UnMatchedSox

The Boston Herald is reporting that Curt Schilling has a “significant” shoulder injury that could require season-ending surgery. Of course, at 41 years of age and with a one-year, $8 million contract, this surgery just might be career-ending. The Herald is saying that the injury is to either his rotator cuff or labrum and serious enough to require surgery. Also according to the report, the Red Sox looked into whether or not they can void the contract they agreed to three months ago.

Update: Schilling has agreed to pass on surgery and sit out until the All-Star break. Apparently, Schilling and Dr. Morgan were for surgery, while the Sox and Dr. Gil were backing rest and recuperation. Under the terms of the CBA, the ultimate decision was made by the team physician for the New York Mets. Call me pessimistic, but I’m counting on seeing #38 much this season, if at all.
Read the rest of this entry »

The red headed step-outfielder is back in a Red Sox uniform. Kielty, a reserve outfielder last season, has agreed to a minor league contract and an invite to training camp.

Kielty batted .218 with one home run and 12 RBI in only 33 games last year with Oakland and Boston. His shortened season was due primarily to losing his starting job in Oakland when he tore some cartilage in his left knee. He was eventually released by the Athletics and picked up by Boston. He only played in 20 games for the Sox and performed well enough, but was best remembered for his pinch-hit home run in game 4 of the World Series.

Peter Gammons of ESPN is reporting that the Red Sox and Sean Casey have agreed to a one-year contract for $700,000. Casey is a lifetime .301 hitter and hit .296 with 4 home runs and 54 RBI last year with Detroit. Casey is a left handed bat who averaged 20 homers and 90 RBI once upon a time, but has fallen off a bit these past few years. While his power has dropped, he still remains a good contact hitter who averages 25 to 30 doubles a season.

In a relatively low risk deal, the Boston Red Sox acquired right-handed reliever David Aardsma from the Chicago White Sox. Aardsma, a 2003 first rounder out of Rice, has been mediocre throughout his career in Chicago. He’s a classic, “Good Stuff, Bad Control” kind of guy with a 97 MPH fastball. At 26 years old, you’d like to think that he still has plenty of gas in the tank and that all he really needs is a change of scenery. Of course, it almost never works out that way, but as far as deals go, this one is pretty low risk. Boston gave up two, low-level prospects in Willy Mota and Miguel Socolovich. When you consider what Boston got out of last year’s “Can’t Miss” deal for Eric Gagne, I can’t imagine that Aardsma could fare much worse.

Of course, its still far too early to predict what the opening day 40 man roster is going to look like, but so far so good. While I’d love to see Johan Santana in a Red Sox uniform, I’ll freely admit that I’m rather attached to Ellsbury, Buchholz, and Lester. Assuming that Johan never shows up in the weight room in Fort Myers, I’m still pretty happy with what I see on paper.

Pitching

Josh Beckett

Beckett finished 2007 with a record of 20-7 an ERA of 3.27 and 194 strikeouts. These numbers were excellent, but not great enough to get him a Cy Young. From what little I know about Josh Beckett, I’m expecting even greater things in 2008. It is hard to imagine him improving on his record and ERA, but I do believe they will be better.

Daisuke Matsuzaka

One of two things is going to happen in Dice-K’s sophomore season. He’s either going to be better acclimated to Major League Baseball and have fewer meltdown moments or the batters are going to figure him out and knock the stuffing out of him. I’m going to remain optimistic and expect better things from him in 2008. I am predicting a record around 17-10 and an ERA in the high 3’s, fewer dingers, and upwards of 210 strikeouts.

Curt Schilling

The real question with Curt is, “Can he stay healthy?” I’m convinced he’ll arrive at camp in excellent physical condition, and while that would certainly help there are no givens with 40+ pitchers. I do believe that we’ll see more starts out of #38, but I’m pretty confident they’re going to have him on an ironclad pitch count. If they can keep him off the DL, I believe he can win 18 even at his age. I am not expecting a big improvement over his 3.87 ERA for ‘07 though. He’s going to pitch well enough to win and the offense is going to go out there and get him some wins.

Tim Wakefield

I did a double take when I saw that Wake started 31 games in 2007. My memory of the season told me that he missed more than just the postseason, but alas that is not the case. If the trend continues, I have no reason to expect that his performance will change substantially in ‘08. I’d like to see the ERA come down some, but If it does I don’t think it will be by all that much.

Jon Lester

The feel good story of ‘07 has to be the return of Lester to the Major League roster, but his performance was not quite as inspiring. An off-season without chemotherapy will certainly help, and with any luck he can get his Major League career back on track. Assuming that Lester is the full-time #4 or 5 starter in the rotation and he gets a full 30 starts, this young lefty could probably go 15-10 without too much trouble.

Clay Buchholz

Another young Texas right-hander, Buchholz dazzled us all with his no-no in Baltimore last year, but between Portland, Pawtucket, and Boston Buchholz threw nearly 150 innings and it was more than his young arm was accustomed to in a single season. In the off-season, Boston sent Buchholz and Lester down to Beckett’s ranch in Texas to train with their ace. I’m not sure where Buchholz fits in the rotation and while I’d love to see him start 30 games, winning 20 of them, I’m not real sure those are realistic expectations. I am confident, however, that Buchholz has more impressive things to show us in 2008.

Hideki Okajima

When September came around last year three pitchers hit the wall. Buchholz came up from the minors and the other two from the other side of the Pacific. Assuming that Okie is physically up to the grind, I think we’re going to see a more consistent season out of one of the best set-up guys we’ve ever seen in a Red Sox uniform. I have no reason to expect that he can’t continue to dominate lineups in the 8th inning without having to share time with the juiced canadian.

Jonathan Papelbon

I expect brilliance and unmatched intensity from the best closer in the game. I wouldn’t be surprised to see 40 saves, 100 K’s and an ERA under 1.50 from Papelbon in ‘08.

You didn’t have to be a homer to want to know which members of the “local 9″ were named in the Mitchell Report. No, you just wanted to know if somebody you’ve been cheering for, pulling for, and quite possibly wearing on your back was a cheater. Before the report was released a purported leaked list of players included Jason Varitek, but the authenticity of the leaked list was quickly and forcibly denied by Major League Baseball. Once the dust cleared from Sen. George Mitchell’s press conference two “active” members of the 2007 World Series team were linked to performance-enhancing drugs. They were new bullpen acquisitions Eric Gagne and Brendan Donnelly.

Just before the release of the report, Donnelly wasn’t given a tender offer from the Sox, essentially making him a free agent for 2008, but the Sox state that they had no prior knowledge that his name was contained within the report. As for Gagne, it was common knowledge that he was a “rental”, acquired at the trade deadline for the stretch drive. From a fan perspective, the Sox couldn’t have escaped any less harmed short of having no names in the report. I don’t exactly have any merchandise sales figures, but I’d say its a good bet that there are virtually zero fans wishing they hadn’t gotten Gagne or Donnelly jerseys.

An interesting side note to this whole affair is that the Sox apparently had concerns about both guys prior to bringing them in. An interesting email exchange between Epstein and scout Mark Delpiano goes as follows:

Epstein: Have you done any digging on Gagne? I know the Dodgers think he was a steroid guy. Maybe so. What do you hear on his medical?
Delpiano: Some digging on Gagne and steroids IS the issue.

Delpiano went on to say the following:

“Has had a checkered medical past throughout career including minor leagues,” Delpiano wrote. “Lacks the poise and commitment to stay healthy, maintain body and re-invent self. What made him a tenacious closer was the max effort plus stuff. … Mentality without the plus weapons and without steroid help probably creates a large risk in bounce-back durability and ability to throw average while allowing the changeup to play as it once did. … Personally, durability (or lack of) will follow Gagne …”

With Donnelly there was a little less, but Kyle Evans in baseball operations had the following to say:

“I haven’t heard many good things about him,” Evans wrote, “[with] significant steroid rumors.”