Thats what I heard on the Marlins rumor sites too. Our own front office said something like: "They wanted an arm, a leg, a kidney and a cerebellum" or something to that effect.
The Padres wanted Clay Buchholz, Justin Masterson, Jed Lowrie, Lars Anderson, Josh Reddick and either Michael Bowden or Daniel Bard. Which would have pretty much destroyed our farm system and current team. I mean I like Gonzalez but I'd only back the truck up for Pujols or Hanley. I saw that, I'm sure it would have taken a ton to get him. The cost most likely wasn't worth it, much like Gonzalez.
Your two @ TB and our two @ TOR will set the stage for the 4 in NY....1/2 game lead the 6 both teams have this week will be quite interesting.
Out of all the deals the Sox could have made for an impact bat, V-Mart seems pretty reasonable. Reddick has always had a few doubters in his game, but he has done nothing but be very, very productive at every level he sees next. He looked great this weekend.
Apparently the Sox were pretty close to getting Felix Hernandez at the deadline. They offered: Daniel Bard, Clay Buchholz, Michael Bowden, Justin Masterson, Josh Reddick, Nick Hagadone, Felix Dournmont and Yamico Narravo and told Seattle to pick any 5 of them. I'm sure Theo will try to work on something in the offseason, but imagine if he could have pulled off a deal for King Felix out of nowhere? And also possibly still had enough to get Victor Martinez?
Why were the Sox so eager to get rid of Masterson? I like his stuff and think he could be more reliable than a Penny/Smoltz/Dice-K.
I wouldn't say they were eager to get rid of him, they did land a pretty good player in Martinez for him, not like they sold low on Masterson. But they do have a lot of better pitching prospects in the minors right now like Tazawa and Bowden who could fill in now. And in the future guys like Casey Kelly, Felix Dournmit, and Stolmy Pimentel who project to be better. I liked Masterson's stuff too (as well as the guy in general) but the problem is it was really looking like he's going to end up being a righty specialist out of the pen. His splits vs. LHB aren't good at all and never were good even in the minors, which was a big cause of concern. Because he's a side arm pitcher, lefty batters picked up the ball much better out of his hand and hit him hard. So I think the Sox decided his value is pretty high now so if they could get an impact player for him they should move him. In fact Hagadone who was traded with Masterson will probably be a better pitcher than him. Which just speaks volumes about the Sox minor league system, the Sox have to be in the top 5 along with Texas, Atlanta, San Francisco, Tampa Bay and Baltimore (although most of their impact guys are up now). Too bad it looks like Buchholz is going to be their biggest bust to date, as right now Craig Hansen wins that prize.
Gotcha. Well, he does have pretty good movement on his fastball. Don't know enough about him to know whether or not he has an effective change-up. Thats always a great neutralizer against lefty's.
He's a sinker/slider guy. He does have a circle change up but it's a work in progress. Mark Shapiro, Indians GM, even made a comment about how he wants to see Masterson develop the change up more before he's moved back into the starting rotation. I really do hope Masterson has a successful MLB career, like I said he seemed like a really good guy and I would have loved to keep him around but I trust the Sox FO knows what they're doing.
I think they will pick the talks back up in the off-season but I really don't want to see Bard traded. He is nasty.
Yeah I wouldn't be surprised if thats the hot trade rumor all winter between Halladay and Felix Hernandez. The Sox certainly have enough to get the deal done, its whether they want to part with all that talent. Of course it would help a lot if Buchholz pitched well.
Nice to see Bard turn into Kyle Farnsworth Jr. tonight. It was only the biggest game of the year. This team is such a tease. Also a little concerning he's a few MPH off on his fastball tonight.
Wow they blew it agian. Lester pitched great and if his pitch count was not so high he would have pitched longer. Can seem to hold a lead for anything.
They were atrocious offensively tonight (where's Jason "pay me now" Bay been for the last 2 months?), there's no question about it, but this bullpen is so ridiculously overrated. Yeah, they were able to hang on until the bottom of the 13th, but how anyone can actually have faith in guys like Ramirez, Delcarmen, Saito and even Okajima. Sure, Bard spit the bit tonight and Papelbon has been Rick Vaughn (from Major League II) this year, but those are the only two guys in the pen that are worth a damn. Also, I'm getting sick of watching Matt Garza (and the entire Tampa team) continue this dominance of Boston. They need to win tonight because Smoltz is going to be embarrassed in New York on Thursday.
The bats were dead for both teams. I mean each inning from the 8th on it seemed like each team loaded the bases up or had multiple guys in scoring position with 0 outs and couldn't get the job done. As soon as the Sox went into extra innings I knew we weren't going to win with the arms left in the pen. I must however give credit to Delcarmen who finally got big outs in big spots. It was also strange to see Papelbon get a 1-2-3 inning. The Sox probably need to call someone up today to help out with the pen (I'd guess Hunter Jones or Bowden).
I'm just glad Sonnenstine is in the minors. If I had to watch him pitch one more gem vs the Sox I'd lose it. I'm just glad that someone like Longoria beat us last night and not the Willie Aybars/Gabe Grosses of the world.
How about the strikezone last night? Absolutely brutal. And I hate Jason Bartlett. Screw the Twins for that deal.
Oh I agree on. I'm just mad they wasted a good start by Lester. The Sox can't afford to lose games pitched by either Lester or Beckett because the other guys in the rotation aren't good. And to think we had pitching depth in June and now look at us. And personally I'd let Bay walk after the year if he won't agree to a 3 year 45 million dollar deal plus bonuses. Does anyone realize just how bad he's been since May? The team needs to start getting younger, especially since the older players like Lowell and Varitek are starting to break down. If Bay doesn't resign, take the 2 picks in the draft and move Drew to LF and let Reddick play RF. And yes I hate the Twins too. That deal was a great move by TB and terrible for the Twins yet it doesn't get enough talk about it.
What's your opinion on that "dead ball" call compared to where the base runners were at the time (even projecting the time it would have taken the ball to bounce out to the OF) when it got caught up in the equipment bags by the warmup pitching mound? If the roles were reversed would you be ticked at the rule? P.S. another reason why warmup mounds should not be in the field of play.
Of course I'd be ticked if the rolls were reversed. And agreed with the bullpens being in the middle of the field. As for the rule, I've always been a big believe in the umps using judgement calls over the play just being automatically dead. Nothing drives me crazy than when a guy hits a ball to the OF and a dumb fan reaches up and grabs it costing a team a run.
Another thing I'd do in the offseason is trade Papelbon. I'm concerned about his performance this year. I'd sure Theo could work a deal to get back a few big time prospects for him. Then I'd turn around to try to make deals for Felix Hernandez and Adrian Gonzalez if possible. I'd also try to move Matsuzaka too, as his contract isn't bad by any means and I'd sure he has some trade value.
Last nights game was brutal, I stayed till the end.. I had forgot Lester put in a great effort by the end of the game..
The Sox just signed Paul Byrd. Are things really that bad? I'm starting to dislike this team very quickly.
I'm just hoping Paul Byrd got plenty of HGH from his denist during his time off so hopefully his fastball will break 86 mph.
Do we still have Charlie Zink? Holy Smokes, I totally agree, what's next Sox pickup Omar Vizquel for the playoff run.
Yeah we have Zink. But he's probably way way down on the depth chart. Behind Bowden and Tazawa at least. And Vizquel is currently with Texas trying to help them get our wild card spot right now. EDIT: It could be worse, I just saw the Yankees signed Russ Ortiz who's sporting a nice ERA of over 5 in Quadtriple A.
Wonderful Bay hurt himself last night. He's going to be out at least tonight's game and possibly the series. The Sox can't recall Reddick unless they put an offensive player on the DL. Not a great start to the day.
Our AAA Starting arms are somewhat depleted with all the call ups to improve our pen, etc.....signing Ortiz for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre innings fodder is fine. He will join fellow cast-offs Josh Towers and Jason Hirsh. Yup, Ortiz, 35, was 3-6 with a 5.57 ERA for the Astros this season. Never a problem signing on the cheap arms to eat innings in the ML...better than trading for overpriced garbage like Arroyo rumors. Plus, based on how this year has gone, you should feel your medicine is starting tonight....you always get healthy vs Yanks...and another sweep could be staring you in the face.... Tonights game is huge from Yanks mindset standpoint, no matter how good 2.5 game lead feels...cant drop the first game otherwise the "here we go again" feeling will dominate the weekend. Goodluck!
Smoltz on the mound, LOL. Personally, I'm looking forward to Joba's first fist-pump of the night. As unimpressive as I believe the Yankees are, this series is going to be a disaster for the Red Sox. We need to find a way to split.
I'd sign up for a split in a heart beat. I'm very nervous for this series. The Sox are hurt and playing like crap and the Yankees have been playing well for well over a month. Also if Bay is going to be out at least the next 2 days the Sox need to call Reddick back up, which means someone needs to hit the DL. Hopefully the Sox can get Baldelli or Kotchman to take one for the team. I might pull a Billy Beane tonight and get updates of game via my BlackBerry. Anything good on TV on Thursdays?
I'm extremely excited for tonight's game. Joba is a huge scumbag and I think he might actually be dumb enough to try something stupid, like throwing anywhere near Youkilis. If he goes head hunting anyone in the lineup, I think we're going to see the benches clear, at the very least. It certainly has potential to get very ugly @ the wiffle ball park in the Bronx. Lighting a fire underneath this group might be exactly what this team needs (think Varitek/Mueller circa 2004). Regardless, let's go Sox!
Yeah and Joba is definitely dumb enough to do something like that too. If I'm Youkilis and Joba throws a ball anywhere near my head I'm bringing the bat to the mound. And if Youkilis hits a home run off of Joba I'm walking around the bases doing my best Aubrey Huff Joba impression around the bases.
I would cry from laughing so hard. Split sounds great! Hopefully Smoltz shows up big tonight and pitches a gem. I can hope
Reddick is on his way to NY according to the Boston Globe. For him to be put back on the 25 roster an OF must be placed on the DL because he hasn't spent at least 10 days in the minors since being sent down. My best guess is Baldelli or Bay heads to the DL.
Youkilis is playing LF tonight with Casey Kotchman playing 1st. Lowell at 3rd and Martinez catching. Hopefully no one hits any balls to left.
Meh, its not like Bay is Carl Crawford out there in LF, he's a well-below average LFer in his own right. Youkilis will be fine. By the way, the Globe looks pretty foolish right about now between the Reddick speculation and the Ortiz PED talk.
