Entries Tagged 'Varitek' ↓

Wow, it’s been a long time since I posted on this thing. I barely remember all the stuff that’s happened since I took a break.

It’s all about the second half now, where the Sox will pick it back up against the Angels leading the AL East by .5 a game. It’s not much, but with the way the Rays were playing into the break, I would have rather skipped the All-Star Game and gone right to the second half to watch them crumble.

We have some really interesting things to watch on the sidelines for the second half of the season, including:

Papi

When will he return? Is he okay and ready to go? What will it be like for him to get back into his rythm? If he goes to both Portland and Pawtucket, and the Sox are losing groud, will they forgo any of the rehab assignments and just call his butt back up to the Bigs asap?

J.D. Drew

Wow, this kid spends 11 years being “promising”, then has a career year (so far). Not only that, but he picks up some MVP hardware at the All-Star Game to boot (sorry, Dan Uggla, I know that word isn’t too good for you right now… *cough error cough*). Unfortunately, when Papi does return, Drew will slide out of that powerful 3 spot in the order… then it’s anyone’s guess as to his “back problems” or his “hammy issues”.

Varitek

Is it time to get ‘Tek to pull 75% duty? Will he last the rest of the year, regardless of how horrible a hitter Cash is? The guy is in tremendous shape, and I’d love for him to be productive for the next six years, but I don’t see it. He’s losing his offense at a dizzying pace and his arm is showing fatigue.

Trade Deadline

What the hell will Theo do? Aside from bringing up Masterson to be a long-relief guy, what can they do to shore up the team? Is Lugo going to have 12 errors in the second half? Will they put up with his incredible missing offense? Is it time for Lowrie to hit the bench and be ready to play for a few days in a row?

I’m happy we still have half a season. I’ve been to busy to truly enjoy the first half.

Alright. The Rays couldn’t handle the Cardinals, and the Brewers couldn’t get anything out of the Sox, so the Fenway Faithful get to see their boys back in the top slot of the AL East.

Interestingly enough, I didn’t think the Sox would fare as well as they did (even with all the errors this weekend) against the Brewers. In fact, I had my mental prediction the other way around. If I were to pick a group of National League players to follow, I’d follow J.J. Hardy, Braun, Fielder and Gwynn. They all have a massive amount of talent and the Brewers will definitely do some major damage once their pitching is settled.

Speaking of pitching, Justin Masterson will make his second MLB start tomorrow (Tuesday) against the Royals and … drum roll… is that the smell of “Colon”? Why, yes… it’s Bartolo Colon, who will make his first Red Sox start on Wednesday. Personally, I think this is going to be a HUGE difference maker to the season. Bartolo is currently throwing in the upper 90s and seems to have his head back in the game. It’s like picking up a #4 free agent for nothing.

Other thoughts:

• Ellsbury got caught for the first time in his career. 25 straight without being tagged. That’s two shy of Tim Raines’ record.
• Varitek is such a great catcher, but he looks so weak at the plate sometimes.
• BOOM, Papi. Boom.
• Pedroia takes every opportunity he can find, doesn’t he?
• Beckett found his long ball pitch. Let’s put that back in the locker and hide it again, shall we?
• Craig Hansen is nowhere near the prospect he was when he pitched at Saint John’s. It may be one contract and out for that kid.
• The Yankees don’t have a chance this year unless they find a way to hit out of the cellar; pitching is not going to do it for them.
• Manny is deeply mired in a lack of power; no doubt putting pressure on himself over the next 2 homers.
• The Sox need to keep it going against the Royals. Losing this series will hurt them in the long run.
• The Celtics game was WAY too close. Par for the course on their season. Hopefully they won’t end up with the same destiny as the Pats (all this way for nothing).

Yesterday afternoon’s game was filled with some great “stoopit” trivia stuff. As pointed out by Boston.com:

• Kevin Youkilis has broken the record for consecutive games without an error by a first baseman (194)
•  Jon Lester is the first left-handed Sox starter to record a win in Oakland since 1995.
• Terry Francona still misses chew. (Yes, I made that one up, but I guarantee you he does.)

It’s not a bad thing to take care of Oakland, regardless of their 1 and 2 starters. They needed to walk out of there with the series win and give the fans a nice start to the season.

With J. D. Drew starting last night, the team finally felt a little like normal, I suppose. Tomorrow night, Tim Wakefield gets the start in Toronto’s home opener and Kevin Cash will begin the campaign to prove he’s not Mirabelli.

First homers for Papi and ‘Tek felt good as well. Nice to see it starting to become a “regular” season.

• Buchholz had a really rough outing yesterday giving up hits to the first five batters he faced (he came in the game in the third). He’s competing with a rejuvenated Colon who threw a bullpen session yesterday and had “good movement and a fastball that reached 90 a few times”. This could get really interesting, folks.
• Terry Francona has decided that Pedroia is a moron and told the Boston Globe they could print it. The comment came after watching Pedroia “Dance With the Stars” for Mike Lowell’s charity.
• Curt’s going to have surgery. Just a gut feeling. This year is probably toast for him.
• Big Papi wants to ride it out in Boston for the next big contract. I don’t know how they’ll avoid paying him a ridiculous amount of money unless he gets hurt or has a crap year.
• Varitek will get a three year, $36 Million dollar deal. Just my guess. We’ll see if I’m right. Also, the Sox don’t seem to do this (publicly anyway), but they should give ‘Tek a Personal Services contract.
• Next stop on the rumor mill? Nowhere. It’s been unrealistically quiet this year (no problem there). Good feelings will occur when real games begin.
• Theo is the next one up for a big administrative contract. He’s rumored to currently pull in $1.8 Million/year. I think he’ll get a sizable bump; how can they not?
• Not too much noise on the center field competition, is there? Must be something happening with Crisp that we don’t know about…

I am a Jason Varitek guy. The dude sweats competition. The problem? He’s getting older and not getting any less expensive.

He’ due to get a new contract soon and I’m not sure whether or not he’ll get a long-term deal, regardless of how shallow the pool is.

With a decrease in batting average by 5+ points each of the past two season, he’s losing whatever offensive edge he had. His skills in dealing with the pitching staff, his read of a game and his ability to block the plate are all incredibly hard to replace.

So, where’s the backup? Mirabelli? Please. He’s good enough for this year (and MAYBE one more) if all he does is catch Wakefield, but seriously, that’s it.

I’m going to keep a close eye on the catching situation this year to see if the front office quietly grooms anyone in particular or makes a trade for someone in the minors.