Good News: All of Boston’s promising prospects remain.

Bad News: Kevin Millar remains with the Sox.

On a gorgeous night at Fenway, the home team was able to knock off the Twins in convincing fashion, 6-2. Overshadowing the game, of course, was another twist in the Manny Ramirez saga, as Manny was a late scratch, replaced in the lineup by John Olerud. More on Manny later.

July 30th also signaled the return of Gabe Kapler to Boston. Kapler starter in RF, was introduced in his first at-bat to a thunderous ovation, and promptly ripped a hard single up the middle. Kapler ended up 2-4 and looked solid, save for an arguably misplayed ball in the 8th inning (from my perspective, it looked like Kapler took 2 or 3 steps in before realizing the liner was headed over his head — but Kapler’s outfield instincts have always been a little suspect).

David Wells pitched a marvelously efficient 7 innings, only running into trouble in the 8th when he gave up three hits to start the inning and was pulled. Wells received an ovation rivaling Kapler’s and doffed his cap to acknowledge the crowd. Mike Myers and Chad Bradford pitched a perfect 2 innings to finish the game out.

The Sox offense was powered by single bases - 6 walks, 12 singles. Only Bill Mueller (a triple) and Johnny Damon (a double) had extra base hits, Mueller’s triple scoring Tony Graffanino in the 3rd.

The big story was the Manny story though, and Chris Snow does a good job of recapping it into today’s Globe article. The jist: Terry Francona could see that Manny was a bit on edge with everything that has gone on over the past couple of days, and decided to give him a day off (and probably a second day off this afternoon) to clear his head. Is it a smokescreen to keep Manny off the field until they can consummate a trade? That’s a distinct possibility, but one hopes that everyone is able to just get through this situation and start August off with one of the best hitters in baseball in the cleanup spot of the lineup. If Manny’s not batting 4th for the Sox, David Ortiz is going to see a lot of nights like last night, walking 4 times in 5 at-bats.

The Sox also acquired Jose Cruz, Jr. from Arizona last night in exchange for minor leaguers Kenny Perez and Kyle Bono. Perez has been an organizational soldier, playing 2B and SS well and hitting enough to probably be a decent utility guy when he finally catches a break. Bono is a relief pitcher who’d been pitching decently in high A.

Cruz comes in to platoon with Kapler until Nixon is healthy. He’s a great pickup, if heathly, as he’s one of the best RF in baseball and has a cannon for an arm. Chris Smith was removed from the 40 man roster to make room for Cruz, but there has yet to be a corresponding move on the 25 man roster. It’s possible that Cruz remains off the active roster until tomorrow, allowing the Sox to try to trade Adam Stern before having to return him to the Braves to clear a roster spot.

The Red Sox selected Wade Anthony Boggs in the 7th round of the 1976 Amateur Draft. He would spend six years in the Minor Leagues, showing the sort of discipline for which he became so well known throughout his career. Problem was, he displayed little power. Had he never found his power stroke, and by “power stroke” I mean ability to notch extra-base hits of any kind, he never would have amounted to much of a Major League hitter – more like a niche offensive weapon that could post higher on-base totals than slugging numbers. But something changed for Boggs at Pawtucket in 1981. He started hitting doubles in huge bunches. He had 41 of them, added 5 home runs and after five consecutive Minor League slugging below .400, Boggs posted a .460 slugging percentage. He was ready for the Show.

Boggs played more games at 1st base than he did at 3rd in 1982, chiefly because the Sox employed Carney Lansford, who had won the 1981 batting title. Playing here and there when Manager Ralph Houk could find some time for him (he had 381 plate appearances), Boggs posted an impressive line of .349/.406/.441 in his rookie season. After the Red Sox traded Carney Lansford to Oakland for Tony Armas in December of 1982, Boggs had a full-time Major League gig as the 3rd Baseman for the Boston Red Sox. He would amass a career that few (2? 3, maybe?) Red Sox position players have matched.

In each season from 1983 through 1990, Wade Boggs led Major League Baseball in number of times reached base. He was a pain in the ass at the plate. He would lay off pitches outside the zone, foul off tough pitches on the corners and stay within himself on every swing. If it was on the outside half of the plate, he could flick his wrists and scrape the Green Monster for a double. If the pitcher tried to bust him inside, his hands were quick enough to pull the ball for a line-drive single to right field. If the pitcher made a bad mistake, Boggs had the pop to jack a ball, too. He finished his career with a respectable total of 118 home runs. In 1987, he hit .361/.463/.588 and finished the season with 26 home runs. It was one of the finest seasons a Red Sox slugger ever had. That Boggs managed those totals while playing 3rd Base made his 1987 year every bit as valuable as even some of Ted Williams’ best seasons.

In 1992, his last season with the Sox, Boggs posted a mediocre line of .259/.353/.358. That it was due in large part to a strikingly low BABIP (batting average on balls in play) or that sometimes guys just have down years seemed lost on the Red Sox, as they never gave much consideration to bringing Boggs back for 1993. He would join the New York Yankees, and though he struggled in 1993, he would post fantastic seasons in the strike-shortened seasons of 1994 and 1995. He would play an important role on the 1996 World Champion Yankees, with an OB/SLG of .389/.389 in over 500 plate appearances. Still, when Charlie Hayes and not Boggs corralled the final out of the 1996 World Series, it was clear that Boggs was nearing the end. He had a terrible 1997 with the Yanks and played out the string with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, his hometown team. He collected his 3,000th hit with Tampa, on a home run of all things, the first to ever do that.

Wade Boggs is going to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, but you wouldn’t really know it from reading the Boston newspapers or listening to the Sports Radio airwaves. For those that like to get wrapped up in off-the-field issues and discuss how big of a problem a player as productive as Manny Ramirez is to the Red Sox, the greatness of Wade Boggs will never register. He had a reputation for walking too much (HA!) and just hitting singles to pad his own stats, almost as if many deduced that a .450 on-base was detrimental to a team’s winning effort. The media jumped on him for his flaws and his quirks – and he had plenty of each of those. He had a very public adulterous affair with which the media, local and national, had a field day. He used to take batting practice and run sprints at the very same time before night games. He rode that friggin’ horse around Yankee Stadium, straddling a Police Officer, for crissakes. And hilariously, he bent down and kissed home plate at the Trop after his 3,000th hit, a home run. I think his demeanor affected the media’s perception of him, as he never finished in the top-3 for MVP voting, despite having a number of season in which he was pretty clearly the frontrunner for the honor. The quirks and personal shortcomings were all peripheral as far as I was concerned. Between the lines and at the plate, he was a force.

There was one particular incident in which I felt the media did Boggs a real injustice. After Game 7 of the 1986 World Series, there is a very famous video image of Boggs weeping uncontrollably in the visitors’ dugout of Shea Stadium. He took a lot of heat for that, some saying he was an emotional wreck while others said he was doing it for show. What many forget, however, was that Boggs lost his mother during the 1986 season. When you lose someone dear to you, you must carry on, and Boggs did. But often at the very first moment you have to think about all you have been through, it can hit you like a tidal wave. That moment came for Boggs at the conclusion of the World Series. So Boggs loses his mother, grinds out a pennant race, wins one of the most exciting LCS series of all time and then loses the World Series in an unthinkably heartbreaking manner. It just all hit him at once, and he deserved more understanding.

Boggs, with his career line of .328/.415/.443, enters Cooperstown on Sunday as one of the very finest 3rd Baseman of all-time. I hope there is a supportive Boston contingent there to congratulate him. He is a deserving hall-of-famer in every respect, and Sox fans everywhere should be proud that his plaque will feature Boggs sporting a cap with the old-english “B” on it. It always seemed his personal failures and multitude of quirks garnered more attention than his remarkable baseball abilities. For one weekend we all owe it to Boggs to cast aside the nonsense and honor him for his accomplishments.

It’s also amusing to consider the hypocrisy. Can a radio personality who was suspended for showing up to work with a alcohol buzz really be talking about Manny’s failure to act in the best interests of the team? Can a radio host who was suspended for leaving his job early and replaying an earlier segment during the last portion of the show really be in a position to comment on Manny’s failure to hustle? Can radio hosts who were suspended for making a racial comment really comment on Manny being offensive to the game? Can they talk about Manny’s penchant for days off, when some of them basically take the entire summer off while bringing in huge paychecks…much higher than the average listener?

Link

The Red Sox won yesterday.

That’s all.

1. J. Damon, CF
2. E. Renteria, SS
3. D. Ortiz, DH
4. J. Olerud, 1B
5. B. Mueller, 3B
6. K. Millar, LF
7. A. Cora, 2B
8. D. Mirabelli
9. A. Stern, RF

No, I’m serious. That really is today’s lineup.

From Mazz today…

…which made the Red Sox look (yet again) like a collection of irresponsible teenage nitwits.

What a dink.

- I have no idea what to make of last night’s game. Thank goodness Matt Clement seems healthy. And boy does it suck that Trot most likely is not. So what now? Schilling back to the rotation while Clement works his way back? Kapler the everyday RF? Millar the everyday RF and the third best hitter in the organization, Roberto Petagine, finally up to play 1st? Talk about good news-bad news! Maybe they can beg Kansas City for Chip Ambres back. Seen what he’s done so far? Not against chumps either - Sabathia and Buehrle, among others.

- Johnny Damon supplied perhaps the most enjoyable 3-minute stretch of regular-season-baseball-watching I have ever experienced. “The Catch” for the final out of the bottom of the ninth and a first-pitch home run to lead off the tenth? You kidding me? It was my first yelp aloud while alone in front of the TV all season.

- At what point if you’re Dale Sveum do you just pack it in? If you are that bad at your job, that has to wear on you, no? Imagine you wake up everyday knowing that you suck at whatever it is you are paid to do. What a joke sending Olerud last night.

- So you’re Theo. Trot is probably out for a while and who knows what you are going to get from Clement? Schilling has been shaky when healthy at all and certainly you can’t count on Keith Foulke for much this year. The trade deadline is Sunday. At what point do you say, “you know what, I am not going to mortgage the future just to give it a crack this year with a team that has had a bunch of unforseeable shit happen to it. Sometimes you just can’t patch up every hole but if we get it done with what we got, great.” My hope? That Theo becomes a “seller” and “packs it in” by moving Mueller and Millar and sliding Youkilis and Petagine into the lineup. I know it would be painful to “give up” like that but these are the decisions a GM has to make.

Hehe.

Delcarmen called up, Halama released - Boston.com - Red Sox - Sports

Bye John. We thought you’d be ok, but you pretty much sucked. I’m not sure why Theo waited so long.

Welcome Manny. Please convince the other Manny that Boston is a good city for him.

The Red Sox had a helluva time getting to Doug Waechter and the guy that has pulled more wool over New Englanders’ eyes cost the Sox in a big way once again as the Sox dropped their first extra-inning affair, 4-3 to the Devil Dogs of Tampa-St. Pete.

David Wells pitched pretty well, though was lifted in the 7th after tossing just 88 pitches, a move that struck me as curious given the effectiveness of Boston’s bullpen in 2005. Wells left with a lead but handed the ball to Mike Timlin with men on base, a kiss of death if ever there were one. Timlin held the line in the eighth and turned things over to Curt Schilling for the ninth and tenth.

Offensively, the Sox sucked wind again, as they have all of July. Doug Waechter was the mediocrity-made-Maddux du jour. The Sox are hitting just .260/.348/.413 in July, a total that slots in comfortably behind offenses like Oakland’s and Toronto’s for the month. Imagine if they didn’t have that 17-run outburst against Tim Redding and the Yankee Fantasy Camp All-Stars?

There were three critical mental errors in this game, two that cost the Sox dearly. The first was a baserunning gaffe committed in the 9th inning by Adam Stern, someone who plays for the Boston Red Sox chiefly because of his running ability (so I am told). With men on 1st and 3rd and one out, Edgar Renteria tried to do his GIDP thing, grounding right back to the pitcher. Alertly, Stern took off for home, so as to give the Sox a crack at staying alive in the inning. Not alertly, he did not realize that this was an unnecessary move, as Johnny Damon, the runner on first, had taken off with the pitch. Tampa had no shot at a double play. So Stern was tagged out. The mistake turned out not to hurt, however, as Manny Ramirez flew out with the bases loaded. The second mental error was committed by Trot Nixon, something that is becoming all too commonplace (the mental errors from Nixon) in my opinion. How this guy gets the “scrappy, heads-up, smart” tag is so far beyond me…well actually it’s not but I won’t address why I think that is in this space. Anyway, representing the tying run on 2nd base in the 8th, HE WAS HIT BY A BATTED BALL IN THE FOOT!!!!! I don’t care how hard the ball was hit, Nixon was situated 130 feet from home plate - he just has to be able to get out of the way of that ball. So Nixon was called out and the Sox had John Olerud on at 1st with 2 outs. The second gaffe came in the 10th and ended the game for the Sox. Nixon was playing essentially with his heels on the warning track so as to prevent the D-Rays from being able to double and plate Jorge Cantu from 1st and end the game. Accordingly, when Aubrey Huff roped a ball to right field that he was clearly not going to be able to get to, all he had to do was position himself to be able to play the ricochet off the wall so he could toss the ball back into the infield before Cantu would be able to even think of scoring. The ball was hit hard enough that playing it off the wall was the clear and safe play. But scrapping, hustler that he is, Nixon made a ridiculous attempt at catching the ball in the air. The ball bounced off the wall right by him and Cantu easily scored from 1st to end the game. I love Trot and particularly, his approach at the plate. I don’t mind the occasional boneheaded play if it comes as part of the whole package. It just ought to be noted, as it is so often for Boston’s left fielder, that Trot is not the most heads-up player in the game.

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Kevin Youkilis and Roberto Petagine each homered for Pawtucket yesterday. Petagine’s OPS now stands at 1.102. On the bright side, Manny Delcarmen was promoted yesterday. It is unknown as of now whom he will replace.

Please free me. Don’t you like freedom? Are we not all entitled to freedom?

Well what else is knew? Crappy baserunning, sub-optimal roster configuration and bizarre managerial tactics all contributed to a Red Sox loss. The White Sox beat the Red Sox yesterday in a brutally hot matinee, 6-4.

Bronson Arroyo took the hill yesterday and was just painful to watch in the early going. He lacked fastball command all afternoon and subsequently, lacked the confidence to throw his heater when he probably needed to. Paul Konerko roped a 3-and-2, hanging slider from Arroyo for a double to get the Pale Hose on the board in the bottom of the first. It would not come back to hurt him but he also walked Aaron Rowand on another 3-and-2 slider two batters later.

Arroyo again struggled in the 2nd, no thanks to Trot Nixon. Scott Podsednik hit a fly ball with two outs down the right field line, a good 12 feet short of the wall. Nixon got there, only to have the ball skim off of his glove. It was ruled a hit, and Podsednik reached second for a double. It would be difficult to blame Arroyo for what happened next. After a series of eight pitches, Iguchi smacked the ninth one over the right field fence - on a pitch that had to have been a good 8 inches off the plate and 2 inches off the ground. It was a crappy 3-and-2 fastball but by no means a gopher ball. Arroyo would settle down, containing the White Sox for the rest of his outing and allowing his teammates to try and get back in the game.

The Red Sox got a run in each of the first two innings off of Jose Contreras. David Ortiz homered in the first while Alex Cora plated Trot Nixon on a sacrifice fly. The most painful offensive inning came in the 6th. With one out and trailing 5-2, Kevin Millar hit a ball sharply down the left field line that Scott Podsednik easily surrounded. Inexplicably given the game situation, Millar tried to stretch the play into a double and was cut down by a good 7 feet. On cue, Jason Varitek followed the play up with a home run. It was only the latest baserunning miscue for a team that has had plenty of them this season. Between Trot Nixon’s pick-off in Baltimore, Doug Mirabelli runing up a guy’s ass against the Yanks, Manny being thrown out by 30 feet and yesterday’s play, the Sox are handing outs to the opposition when threatening at the most important junctures of ballgames. If you aren’t a fast team, you ought to have some sort of clue out there running the bases.

Trailing 6-3, the (Red) Sox would get the first two men on in the top half of the eighth. Here’s where it got ugly. The guy that homered off of Dustin Hermanson the other night, Adam Stern, was used as a pinch runner for Kevin Millar, the guy that had been hitting (singles, but hitting) all weekend long in Chicago. Edgar Renteria, Alex Cora’s clear offensive superior and resting for the afternoon, stood up to stretch out. Jason Varitek popped out for the first out of the inning. Now it was Alex Cora’s turn in the lineup. Stern was unavailable because he was on first base but Renteria and Olerud were ready. Tito stuck with Cora (.211/.247/.281). Cora struck out swinging, Tony Graffanino flew out to centerfield, Edgar Renteria sat back down and John Olerud put on his defensive replacement hard-hat to go play 1st.

Surely Tito used his bench terribly here but it’s tough to blame him when you run down the list of his options. Consider the bench Francona has when Renteria is playing. John Olerud is now batting .269/.324/.388. Doug Mirabelli never pinch hits. Alex Cora’s the most futile offensive big leaguer this side of Tony Womack. Adam Stern might be a good ballplayer someday but he is hardly yet an impact player. Sadly, I think he is Boston’s best pinch hitter at the moment. Rounding out the bench is the righthanded hitting outfield spot, previously reserved for Jay Payton who is now toiling for the WILD CARD LEADING Oakland Athletics (where the haters at?). Now it’s Adam Hyzdu and Gabe Kapler who will fill that role. Both represent a clear downgrade from Payton.

Everyone seems content to pass this off as an intermediary phase in which we ought to wait for 2nd half turnarounds, feel out the trade market, sign college players…etc. - all the while playing .400 ball. On the bright side, the PawSox dropped 27 runs over the weekend, with Kevin Youkilis putting up a .400/500/.600 line and Roberto Petagine a line of .583/.643/1.000. Losing games in part due to a limited 25-man roster just should never happen - not with the talent this club has toiling just down 95 in Pawtucket.

On the strength of World Series MVP and Mr. Clutch himself Manny Ramirez’s 9th inning home run, the Red Sox were able to overcome unclutch choke jobs by Jason Varitek (7th inning bases loaded strikeout), Trot Nixon (9th inning double play) and Curt Schilling (blown save).

Like that? Now we just need some glossy photos, big headlines and a major news publication to pick us up and we’ll be in business!

In all seriousness, the Sox won an exciting game, 6-5, last night against Major League Baseball’s best team, the Chicago White Sox and better still, its best pitcher, Mark Buehrle. Edgar Renteria paced the Red Sox offensively, going 3-for-4 with a walk while Manny Ramirez provided the crushing blow, a towering 9th inning blast off of Luis Vizcaino, one pitch after Pale Hose 3rd baseman Joe Crede dropped an easy foul pop-up that would have retired Manny. Johnny Damon, soothsayer, offered this up after the game.

“You just knew once Crede dropped that ball that Manny was going to do something special,”

Yes. Yes you did, Johnny. Or did you mean me? Or was it that ambiguous “you” that people sometimes like to use? Bah I give up.

I imagine Crede will catch his share of flak today but all his muff did was negate his own personal heroics that came in the bottom half of the 8th inning. His two-out double off of Curt Schilling tied the game for Chicago. For his part, Curt Schilling’s parenthetical notation in the box score (BS,W) is eminently appropriate. I mean, it was a BullShit Win. But hey, he pitched OK in two innings of work, and even looked dominant in the 9th. Adjusting to reliever and his bullpen warm-up routine will take time so I would expect that Schilling will be shakier at the outset of his appearances than he will be after he has settled in a bit.

A hat-tip to modern-day managerial customs is in order for last night’s win as well. Since a tie game in the 9th inning is obviously no time for your best reliever, or Closer™, the Red Sox got to have at it against Luis Vizcaino in lieu of old pal Dustin Hermanson, who ranks sixth in B-Pro’s Relievers Expected Wins Added. Don’t tell Ozzie Guillen I was critical, however. He scares me.

Tonight it’s Tim Wakefield and Jon Garland. Garland has 14 wins, you know.

It’s been hard to not be at least moderately critical of the Red Sox roster construction this year. There’s been an abundance of, let’s say, questionable decisions this season. But, at the core, the decisions all seem to have a couple of threads in common:

1) The Red Sox would rather have a veteran than a younger player
2) The Red Sox would rather not disrupt the harmony in the clubhouse

Let’s look at a couple of recent examples:

Kevin Millar/John Olerud at 1B over Roberto Petagine/Kevin Youkilis
Millar has been getting hammered by pretty much everyone, but it’s legitimate. He’s simply not provided the Red Sox the offense they need out of 1B. With the Red Sox offense as potent as it is, you can deal with sub-optimal output from a couple of places (yes, a sub-400 SLG from a 1B is sub-optimal). The oddity, of course, is that that Sox have carried a better hitter on the roster for most of the year — Kevin Youkilis. Terry Francona, however, is a player’s manager and has a tendency to ride veterans as far as he can. Combine that with Kevin Millar’s tendency to not take kindly to losing his spot (c.f. last year’s tiff with Doug Mientkiewicz), and Francona stuck with the Millar/Olerud combo over the more productive Youkilis to keep from making waves.

This doesn’t even start to take into account the monster lurking down I95 in Pawtucket. Roberto Petagine has put up a line of .313/.445/.618 in AAA. Even if you don’t believe that minor league performance does have a correlation to major league performance, you have to believe that the Sox should give Petagine a shot to improve upon Millar’s numbers. Why haven’t they?

For starters, Petagine would have to be added to the 40 man roster — though that’s a fairly small inconvenience (bye-bye John Halama or Tim Bausher). The real hindrance is the fact that it would likely mean giving up on Kevin Millar. Millar seems to be fairly popular with the players in the clubhouse.

Implicitly, the front office is putting a tangible value on Kevin Millar’s “intangible” clubhouse value. They must believe that giving Millar’s job to an “unproven” guy like Roberto Petagine would have a detrimental effect on the team’s performance that would cost more than the incremental improvement in offense from upgrading from Millar to Petagine.

Adam Hyzdu/Gabe Kapler/Adam Stern over Chip Ambres
When Jay Payton threw his hissy fit to expedite his exit from the organization, the Sox DFA’d him to open up a spot on the 40 man roster. They had the chance to bring up Chip Ambres, who had been hitting pretty well all season in Pawtucket and seemingly is a perfect platoon partner for Trot Nixon. They didn’t. The Sox front office flipped through a couple of options, using a 12th pitcher, promoting Rule 5er Adam Stern, and finally reacquiring Adam Hyzdu.

Why? Why not just give the spot to Ambres, see what you’ve got, and then still have the opportunity to reacquire Hyzdu? You could argue that the Sox weren’t enamored with Ambres’ performance in AAA, but that’s not terribly logical — they picked him up in the offseason when the Marlins tried to sneak him through waivers, so they must have seen something then, and his performance in Pawtucket certainly didn’t do anything to diminish that view. You could argue that the Red Sox didn’t want to risk losing him without getting something in return. If Ambres flopped, the front office would have to find a replacement, which would require sending Ambres back to AAA. Ambres would once again need to clear waivers, something that wasn’t likely. This is more plausible.

Ambres had been solid all season though, so why not give him a shot as the 5th OF rather than carrying 12 pitchers over the first part of the season? Probably because Francona wouldn’t use him. Francona doesn’t do a great job of breaking younger players into the lineup (c.f. Kevin Youkilis), preferring to defer to his veterans, even when the youngsters might be better. Ambres would waste away on the bench.

To remedy the situation, the Sox had Trot Nixon bat against LHP numerous times in the past week, had Kevin Millar play RF where his offense is just as poor a fit and his defense makes him even worse, and carried 12 pitchers, most of whom didn’t get used regularly. Not an optimal use of the roster. But the clubhouse has remained happy. And will likely remain happy as they’ll first have Adam Hyzdu and, later, Gabe Kapler, as the team’s 4th OF. These are both veteran players who the team is already familiar with. They’re probably also both worse than Chip Ambres, at this point. Once again, the team has assigned a value to the difference between having Hyzdu/Kapler in the dugout rather than Ambres.

Ambres has since been dealt to Kansas City in the deal for Tony Graffanino, where he went 2-4 in his first game.

Keeping Alan Embree and John Halama over Lenny DiNardo, et al.
No need to talk about the Sox bullpen. It’s been atrocious. Inexplicably, Terry Francona has continually gone to Alan Embree in key situations, even if it’s been obvious since week 1 of the season that he’s pretty much done (really! go back and look - we all mentioned it in April). But, like clockwork, Tito raises his left arm and in walks Embree and out goes his batting practice fastball.

John Halama’s been pretty much an unmitigated disaster. Hard to see it coming, given that Halama’s been adequate for a few seasons now, but come it has.

So how did the Sox deal? Well, first they tried carrying 12 pitchers. Francona didn’t use most of the pitchers, but they were there, taking up a valuable roster spot.

Did they ever try replacing Embree or Halama? Nope. Not once. Even with Lenny DiNardo and Abe Alvarez doing alright in Pawtucket, the Sox never once gave them a shot to see if they’d be able to replace two of the worse relief pitchers in the AL.

This has finally been remedied this week. I think even Theo and company got sick of watching Embree come into high leverage situations. But the only logical explanation before this was that the Sox were worried about the clubhouse effect that dumping Embree (and, to a lesser extent, Halama) would have, combined with the fact that Francona would likely not have used the youngsters, instead probably electing to expand Mike Myers to full time duty (not an attractive proposition).

In each of these situations, it seems to me that the Sox front office has weighed the clubhouse effect and likely usage patterns by their manager, and determined that the incremental improvement by the newer player would not be enough to make the move. It’s a seemingly odd stance for a sabermetrically-inclined organization, but I have to believe this is the case. The front office simply is too smart to not believe that Petagine+Youklis is a net improvement over Millar+Olerud, that Ambres > Kapler/Youkilis, that DiNardo > Halama+Embree. So, they must have assigned some value to the clubhouse contributions of certain players and to the value in not overturning a clubhouse for incremental gains.

It’s hard for a stathead like me to swallow, but I’d much rather believe that this is the case. The alternative is believing that the Sox have started to reduce their reliance on performance analysis or that they’re more worried about the PR effect of dumping a popular player than improving the team. Neither of those options are palatable to me.

So, here we stand, about a week and a half before the trade deadline, in first place by a thin margin. The starting rotation is average, the bullpen atrocious, and the offense one of the best in baseball. The Tony Graffanino trade and Alan Embree DFA are two small moves that marginally improve the team, but might not be enough to win the East, let alone the AL.

It’s going to be an interesting 12 days. We’ll see how much a harmonious clubhouse is valued on July 31st.

2005 Home Runs

Neifi Perez: 7

Kevin Millar: 4

And in case some of you haven’t read previous posts and/or comments, Matt from Not Rounders pointed this tidbit out. So, um, a hat tip to Matt.

That’s all.

The Red Sox won an important game last night, beating old pal Casey Fossum and the Devil Rays 5-2 at Fenway Park on one of the most humid nights of the season. Bronson Arroyo, Mike Timlin and Curt Schilling combined to quiet what has been a pretty good Tampa Bay offense. Manny Ramirez homered while Jason Varitek and David Ortiz also picked up important hits (what else is new?).

My brief, big-picture view of things goes kind of like this right now. I am pleased to see the team making moves to address its problems. Parting with actual value for the likes of Tony Graffanino is doubtless sub-optimal but the booty they sent along to Kansas City is certainly not going to come back to Bagwell them. So they have a Major League 2nd baseman for the time being, which is nice. The Embree DFA is also encouraging. It had become evident that sitting around and waiting for Embree to snap out could possibly cost the team its season. Acting was the right move. Obviously, there still may be a big deal or two to be executed but here’s hoping they don’t look too far beyond Rhode Island for someone that would provide an enormous boost. As someone once said to me, “Don’t trip over the kitchen table on the way out to save the world.”

In what had to be the most predictable descent back to earth this side of Shea Hillenbrand, John Olerud is now hitting just .293/.354/.431 (you mean to tell me Olerud is not an 1.100 OPS slugger?!?!). You saw him kick a ball last night. His knees do not allow him to field the way he once could and he hasn’t been an offensive asset since 2002. Wishcasting the Olerud/Millar duo into 1st Base proficiency, like sitting around and waiting for Embree to snap out, could prove costly. Roberto Petagine continues to show no signs whatsoever of cooling off. He is hitting .315/.446/.624 on the season, is 34 years old and just shouldn’t be blocked by two guys getting by on long-expired reputations and stand-up personalities.

The Red Sox are not out of the woods by any stretch. But yesterday’s moves, whether you agree with the actual names shuffled around or not, are encouraging because it was the first major indicator that that this front office will not tolerate crappy performance forever, no matter who the player in question is. They have acted on Embree, addressed 2nd Base and acquired a right-handed hitting outfielder to platoon with Trot. Hopefully they are not done.

Graffanino for Cedeno and Ambres

Embree DFA’d and Cassidy for Hyzdu.

Interesting, but not season makers.

Well, the Sox no longer have to worry about being in 1st place. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Sox 4 3 - 1 last night at Fenway. It would have been 4-1, but Curt Schilling and Terry Francona were able to convince the umpiring crew to (erroneously?) overrule a safe call on a Jorge Cantu infield single that took a Carl Crawford run off the board.

The big news, of course, is that the Red Sox started Alex Cora at 2B as Mark Bellhorn was placed on the 15-Day DL before the game. Cora is playing below replacement level this year. Let me put that in context — the 2nd richest team in baseball will likely be starting a below replacement level player for the better part of the next 2 weeks. Cora, just to make matters difficult, was the bulk of the Sox offense last night, hitting 2 singles in 4 at-bats. Unfortunately, for the second time recently, Cora came up in an important spot in the 9th inning and did what he does best - make an out. Why Kevin Youkilis (brought up to replace Bellhorn on the roster) wasn’t used to pinch hit for him, I’ll never understand.

Wade Miller was Wade Miller. Not very good, not very bad. Once again, he threw too many pitches due to his erratic control, and wasn’t able to make it through the 6th. Francona made good use of his 12 man pitching staff, using all 12 pitchers to get through the final 3.1 IP. Ok, he only used 5 pitchers to get through those 3.1 innings. The bullpen did the job, not allowing another run, unless you count the aforementioned play in the 9th inning which made Schilling’s line look a little better than it really was. Nick Cafardo captured a great quote about the play by one of my favorite non-Sox players:

Tampa second baseman Julio Lugo took a sarcastic jab at Schilling. ‘’I used to admire Curt Schilling, but I’ve got more admiration for him now that he would come out and beg for a call and get it,” he said. ‘’I don’t think there’s anybody in baseball who could do that. I admire Curt Schilling. He’s the man for me. I had respect for him, now I have more respect for him than anybody in baseball. I’ve never seen anything like that.”

The Sox offense was … lazy, I guess is a good word. They worked 6 walks off of Rays starter Scott Kazmir, but could only muster the one run. Held hitless for the last 3 innings, they never even threatened to make it a game. Batters 3-7 contributed 0 hits but all 6 walks. That combo amounts to 0 runs. We won’t even talk about Trot Nixon facing a LHP.

I’ll be back soon with some comments on the Sox current state. After getting hammered by the Yanks, it helps to take a step back when you follow that up with a loss to the DRays.

I beat my head against the wall, clinging to different theories on how to build a baseball team. Basically, it all comes down to having the most flexible roster as possible, making the best uses of your 25 men.

The crux of my own personal feelings is that your team needs 14 position players and 11 pitchers. Any more pitchers, the back end of your pen is likely to rust out, and in a situation where you might really need the extra bench guy, you’ll be left with lint.

Picture this…You have the bases loaded in the 9th inning with no outs. Your backup catcher (who started) has been pinch hit for by his starting counterpart. Your starting second baseman was replaced by your utility infielder, due to injury. This utility infielder is now facing Mariano Rivera, with a two run deficit. You have a divergent path to take…

If you stock your bench with Mirabelli, Cora, Stern, and Olerud, you can do nothing. You can’t pinch hit Cora with Olerud because if the game happens to go into extra innings, you are left without a 2nd baseman (or 3rd if you move Mueller to 2nd)…or put Millar at 3rd and keep Olerud in the game at first, with Mueller at 2nd. These are not realistic situations. Basically, its Cora do or die, and hope he actually contributes to the offense enough so Damon/Renteria have a chance to plate some runs.

Cora bounced into a double play, and Damon swung at the first pitch…hitting a ground ball to the 2nd baseman. Game over.

If you go down the other path, the one where Mirabelli, Cora, Stern, Olerud, and Youkilis share bench duties, and Cora steps in, you can jump into action. Against Rivera, with no outs, you can pinch hit your worst offensive player with either Olerud (DP threat, walk/2b threat) or Youkilis (not really a DP threat, not as much power as Olerud). If you pick Olerud, you can slide Mueller to 2nd, and switch up the defense by putting Youks at 3rd. If you pick Youks, you have Olerud for later in the game.

Is it a guarantee win for the Sox? No, but it gives you a better chance than Alex Cora does.

For the record, this is the 2nd time this year that a short bench has definitely lessened the Red Sox chances of winning. The first one was on April 19 against Toronto, with having Old Alex Cora (Ramon Vazquez) bat with the tying run at 3rd and 2 outs.
Two games might not mean anything…or it might mean the playoffs. In any event, the Red Sox inefficient use of their roster is hurting the team. On the plus side, we have a righty and a lefty long man!

Manny’s home run also just landed in my front yard. And keeping Wakefield in for the 9th was a smart move, with a 11 man pitching staff…a curious one with 12.

You know, it only took 3 months of constant piling on by the people of this blog, but Kevin Millar is actually starting to hit like an actual major leaguer, rather than a shaved Ewok.

Thursday: 2-2, 2 walks and a double
Friday: 2-4, 2 runs and a walk
Today: 1-2, 1 BB 1 Rbi (one baserunning headslapper. Old dogs and all)

Against the Yankees so far, he’s 5-8 with 4 walks and a double…not too shabby, considering his June/July were better than the crapfest of April/May.

Keep it up, Chicken Man, for the Eye of Petagine is still upon you. Woe to you, if he is freed in your stead.