. Graffanino should be re-signed to bring some experience to the bench in case some of the younger players don't work out. Kapler should also be re-signed because he's a good 4th outfielder/pinch runner/right handed bat on the bench. Timlin and Myers should also be re-signed. They are two of the maybe three dependable bullpen arms we have.
The big off-season pageant will be Johnny Damon. I'd like to keep him seeing as he is pivitol to our offense as a leadoff hitter. However, I don't think he deserves what he might ask for. In which case, he can go play for the Yankees and have fun shaving every morning, and trimming his hair.
The one position that has a lot of depth to it on the free agent market is first base. Paul Konerko would be a nice pickup, if you ask me. He would make a really good #5 hitter which is something we lacked for most of the season. We could also attempt to pry Mike Sweeney from the Royals. His contract is about a quarter of their total payroll so they might be happy to dump that.
Second base should be split between Graffanino and Pedroia, as well as some Youkilis. He was the Offensive Man of the Year for our Minor Leagues last year and was an Eastern League Post-Season All-Star with Portland. Pedroia struggled somewhat in Pawtucket, hitting .255 compared to .324 in Portland, but I think it is a perfect time to put him in there. With Graffanino backing him up, he won't be under too much pressure to perform.
Third base should be split between Mueller, if we can re-sign him, and Youkilis. If we can't get Mueller to sign a short deal, I think Graffanino could come over and platoon with Youkilis. Joe Randa and Geoff Blum could also be fillers for a season. I think Youkilis is as ready as he'll ever be to play consistently. I also think if he's given consistent playing time, he'll do pretty well.
Shortstop, unfortunately, will be Edgar Renteria's once again. The only way this might be avoided would be if we can't re-sign Damon and Mueller, sign Rafael Furcal to be the leadoff hitter, and then move Renteria to third base. This is a slim possibility, but you never know. There is no way we could move Renteria with his contract and his numbers from last season.
Left-field will probably be Manny Ramirez, unless the Red Sox work on a deal to move him. It wouldn't shock me that much as they've worked on deals to dump his contract almost every year he's been here. He's a great player, but he takes up alot of salary.
Center-field is the big mystery. I think the Red Sox would like to see Johnny Damon out there in 2006, but there are alot of questions. I don't think he's worth more than $11M. He's not getting any younger. He's prone to injuries, its a surprise he didn't fall apart this season. His 2nd half of 2005 scared me. I think the injuries were finally taking a toll on him. If he has an entire season like his second half, he won't be very useful to us. The scary thing is, the Yankees are looking for a center-fielder.
Potential replacements:
Gabe Kapler - this wouldn't be my first choice as I don't think Kapler is an everyday player.
Hideki Matsui - he's a potential free agent. If the Yankees want to spend money on pitching and a new center-fielder, they might let him go.
Jacques Jones - solid defense and a decent bat. Could benefit from hitting at Fenway.
Jay Payton - proved last year he could hit for us. But then again, he might not hit for us if he's not fighting for a job.
Carl Everett - just kidding
Kenny Lofton - He hit .335 with Philly last season, stole 22 bases (only caught 3 times), and had an OBP of .392. Didn't have huge production numbers, but then again, he was batting after the pitcher AND batting in the Phillies lineup. Scored 67 runs in 110 games. He's going to be 38 years old next season, but I think he could be a good filler before we're able to find a more permanent replacement. With the amount of kids we'll be bringing up, it might help to have some experience on the team in Lofton. He's been to the playoffs quite a few times, but still hasn't gotten that WS ring. Maybe that will entice him to come to Boston. I think we could sign him for maybe $5 million, which would save us some money to help our pitching staff.
Left-field will probably be patrolled by Trot Nixon next season. I'd love to see Kapler stay on this team so we could take Trot out against those tough lefties. That hurt us somewhat down the stretch and in the post-season. We need to be flexbile. We were flexible in 2004, but not in 2005.
I wonder who our DH will be.
Ideally, this would be the offense I'd put out there.
C - Jason Varitek
1B - Paul Konerko
2B - Dustin Pedroia/Tony Graffanino
3B - Bill Mueller/Kevin Youkilis
SS - Edgar Renteria
LF - Manny Ramirez
CF - Kenny Lofton
RF - Trot Nixon/Gabe Kapler
DH - David Ortiz
A potential batting order:
1. Kenny Lofton
2. Edgar Renteria
3. David Ortiz
4. Manny Ramirez
5. Paul Konerko
6. Jason Varitek
7. Trot Nixon/Gabe Kapler
8. Bill Mueller/Kevin Youkilis
9. Dustin Pedroia/Tony Graffanino
I think our bench should look like this:
C - Doug Mirabelli
IF - Kevin Youkilis
IF - Tony Graffanino
1B - John Olerud
OF - Gabe Kapler
Graffanino could be used in the outfield in a pinch. He has little, very little, experience out there but we could still use him.
Now for the bigger challenge, the pitching staff. If we want to win the World Series again, we're going to need pitching. That's why we won it in 2004, as well as 1918, 1916, 1915, 1912, and 1903. Pitching wins championships. We had an amazing offense last season and were swept out of the playoffs in 3 games. We were just like the Cleveland Indians from 1995-2000. Score 950 to 1,000 runs a season, get into the playoffs against good pitching, and then lose.
The pitching staff is full of question marks. But there aren't a whole lot of answers out there. Unfortunately, most of the staff will be under contract next season.
Did anyone know that by winning the World Series in 2004, Curt Schilling's contract was automatically extended thru the 2007 season? His deal actually contains some werid things, here is a summary from MLB4U.com:
"Curt Schilling: 2-Year EXTENSION worth 25M signed after being trade from ARI in Nov. 2003- + the deal includes a vesting option for 2007 based on Red Sox winning WS between 04-06- + the total value of the deal can rise up to 37.5M- + receives 2M raise if Sox win WS- + all performance bonus money is paid to specific chairities- + if he cannot sell ARI or NE(if traded) homes the Red Sox must buy them at the appraised price- + receives personal luxury box at every home game he starts- + receives 50K bonus for All-Star Game start- +100K bonus for All-Star seldction- will make 12M in 04 and 12.5 in 05- + WITH RED SOX WINNING WS in 2004, his 2005 salary rises to 14.5M and his 2007 option worth 13M becomes GUARANTEED (in total guaranteeing him 15M extra than orignal value)- + Bonuses he has earned: 400K for 2nd place in 2004 Cy Young Voting
Agent: Jeff Borris Service Time: 14.134
NOTE: WS clauses are illegal by MLB rule, but officials did not catch the clause in Schilling's contract till after the trade and it was allowed to stand."
So, anyway, here are the pitchers currently on the team and the year in which will be their last year under contract with us:
SP Matt Clement - 2007
SP David Wells - 2006
SP Tim Wakefield - 2006
RP Mike Timlin - 2005
SP Curt Schilling - 2007
RP Keith Foulke - 2006
RP Craig Hansen - 2009
RP Matt Mantei - 2005
RP John Halama - 2005
RP Mike Stanton - 2005
RP Mike Myers - 2005
RP Jeremi Gonzalez - 2005
SP Bronson Arroyo - 2005
SP Wade Miller - 2005
I think the Sox should make an effort to re-sign Bronson Arroyo, but as a bullpen pitcher, not a starter. He might not like this, but I just don't think he has the stuff to be a 200 inning pitcher. We also need to make an effort to re-sign Mike Timlin. We also need to explore the option of putting either Schilling or Wakefield into the bullpen. If we don't, we will have one open spot on our rotation.
There aren't any Aces out there on the free agent market except for one: Roger Clemens.
Why the hell not? We NEED an Ace badly. I know Roger is happy down in Houston, but I would still make an effort to get him. Why wouldn't he? Apart from being happy in Houston, the people he didn't like in the Red Sox front office are long gone. And do you think he likes having to bat? I doubt we'll sign him, but it'd be awesome if we did.
There are some good enough pitchers on the free agent market to fill in our last spot. AJ Burnett, Joe Mays, Jarrod Washburn, Kevin Millwood. We need to find someone who we know will make 30 starts and win at least 15 games for us and have an ERA of 4.00 or below.
Our possible rotation:
1. Clemens, but more likely AJ Burnett
2. Schilling
3. Wells
4. Wakefield
5. Clement
That's actually not that bad. Especially if Schilling is healthy.
The bullpen needs ALOT of work, too. We need Foulke to come back healthy, and we need to re-sign Timlin and Myers. If we do that and keep Arroyo as a bullpen pitcher, we won't be in terrible shape. I think Papelbon should start the season in Pawtucket just because we need him to be a pitcher for us for a long time to come. The same goes for guys like Delcarmen, Alvarez, and Hansen. Either AAA or AA for them.
Tom Gordon will be a free agent this off-season but I doubt the Yankees will let him go, especially to us. A guy like Paul Quantrill, Felix Rodriguez, or Bob Howry might make for a nice set-up man. We're also probably going to make a move to get BJ Ryan to be a potential closer in case Foulke continues to struggle. Our potential bullpen:
Closer: BJ Ryan
Set-up: Mike Timlin
Set-up: Bob Howry
Unkown: Keith Foulke
Mid-relief: Bronson Arroyo
Situational lefty: Mike Myers
That isn't a bad bullpen at all.
The Red Sox have quite a bit of off-season work to do. Hopefully Theo will do a better job at making a team for the 2006 season than he did for the 2005 season.
Friday, October 14, 2005
LOOKING BACK ON 2005: MANAGEMENT
Terry Francona got about as much as any manager could given the team he had. He had to deal with injuries to Foulke, and Schilling, the constant injuries to Damon, the BS Jay Payton emitted, Kevin Millar, Manny being Manny, the ineffectiveness of Embree and absolutely no pitching whatsoever. I'd say that he did as good of a job as anyone. If, at the beginning of the season, you told me the Red Sox would have no starting pitcher even close to a #3 starter, Foulke would be hurt/ineffective, Embree would suck, Renteria would suck, Millar would suck, and Bellhorn would suck, I wouldv'e told you that we'd be lucky to win 85 games. As it is, we won 94 and took down the Wild Card. Not great, but not bad.
Theo had a terrible off-season and then a great mid-season. We lost all our pitching and pinned our entire staff on Schilling, Foulke, Embree, and Timlin. Only one of those guys excelled. The Renteria move was not a very good one. I still don't understand it. What the hell was wrong with Cabrera? He proved himself with us last season and then we let him go. And the scraped together pitching staff was not a good idea from the start.
During the season, Theo made some good moves. Olerud, Graffanino, Bradford, and bringing up the youngsters were all good decisions. I think in a few years, we will have a nice, home grown pitching staff. That will free up alot of money for bullpen guys and bottom of the lineup hitters. I think by 2010, we will have won another World Series. That's for another post, though.
Theo had a terrible off-season and then a great mid-season. We lost all our pitching and pinned our entire staff on Schilling, Foulke, Embree, and Timlin. Only one of those guys excelled. The Renteria move was not a very good one. I still don't understand it. What the hell was wrong with Cabrera? He proved himself with us last season and then we let him go. And the scraped together pitching staff was not a good idea from the start.
During the season, Theo made some good moves. Olerud, Graffanino, Bradford, and bringing up the youngsters were all good decisions. I think in a few years, we will have a nice, home grown pitching staff. That will free up alot of money for bullpen guys and bottom of the lineup hitters. I think by 2010, we will have won another World Series. That's for another post, though.
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