OT- All Purpose Red Sox Thread

[Harrisoned!]

Ellsbury looks great so far, going 9-9 in steals, playing good D, acting as a leader in Lowell, and hitting close to .280. However, he's a bit banged up right now and has been held out of the lineup. At the best, don't expect to see Jacoby in the majors until September 2006 or the start of 2007. If we're going to let Damon go and replace him from within, Adam Stern will be the only real option, and I don't think he's ready for a 150 game per season job quite yet. He was only in AA this time last year and has 2 MLB hits in his career.

[TXPatfan12]

As for JC Romero, he's a career 4.26 ERA lefty pitcher.

This year, he is 2-2 with 9 holds, 2.13 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 34 Ks in 38 IP, has allowed only 3 HRs all year. Lefties have a paltry .513 OPS against him, hitting an even .200 against him (lefties have a career .610 OPS against them).

If we can hold on with Schilling as the closer until Foulke returns (who I expect to return to some form of his old self after he has had some time to rest his arm and his psyche), Timlin and Romero for the 8th plus Bradford and Myers for the 7th will be a strong 'pen.

Giving up a 34 year old contact 3B with 2 creaky knees for a 29 year old reliever who dominates lefties seems like a good trade. The best part is he's cheap, making only 1.25 mill this year and 2.7 next year. If Terry Ryan still is dangling this trade, we've got to make it, IMO.

Romero's pitching ability per ESPN-

Youk really needs to be traded or become our full-time 3B, I'm a big fan of the full time 3B idea.

[Hurricane]

Francona is reporting that with Nixon out of the lineup, Manny has asked for a day off today. And Francona is saying he has no choice but to give it to him.

God that guy is such a pr!ck.

Talented? Sure. But what a friggin joke of a professional athlete.

[TXPatfan12]

wtf, we need another bat outta the lineup like we need a Dale Sveum contract extension. Seriously, that's some messed up crap.

[ladypatsfan]

Francona is reporting that with Nixon out of the lineup, Manny has asked for a day off today. And Francona is saying he has no choice but to give it to him.

God that guy is such a pr!ck.

Talented? Sure. But what a friggin joke of a professional athlete.

Manny is being an ass right now for sure...but Francona has no choice but to give him a day off? Isn't he the manager? Isn't he in charge? :confused:

[Hurricane]

Manny is being an ass right now for sure...but Francona has no choice but to give him a day off? Isn't he the manager? Isn't he in charge? :confused:

I agree, the inmates are running the assylum. But just watching Manny's lackadaisical play of late, makes you think he could take down even a further notch. An unhappy and even more lazy Manny can't do the lineup any good.

Francona says apparently Manny wanted a day off in Chicago, was talked out of it and told he'd get today instead. Even with Nixon down, he's insisting on still taking his day off.

It's ultimately Francona's responsibility here. But I can't really say I think he has much choice here. Hey, if the Sox can't beat Tampa Bay without manny, maybe they aren't all that good anyway.

[SeanUrlacher54]

Tonights Lineup:
Damon CF
Renteria SS
Ortiz DH
Olerud 1B
Mueller 3B
Millar LF
Mirabelli C
Cora 2B
Stern RF
.

WTF. We deserve to lose with this lineup.

[ladypatsfan]

Tonights Lineup:
Damon CF
Renteria SS
Ortiz DH
Olerud 1B
Mueller 3B
Millar LF
Mirabelli C
Cora 2B
Stern RF
.

WTF. We deserve to lose with this lineup.

We won't. Wakefield is pitching, I know he's struggled a little lately, but I think he'll pitch a gem tonight, he's due for win IMO.
Remember this is Tampa Bay and I heard that the guy who is pitching for them has an ERA of 6 or 7. If we can't beat this team, even with this lineup, then there are bigger issues on this team than we thought.

[SeanUrlacher54]

We won't. Wakefield is pitching, I know he's struggled a little lately, but I think he'll pitch a gem tonight, he's due for win IMO.
Remember this is Tampa Bay and I heard that the guy who is pitching for them has an ERA of 6 or 7. If we can't beat this team, even with this lineup, then there are bigger issues on this team than we thought.

Yes the guy we are facing tonight has a WHIP of 2.0 while Wake has an ERA of 2.0 at the Trop.

But this lineup worries me in several areas.
Olerud as the 4th hitter? Why?
Cora is ok in the field but would much rather have Graff. out there hitting.
Millar in the game at all is a shame but in left field he's more of a liability than Manny.

The only guy i really like is Stern he has great ability to be a solid player for us but to bad he wont be around after this season, or maybe even trade deadline.

[Underdog]

Francona is reporting that with Nixon out of the lineup, Manny has asked for a day off today. And Francona is saying he has no choice but to give it to him.

God that guy is such a pr!ck.

Talented? Sure. But what a friggin joke of a professional athlete.

But I thought we're supposed to keep the $20MM per year player happy? ;)

[Hurricane]

But I thought we're supposed to keep the $20MM per year player happy? ;)

When a single player takes up over 15% of your payroll, you do need to try to keep him happy. I just have a problem with his concept of teamwork. The day after he sees Nixon and Clement go down, and he wants a day off because his hammies hurt?

[Harrisoned!]

Manny wanting the afternoon off is a freaking joke. I say we bench him for a week. Give him plenty of rest. If he wants to try to stick it to us, let's stick it to him. After July 31, we should put him on waivers and see if anyone bites. This is totally unacceptable. The lineup we put out here might be worse than Pawtucket's everyday lineup. If Manny had any sense of team responsibility, he wouldn't take today off. Tool.

[TXPatfan12]

exactly........

[Hurricane]

Manny wanting the afternoon off is a freaking joke. I say we bench him for a week. Give him plenty of rest. If he wants to try to stick it to us, let's stick it to him. After July 31, we should put him on waivers and see if anyone bites. This is totally unacceptable. The lineup we put out here might be worse than Pawtucket's everyday lineup. If Manny had any sense of team responsibility, he wouldn't take today off. Tool.

The problem with manny is he has no pride.

You bench him for a week, and he'll just sit back on the bench, joking, laughing, having a good time, and knowing he's earning $125,000 per game just for doing nothing.

This is not Cam Neely and Kevin Stevens, who were embarrassed to be publicly humiliated. Manny has no humility, so you can't get to him that way. If anything, I think he WANTS to be benched.

This is a wierd guy. You can't just treat him like you'd think you should.

If the goal is to win the world series, you shake your head, heave a big sigh, and just try to play along with his ridiculousness. There's a reason the Red Sox have TWICE tried to get rid of this guy and get NOTHING in return. They will continue to try to do this year in and year out until the end of his contract. But I doubt anyone bites.

[patsfan]

This says it all....from today's Globe:

"In an interview today on Boston radio station WEEI 850 AM, Terry Francona said he told Ramirez over the weekend he would give him today’s game off, but that last night he asked his star slugger if he’d reconsider and play today because the team was “in a bit of a bind” after Nixon’s injury. According to Francona, Ramirez said he still needed the day off."

Pathetic....it's unfortunate that the team has to put up with this because of that contract.