The Official Boston Red Sox Thread

#1,376
#1,376
ionaVOL said:
Days like this get me so fired up for the season to start! I know its only spring training, but I'd much rather have my guys doing well then struggling heading into the real games

Lester - 7 ip 2 hits 0 runs 0 walks 10 k's
Pedroia - Hit a bomb
Ross the Boss - Hit a bomb
Iglesias - On base 3 times and gunned down a runner at the plate with a nice relay throw
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Lester pitched like an ACE today.

Rumor was that Cherrington & Bobby V were having a "rift" over Iglesias. Supposedly Bobby V wants Iglesias as his SS but Cherrington wants him to get more AB's in the minors.
 
#1,380
#1,380
Iglesias & Lars Anderson have been optioned to Pawtucket to start the season.

Aviles will be the starting SS on opening day.
 
#1,381
#1,381
jmoore_21 said:
Did you see the "mock" opening day roster on Boston.com?

They projected that Doubront would be the 4 & Bard the 5. I wouldn't mind that at all, & then if Dice-K can come back in June & pitch decent it could allow you to move Bard back to the pen & save his inning count.

They also had Lavarnway on the opening day roster since they had Crawford on the DL. They said CC might not play until late April.

Sidenote: You have no idea how good it feels to finally have someone to talk Sox baseball w/. Living here in East Tennessee I dont' know any Sox fans. It sucks. I'm surrounded by Brave fans :eek:
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Definitely would like to see Bard and Dubrount in the rotation to start. Love that scenario with Dice K coming back. But I think you need to have a short leash with one of them though. Can't come out of the gate with both struggling, so hopefully this last start by Bard gets him going in the right direction. He has to be at least a 6 inning pitcher.

Lavarnway is definitely the better option, kinda like Iglesias is going forward. But with decent options on the roster now I just don't see any way that they don't start in the minors to save that extra year of arbitration. Especially Iggy. Now, should Salty pick up an injury Lavarnway should start IMO, but kind of a waste to have him sitting the bench and pinch hitting.

As much as I would like to see them turn the page and bring the kids up to the show, I have to side with Management here. Start them both at Pawtucket, come June I would like to see something like this;

Swap Shoppach with Lavarnway and if Iggy handles the bat in AAA I would like to bring him up and move Aviles to the super utility IF/OF guy and cut Sweeney/McDonald or both if they aren't producing anything. That would leave the OF depth chart at Crawford, Ellsbury, Ross as starters (Aviles, Kalish, Sweeney/McDonald as reserves)

The way I see it whole Iglesias thing is strictly about money and there's no way around it. Cherington wants to save that arbitration clock from starting earlier than it has to and Bobby V wants his pitchers to have the best defensive SS behind them since Alex Gonzalez. They are both right, Aviles/Punto can handle the position till June/July and the lineup can cover Iglesias weak bat if he starts in the Majors. There is no wrong answer, but I bet Bobby V doesn't win this one.

Living in New York, all my friends are Yankee fans and my gf is a Mets fan...this along with fantasy baseball is my therapy haha
 
#1,382
#1,382
jmoore_21 said:
Iglesias & Lars Anderson have been optioned to Pawtucket to start the season.

Aviles will be the starting SS on opening day.
Click to expand...

Wow just saw this when I finished posting hah

I think this is the way it should be honestly. Aviles has done everything asked of him to deserve a chance to at least start. Now just wait to see what they decide to do with Lavarnway and settle the rotation. Aceves and Bard's next starts will be big ones.
 
#1,383
#1,383
BobbyV: "real emotional meeting" with Iglesias. "needs to work a little more on consistency of swing and play...matter of when, not if"

Also, Crawford will not travel w/ the team to start the season, he will stay in Ft Meyers & regan his wrist. Same w/ Andrew Miller
 
#1,384
#1,384
Here are some other quotes I found...I have a feeling that this year the media will portray things in a much different light then how they are behind closed doors.

@DDuggan21
Valentine says there was never a debate with Cherington over Iglesias. Said there were daily discussions. Group decision with all of staff.

@DDuggan21
Valentine said he sensed Iglesias was lacking confidence recently. Said you can't have guys searching at this point.

@DDuggan21
Valentine said Iglesias was disappointed, but professional. Valentine said it wasn't a tough decision.
 
#1,385
#1,385
I think it is absolutely the proper move. Kid is 22, the glove isn't going anywhere, and the bat can only improve from 2011.
 
#1,387
#1,387
jmoore_21 said:
So Curt Schilling is saying things are already starting to get bad between Valentine & the Red Sox.
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As much as I love him for 2004 and everything he did, he annoys the hell outta me. LOVES to hear himself talk and this is all its going to be all season. The media is going to beat the hell out of this storyline, everything Bobby says or does is going to be twisted into a fight with Management.

Same situation as UT in a way. Win games out of the gate and magically things will seem much smoother. It all starts with a beatdown of the reigning CY Young winner in Mo-Town!!
 
#1,388
#1,388
Big day in Red Sox news

1. I can't confirm this, but I saw it mentioned and it makes a ton of sense if true

"Thought I read somewhere that by keeping Iglesias off the Opening Day roster, then the team has vested power over him, something about a club option over player option at the end of his contract now that's he's starting in Pawtucket instead of with the big club. If this were true, then it may have purely been a business decision by the team to control Iglesias over the long term."

2. Starting Roatation

Lester
Beckett
Buchholz
Doubront
Bard

It hasn't been announced as such. But that's how they're lined up now. It's likely no coincidence that Doubront is pitching in a minor league game on Thursday instead of against the Blue Jays. Because if he is the No. 4 starter, his first game would be April 9 in Toronto.

3. How about this scenario for next year

Youk to DH / Iggy to SS / Middlebrooks to 3rd / Kalish 4th OF / Lavarnway C/DH
Team does not miss a beat and about 40 million coming off the books!

4. Red Sox Do Smart Thing, Option Iglesias | FanGraphs Baseball

5. Beckett this spring against ML teams: 19 IP, 7 H, 2 ER. :)
 
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#1,389
#1,389
It'll be interesting to see where Youk ends up, bad year or good year. He's very open to playing in Cincy, so we will see.
 
#1,390
#1,390
Dbake005 said:
It'll be interesting to see where Youk ends up, bad year or good year. He's very open to playing in Cincy, so we will see.
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I would like to see him moved to Cincy. I think that would be a great move for them and they should definitely overpay Boston to make it happen!
 
#1,391
#1,391
ionaVOL said:
Big day in Red Sox news

1. I can't confirm this, but I saw it mentioned and it makes a ton of sense if true

"Thought I read somewhere that by keeping Iglesias off the Opening Day roster, then the team has vested power over him, something about a club option over player option at the end of his contract now that's he's starting in Pawtucket instead of with the big club. If this were true, then it may have purely been a business decision by the team to control Iglesias over the long term."

2. Starting Roatation

Lester
Beckett
Buchholz
Doubront
Bard

It hasn't been announced as such. But that's how they're lined up now. It's likely no coincidence that Doubront is pitching in a minor league game on Thursday instead of against the Blue Jays. Because if he is the No. 4 starter, his first game would be April 9 in Toronto.

3. How about this scenario for next year

Youk to DH / Iggy to SS / Middlebrooks to 3rd / Kalish 4th OF / Lavarnway C/DH
Team does not miss a beat and about 40 million coming off the books!

4. Red Sox Do Smart Thing, Option Iglesias | FanGraphs Baseball

5. Beckett this spring against ML teams: 19 IP, 7 H, 2 ER. :)
Click to expand...

I could live w/ options 2 & 3.

Supposedly Dice-K is throwing the ball very well right now & is on track to be back in Boston bt June 1st. If he can come back & just pitch decent as a 5 starter that would allow us to move Bard or Doubront back to the pen.

Aaron Cook has also been throwing the ball well in Spring Training, he had another solid outing today. He could end up being a good spot starter.

Iglesias hit a 3-run bomb today, would love to start seeing some more of that.

Also, Rich Hill is throwing the ball good & is on track to return in June or July. He could end up being another piece to the pen. He was throwing the ball great last year before getting hurt.
 
#1,392
#1,392
Just spoke to Bobby Valentine. Here are a few bits of news:

• Carl Crawford will take 20 bunts today. But he has yet to take any full swings off a coach.

Valentine also mentioned the idea of Crawford getting 50 at-bats "somewhere" before he is activated.

When you consider he hasn't taken BP yet and will need 15+ games, we're talking him being out until some time in May.

• Valentine indicated the last spot on the roster could be an extra pitcher but was more likely to be a position player. Ryan Lavarnway, Dan Butler, Nate Spears, Pedro Ciriaco and Jason Repko are the position players in that mix if that's the case.

• Valentine said Daisuke Matsuzaka hit 92 and threw some changeups in his brief sim game yesterday.

• There is "group consensus" on the pitching staff at this point but nothing "set in granite."

Based on usage, seems pretty likely the rotation is Lester, Beckett, Buchholz, Doubront and Bard with Bailey, Melancon, Aceves, Albers and Morales in the bullpen along with probably Padilla and Bowden.
Click to expand...
- Boston.com
 
#1,393
#1,393
Responding to Curt Schilling's criticism that things aren't going well in Red Sox camp under manager Bobby Valentine, Sox pitcher Josh Beckett said in an interview with The Big Show, "I haven't seen him around this year. Is he one of our pitchers?"

"I haven't seen him around," Beckett continued. "I'd think if someone knew that much they'd probably be a little closer to it. Game's a lot easier from over there [as a media petrson], I think. As far as him speaking about how things are being run, I haven't seen him around here to where he would know that much."

Beckett said that things have been "great" with Valentine and he's particular liked some of the changes he's made for the pitchers.

"My legs have never felt this good coming out of spring training," Beckett said. "We don't shag during spring training. [Valentine] actually said that, 'We run a shag-free spring training.' Some of that, not being on my feet during spring training has been helped. I definitely think some of the stretching and workouts have paid off well for me."

The pitcher acknowledged that the Sox have to get off to a better start this season.

"We definitely have to do better than we did last April, especially at the beginning," he said. "I know we started to kind of play a bit better toward the end of April, but we definitely have to do better than we did last April. You can't put yourself in that hole and expect to dig yourselves out of it again. I think everybody here knows that and we're going to go out and play our tails off."

Beckett also addressed his working relationship with Jason Varitek, saying, "It was like having another pitching coach out there. I think the biggest thing for me with Jason is, when we sat down and had our presume meetings, a lot of it was him listening to how I wanted to approach this guy, and he'd give me his input and we'd form a plan that way. He was huge for me. He reminds you of the things that make you successful and he forces you to do those."
Click to expand...
- WEEI.com
 
#1,394
#1,394
Beckett has plenty of "fuel" in the tank heading into this season. From everything I've heard so far I'm sure he will use that to his advantage and have another monster season. With the way last year ended and all the stupid little media made controversies so far this spring I really could see this team playing with a huge chip on its shoulder and putting in work right off the bat. Plus they are definitely going to get stronger as the season progresses. I like where they are heading into the season right now. I saw on espn today somewhere they were picked third haha bring it on.
 
#1,397
#1,397
Dbake005 said:
It matters not.
Click to expand...

True, but I bet it matters in his case at least a little. He is clearly a full time starter until crawford comes back, but he is making a strong case to scrap that right field platoon once CC returns. I have no problems handing ross the keys to right field this year with sweeney acting as the 4th OF.
 
#1,398
#1,398
ionaVOL said:
True, but I bet it matters in his case at least a little. He is clearly a full time starter until crawford comes back, but he is making a strong case to scrap that right field platoon once CC returns. I have no problems handing ross the keys to right field this year with sweeney acting as the 4th OF.
Click to expand...

Then throw in Kalish (once he's healthy) & McDonald, gives us a lot of options for OF.

Bard looked good in his start yesterday, got into a little trouble in the 6th.
 
#1,400
#1,400
jmoore_21 said:
Then throw in Kalish (once he's healthy) & McDonald, gives us a lot of options for OF.

Bard looked good in his start yesterday, got into a little trouble in the 6th.
Click to expand...

Yea they have a lot of options this year for sure. I wonder if McDonald will make it the whole year. He has def shown more this spring then he did last year I'm hoping he sticks around. But if/when Iglesias comes up I could see Aviles getting his spot as a right handed OF option. So many story lines this spring considering how quiet the off season was compared to last year.

From what I read Bard was pretty impressive yesterday he just got a little tired. I'm glad I don't have to make this rotation decision, although the way they have been throwing it doesn't seem like there are any bad options.
 
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