Nine Up, Nine Down: 2006 To Date

It’s been an interesting season for the Red Sox. In 2004, we still had yet to know what was going to happen. Nomar was part of the team. We still had 86 years of baggage on our shoulders.
2005 was a transition year for many fans that also happened to be a transition year for the team as well, and 2005 was a pretty ugly year for a lot of us, even though we did end up tying for first and making the playoffs.
So far this season, it’s been a bit serene for me. Sure, there are some controversies, but relatively minor. The only big uproar was Rudy Seanez and Jualian Tavarez screwing up games galore, but that registered about a “3” on the 1-10 scale of “SOMETHING MUST BE DONE!” Red Sox Panic Meter. I suppose Josh Bard registered about a 7, but that was on the “SOMETHING MUST BE DONE EVEN IF IT’S THE WRONG THING!” Red Sox Panic Meter that the Red Sox Front Office curiously partook in.
So here’s the Nine Up, Nine Down on this season…
Julian Tavarez has been on fire recently and combined with a few lineup tweaks plus an interesting trend of being able to log quite a few innings, he’s become an integral part of the bullpen. Some are even thinking about putting him in the rotation. Rudy Seanez has been buried, but came out of the bullpen as the last man to hurl two efficient innings before collasping in the bottom 19th – but really, we got a lot more than we asked from him. Even the way we collasped (four straight singles) was un-Seanez-like – and two of the singles were of the infield variety. The young guns have become integral to the bullpen and we’ll be seeing a lot more of them (for a good reason) but Tavarez and Seanez aren’t as terrible as they once were. The Red Sox may try to move Seanez (rumblings are to the Rockies) and call up someone such as Jermaine Van Buren, but the way Tavarez is pitching, I think he’ll stay with us.
With the Yankees certain to add another bat before the deadline, plus Hideki Matsui, Gary Sheffield, and Octavio Dotel all returning before the end of the season, the Yankees will be even stronger than they are now – and right now, they’re only three games out. I mentioned above I can’t really see anything we could use in a trade, but if the Yankees are going to get that much stronger and are still in the hunt for the division, doesn’t it make sense for the Red Sox to try to get stronger? The question is how? We have production everywhere now. So how do we get better?
I don’t really see anything we could acquire in a trade helping us. That’s the hallmark of a club with depth, but we’re set at basically every position and on the bench, as well. The only theoretical addition would be a 5th starter, but our options (Matt Clement, David Wells, Jason Johnson, Kyle Snyder, David Pauley, Abe Alvarez, Julian Tavarez…) dictate that if we were to acquire a starter, it would have to be someone of the #3 variety. We have plenty of #5 options, so why go acquire another 5th starter?
Wily Mo Pena is on the cusp of returning, a reason why Jason Jason was optioned to the minors. This will give us a bench of: OF/1B Wily Mo Pena, OF Gabe Kapler, C Doug Mirabelli, INF Alex Cora, and INF/OF Willie Harris. I recently learned the Red Sox are hopeful that Dustin Pedroia can play the role Tony Graffanino did last year for us, so this makes me wonder if Willie Harris is long for this club – especially since Francona has used him in only an outfielding capacity this year.
Big Papi is projected to have 58 HR by season’s end. He’s one hot streak away from passing 61, Roger Maris’ record. With the relevations that Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds have all juiced, this has all the power to grip the nation in Ortiz’s race to become “the true home run king.”
Jonathan Papelbon did not pitch in tonight’s All-Star game. There was a piece in the Globe the other day that spoke of Papelbon’s intensity. With the season we’re having and the way this article sounds, maybe Papelbon should permanently be our closer. I’d love to see what he could do starting, but I also wonder if he’s perfect in this role. He still needs to refine his secondary pitches and he’d lose some miles per hour off his fastball if he moved into the rotation. Many pundits had him no better than a #3 in the rotation – and that’s worse than a top closer. Mariano Rivera was originally a starter – how many years would he have stuck around as a starter with only one pitch?
Anyone else notice that the Orioles are on the brink of falling into last place? They’re “only” eight games under .500, but this won’t help matters at all. They’re actually not a bad team despite the ineffectiveness of their general managers as of late, but they lack consistent and excellent pitching. It’s a shame Tejada is on the way out – their offensive pieces are pretty good. If they can trade Tejada for an impact pitcher and an average arm, they’ll be better off. I just wonder how much longer Mike Flanagan has before he gets the boot, too. I also wonder how much longer before Peter Angelos realizes he is the problem.
I mentioned the Angels. How about their crosstown rivals, the Dodgers, fighting for first? Currently in second just ahead of the Rockies and Giants, they’re two behind the Padres, with NL Batting Leader and first-baseman Nomar Garciaparra leading them. Question: Who misses Nomar? Who wants him back? Oddly enough, I don’t. I think we all needed a fresh start, and I think the wounds and departure still sting in both Nomar’s heart and ours. While a joyous return would be celebrated years from now, now is not the time.
In case people don’t know:
Manny Ramirez is projected to pass Jose Canseco (463 HRs) on July 26th (A’s).
David Ortiz is projected to get 1,000 hits on August 8th (Orioles).
Mike Timlin is projected to pass Rollie Fingers (945 G) on August 25th (Mariners).
Curt Schilling is projected to get 3,000 strikeouts on September 3rd (Blue Jays).