Talkin Sox with Dan

Where baseball fans gather for commonsensical, opinionated Red Sox banter.

23 May 2012
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Hitting Quick on the Red Sox

—Kevin Youkilis was activated on Tuesday and promptly participated in some heavy bridge work courtesy of Brian Matusz. Because my Little League All-Star team had more outfield depth than the Red Sox currently possess, Adrian Gonzalez started in right field, Will Middlebrooks held down the fort at third base, and Youk reclaimed the first base bag. I’m not a fan of of displacing Gonzalez for the sake of keeping better bats in the lineup. The Sox pitching staff isn’t exactly filled with Cy Young candidates and sacrificing defense surely won’t help Clay Buchholz‘s ever-rising earned run average. Nevertheless, I would rather have Gonzalez pushed to the outfield than Middlebrooks. So for now, I’ll accept the lesser of the two evils.

—Related to the above note, if you are someone who calls into radio stations, comments on blogs, or tweets to reporters stating that Player X should be able to play the outfield because Player X once played right field for his T-Ball team, please, for the love of Christ, stop.

—Bobby Valentine’s comfort level as manager of this team has certainly increased. It not out of the ordinary to see Valentine take a trip to the mound, speak with the pitcher, and head back to the dugout–without making a change. He gently slapped Matt Albers in the face within the past week. I like it.

—Felix Doubront lacks efficiency, but man, the kid has some poise. He knows how to pitch. I feel pretty good when the Venezuelan toes the rubber.

—I had an interesting exchange with a friend of mine today about Jacoby Ellsbury. Essentially, his premise was that Ells’ injury can only hurt him at the negotiation table following his first crack at free agency after the 2013 season. In turn, that benefits the Red Sox. My counter was that I would rather have a healthy, productive Ellsbury while he is making roughly $8MM and under team control. We finally realized that we weren’t disagreeing with each other, but rather raising two extremely fair points. Ultimately, the Red Sox are losing out on valuable team-controlled years thanks to two freak injuries that have derailed significant portions of Ellsbury’s young career. Simultaneously, it would stupid for any potential suitor to not bring up Ellsbury’s injury marred past when he reaches free agency.

—I was at the afternoon game against Seattle, where Tim Wakefield was honored. Minus the tackiness of Doug Mirabelli busting out of a police car, it was a well put together ceremony.

—In the bottom of the sixth inning, Doubront and Adam Jones, who is awesome, engaged in a pretty good battle. It lasted eleven pitches. Doubront threw only two pitches out of the strike zone during the exchange–one of which was a pitchout. Ultimately, Doubront won the showdown, striking out Jones on a breaking pitch. Again, I was impressed by the young lefty.

—David Ortiz held a players only meeting sometime after the first game of the four game set with the Indians a couple of weeks ago. Josh Beckett had just pitched like trash. Ortiz focused on the importance of accountability for each individual player and emphasis was placed on the pitching staff. Good for him. That is a guy is talking the talk and walking the walk.

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15 May 2012
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Shopping for a Catcher

The Red Sox do not have a surplus of many of things. Wins are a good example of something they certainly do not have an excess of. Their outfield that once played host to Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury is now home to Daniel Nava and Ryan Sweeney. Alfredo Aceves was once a strong candidate to break camp as a member of the rotation. A freak thumb injury to Andrew Bailey, combined with Red Sox brass’ steadfast belief that Daniel Bard is best served as a starter, thrust Aceves into the role of closer. The minute they thought that had six viable starting pitchers, Aaron Cook’s knee was gashed by a spike, landing him on the disabled list.

The 2012 version of the Boston Red Sox is not exactly dripping with depth.

They do have catching, however. Jarrod Saltalamacchia is posting a so-so  slash line of .250/.281/.512. He has shown a knack for hitting the ball out of the ballpark on the young season. Salty’s gone bridge five times. The 27-year old was once a highly touted prospect and a former first round pick. He has the pedigree and is still developing at an extremely demanding position. Kelly Shoppach mashes lefties and seems to be vaulting into the position of personal catcher for Josh Beckett. It should not be ignored that on Monday night, Shoppach caught Jon Lester‘s complete game against the Mariners. Whether it is factual or not, pitchers seem to be more comfortable working with Shoppach. Finally, Ryan Lavarnway is biding his time at Triple-A Pawtucket. He certainly looks like the catcher of the future or at least a power bat from the right side.

Compared to the catching situations for the Angels and the Nationals, the Red Sox look like they have Ivan Rodriguez, Johnny Bench, and Yogi Berra.

In Washington, the backstops are dropping early and often. Wilson Ramos, a talented young catcher, is likely out for the duration of the season with a right knee injury. On Monday night, Ramos’ replacement, Sandy Leon, a rookie, fell victim to a high right ankle sprain courtesy of the Padres’ Chase Headley during a play at the plate. Out West, the Angels are suffering a similar fate. Chris Iannetta will be out for the best part of two months following wrist surgery. Their top catching prospect, Hank Conger, is currently on the shelf as well.

So this tweet from the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo does not come as much of a suprise:

Conveniently enough, as I mentioned previously, Shoppach caught Lester’s masterful performance last night. He also went very deep to left field, just for good measure. He is a veteran guy, playing under a one-year deal at short money. John Heyman of CBSSports.com sees a tremendous amount of interest brewing around baseball in Shoppach.

This is an interesting situation for GM Ben Cherington and the Red Sox. It’s not like they are openly showcasing their catchers, but other organizations are in need, and, in this situation, the Red Sox have. But what does it all mean?

Ryan Lavarnway is not going anywhere. He hasn’t hit his stride in the International League as of yet, but he is as close to a proven commodity as a prospect can get. Saltalamacchia is not your typical bridge player. The Sox have Mike Aviles keeping Jose Iglesias‘ seat warm, but I do not get the impression that Salty is strictly a placeholder. That is not to say that he is untradeable. If the right deal came along, I believe Cherington would be willing to part with Saltalamacchia. That would be the ultimate vote of confidence for Lavarnway.

Shoppach is the most interesting piece in all of this. At first glance, he is the most tradeable catching commodity the Red Sox have. But is role on this team has expanded. Valentine openly stated that he was not in favor of his pitchers having personal catchers, but it would be moronic to say that Shoppach has not evolved into Beckett’s new version of Jason Varitek. After Lester’s best performance of the year on Monday, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Shoppach behind the dish for the lefty’s next turn.

It will be a curious situation to monitor over the course of the next several days. In all likelihood, the Red Sox will not make a deal. But I would be extremely surprised to hear that they did not listen.

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14 May 2012

Beat the Bad Teams

The Mariners are in Boston for a quick two-game series. Aside from bringing the typical rainy Seattle weather to the Hub, the Mariners also tote an underwhelming 16-20 record to town.

I’m going to keep this simple. The M’s are bad. They have some nice pieces like Jesus Montero and Dustin Ackley, but they hit like I did in high school. Which is bad. Very, very bad. The Mariners rank 29th in on-base percentage and 27th in team batting average.

Felix Hernandez pitched in the Bronx on Friday night, rendering him unavailable in the brief series against the Sox. Bobby Valentine’s boys have no business letting the M’s walk out of Boston with a win.

On Monday, Jon Lester will toe the rubber for the home team. The following day, the much-maligned Josh Beckett will get the ball. The Mariners will counter with Jason Vargas, who has tossed well as of late, and Blake Beavan. If this were a game of Texas Hold ‘Em, the Sox have hole hards of Ace, King, while the M’s were dealt a three and an eight, off suit.

It will be up to Lester to start acting like belongs in the same zip code as other aces, something he has yet to show me this year. Beckett, who I still have faith in, will be pitching on Tuesday with a purpose, unless he really is a zombie that lacks a pulse.

Taking the final two games of the home stand would be big as the local nine ready themselves to head south to Tampa Bay as they embark on a tough eight-game road trip. Philadelphia and Baltimore follow.

If the Red Sox hope to get back into contention this season, the performance of Lester and Beckett are paramount. And if they can’t beat the bad teams, they’re certainly not going to beat the good ones.

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12 May 2012

Playing Telephone

Since the end of 2011, I have struggled with how to analyze the Red Sox and its ownership group. On one hand, I want to grab John Henry by the arm and say “hey, what in God’s name is going on?” On the other hand, I say to myself “well, the guy is doing exactly what a good owner should do–invest heavily in his team.” I am beyond conflicted. I don’t know what my opinion is. I am confused.

What I do know is that there are some serious communication issues on Yawkey Way. A good friend of mine who is an unadulterated Yankees fan asked me yesterday to explain the chain of events that led to the powder keg surrounding Josh Beckett. So I did my best. Beckett had soreness before his 126-pitch effort in Chicago. It was decided in the middle of last week that he would skip his start against the Orioles on Saturday. That Thursday he golfed with Clay Buchholz. Over the weekend, Aaron Cook took Beckett’s turn in the rotation. On Sunday, the same day that Darnell McDonald toed the rubber for the Red Sox, Beckett was not available to pitch.

That’s it. That’s my take, and I think it’s a reasonable one. But there are so many questions that still remain, and almost all of them have to do with poor communication. No one is on the same page. No one.

Here is what we know for sure: It was Beckett’s turn to pitch on Saturday. He did not pitch. A couple of days before, he played golf. About a week before that, he had some stiffness in a lat muscle located behind his right shoulder. He decided he could pitch through it. Because he did not communicate the discomfort to his manager, Valentine felt comfortable letting him throw 126 pitches in a game against the White Sox. Beyond that, who knows?

In an interview with WEEI’s Rob Bradford before Friday night’s game, Beckett sounded like a guy who was ready to take the ball last Saturday against the Orioles: “I certainly didn’t tell him (Valentine) I wasn’t pitching. I respected whenever he came in and told me I wasn’t pitching because we definitely had some issues we had to deal with.”

Fans are quick to question why Beckett couldn’t have stepped up to pitch the next day during the 17-inning marathon game. Well, here is at least part of the answer from pitching coach Bob McClure.

“That would be ludicrous. What we were trying to do is give him a breather, and now we’re going to throw him in the game? That doesn’t make any sense. Even if he was available, I don’t know he’s the one you want to do that to.’’

Beckett’s take: “Nobody asked me to. I think it was a precautionary deal. I think when they tell you you’re going to miss a start … If they would have asked me I could have went out there and pitched.”

Holy crap.

Let me know if your head is spinning because mine definitely is.

If you read the tea leaves, it seems like Beckett felt a tug in a muscle behind his shoulder. He didn’t tell anyone. He threw a ton of pitches. Then told someone. That someone then decided it would be best to let Cook take the ball on Saturday against the Orioles, giving Beckett an early season respite. The two righties from Texas had a tee time on a day off and decided not to cancel it because Beckett’s stiffness had subsided.

The Red Sox do not have a strong voice in the dugout or the ownership box. There is no consistency. If you’re looking for a line of communication within the organization, stop looking. There isn’t one. Valentine serves as a nice scapegoat, but he is just a pawn in a problem that spans throughout this organization. It starts with John Henry and bleeds onto the field.

At this point, the coaches and players in the Red Sox dugout need to get on the same page. Get on the same side of the rope and pull. Ask what Beckett recently asked himself in an interview: “Am I part of the solution or am I part of the problem? I want to part of the solution, not part of the problem.”

Winning ballgames will solve a lot for the 2012 Boston Red Sox. Winning is the ultimate elixir. And good communication goes a long way in helping the cause.

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08 May 2012
6 Comments

Corner Controversy

Will Middlebrooks smashed two home runs on Monday night, powering the Red Sox to a win over the Kansas City Royals. The Texas native won’t turn 24-years old until September of this year. He plays third base, a position that is bereft of talent around baseball. Middlebrooks is a major cog in the future of the Boston Red Sox. The question now becomes–when is the future?

In four games in the bigs, Middlebrooks has gone bridge (hat tip to HOF’er Dennis Eckersley) three times. He has collected eight hits in 22 at-bats and shown the ability to drive the ball to all fields.  Middlebrooks was on a tear in Triple-A Pawtucket, and he certainly has not let a promotion derail him.

Based on his performance, it seems as though Middlebrooks punched a one-way ticket when he took the trip from Rhode Island to the Hub.

But not so fast.

Kevin Youkilis will be back this season. He is making $12MM in 2012, and when he is right, Youk changes the dynamic of this lineup. Believe it or not, the Red Sox offense misses the scrappy right handed hitter. He grinds out at-bats and provides stability to a middle of an order that relies heavily on production from lefties David Ortiz and the recently-maligned Adrian Gonzalez.

Youkilis, if healthy, will not be supplanted by Middlebrooks. That is a simple fact.

The Red Sox, like most organizations, seek value in almost everything they do–whether they’re successful or not is a different story for a different day. Nevertheless, a healthy Youkilis playing third base in Boston while Middlebrooks continues to get at-bats and become more selective at the plate in Pawtucket is likely ideal for this team.

Baseball is a marathon, not a sprint. Good stories often result from no-name guys or future stars who put together good bursts at different points during the long season. Sprinters are applauded, but the proven players who can finish the marathon are the ones who generally succeed over the course of what amounts to an extremely long summer. Look, Middlebrooks has been white hot since his arrival to Boston, but it’s been four games. Four. Teams at this level adapt to a new face. Once there is a bit of a thicker book on Middlebrooks, pitchers will expose weaknesses. It’s bound to happen. It is the quality hitters who adjust to the adjustments. And Youkilis has shown that he has the ability to do that year in and year out. In no way is this an indictment against Middlebrooks. He is a fantastic talent who surely will evolve into an excellent major leaguer.

Maybe this problem works itself out. Maybe Youkilis never gets fully healthy. Maybe he is traded. Maybe the Red Sox find a way to keep both Youkilis and Middlebrooks in the lineup. It’s impossible to predict those scenarios. But all things even, I’m taking Youkilis. He is the one who has already evolved into that aforementioned ‘excellent major leaguer’.

Picture this: It’s the middle of September, and the Red Sox are one game out of the second and final Wild Card spot. They’re in Tampa Bay. Top of the ninth, down one, with runners on second and third. Who would you rather have up–Youkilis or Middlebrooks?

Think about it.

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04 May 2012

Pre-series Notes 5/4/12 — Orioles vs. Red Sox

The Baltimore Orioles come to Fenway for a three-game set, beginning tonight. The Birds are in second place in the AL East and seven games over .500 (16-9), while the Sox continue to toil in the basement (11-13). Below are my thoughts and some things to look for over the course of the next three days.

—Dustin Pedroia is batting cleanup tonight. He is a career .397 hitter out of the four-hole. I like the move by Bobby Valentine.

—Dan Duquette returns to Yawkey Way as the GM of the Orioles. The Massachusetts native was fired by this ownership group in 2002. Theo Epstein attracts the majority, if not all, of the credit for winning the World Series in 200 (from a front office perspective, of course), but it should not be forgotten that the Duke is responsible for bringing in many of the major contributors to that team. It’s good to see a guy who obviously loves the game of baseball get back in the industry in a major way.

—Don’t bet on baseball. But if you’re going to despite my advice, bet on the Red Sox tonight. Jon Lester is 14-0 against the O’s. The offense has beat up on left handed pitching in the early going. Wei-Yin Chen is a rookie southpaw.

—Here are your pitching matchups, courtesy of the Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham:

Friday: LHP Wei-Yin Chen (2-0, 2.22) vs. LHP Jon Lester (1-2, 4.65), 7:10 p.m

Saturday: RHP Jason Hammel (3-1, 1.97) vs. RHP Aaron Cook (2012 debut), 1:10 p.m

Sunday: RHP Tommy Hunter (2-1, 4.26) vs. RHP Clay Buchholz (3-1, 8.69), 1:35 p.m

—Buchholz is the pitcher to monitor over the weekend. He needs a quality start. Another poor outing could seriously result in a demotion to Triple-A Pawtucket.

—Despite the Orioles’ impressive record, they are not a good team. The Red Sox need to take two out of three over the weekend. Anything less would be a failure.

—Will Middlebrooks will bat second tonight as he hopes to inject some energy in this veteran team. He looked good in his debut on Wednesday against the Athletics. Kevin Youkilis is still this team’s third baseman for 2012, but Middlebrooks is a purebred. The guy plays good defense and has shown the ability to hit a ton a very shallow position (third base). Red Sox fans will enjoy watching him play in the short term and especially in the future.

—Matt Wieters is the Orioles’ catcher and is an absolute stud. In 45 games against the local nine, Wieters has hit at a smooth .323 clip with three home runs. Red Sox pitchers will attempt to keep the young backstop at bay, but it won’t be easy.

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30 Apr 2012

Righting the Ship

The Red Sox return home after an impressive 6-1 road trip. It was exactly what the team needed after leaving Fenway dejected thanks to a 15-9 loss to the Yankees on April 21. It was followed by a much-needed rain out. The Sox traveled to Minnesota and promptly swept the lowly Twins.  A trip to Chicago ended with a loss but not before Valentine’s boys snatched up three victories. It was an impressive stretch against competition that is not close to the likes of the Rangers, Rays, and Yankees. But hey, you don’t make the schedule–you just play the games.

Overall, I was very happy with the ways in which the Red Sox won ballgames. On several occasions, it was the offense delivering the blows to the opposition, putting up crooked number after crooked number. The pitching staff wasn’t to be outdone either. Jon Lester went pitch for pitch with Jake Peavy on Saturday night, and the bullpen held up their end of the bargain. The Sox won the game 1-0. This road trip proved that the local nine can win games in a variety of different ways.

Are there still a fair amount of chinks in the armor? Absolutely. But the past seven games have gone a long way in reminding fans of a few important points: It is only April. Slow starts can be (and often are) overcome by good teams. And to win regular season games, you need to be able to hit, and the Red Sox do that better than the vast majority of teams–even without Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford.

Points of interest as the Oakland A’s roll through the hub:

Clay Buchholz-The slender righty will open the series tonight, and he is in desperate need of a quality performance. In his last start, Buchholz again pitched poorly against the frail Twins’ lineup. Similar to his start against the Rays earlier in the season, Buchholz allowed five runs, and the offense bailed him out. He earned was gifted wins in both starts. In his outing against Tampa, Buchholz was able to toss seven full innings. Conversely, the Texas native couldn’t make it out of the sixth frame last week in Minnesota. Tonight is an important start for a pitcher looking to justify a hefty contract extension.

Yoenis Cespedes-The Cuban defector will probably strike out four or so times during the three game set, but he is just as likely to hit a ball that lands in Somerville.

Bobby Valentine-Valentine and his club found refuge away from Yawkey Way, winning six of their last seven. Last time he set foot on the diamond at Fenway, he received a wave of unnecessary and misallocated boo’s from a crowd made up of people who likely still believe Terry Francona is going to bust through the clubhouse doors and save the day (just like he did at the end of last year, right?). I’m interested to see how he is received during this initial stage of this homestand. As always, winning changes everything.

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28 Apr 2012

Implications of a Friday Night in Chicago

The Red Sox won their fifth straight game last night as they downed the White Sox 10-3 for the second night in a row on their turf. David Ortiz hit his fourth home run of the season. It came against a relatively tough lefty in John Danks. The Sox offense once again held up their end of the bargain, throwing up a crooked nine runs on a very cold night at U.S. Cellular Field. It should be noted that the grinders at the bottom of the lineup were truly the ones who deserve a pat on the back. In the sixth inning, the Red Sox plated five runs, due in large part to some timely hitting from the latter half of the order. Specifically, Darnell McDonald once again proved that he is a more-than-serviceable off of the bench option in the major leagues as he smacked a clutch two-out three-run double down the left field line. McDonald has not received consistent playing time, so his performance on Friday night (he also hit a garbage time home run) is excellent news for a Red Sox bench that lacks a heck of a ton of firepower.

Daniel Bard threw seven strong innings, allowing three runs–only two of which were earned. The tall righty only issued one free pass. In this league, you’re better off making hitters earn their way on base. A good hitter posts an average of .300. The majority of the time, the guy is going to record an out. I say play the odds, especially when you have the raw stuff of a Bard.

I am convicted flip-flopper. A month or two ago, I firmly advocated for Bard sticking in the rotation. In my defense, I had no way of knowing that Andrew Bailey would have his debut in a Red Sox uniform delayed by three months due to thumb surgery. Even after receiving that devastating news and watching Alfredo Aceves struggle in the opening series of the season against the Tigers, I still argued that Bard should remain in the rotation. Just this week, however, I am on record as saying that Bard needs to take it upon himself to volunteer to return to the bullpen. Mark Melancon, a guy I truly counted on to serve as trustworthy arm out of the bullpen, turned into a puddle and was demoted to Triple-A Pawtucket, further decimating a watered down Red Sox bullpen that is in desperate need of stability. So I’m as guilty of flipping and flopping as one could be.

Here is the bottom line: For now, the Red Sox will attempt to have their cake and eat it too. They want to win ballgames now, while doing what is best for its future, which is keeping Bard on the path of evolving into a quality, low-cost, under team control starting pitcher. As long as the former Tar Heel continues to put together quality starts and the bullpen doesn’t implode like it did a week ago today, both Bard and the Red Sox will be happy.

Ultimately, for the Sox to be considered a legitimate threat in the postseason, Bard has to be pitching well. In high leverage situations. Out of the bullpen.

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27 Apr 2012
2 Comments

Quick Hits

  • Kevin Youkilis took a Philip Humber offering over the right field wall in the top of the third inning. Three of his teammates happened to be on base at the time. Youkilis’ grand slam was an encouraging sign. He is at his best when he is taking the ball to the opposite field. It was nice to see him drive the pitch the way he did as well.
  • Jarrod Saltalamacchia plated three runs and hit two round trippers last night.  Salty is an easy target when it comes to criticism because Ryan Lavarnway‘s major league ready bat awaits in Pawtucket, but he is a guy who will put up more than acceptable numbers, especially for a catcher. Saltalamacchia’s 2-25 start is a distant memory. As it always it when it comes to baseball, patience is key.
  • Felix Doubront threw 110 pitches over six full innings last night. I like what I see from Doubront. Once he begins hitting the outside corner on a more consistent basis/umpires giving him that call, Doubront’s pitch count with decrease, allowing him to go deeper in games.
  • When the Red Sox were at their lowest points in this early season, we noted that the offense had consistently showed resiliency in the later innings. They had come from behind on several occasions in Detroit and Toronto. The Sox bats are not waiting until the eighth or ninth innings to do their damage any longer.
  •  Mike Aviles may not be as patient as you would like a leadoff hitter, but he has embraced his role. The guy is scorching hot. He is setting the table and driving in runs. It’s nice to see the offense support the pitching staff the way it has.
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26 Apr 2012

Sacrifice Leads to Success

It was Game 3 of the 2004 American League Championship Series. October 16, 2004. The Red Sox were down two games to none to the Yankees. The local nine were in the middle of receiving a black eye bludgeoning from the Bronx Bombers. For most, it was the precursor to yet another year flushed away, another close, but no cigar Autumn in Boston.

But something happened that night, something that will be forever forgotten by many in New England. Tim Wakefield approached Terry Francona and offered to relinquish his opportunity to start Game 4 in an effort to preserve the Red Sox bullpen. When the smoke cleared, Wakefield had taken a bullet for his team. He labored through 3.1 innings, allowing five runs. The Sox lost 19-8. However, Mike Timlin and Keith Foulke went unused, while Alan Embree did end up making an appearance but only faced four hitters. The Red Sox left Game 3 licking their wounds, but, because of Wakefield’s sacrifice, they were able to keep the stalwarts of their bullpen intact. It ultimately facilitated their ability to come from behind and defeat the Yankees in the best of seven series.

It wasn’t about Wakefield. It was about what was best for his team. It was about sacrifice.

And that is something that is sorely lacking on the 2012 Boston Red Sox.

This winter, the front office promised Daniel Bard an opportunity to serve as a starting pitcher. He sports an A+ plus fastball, an A slider, and a changeup that is more than serviceable. Beyond his raw stuff, Bard has the intelligence and makeup that can only boost his ability to start at the major league level. To put it simply, he is a bright kid with great stuff who deserves the chance to maximize his potential.

Ideally, Bard would complete the first step (in a multi-step process) in becoming a front line starting pitcher by tossing an uninterrupted 140-160 innings this season. This, before injuries and ineffectiveness plagued both Andrew Bailey and Mark Melancon respectively, was going to be a difficult task.

The Red Sox did not pursue Jonathan Papelbon in free agency. At the same time, they agreed to move Bard from the eighth inning to the fifth spot in the rotation. First year GM Ben Cherington was tasked with replacing the final six outs in a ballgame. He did a seemingly fine job. In a pair of under the radar trades, Cherington acquired both Bailey and Melancon.

Problem solved, right? Ehh, not so much.

Bailey suffered a freak thumb injury just before the beginning of the season that will ultimately sideline him for roughly three months. Melancon is now in Rhode Island after a series of appearances in which he failed to do anything but struggle.

The Red Sox are now presented with the unenviable task of attempting to replace the replacements that were acquired to replace Bard and Papelbon. Alfredo Aceves and Franklin Morales are your 2012 version of Papelbon and Bard.

That’s ugly.

Bard is in an unique place. Unlike Papelbon, he is still a member of the Red Sox. According to Bard and the brass on 4 Yawkey Way, he is a starter. Nevertheless, his turn was skipped on Monday after a rain out on Sunday. In an interview on Sunday night, Valentine declared that Bard would be able to pitch out of the bullpen once or twice during the week while still retaining his position in the rotation.

Bard’s comments before Monday’s game against the Twins were quite telling.

“I already told them back-to-back is out of the questions for health reasons,” Bard said. “I haven’t thrown one back-to-back all spring. It wouldn’t be fair to ask me. They were totally in agreement on that one.”

Bard is telling management that working back-to-back days is out of the question. Bard, a guy who is entering his fourth, not his tenth, year in the big leagues, apparently believes that he calls the shots. It’s not about what is best for his team. It is about what is necessary for him to continue on the path of being a starting pitcher.

The Red Sox bullpen possesses quality firepower. The bullets, however, have simply not been allocated in the correct chambers. Franklin Morales has a live arm that would look nice in the sixth or seventh inning. Alfredo Aceves is an invaluable weapon who should not be closing. Instead, he should be serving as a multi-inning swingman who also has the potential to retire batters in high leverage situations

So why aren’t these bullpen pieces slotted correctly?

Because Bard has not stepped up.

The bullpen is decimated. Papelbon is in the National League. Bailey is recovering from thumb surgery. Melancon is attempting to regain his confidence in Pawtucket. There are no horses left in the stable. Only ponies remain.

Cherington and the Red Sox have some serious decisions to make. On May 1st, Aaron Cook, who is pitching extremely well in Triple-A, can opt out of his contract if he is not promoted to Boston. Cook could seamlessly enter the Sox rotation, and Bard could slide into the bullpen, which would provide the stability it desperately needs. In order for that to work, it would likely require Bard’s consent (as ludicrous as that may seem).

A move like that would require the same sort of selflessness that Wakefield gave to his teammates and the organization eight years ago.

A move like that would require sacrifice.

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