Moving Day

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Sox trade for Adam LaRoche

Quite what LaRoche adds over Mark Kotsay is debatable although the Sox don’t appear to have given up a whole lot to acquire the Pirates 1B. LaRoche can hit the ball a long way and is known to go on long second half surges but he’s nothing more than a lefthander off the bench, which is admittedly a need since the Sox appear not to be able to hit right-handed pitching at the moment.

Adam Kilgore breaks down the deal pretty conclusively here, whilst over at my favourite non-Red Sox blog Bucs Dugout, Charlie doesn’t appear to like the Pirates haul although one would argue that Adam LaRoche, having a poor season and soon to be a free agent, wasn’t exactly going to draw a great return from any team.

(Pause for a moment whilst Brandon Moss (remember him) hits a walk off shot for the Pirates against Milwaukee.)

Well timed there Brandon since I was about to mention that this is second time the Sox have traded for a Pittsburgh starter midseason in the last two years, with Jason Bay coming over this time last season. The Pirates look to have come off pretty badly in that trade although it’s still early days since only Andy LaRoche (Adam’s brother) has shown anything like competent regular performance in the Majors since the trade – Craig Hansen has bombed and Moss has been injured and/or ineffective.

As a part time Pirates fan (don’t ask) I hope their fortunes improve since I’m well behind their rebuilding programme which for the first time in years seems to be moving with some actual purpose behind it. I’m not too sure this trade gains them anything more than a utility infielder but better that than paying Adam LaRoche to hit some meaningless homers and then depart over the winter for nothing.

There goes the 20 win season

Timmy Wake is on the DL with a back strain; Clay Buchholz is back up sooner than expected, unless you’re of the John Smoltz wrist-slasher club like me – I mean seriously, how bad has he been so far?

Anyway I digress, the Sox go again shortly with Josh Beckett on the mound.

I find the below image paints a picture of what I expect from the Commander in Chief.

Halladay craps awesomeness

Just how good is Roy Halladay?

As ridiculous as this sounds, I’ve always seen the Toronto ace as being underrated and only now, as he looks set to be traded by the idiotic Jays FO, he is starting to get the credit as one of the better pitchers of his generation.

Halladay thoroughly outpitched Jon Lester today and that’s not easy to do. Lester pitched well himself but you can’t allow three runs against Halladay and expect to come away with the win, it just doesn’t happen.

Johan Santana is rightly considered the best pitcher on Earth but Halladay is up there; he is a consummate horse who continues the get the job done. Perhaps he isn’t as flashy as Santana, Verlander et al but considering the pisspoor excuse for the team he plays on, he shouldn’t have won nearly as many games as he has, which is a nod of the standard of excellence he has put forth for the better part of the last decade.

I have said that the Sox shouldn’t entertain the idea of trading for Halladay, given what it would cost in relation to the question marks over the future rotation (would you trade Clay Buchholz right now?) but I certainly would like to see him in a Boston uniform, as much as every other fan, coach, manager, GM and player would like to see him wearing their uniform.

Where Halladay will end up is in some question given the no-trade clause and aforementioned cost; my bet is St. Louis should JP Riccardi really decide it’s a good idea to trade away his best player (look how well the Santana trade has turned out for the Twins) but there is no team that would not be better for having him in their rotation.

So the Sox ending up losing the series in Toronto but that’s not the end of the world; the Jays can pitch and the Sox line-up isn’t so hot right now. It’s off to Texas tomorrow where hopefully John Smoltz can show something, anything against the annually powerful Rangers line-up; he’ll face Kevin Millwood, who despite a solid ERA just isn’t very good.

World peace achieved (Buchholz wins)

5.2 innings
4 hits
1 run
3 walks
3 strikeouts

Pretty good no?

Clay Buchholz returned to the Majors and was the victor for the first team in like twenty years or something as he contained the Blue Jays to the tune of a single run as the Sox battered ROTY candidate Ricky Romero.

It was satisfying to see Buchholz deliver a strong Major League performance, especially on the night Julio Lugo got designated at last.

Yeah, we won't be seeing any of this again: -

Buchholz set to pitch in

The unofficial second half starts tonight and if that weren’t enough excitement for you, Clay Buchholz makes his season debut after dominating Triple A to the tune of a 7-2 record, 2.36 ERA and 8.09 K/9. Buchholz will face the Blue Jays and then be immediately sent back to the minors; hopefully after showing the FO that its time he returned to the Bigs for good.

We all know Buchholz has the talent to make it in the Majors but his 2008 season was a disaster that leaves some doubt about his application at this level. Hopefully his return to the minor leagues has given him the chance to correct his flaws and although the results suggest he has, it’ll be interesting to see what happens when the young righty faces real Major League hitters tonight.

Looking to the future, it’s important that Buchholz begins to establish a Major League presence since there are question marks over the rotation going forward past this season, when John Smoltz and Brad Penny are free agents, Tim Wakefield is pushing 43 and the long term status of Diasuke Matsuzaka is in question. Much has been made of the Sox’s minor league depth, especially on the mound, and the time is coming when it will be tested.

Of course that’s not a complaint, that’s how the organisation has always intended it to be and so far its worked; Jonathan Papelbon, Jon Lester and Justin Masterson are all established players at the top level now and with these successes in mind there is a certain confidence in the idea of Buchholz and Michael Bowden joining them in the near future.

Hopefully that future becomes the present tonight.

Sunday Thoughts: No I haven’t been in prison...

After my abrupt reappearance yesterday, I actually received a couple of emails (you mean people actually read this site?) wondering whether I’d been incarcerated, which fortunately I haven’t.

Made me laugh though.

So anyway, the All Star break is almost upon, a time to take stock and see just where the hell we are, moving towards the all important stretch run, and the trade deadline that precedes it. The Sox are in first place, by two games after last night, but like every other team they have some question marks and that bare keeping a closer eye on; after all the MFY are never too far away...

What’s wrong with the bullpen?

Over the last two weeks, the Sox pen has coughed up a 6.21 ERA, allowing 26 earned runs over 37.2 innings, highlighted by last night’s disaster, in which Justin Masterson was battered for 5 runs in 0.1 of an inning and neither Manny Delcarmen and Hideki Okajima couldn’t get it done, leaving Daniel Bard to sort out the damage.

Bard is filthy hot right now which has helped immensely since Masterson seems to have imploded over the past couple of weeks. For the month of July, though only eleven days old, Masterson has pitched four innings and allowed seven earned runs, ballooning his ERA up to 4.98. Youth may play a part but his form is concerning since the Sox rely on him, right or wrongly, to clean up a lot of messy situations, although admittedly this was not one of them.

The signs are there that Masterson and Ramon Ramirez are getting overworked and the results bear that out; the bullpen is this teams great strength and it needs to be nurtured ready for (hopefully) an extended postseason run. I think its high time Takashi Saito was put into a few more high pressure situations, it’s not like he’s a little kid, and it’s time to test him out when it matters.

Should the Sox be trading for a hitter?

In a word, no.

Mike Lowell may be on the DL but he is on his way back and frankly, the line-up is doing well enough for the FO to stay their hand for the time being; I’m intrigued by what Aaron Bates can bring to the plate (first hit last night) since the young first baseman has shown the ability to get on base and hit for good average in the minors, and also because I have a fetish for prospects making it at the big club. Sure he’s struck out in over half his at bats but let’s see what the kid can do before rushing into a stupid trade for Garret Atkins, who is having a terrible year, or Victor Martinez, who would cost half the farm; there’s also the fact that Jed Lowrie will be back with us in the near future as well.

Fortunately Theo has never really be inclined to move a number of top prospects for any player and he isn’t likely to know; we all like the idea of blockbuster trades but the Sox simply need don’t need one which leads me neatly onto the next question...

Should the Sox trade for Roy Halladay?

Don’t even think about it.

As Tony Maz has pointed out, the Sox could ring up the Jays FO today and make the deal; they have the combination of money, prospects and status as one of the games foremost winning clubs that would get a trade done in ten minutes flat.

The question has never been whether the Sox have the goods to make a deal; it’s whether they want to. Remember, it has been suggested that Theo was against the Josh Beckett trade that was made in his semi-absence and I find it pretty unlikely he would deal in a number of top prospects given that Halladay is older, costlier and nearer to free agency than Beckett was in 2006.

Think of the cost in talent that it would take to acquire Halladay; something along the lines of Buchholz, Michael Bowden, Bard and Lars Anderson would probably get it done.

Think that’s likely?

If you say yes than you simply haven’t been paying attention; the Sox wouldn’t give up that package for Johan Santana so they ain’t going to do it for a division rival, although with the way the Jays are being mismanaged it wouldn’t matter a whole lot if we gave them Dustin Pedroia and Jon Lester; JP Riccardi would still find a way of fucking it up.

And finally...

Should the Sox release Julio Lugo?

The moment Jed Lowrie is activated.