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Memorial Day Combined Gamer

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40 replies on “Memorial Day Combined Gamer”

Crazy start for Liriano — 11 hits, 7 Ks, 0 BBs. Talk about feast or famine.
Penny gives up a double to Redmond…let’s see if he can bear down.

Penny works around the double nicely. I can’t wait till he’s out of the rotation, but so far, so good.

Why the $!#*#%* was Penny pitching to Mourneau there?? IBB would have been plenty reasonable there.

Well, there went a perfectly nice, easy game. Now it’s going to be a struggle to the finish line. Sigh.

1-2-3 inning. Have we given enough credit to Ramirez yet? Right now the Coco trade looks awesome. Since Oki is the self-styled Hero in the Dark, why don’t we call Ramon the Quiet Warrior?

You got it, PBE. Joba starting tomorrow is a sure win for them.
In the meantime, can you pleasure reassure me that I don’t need to worry about Papelbon’s new fondness for giving up HRs?

Sorry but I’m worried too. Well, as long as he gives up two-run shots with a three-run lead and then gets the job done … And I think the Santos HR was kinda freaky.
Should we mention that Lugo hasn’t messed things up tonite?

The Red Sox won’t even have to spin their PR machine when Papelbon is run out of town. He’s making it easy for them:
http://tinyurl.com/p2swa3
“Papelbon screamed, “Don’t take my f- – -ing picture,” according to Causi, before throwing his towel at him
It should be noted: Papelbon missed Causi.
“I guess he missed with two pitches that night,” Causi cracked.”

I have little doubt they’ll let Papelbon walk or trade him before he gets a chance. The organization is too smart to blow a multi-year on a closer who they feel they have to treat with white gloves (physically and emotionally).
Great start from Hughes. Now if only he can show some consistency.

A 1-hitter from Buchholz? How long before they admit their mistake and trade Penny?

Paplebon’s a meanie! As long as he is aggravating Yankee fans then that is fine by me.

Rob, why would trading Penny amount to admitting a mistake? I can’t wait till they get rid of him, but if they get any kind of return for him, the whole thing will have worked out rather well, won’t it?

Tampa give up 7 in the ninth to lose to Cleveland, 11-10.
Isringhausen comes in with 2 out, gives up three walks and a 2-run single to complete the choke.
How the bleep do the Red Sox have the best record in the AL?

Andrew, if you take anything the Post says seriously then you’re crazier than Papelbon ;-)

why would trading Penny amount to admitting a mistake?
Because Buchholz could have been developing in the majors and while pitching significantly better than a 80 ERA+.
And Rob, Smoltz will take Penny’s spot in the rotation. Not Buccholz.
That’s another mistake (injury) waiting to happen… unless they put Smoltz in the pen and control his innings.
How the bleep do the Red Sox have the best record in the AL?
They’ve beat the Yanks five times.

You can’t have too much pitching. We let Buchholz “develop” in the majors last year and it didn’t work out so well. Even in the minors last year he struggled with his command, despite posting a good ERA/WHIP. Penny allowed us to let Buchholz refine a few things here and there (throw that curveball for strikes, damnit!), and now that he has we can trade/release Penny. Having Smoltz in the wings doesn’t hurt either. This is a GOOD problem to have, so stop making it sound like the front office made a huge mistake.
Put another way: Ian Kennedy is tearing it up at AAA, with a 1.61 ERA! Can you believe the Yankees signed Burnett, letting IPK waste time at Scranton when he could be developing at the majors?

Also, for what it’s worth, Penny’s next scheduled start is Saturday, which would also be 4 days of rest for Buchholz.

IPK is hurt and likely through the end of the summer. But yeah, Burnett sucks AND they overpaid in dollars and years. No argument there.
Brad Penny was a no-brainer bad move. He’s consistently gotten worse even as he was never very good. Both Buchholz and Masterson would have been better. Better baseline and more upside.

Atheose – Brad Penny has a 5.96 ERA, which is more than a run higher than the team ERA. Just like Sidney Ponson and Darrell Rasner last year for the Yankees, he’s hurt the team. But worse, he’s unmovable, save for a straight-up release, so he continues to hurt the team while Bowden and Buchholz linger in AAA. Their value is not getting any higher. Although I suppose maybe that’s a sign? Not wanting to expose Bowden or Buchholz to the majors may mean Theo is putting together pieces for a blockbuster trade for a big bat. Maybe Bowden/Buchholz, Bard and Reddick for JJ Hardy? That would certainly significantly upgrade the team and make sense for both sides, although it would be by far the boldest trade of Theo’s tenure.
As a side note, and somewhat of a response to Cafardo’s hilarious comment about Penny being “one of the most valuable chips on the market” (maybe he means buffalo chips?) the only people who think Penny has any value whatsoever on the trade market are Red Sox fans and Boston reporters. I don’t think even Theo believes he can get better than a Kason Gabbard type prospect back for him, and that’s with paying all of Penny’s remaining salary.

Honestly, I see the Sox going the Nick Johnson/Victor Martinez route. They can live with Green/Lugo if they start getting production from the DH slot. Plus, they won’t need that package. I honestly have no idea though why they’re not trying to make use of Buchholz. He’s more than ready. Smoltz alone I could have understood. But Penny never made any sense.
Not mentioned, but Ellsbury, especially on the road, is also a problem. But there are few, if any, CFs to be had. There might be a guy named Covelli Crisp available though.

There’s a very big difference between Victor Martinez and Nick Johnson.
The Red Sox can live with Ellsbury. They have much more pressing needs/concerns.

There’s a very big difference between Victor Martinez and Nick Johnson.
Really? What? Vic ain’t going to keep up what he’s doing. And if you worry about his long-term health, like Nick, then I see alot of similarities.
Sure Vic can play catcher. But it doesn’t mean he should (12% caught stealing this year).

Um, how about the fact that Johnson has played 140 games ONCE in his career, while Martinez has managed it four times?
Johnson’s contract is up at the end of this year, while the team acquiring Martinez has the option of having him for an extra year for $7 million.
How do you know Martinez isn’t going to ‘keep up what he’s doing’? He’s did it for four years straight, before having an injury-plauged off year last year. And now he’s healthy. Meanwhile, Nick Johnson is one of the most fragile baseball players in the game.
There’s a humongous difference between the two. They’re not on the same level.

Careers:
Johnson: .273/.399/.457 = 126 OPS+
Martinez: .303/.374/.469 = 121 OPS+
You know, just as well as I do that your 140 games is a completely arbitrary. Johnson has had three “fullish” seasons. Martinez has had four. Furthermore, you can bang the injury drum but Johnson’s worst injury – a broken leg – was an utter fluke.
If Martinez is playing catcher – and he shouldn’t be – these are two extremely close players. I’ll grant that the option to play him at catcher, maybe one a week, is a huge plus. But then that option year makes the package to get him bigger than the package to get Nick the Stick.
More to my original point: Either one would help the Sox immensely and fit with what they need.

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