SoxSpace News

Covering All The Bases by Jared Carrabis
Give Buchholz, Carter a shot, Delcarmen on the move?

Get ready folks; we're just a week away from Opening Day.

On Saturday morning, Red Sox manager Terry Francona announced the starting rotation for the 2009 season. The ace of the staff, Josh Beckett, was named the Opening Day starter on April 6. When the season resumes on April 8, Jon Lester will be handed the ball in game two. Following the left-hander will be two-time World Baseball Classic MVP, Daisuke Matsuzaka, then Tim Wakefield in the fourth slot. Now here's where it gets tricky.

The fifth spot in Boston's rotation is a toss up between Clay Buchholz and Brad Penny. While the Red Sox are leaning towards Penny to start the season in the rotation, consider this my letter of protest to the Red Sox. Second to Josh Beckett's 24 innings pitched this spring, Buchholz has tossed 19.2 innings, going 2-0 in those 5 starts.

How many earned runs has Buchholz given up this spring? The same number of no-hitters he has thrown: on...READ MORE!

Published on March 30, 2009 See Comment(s)

Show Me The Money by Jared Carrabis
Red Sox payroll dips even lower, talent remains the same

You may say it's the economy, I say it's Theo's genius mind at work.

When the Red Sox take the field on Opening Day, the payroll of the local nine will be at its lowest since the 2003 season; a season that featured the likes of Manny Ramirez ($20 million), Pedro Martinez ($15.5 million) and Nomar Garciaprra ($11 million) still on the books. Last season, the Red Sox dipped to the fourth highest payroll in baseball after dishing out a total of $133 million to the Opening Day roster.

With Manny's monster contract coming off the books, Curt Schilling's phantom one-year, $8 million deal lost in retirement and many homegrown players coming at an affordable cost, the Red Sox Opening Day payroll figures to be somewhere under $120 million. Of course that figure could change if the Red Sox were to make a trade, but as it stands today, the Red Sox will enter the 2009 season with the sixth highest payroll in Major League Baseball.

Of course this drop in payro...READ MORE!

Published on March 27, 2009 See Comment(s)

Seeing Double: Sox Have 2 MVP's by Jared Carrabis
Matsuzaka, Pedroia, Youkilis, Carter, Buchholz and more!

For those of you that dreaded the World Baseball Classic filled with Red Sox superstars, worry no longer, because the WBC is over.

There are a large sum of Red Sox fans out there who were soured by this global tournament after the reigning American League MVP, Dustin Pedroia and the second runner-up for AL MVP were sidelined with injuries sustained in the World Baseball Classic. However, this tournament was not all bad news for Boston and their fans.

With Japan winning their second World Baseball Classic (out of a possible two), Japanese phenom, Daisuke Matsuzaka was once again named the Most Valuable Player of the WBC. Matsuzaka remained unbeaten in the tournament's history by going 3-0 in three starts with a 2.45 ERA. The right-hander commanded the strike zone in his first two starts by attacking the offense with his fastball. In his 14.2 innings pitched, Matszuaka walked just five batters, while striking out thirteen batters.

Matsuzaka's continued dominance ...READ MORE!

Published on March 25, 2009 See Comment(s)

Thanks For The Memories, Curt by Jared Carrabis
Curt Schilling hangs up the spikes after 20 seasons

I'm going to ask the SoxSpace audience for a moment of silence to honor the official ending to the career of a Boston legend, Curt Schilling.

"This party has officially ended," wrote Schilling. "After being blessed to experience 23 years of playing professional baseball in front of the world's best fans in so many different places, it is with zero regrets that I am making my retirement official.

"To say I've been blessed would be like calling Refrigerator Perry 'a bit overweight.' The things I was allowed to experience, the people I was able to call friends, teammates, mentors, coaches and opponents, the travel, all of it, are far more than anything I ever thought possible in my lifetime."

On September 7, 1988, Curtis Montague Schilling made his Major League debut with the Baltimore Orioles. Schilling would pitch three seasons in Baltimore, a lone season in Houston...READ MORE!

Published on March 23, 2009 See Comment(s)

Down Goes Youk by Jared Carrabis
Youk to undergo an MRI on ankle

Youk may be all smiles in the photos above, but certainly there is no way he can be smiling after being sent back to Fort Myers, ending his time with Team USA in 2009.

Youkilis booked his reservations at the Red Sox Injury Hotel "three or four days ago," according to Team USA manager, Davey Johnson, but did not check in until Wednesday when his name was officially removed from the roster.

"He wasn't going to miss last night's game for the world," Johnson said.

In that game, Youkilis hit a solo home run en route to an exciting comeback victory. Youkilis leaves the Classic, having gone 4-for-22 with 6 RBI, with three of those four hits being home runs.

"Team USA reliever Brad Ziegler told Nelson that Youkilis could barely walk through the locker room after the game because of the pain," reports the Boston Globe. This is certainly not a good sign, but I'm not one to se...READ MORE!

Published on March 18, 2009 See Comment(s)

Can't Catch A Break by Jared Carrabis
Sox release Bard, Lugo goes under the knife, USA triumphs and more

It appears as if though the Josh Bard era here in Boston has come to a close for the second time, only this time, he never got the chance to step on the field at Fenway.

On Wednesday, the Red Sox officially released the catcher that was brought on board to take the workload off of captain Jason Varitek's back. With Bard's release, George Kottaras will be named the number two catcher for the Red Sox in 2009.

The two Boston backstops aiming to take the backup catcher role had 14 at bats each during spring training. In Bard's 14 at bats, the catcher hit .429, with 1 HR, 5 RBI and a .529 OBP. In the small sampling provided by Kottaras, which also consisted of 14 at bats, the switch-hitter batted just .286 with 1 HR, 2 RBI and a .375 OBP.

You may be scratching your head wondering why Bard's numbers weren't impressive enough to keep his job here with Boston, especially since ...READ MORE!

Published on March 18, 2009 See Comment(s)

Who's At Short? by Jared Carrabis
Ortiz, Lowell homer / Down goes Lugo, Pedroia / Lowrie to start?

We've got a lot to discuss today, so let's get right down to it.

Last night, the Red Sox took on the Yankees in Spring Training action with Tim Wakefield on the mound. The 42-year-old right-hander gave up four runs in 2.2 innings, while striking out three, against the Bombers and struggled to throw strikes. Although his performance may have shown otherwise, Wakefield said after the 8-4 win that his shoulder "felt fine."

Playing his first game back at his natural position of third base on Friday night was Mike Lowell. Lowell went 2-for-2 and in the bottom of the second inning, Lowell cranked a solo shot off of Chien-Ming Wang to brush the skeptics off of his shoulders. Lowell played the hot corner without any clear indications of pain and will likely be Boston's Opening Day starter at third base. (Keep your fingers crossed).

Returning from the World Baseball Classic, after a quick and almost embarrassing exit by the Dominican team, was lefty slugger, David Ortiz. In his retur...READ MORE!

Published on March 14, 2009 See Comment(s)

Ring The Bell by Jared Carrabis
Papelbon sounds off on Manny, Beckett shooting blanks, Smoltz almost ready

I know I promised no more talking about Manny, but Jonathan Papelbon changed the rules yesterday.

In an interview with Esquire Magazine set to come out this April, Papelbon went off on his former teammate, Manny Ramirez. The words that Papelbon chose in describing the quickly deteriorating relationship that Ramirez had with the club just before his trade from Boston were surely the words that were on the mind of a handful of Red Sox players, but Papelbon was the only one to speak up about it.

We all know how crazy Pap can get and how enthusiastic of a character he is; in this interview, we see a side of the Boston closer that clearly has been irritated by the actions of Manny Ramirez.

"For [Manny] not to be on the same page as the rest of the team was a killer, man! It just takes one guy to bring an entire team down, and that’s exactly what was happening. Once we saw t...READ MORE!

Published on March 13, 2009 See Comment(s)

The Return To Form by Jared Carrabis
Lowell returns, Buchholz looking great

The entire Red Sox organization has been quite busy in the past few weeks.

Whether it be the Sox players playing in games all over the world or members of the front office scattering to secure contracts for those players, the Red Sox organization has remained as a heavy presence in the sports section of the local papers.

On Tuesday night in San Juan, Puerto Rico, David Ortiz and the rest of the Dominican baseball team fell to the Netherlands for the second time in as many meetings. As if the first loss wasn't a big enough upset, Tuesday night's loss eliminated the Dominican Republic superstars from tournament play, the very same team that placed third in the inaugural World Baseball Classic. Ortiz, who started at first base, went 1-for-4 in the 11 inning, 2-1 loss, which ended on a defensive miscue by the Rays' Willy Aybar at first base.

If the Dominicans were to pull out the win in extras, Ortiz likely would have seen his last start at first base due to shoulder sore...READ MORE!

Published on March 11, 2009 See Comment(s)

Home Is Where The Talent Is by Jared Carrabis
Red Sox homegrown talent taking over baseball

There is plenty of great news to report here in Red Sox Nation this week.

I'll start with the best of the best. On Sunday, Yahoo! Sports reported that Jon Lester and the Boston Red Sox came to terms on a 5-year, $30 million extension that includes a team option for the 2014 season.

The five-year deal buys out one year of free agency for Lester and if the team exercises his option in 2014, the Red Sox can buyout another year of free agency for one small fee of $13 million.

While the Yankees were busy spending $423.5 million on CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Mark Teixeira, the Red Sox spent $313 million less to sign one of the top left-handed pitchers in the game ($30 million), the reigning American League MVP ($40.5 million), and a Gold Glove offensive force ($40 million) to multi-year contracts. The Red Sox have once again proved that their player development program is one of the ...READ MORE!

Published on March 09, 2009 See Comment(s)

Randomocity meets curiosity by Mike Ghika
With the return of the WBC comes the return of Jared's PIC

I traveled round trip Boston to Long Beach via JetBlue for well over $400 last May. Between now and May 21, however, anyone can travel the same connect for just $99 each way upon introduction of the airline’s “$99 Manny Fan Fare.” I’m almost sure the round-trip special has Red Sox execs thrilled after the club announced JetBlue as the team’s official airline last December.

How much of a pointless failure was it to bring Randy Johnson – “in the twilight of his career” shall we say – into New York at such a cost ($16m per year)? And then remember when they got rid of his contract back to Arizona and said they would save money and told us that Robinson Cano, Phil Hughes, and Ian Kennedy were the future? Only to spend the same $16 million dollars that off-season on Andy Pettite? Three years later they’ve apparently abandoned their youth plan in committing over $400 million to three (albeit special) players. The organization’s reputation of buying the best talent remains intact even desp...READ MORE!

Published on March 08, 2009 See Comment(s)

Just $5 Million by Jared Carrabis
Manny Ramirez bails on Boston for chump change

Unless you're a bear and have been hibernating in a cave all winter long, you've at least heard that the Los Angeles Dodgers have been hot on Manny's trail since the final out of the National League Championship Series.

With just about a month remaining until the Major League season is set to begin, Manny Ramirez and his agent, Scott Boras, have finally agreed to terms with the Dodgers on a 2-year, $45 million deal. According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, only a physical stands in the way of the completion of Ramirez returning to Dodger blue.

While the fans are thrilled out west at the news of Manny's return, some fans back home in Boston are less than thrilled, and more so, soured. There will be some fans that could care less what Manny does for the rest of his career, but then there are fans like me that keep an eye on Ramirez from afar....READ MORE!

Published on March 04, 2009 See Comment(s)

Déjà Drew by Jared Carrabis
Drew's back, Penny's shoulder and more!

In the middle of February, manager Terry Francona was quoted as saying, "He said he feels fine and he’s ready to go. That’s really all I can tell you," when asked about his starting right fielder, JD Drew.

While Francona refrained from sounding too alarmed with his words, he kept the same mindset on Tuesday when the The Boston Globe caught up with the manager to get his thoughts after word had gotten out that Drew boarded a plane to Boston. Once in Boston, the outfielder was given an injection in his back that was earlier described as “fine”.

Still being careful with his words, Francona told the media that, "The reason we did it was kind of -- I want to explain this right -- kind of precautionary.”

Francona elaborated by saying, "We have some time right now because it's so early in March, and J.D., through getting looked at by some different people, though this could be...READ MORE!

Published on March 03, 2009 See Comment(s)