Wasted.

by Allen Chace on May 29, 2008 6:02 AM EDT in Game Stories

Summary:

Can I be upset? We wasted a great start from Wakefield, a guy who is known for being a bit up-and-down. Credit to Bedard, who pitched extremely well, but we need to win all the Wake gems, and some of those in which he's not so excellent.

"Being" did not hit #500. 8 baserunners, an Ells stolen base, and a "clutch" GIDP from Sean Casey. I'm also going to throw out a bit of credit to JD Drew, came off the bench and managed a BB in place of Kevin Cash, who was not exactly the offensive beast he's been most of the season. Blah. Ugh. Celtics won, but I'm still kind of upset.

Player of the Game:

via d.yimg.com

For anyone who watched the Celtics, know that I pondered putting Kendrick Perkins's picture up there.

Comment of the Game:

I wonder [if] Beane was being honest about Tacoboy: "without doubt the best defensive center fielder in the game today" or if he's trying to talk up Ellsbury so he can steal Coco - tommy

I wanted to bring this one up for two reasons. 1. Thanks to tommy for throwing up the thread. 2. I actually think Beane is being completely honest, at least from his standpoint, though I would think either Ichiro or Curtis Granderson would have solid arguments given that they have vastly superior arms and similar range. But I don't think Beane is after Coco. He's young and underappreciated, which would make him right up Beane's alley, but he's not exactly low-cost. Think about it. Is he really signed that cheaply? At any rate, I doubt the Sox are/going to be asking for that much in return anyway. I don't know. This is getting a bit long on that one piece, but I'll just leave it at this: I believe Beane, and hope this reminds everyone of what I've been saying for awhile: Ellsbury might even make us forget about Coco's defense.

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Comments

Brandon Moss

When will we ever see something again from this guy? He’s a really solid player. Even if not as good as Coco on defense, I’d rather have him than Crisp as our 4th outfielder.

Walk on, walk on With hope in your heart And you'll never walk alone You'll never walk alone

by MerryGoByeBye on May 29, 2008 12:19 PM EDT 0 recs

Won't be until Crisp is traded or Crisp/Ells/Drew/Manny get hurt.

Or, the more remote possibility, if Casey starts to be…AWFUL.

"Are you a real doctor, or a doctor like Dr. Pepper is a doctor?"

by Allen Chace on May 29, 2008 12:48 PM EDT up 0 recs

I really think we should trade Coco

We have no use for him. Brandon Moss could be used as the 4th outfielder, and also as a defensive replacement for Manny. Thank god that now Ells is getting the majority of time in CF.

Casey will not start to be awful. He won’t hit anything in his life other than singles, but he’s good at it.

Walk on, walk on With hope in your heart And you'll never walk alone You'll never walk alone

by MerryGoByeBye on May 29, 2008 2:04 PM EDT up 0 recs

Moss doesn't really play CF

Ideally, you want a 4th OF that can play all three OF positions. Also, Moss is a left-handed hitter. An OF of Manny, Taco Boy, J. Dizzle, and Moss would be overwhelmingly left-handed. The Sox really need a decent righty bat for the bench. That would likely be a 4th OF type of hitter (Youk or Lugo is the 5th OF). Right now, the bench consists of Casey (L), Cora (L), Cash®, and Coco (S), none of whom crush left-handed pitching.

Kielty, when he gets healthy, is a much better fit as a 4th OF. He plays all 3 OF positions well and he is a switch-hitter who hits lefties very well. To me, Moss only gets significant big league time if one of the starting corner OFs get hurt (which would be a bad thing).

I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.

by Drugs Delaney on May 29, 2008 5:58 PM EDT up 0 recs

Moss doesn't play CF?

Really? Now, I didn’t know that. But as for the lefties issue… Well, Coco can’t hit LHP well enough as well (didn’t look at the numbers, I’m too lazy. But I’m pretty sure he can’t), so getting Moss there wouldn’t make that much of a difference. And, you’re right about Kielty, and I forgot about him. But there’s just no reason to not trade Coco, you know, when Kielty is healthy. We would have 2 good OFs that can actually hit in Kielty and Moss.

Sure we can keep Coco. Not so sure about why would we…

Walk on, walk on With hope in your heart And you'll never walk alone You'll never walk alone

by MerryGoByeBye on May 29, 2008 7:13 PM EDT up 0 recs

Trading Coco only frees one roster spot

The Sox aren’t going to carry 5 OFs. Moss and Kielty don’t play any other positions. With the Sox’ pitching problems, they’ll continue to carry 12 pitchers: Beckett, Dice-K, Lester, Wake, Colon, Paps, Oki, MDC, J-Lo, Hansen, Aardsma, and Timlin; and 13 position players: Tek, Cash, Youk, Casey, Peroia, Lugo, Lowell, Cora, Manny, Coco, Ellsbury, Drew, and Ortiz.

Aside from Casey, a left-handed hitter, the Sox’ bench is all glove and no bat: Cash, Cora, and Coco. They could really use another hitter and, better yet, a right-handed (or switch) hitter who can hit left-handed pitching. Kielty fills that bill better than Moss, and he plays all three OF positions well.

I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.

by Drugs Delaney on May 29, 2008 9:40 PM EDT up 0 recs

I wonder whether Kielty is even a real CF option.

He’s played 2 innings in CF since 2003. My guess is JD Drew would still be the top choice for innings/games in CF in the times where Ells gets some scheduled rest. The RHH, decent offensive threat is a point well-taken, but I don’t think Kielty is going to see any starts in CF.

"Are you a real doctor, or a doctor like Dr. Pepper is a doctor?"

by Allen Chace on May 29, 2008 10:01 PM EDT up 0 recs

Fair enough

We don’t need Coco, that’s the point. We could really use an OF who can actually hit to stay in the bench. Indeed, Kielty may be the best option. But Moss would also be better than Coco.

We should trade him to get some help for the bullpen. Timlin, MDC and Hanson have not looked any good so far, and that puts a lot to J-Lo, Aar and Oki (also Paps if we’re winning). The bullpen looks better as of late, but we could really use another pitcher to help those 3 (not to mention that Aar and J-Lo aren’t exactly reliable as well).

Walk on, walk on With hope in your heart And you'll never walk alone You'll never walk alone

by MerryGoByeBye on May 29, 2008 10:02 PM EDT up 0 recs

Depends upon the FO willingness to play Drew in CF.

If he could play the several games the rest of the season that Ells needs off, in CF, then we could trade Coco as soon as Moss is up to speed. Not necessarily what we should do, but it would be possible and workable.

"Are you a real doctor, or a doctor like Dr. Pepper is a doctor?"

by Allen Chace on May 29, 2008 8:30 PM EDT up 0 recs

on a tangent....

I’ve noticed this year that well, we are sh*t on the road. So we need to go like 61-20 at home and pull maybe another 35 wins on the road.

With respect to Coco, there is no way that Theo will let him go for the song that Beane is hoping to get him for. Gee that Beane is a crafty bastard though, isn’t he?

2 titles in 4 years tells me the FO knows what’s its doing, so I’ll be patient and see how they play it.

by sydneysox on May 29, 2008 7:19 PM EDT 0 recs