August 31, 2006
More Stuff
Not much today, as I'm working mostly on my big high school football preview (games start tomorrow night!). But there's one item of note today: The Red Sox will likely trade David Wells to the Padres for a prospect. This basically marks the end of the Sox's playoff hopes - a run to the playoffs would be extremely unlikely now, but without Wells they are pretty much done. Wells' days as a great pitcher are gone (if they ever were here), but he's still a big-game pitcher who can be effective against a lefty-dominated lineup. And moving from the AL to the NL should help Wells as well (see: Bronson Arroyo).
Who is to blame for the Red Sox's collapse? Some might say the front office, for not making a big deal at the deadline. But I would argue that this actually validates Theo and company - no player in baseball is going to make up eight games in the standings, and they still have all their young pitchers for next year and beyond. The largest factor here was Varitek's injury; I don't think the Sox would have been swept by the Yankees were Varitek healthy (more proof of just how valuable catchers are).
Also, Jon Lester is in the hospital, for what I read as basically cancer testing. Hope things turn out okay for him. David Ortiz also had health issues, but appears to be okay and should return to the team sometime next week.
The Dan Shanoff Blog has been added to the Hall of Links.
Who is to blame for the Red Sox's collapse? Some might say the front office, for not making a big deal at the deadline. But I would argue that this actually validates Theo and company - no player in baseball is going to make up eight games in the standings, and they still have all their young pitchers for next year and beyond. The largest factor here was Varitek's injury; I don't think the Sox would have been swept by the Yankees were Varitek healthy (more proof of just how valuable catchers are).
Also, Jon Lester is in the hospital, for what I read as basically cancer testing. Hope things turn out okay for him. David Ortiz also had health issues, but appears to be okay and should return to the team sometime next week.
The Dan Shanoff Blog has been added to the Hall of Links.
# posted by Kevin @ 1:59 PM 
