An Early Look At The Offseason

There will be at least a few issues the Boston Red Sox need to address this off season and catching will be very close to the top. Jason Varitek is having a very poor offensive season in 2008 which comes at a bad time for him, but a good time for Boston being that he's a free agent after the season. There will be a price at which Boston will keep Varitek, wether Varitek will agree to return at that price is unknown. In either case Boston will be having serious discussion for a top catching prospect this winter and Jarrod Saltalamacchia will likely be at the top of the list. Boston can expect to pay a hefty price for Saltalamacchia if they do land him, probably costing them Justin Masterson as the top player in a package. Boston will probably check in on Salty get a general idea of what will be needed top obtain him and then compare that to others potentially available. Who will be in Boston in 2009? For pitchers we're looking at Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Clay Buchholz, Justin Masterson, Jonathan Papelbon, Manny Delcarmen, Hideki Okajima. Boston also holds options on Tim Wakefield ($4M) and Paul Byrd ($7.5M). Some may look above and think Okajima isn't likely to return, but his club option will become guaranteed with two more appearances at $1.75M. The outfield is pretty much set unless Boston deals Coco Crisp this winter. Jason Bay, JD Drew and Jacoby Ellsbury round out the group. On the infield decisions need to be made. Boston at this point can't justify starting Julio Lugo over Jed Lowrie that likely means Alex Cora will be done in Boston as Lugo and his un-tradeable contract will become a super utility player. Mike Lowell, Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia are all set to return. We discussed catching above. I don't see any scenario where Varitek isn't back in 2009, his game calling is too valuable for Boston to let it walk. That said, if they can land a top catching prospect who has time at 1B too, Boston could consider carrying three catchers in 2009 giving Varitek more time off and still having Kevin Cash to catch Wakefield. Under this scenario Varitek would likely catch for Lester and Buchholz while the new entry in town would catch for Matsuzaka and Beckett. The reason for needing a catcher who can play first is that by carrying three catchers your taking about the roster spot that would go to a backup first baseman.

Lowell To DL

Mike Lowell has been placed on the DL and the Sox recalled David Pauley to take his roster spot. Pauley's stay could be a short one as he likely only was called up because of the work put in last night by the bullpen. If his stay is indeed short Boston would likely callup a corner infielder tomorrow or Friday. The choices will be limited if thats what they want to do. Chris Carter is probably the best hitter among the possibilities, but he hasn't played 1B this season as he split his time between DH and LF.

Ortiz, Pedroia, Youkilis Lead Sox To Victory

An offensive explosion at Fenway Park tonight was led by David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis. The three combined to go 10-15 with 4 homeruns, 13 RBI and 11 runs scored. Ortiz hit two three-run homers in the first inning leading Boston to a 10 run frame. However the big lead wouldn't last as Texas hammered back disposing of Charlie Zink before the fifth inning was over and lead 16-14 going to the bottom of the seventh. Pedroia would score on an error in the seventh to make it 16-15. Then in the 8th inning Jacoby Ellsbury pinch hit for Kevin Cash and walked and eventually scored on Pedroia's double, his fifth hit of the game. Texas then walked Ortiz and Youkilis followed with a 3-run shot, his second homer of the night to send Boston to a 19-16 lead. Jonathan Papelbon came on for the ninth and while giving up an unearned run held on for the save and a 19-17 victory.

Zink Gets The Call

For once the most deserving player gets the call. Tuesday evening at Fenway Park, Charlie Zink will make his major league debut after spending several seasons in the minors. Zink's path the Boston included a switch to make him a knuckleball pitcher after the Red Sox told him that was probably his best chance to someday get to the majors. Most people since Wakefield's DL stint was announced agreed that Zink most deserved the start on Tuesday, yet many also agreed it was unlikely because Zink had just pitched Friday for Pawtucket and would end up going on just three days rest.

Wakefield To Disabled List

Tim Wakefield will be placed on the disabled list and Boston is now in need of a starter for Tuesday's game at Fenway. A quick rundown of Pawtucket's roster and last games pitched shows that Boston has three options for Tuesday. Justin Masterson could make the start out of the bullpen, Michael Bowden could be called up for his major league debut or Devern Hansack could be recalled for the start. Bowden last pitched on August 5 and would start the game on six days rest if the call was made to him. Hansack would make the start on regular rest as he last pitched on Thursday. Charlie Zink pitched Friday and would have to start on three days rest. David Pauley pitched Saturday and Bartolo Colon on a rehab assignment pitches today. The choice could be known early in Pawtucket's game. In his last start after struggling, Bowden was brought in with two outs in the first, if Colon struggles again today early and the call is made to someone other than Bowden it could be a sign he is being held back for Tuesday. The Red Sox of late have chosen to make the move to the young pitchers when a need occured and with the timeframe working in favor of that again and with the game being at Fenway expect Bowden to be making his major league debut Tuesday against Texas.

Blog Downtime

On Sunday I will be implimenting a new layout for the blog so there will be times when the blog while accessible will be a little messy. UPDATE Sunday 11:39 PM The transformation didn't go as smoothly as I planned. I hope to finish it by late Monday. There will be some more content added to the sidebar and the menu across the top will be functional then. UPDATE Friday 10:46 PM After much aggravation, the new format just wasn't working properly not to mention a very delayed reaction for the sidebar to load. As a result I am back to the old format but all the settings are gone. Since I don't plan to have the sidebar as cluttered this time I should get all the content back on there by tomorrow night. PS... Ugh on tonight's game.

Red Sox May Call Up Daniel Bard

The Boston Red Sox may call up Daniel Bard to take the roster spot of recently traded Craig Hansen. The sox would want to call up someone who is currently being used as a reliever or who has experience in the roll, that was evident when they chose to send Justin Masterson down last month to prepare for a move to the bullpen as opposed to just moving him there at the major league level. The Sox currently have 38 players on the 40 man roster so no move would be needed to add Bard to the roster. The Sox have limited choices right now to fill the spot in the bullpen. Hunter Jones at AAA could be another option, but it's not known if the Sox would want three lefties in the pen. Chris Smith also could be a choice to be called up.