The Boston Globe

With Ortiz back in the lineup for the Red Sox, they hoped to get something going and make a push to cut the 10 game AL East deficit down to at least single digits. Even with the big 3 Ortiz, Manny and Rollins, what happened was just the opposite. Instead of making a push, the Red Sox posted a losing record for SIM 9, going 3-8, and increasing the AL East deficit to 14 games behind the rival Yankees. On an even worse note, they dropped down to the number 5 spot in the Wild Card Race, behind the Indians, Twins, A's, and Rangers, and trailing the first place Indians by 6.5 games. What didn't help the Red Sox was losing 2 out of 3 in a 3 game series at Yankee Stadium, being outscored by New York 34-11. As has been the everlasting story for the Red Sox, the majority of their pitching staff decided not to show up when they most needed them. Lester, brought up for his first MLB starts in the 2007 season, split two starts while giving up 9 runs in 12 innings, good, or in this case bad, for a 6.75 ERA. To lighten the mood, Ortiz has performed well in his comeback going 12 for 35 (.343), scoring 5 times and driving in 4. The Red Sox had talked briefly with the Twins about SP Johan Santana, but were hesitant with Kazmir, Beckett, and Matsuzaka in their rotation, and they had just sealed the deal with the Phillies for SS Jimmy Rollins, handing over a good amount of prospects in the deal, but are now trying to contact the Twins GM for further discussion over the left handed ace. With the trade deadline just a few days away, the Red Sox are desperate to make a move in order to get back in the playoff race. More will come as the Santana "project" develops.

Injuries
RF Jason Werth *MLB* Pulled Groin (6 days)
2B Douglas Callan *R* Ruptured Knee Ligament (37 days)
RP Craig Breslow *AA* Shoulder Tendonitis (5 days)
RP Jay Marshall *R* Strained Chest (1 day)

Team Leaders Hitting
AVG-Jacoby Ellsbury (.329)
HR-Manny Ramirez (21)
SB-Jacoby Ellsbury (55)
R-Jimmy Rollins (73)
RBI-Manny Ramirez (74)
OBA-David Ortiz (.468)

Team Leader Pitching
ERA-Scott Kazmir (2.87)
IP-Josh Beckett (124.1)
K-Scott Kazmir (135)
W-Josh Beckett (9)
L-Jon Lester (1)
S-Jonathan Papelbon (24)

Blue=League Leader
White=AL Leader

The Red Sox had a brief discussion with the GM of the Minnesota Twins today regarding the SP Johan Santana. The Twins quickly revealed that they were not gonna move the ace so soon, but are planning on entertaining some offers once the offseason comes. The trading deadline is still a little bit away, so the Red Sox are still planning on searching for some deals out there.

Although the Twins had put a leash on SP Johan Santana after the Red Sox talked with them, he was quickly traded to Tampa Bay in a blockbuster deal. The Red Sox were in even more of a desperate search after this, so they began speaking with the GM of the Mets. The Mets stated that they were very interested in CF Coco Crisp, and with him (and more) SP Oliver Perez could be had. Oliver Perez was the blessing the Sox were looking for after losing the bid for Santana, so they jumped on the offer, including pitching prospect Clay Caleb and LHP Doug Davis in the deal. Perez has gone 9-2 with the Mets, and posted a 2.60 ERA which would be leading the team for the Red Sox. Because of the timing of the trade and the rest starters need between starts, Perez will be listed as the Red Sox #5 starter. Perez is scheduled to make his first start as a Red Sock in Texas to open the 3 game road series (6 game road stand) against the Rangers. In other trade talk, the Red Sox closed a deal with the Diamondbacks to acquire some more run support in their lineup. They acquired OF Eric Byrnes and 1B Conor Jackson, sending over SP Nicholas Hagadone in the deal. Jackson has drove in 73 runs so far this season, 1 behind the team leading Manny Ramirez. Co-Jack will be placed 7^th in their lineup, just behind new LF Eric Byrnes.

The Red Sox have looked stronger than they have throughout most of the season through the 11^th sim. They are still 10 games behind the AL East leading Yankees, but are just 3.5 back in the AL Wild Card. 3 of their pitchers, Perez, Beckett, and Kazmir have 10 wins, Beckett having 14. Papelbon is steady being the anchor in the bullpen with his 32 saves this season. Boston put SP Jon Lester in the long relief role after he struggled as a starter earlier in the season. Lester continued to cost the Red Sox in his bullpen appearances. Because of this the Red Sox will most likely be moving him down to AAA where he can continue to develop. After improving the pitching, the offense began to hold back as of late. Brand new OF Eric Byrnes broke his nose and will be out for 2 more days, as will Manny Ramirez with a bruised knee. CF Jacoby Ellsbury has been a gem so far for the Red Sox. The 23 year old has played in 110 games with 71 steals and 91 runs scored.

Injuries
RP Abe Alvarez *AA* Sprained Shoulder (8 days)
SP Andrew Dobies *A* Sore Heel (4 days)
LF Manny Ramirez *MLB* Bruised Knee (3 days)
LF Eric Byrnes *MLB* Broken Nose (2 days)
2B Alex Cora *MLB* Pulled Groin (13 days)
2B Douglas Callen *R* Ruptured Knee Ligament (5 days)

Team Leaders Hitting
AVG-Jacoby Ellsbury (.305)
HR-Manny Ramirez (23)
SB-Jacoby Ellsbury (71)
R-Jimmy Rollins (95)
RBI-Manny Ramirez (89)
OBA-Manny Ramirez (.403)

Team Leaders Pitching
ERA-Oliver Perez (3.15)
IP-Josh Beckett (164.1)
K-Scott Kazmir (172)
W-Josh Beckett (14)
L-Oliver Perez (4)
S-Jonathan Papelbon (32)

Blue=League Leader
White=AL Leader

Code:

[color=blue]Blue=League Leader[/color]
[color=white]White=AL Leader[/color]

As always, magnificent. I always look forward to your articles, and I know for a fact that others do, as well.

yea its always a good read, injuries look like they are hurting you at the moment

The Red Sox offense was rolling this sim, as they usually are, but the pitching once again couldn't keep up. Josh Beckett and Oliver Perez did a good job in their last 10 games, going a combined 11-4, but the other 3 didn't do quite as well. Scott Kazmir only had 5 decisions in his last 10 going 2-3 with a 6.75 ERA. The other 2, Matsuzaka and Schilling both had losing records, 1-4 and 2-5 respectively. Their closer Papelbon did a good job, going 1-1 with 7 saves. Middle reliever Travis Hughes struggled in his first big league appearance with Boston, averaging a 10.57 ERA. Jacoby Ellsbury is really showing off his versatility, with an average of .313, 10 home runs, 81 steals, and 105 runs scored. The Red Sox couldn't expect anymore from the 23 year old rookie than to prove himself as one of the best leadoff guys in the bigs, in his first season. Manny Ramirez had a good sim, with 15 hits in his last 37 at-bats, good for a .405 average, along with 1 long ball and 8 RBI's. The Red Sox are looking to make some moves in their bullpen, mainly the to spots that have hurt them the most, middle and long relief.

Injuries
2B Dustin Pedroia *MLB* Finger Stress Fracture (11 days)
3B Mike Lowell *MLB* Ankle Stress Fracture (5 days)
SP Scott Kazmir *MLB* Foot Stress Fracture (13 days)

Team LeadersHitting
AVG-Jacoby Ellsbury (.313)
HR-Manny Ramirez (24)
SB-Jacoby Ellsbury (81)
R-Jacoby Ellsbury (105)
RBI-Manny Ramirez (97)
OBA-Manny Ramirez (.407)

Team Leaders Pitching
ERA-Josh Beckett (3.15)
IP-Josh Beckett (183)
K-Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett (160)
W-Josh Beckett (15)
L-Oliver Perez (4)
S-Jonathan Papelbon (34)

Blue=League Leader
White=AL Leader

Code:

[color=blue]Blue=League Leader[/color]
[color=white]White=AL Leader[/color]

It's be a weird year for the Red Sox pitching. Before the season you couldn't tell me that Dice-K, Schilling, Lester, Buchholz, Kazmir, etc... would all be as bad as they have been for Boston. Of course before the season, I wouldn't have thought that BOS would have Kaz and no Buchholz.

Good luck Red Sox!

Commish wrote:

Of course before the season, I wouldn't have thought that BOS would have Kaz and no Buchholz.

Good luck Red Sox!

You couldn't tell me that either!

The Red Sox had been struggling all year in the standings, but really decided to pull it together before the last sim. After getting swept by the A's in a three game road series from April 12-14, they had a day to think about what the playoffs meant. They must have thought long and hard because they came back the rest of the season hard. After that off day the Red Sox went 15-1, with 2 sweeps of the Yankees, to tie the Tigers for the Wild Card. They ended up having to play 1 game against the Tigers to see who would make the playoffs against the best record in the majors, the Twins. Julian Tavarez got the start in the most important game of the year, and came up huge. Tavarez went 7 innings letting up only 3 runs. Everyone in the lineup had a hit except Conor Jackson who coaxed 3 walks on the day. Injury plagued David Ortiz came up big with 2 RBI's in the bottom of the 4^th to tie the game and eventually lead the Red Sox to a playoff spot. The Red Sox are eager to start the ALDS off on the road against MLB leading Twins and show them they mean business. RHP Matt Clement is scheduled to return off the DL in 4 days, but the Red Sox say that he will not make a start until Spring Training.

Injuries
SP Josh Beckett *MLB* Sore Heel (1 day)
RP Kyle Snyder *MLB* Mild Shoulder Separation (13 days)

Team Leaders Hitting
AVG-Jacoby Ellsbury (.319)
HR-Jimmy Rollins (27)
SB-Jacoby Ellsbury (95)
R-Jacoby Ellsbury (125)
RBI-Manny Ramirez (112)
OBA-Manny Ramirez (.420)

Team Leaders Pitching
ERA-Oliver Perez ( 2.88 )
IP-Josh Beckett (197.1)
K-Scott Kazmir (185)
W-Josh Beckett (17)
L-Oliver Perez (5)
S-Jonathan Papelbon (40)

Blue=League Leader
White=AL Leader

The Red Sox are taking on the Twins in this first playoff round, and so far it looks like a tight one.

Game 1-In the first game, Beckett took the mound to oppose 22 year old David Price. Price had a rocky first inning, giving up a home run to the second batter, 2B Dustin Pedroia, and giving the Red Sox an early 1-0 lead. Both pitchers were strong until again in the fourth, Price faltered. After Ortiz singled with one out, Conor Jackson doubled to right center scoring Papi from first. Again both pitchers shared some strong appearances, then the 7^th inning came. With 2 outs in the top, struggling C Jason Varitek homered on a full count to give the Red Sox a 2 run lead. Just when the Red Sox thought they had the game in the bag, Josh Beckett took the mound and immediately gave up an infield hit to Baldelli. 2 outs later, Baldelli stole second, followed by 3 hits which resulted in 3 runs and a 4-3 lead for the Twins. In the top of the 8^th the Red Sox came right back and tied it up on the second wild pitch of the inning by RP Yohan Pino. In the top of the ninth, the Red Sox scored 2 runs, one on a successful hit and run by Mike Lowell (batter) and Eric Byrnes (runner). The next was an RBI by 2B Dustin Pedroia. The Red Sox had to hold their breath when Papelbon came in and gave up 2 quick hits, cutting the lead to 1, but eventually got the save and a 1-0 lead in the series.

Game 2-The second game was a higher scoring contest, but the outcome wasn't what the Red Sox wanted. The Sox drew first blood in the first with back to back hits by Ramirez and Jackson, scoring them 2. After a 1-2-3 inning by Scott Kazmir, the Red Sox scored one more time on an infield single by Jimmy Rollins in the 2^nd. The Twins then began to hammer Beckett, stroking 5 hits for 5 runs in the second. The very next inning, Jackson drove himself as well as Manny in with a two run home run over the left field wall. After both teams exchanged two run innings in the 5^th and 6^th, the Red Sox were ready for a tight campaign. Once again, in the seventh, a wild pitch by Yohan Pino gave the Red Sox a one run lead. That is until Jason Kubel homered to left off of RHP Mike Timlin, driving in three and propelling the Twins to 10-8 victory in game 2.

Awards
Jacoby Ellsbury ~ AL Stolen Base Leader (95)

Retirement
SS Royce Clayton (37)
RP Bryan Corey (33)
LF Michael Tucker (36)
SP Tim Wakefield (41)
LF Kerry Robinson (33)

The Red Sox have finally been eliminated from the playoffs in game 5 of the ALDS against the MLB Leading Twins. Scott Kazmir got the start in the deciding game, and let up 4 runs, 1 earned, in 6 innings of work striking out 6 and walking 1. The Red Sox knew their pitching staff would be the downfall of their season, but they are glad that they had the opportunity to make it to the playoffs against the best team in the MLB. The Red Sox will soon begin trade talks with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, mostly including SP Johan Santana, and the Florida Marlins, concerning 3B Miguel Cabrera. Boston need o drastically improve on their pitching staff, and part of that will be grooming young arms so they can develop well enough for their rotation, hopefully in the near future. More will come following the Red Sox through their offseason.

Congrats on a fantastic season, Red Sox. We the Yankees want to extend an invite out to you guys to join....

Spoiler:

well i dont know about that, but good luck anyway....take it home for the AL East!!!!

The Red Sox have released their contract extensions before the 2007 offseason begins. Contrary to what most people might have thought, The Red Sox have offered 3B Mike Lowell an extension for one more year. The veteran didn't have his best season, although he did drive 14 balls out of the park, and drove in 73 runs, he only hit .254 while committing 8 errors at third. Immediately after the Red Sox began seeing the 3B struggling, he was intent on releasing him after the season. Plans of that came to an end when he realized he would have no way of comfortably replacing him in the hot corner. They have plans of either going after an experienced 3B, or bring up someone from the minor leagues when they feel they can. Also included in the extensions were pitchers Matt Clement, Eric Gagne, and Julian Tavarez. With Matt Clement being injured for the duration of the the 07 season, he never got a chance to show what he still has, so the Red Sox have decided to give him another chance at a starting role.

Peña goes back to Boston!!!!
After a tight bidding war with many other teams interested in the first basemen, the Red Sox posted the highest offer at 4 years worth 18 million each year. The first basemen only hit .256 last season, but drove in 99 runs with 30 homers. The Red Sox decided they would go after him hard once they saw him leaving the Yankees for free agency, attempting to improve their offense any way they could. The Red Sox had plan to go after recently traded ace Johan Santana, but he was quickly dealt to Detroit for 5 prospects. This made the Red Sox even more intent on acquiring Peña's bat to put behind Manny and Ortiz in what they hope will be one of the best offenses in the game at the start of the 2008 season.

Great signing, though that is a shit load of money.

Yankees in 2nd or even 3rd place?

damn it I had a post about my other FA Signings but I posted it when the site was down

Sorry

redsoxfan34 wrote:

damn it I had a post about my other FA Signings but I posted it when the site was down

its annoying hey?

i had a 1000 word write up for my Dodgers thing lost because of my net crashing.

i do it all in word beforehand now.

yeah if I remember im gonna start doing that

Boston Red Sox 2008 Season Outlook

The Red Sox have released the 2008 Opening Day Roster (without the international FA signings) and here is how it looks:

1. Jacoby Ellsbury CF ~ The 23 year old center fielder had one of the best rookie seasons you are ever going to see. He was noticed as probably the best leadoff hitter in the game in ’07 and here is why. Playing in 140 games, Ellsbury collected 188 hits for a .319 batting average, along wit h10 long balls and 67 RBIs from the leadoff spot. He won rookie of the year along with being crowned the AL Stolen Base leader with 95 stolen bags.


2. Dustin Pedroia 2B ~ Pedroia was the regular second basemen for the Red Sox and had a very solid year, for his first full year in the bigs. In the 2 spot Dustin landed a .298 average with 68 RBIs, along with a finger stress fracture that put him out for 2 weeks in September. Pedroia was also a very solid defender committing only 3 errors in 1145 innings giving him a .995 fielding percentage.


3. David Ortiz DH ~ Ortiz was injury plagued for most of the season last year. He went down 3 times for a total of 10 weeks throughout the year, keeping him out of the All-Star Game for the first time in 3 years. In just 96 games he recorded a .326 average with 20 homers and a .457 on base percentage. If he can stay healthy, look for a big return in 2008.


4. Manny Ramirez LF ~ Manny Ramirez was the leading home run man in the lineup, while Ortiz was out with his injuries. He bombed 26 with a team leading 112 RBIs. Playing in all but 10 games, along with becoming an All-Star for the 11^th year in a row, he posted a .309 average and a .420 on base percentage, and a .513 slugging percentage. Manny will most likely be more relaxed and have a better season at the plate with the new comer Peña now behind him.


5. Carlos Peña 1B ~ While Carlos left for four weeks of the season and only played in 137 games, he only hit .256 with 30 HRs and 99 RBI’s. Peña was on the bench for the Sox in 06 after he left for Tampa Bay, then for New York. After not being offered a contract extension he filed for free agency where the Red Sox signed him for $18 million dollars thru 2011. The Red Sox are hoping for another big season out of Peña, putting him in the 5 spot to give him some RBI chances.


6. Jimmy Rollins SS ~ Rollins was the starting short stop immediately after he was sent up from Philly in a 7 player deal. He put up great numbers as the 5 man, but dropped to #6 with the addition of power threat Carlos Peña. Rollins had a good year with the Sox, hitting 8 triples and putting up a .544 slugging percentage in 80 games. The Red Sox are expecting even better numbers this year, now that he will have a full year to show Boston what he’s got.


7. Eric Byrnes LF ~ Byrnes is another guy that came over in a trade with Arizona. Byrnes put up good numbers last year and the Red Sox can’t wait to see it again. In just 52 games he had a .295 average with 41 RBIs. The Red Sox are happy with his performance and are hoping to see him improve throughout the course of the year, to give them that boost of offense they have been looking for out of the bottom of their order.


8. Mike Lowell 3B ~ Lowell struggled greatly through 2007 season hitting just .254 in 137 games. He also struggled in the field, committing 8 errors at 3B. Although Lowell had such a disappointing season, without a replacement the Red Sox gave him one more chance. They are planning to start him at the hot corner for 2008 to see how he does, although he does look good in the beginning of Spring Training, with a .393 average and a .460 on base percentage.


9. Johnny Estrada C ~ Last year Jason Varitek had a horrible year, so the Sox figured they had to change something behind the dish. They went about that by signing veteran backstop Johnny Estrada to a 3 year contract worth $18 million a year total. With a partial season last year Estrada hit .312 with 8 home runs. The Red Sox are hoping they made the right move replacing Varitek at the moment.

Great writeup!

awsome!

Always is