Hate to say I told you so...
... but obviously I was right, at least in the near term, about the Wily Mo Pena/Bronson Arroyo deal. With David Wells too feeble and stupid to pitch, and Keith Foulke not capable of closing at this juncture, forcing Jonathan Papelbon to close (like the best Sox closer since Lee Smith?), that seven man rotation is now looking like four, and Theo probably has to make a deal.
Who was it who says that you can't have enough pitching? Oh yeah, pretty much everyone. Now that we need a fifth starter, can Theo dial Cincinatti and invoke a "givies backsies" provision?
Given Pena's horrible fielding in right, and Bronson's emergence as a slugger, I'm wondering if the Sox shouldn't have kept Bronson and played him in right as a platoon with Trot against lefties. After all, he's hitting with more consistent power than Pena, and his fielding couldn't be worse.
Of course, if Bronson tails off, and Pena becomes more Barry Bonds (naturally, one would hope) than Pete Incavelia (sp?), Theo will be vindicated. I hope that is the case, as it's no fun being right about stupid deals like Larry Anderson for Jeff Bagwell, Mike Boddicker for Brady Anderson and Curt Schilling, etc.
posted by MMA Media Advantage @ 5:51 AM
4 Comments:
On a separate note- I believe Francona made a big mistake taking out Foulke last night....he should have been out of the inning with a called strike 3 but the ump got it wrong. Then Rudy comes in, and serves it up. #1, Foulke's confidence gets squashed; and #2 Red Sox lose. This was the 2nd pitching change mistake Francona made. The first was removing Beckett. Remove Beckett after the 7th, let Timlin do his thing in the 8th, Papelbon in the 9th. Beckett went 6 or 7 in all of his previous starts this season, why push him. Sox played well, Francona blew this one
More like the best Sox closer since Keith Foulke two years ago. He'll be back. Remember, Foulke was demoted as closer with the White Sox, then never got his job back despite putting up great numbers, and all he did from there was excell with the A's and dominate the postseason on the way to a ring. I don't care what he said about Burger King -- I love me some Keith Foulke.
Also, he's on my fantasy team and Papelbon isn't,
And he was so excelllent that it gets an exxtra L.
most of what you hav esaid is correct, however you are wrong about the Mike Boddicker trade for Schilling and Brady Anderson. Boddicker gave us a few good years, right when we needed them.
As for Rick Sutcliff:Last night, Monday, in the eighth inning Varitek walked, Lowell doubled to deep left center, advancing Varitek to third, Harris hit sacrifice fly to center, scoring Varitek making the score
Sox 8-Yankees 1.
Rick Sutcliff said on ESPN,that Lowell stayed on second , not advancing to third out of a respect for, and a desire not to make Bernie Williams look bad.
I recognize that TV commentators, even ones who have played the game well like Sutcliff, do not know what the players on the field are thinking, but could this be true?
Did Lowell fail to advance and take a base against the Yankees out of respect for an aging Bernie Williams? I hope not! The Yankees are known for their late inning comebacks and this logic,if carried to its dryly logical conclusion will prevent the Sox from intentionally hammering Randy Johnson out of respect for his past. That attitude can only lead to defeat.
Billy Martin would not have played the game that way.
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