Red Sox Acquire Paul Byrd

[Big_Matt34]

This isnt some move that will make them clearcut favorites but i really like it, Buchholz is really struggling and Byrd has a ERA in the 3's if you take away his awful June, he also hasnt lost since the break. Im kinda suprised nobody claimed him, A league average pitcher as your #5 is a nice luxury.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3531866

[BigAlTheFuture]

Not too crazy about it but he definitely is an upgrade over Bucholz.

[Chris]

Great move.  As a fan, it is a little disapointing, because this basically ends any hope of seeing Bowden this year, but baseballwise, it is a no brainer.  Byrd is a legit 5th starter in the league, and would be a 3rd starter on many teams.  He allows them to send Clay back to the minors to fix himself, and he also will allow them not to rush back Wakefield and/or Colon.  Great move.

[nickagneta]

I like the pick up. Since the break he's been one of if not the best pitchers in the American League. And he has good playoff experience and success as lasy year he shut down the Yanks in the playoffs, beat the Sox once and pitched a hell of a game against them the second time around too in the ALCS.

He's not overpowering but he's deadly accurate and doesn't walk people. If he's hitting the corners with his weak-ass fastball, he sets everything else in his arsenal up and is very effective.

I think he will be world's better than Buchholz and good insurance if Wakefield's injury lingers or Colon can't make it back, or both.

Considering who else was available and the fact he is available for the chump change they will pay to have him on the roster for the rest of the way, it's a great move.

[Big_Matt34]

Great move.  As a fan, it is a little disapointing, because this basically ends any hope of seeing Bowden this year, but baseballwise, it is a no brainer.  Byrd is a legit 5th starter in the league, and would be a 3rd starter on many teams.  He allows them to send Clay back to the minors to fix himself, and he also will allow them not to rush back Wakefield and/or Colon.  Great move.

Yeah it means we most likely wont see him this year, Bowden's ceiling is lower than Clays but theres a good chance he is more mlb ready than Buchholz right now, he pounds the strikezone and while he isnt a true strikeout pitcher he can get them at a good enoguh clip. i believe he is averaging a bit under K an inning in AAA so far but in 104 IP in AA he had 101 K's. Theres a good chance we will be seeing alot of him next year because i think they keep Masterson in the pen to atleast start the season. I would love to see a rotation next year of Beckett/Lester/Dice-K/Buchholz and a combo of Bowden/Wakefield if Tim comes back.

I love Buchholz and i still believe he will be an ace or #2 sooner or later but nevermind the mental aspect of it, his mechanics in that last start were so out of wack he NEEDS to be back in AAA. Everytime he threw a curve his arm was at a different angle and if i could tell out of his hand which ones were going to be hangers then i know the White Sox players could.

[iowa plowboy]

Good move.

Buchholz should have never been called up after he was sent down.  Agree that he needs time to regain his confidence and consistency. 

I'm not whether it's wild card or division as long as the Sox get in.  If Wake and Colon are healthy going into the playoffs there's a good chance the Sox will repeat.  Byrd is a bridge to not rushing either one of them.  Hopefully Ortiz will get used to fewer fastballs by then and be 80-90% of the hitter he was pre-Manny.

[Triboy16]

once wake comesback i really like our starting unit

Byrd is a gamer like moyer . Doesn't have oustanding pitches but his balls always sink just enough to get him a grounder in crucial times. He also pitches really fast and keeps the hitters off balance

this also gives a chance for young bucholz to go back to triple a and figure some things out and gain his confidence.(he really has to gain 15 to 20 pounds of muscle this summer no matter what)

[xmuscularghandix]

i love it. thats all i gotta say.

[Bankshot]

So HGH use is excused so long as the party is wearing your team's laundry?  Would anyone here object to the Sox signing Barry Bonds?

[bucknersrevenge]

This isnt some move that will make them clearcut favorites but i really like it, Buchholz is really struggling and Byrd has a ERA in the 3's if you take away his awful June, he also hasnt lost since the break. Im kinda suprised nobody claimed him, A league average pitcher as your #5 is a nice luxury.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3531866

sup bigmatt. long time no see. yeah i like the move too. its a shame whats goin on with buchholz. i hope he figures it out but i dont see the wisdom in continuing to trot him out every 5th day when its just not working right now.

btw looks like you ended up being right on tony. good call. havent spoken to you since he was resigned. i know you gotta be happy about that.

[Big_Matt34]

This isnt some move that will make them clearcut favorites but i really like it, Buchholz is really struggling and Byrd has a ERA in the 3's if you take away his awful June, he also hasnt lost since the break. Im kinda suprised nobody claimed him, A league average pitcher as your #5 is a nice luxury.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3531866

sup bigmatt. long time no see. yeah i like the move too. its a shame whats goin on with buchholz. i hope he figures it out but i dont see the wisdom in continuing to trot him out every 5th day when its just not working right now.

btw looks like you ended up being right on tony. good call. havent spoken to you since he was resigned. i know you gotta be happy about that.

The Tony news made me very happy lol, i figured he would be back on a cheap 1 or 2 year deal but i was nervous we'd let him get away. Hopefully he stays healthy because we saw how explosive he looked without the brace in Game 5 and then 6 with the capping dunk. Anyways, how you doin Buck, looking foward to the season id assume lol.

I do feel very bad for Buchholz, he seems so down on the mound and his fielders have been AWFUL for him the last few starts. But when things are going bad as a pitcher everything that can go wrong does.

AS for Triboy saying Buchholz need to gain weight, no he doesnt. The Red Sox had him go to API last winter and are 100% happy with him physically, as a former pitcher i can tell you that the getting stronger isnt the biggest factor with being effective from the stretch. He needs to use his strength better and push off more towards home instead of falling of to first base, when he does that he gets under his pitches and tends to leave them up in the zone. Its a mechanical problem and that is all they will work on with him when he gets to AAA because once his balance is where it should be his stuff will be that much better, however its going to take awhile, most likely the rest of this season so he can get used to replicating it over and over. I have no doubt he will figure it out, with his stuff bad mechanics is the only thing holding him back.

[iowa plowboy]

So HGH use is excused so long as the party is wearing your team's laundry?  Would anyone here object to the Sox signing Barry Bonds?

I would.  We just got rid of Manny....Why would we want another malcontent?
Byrd has no history of that or being a bad teammate.

The Mitchell report was the biggest fraud and joke in sports' and American history. There thould be no roster decision based on that meaningless scam.  Selig gave Mitchell and his former fellow slimeball peers in Congress a forum to make complete asses of themselves with the goal of accomplishing absolutely nothing.  To that end, it was wildly successful.  Mitchell went after easy targets and players past their prime or retired without, strangely, finding a single current player on the roster that the sleazeball Mitchell is a board member of.

I could care less who uses and who doesn't if Selig doesn't....But I do care who and who isn't a team cancer.   Like Manny, there would be a law of diminishing returns with Bonds that does not exist with Byrd.

[bucknersrevenge]

This isnt some move that will make them clearcut favorites but i really like it, Buchholz is really struggling and Byrd has a ERA in the 3's if you take away his awful June, he also hasnt lost since the break. Im kinda suprised nobody claimed him, A league average pitcher as your #5 is a nice luxury.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3531866

sup bigmatt. long time no see. yeah i like the move too. its a shame whats goin on with buchholz. i hope he figures it out but i dont see the wisdom in continuing to trot him out every 5th day when its just not working right now.

btw looks like you ended up being right on tony. good call. havent spoken to you since he was resigned. i know you gotta be happy about that.

The Tony news made me very happy lol, i figured he would be back on a cheap 1 or 2 year deal but i was nervous we'd let him get away. Hopefully he stays healthy because we saw how explosive he looked without the brace in Game 5 and then 6 with the capping dunk.

I do feel very bad for Buchholz, he seems so down on the mound and his fielders have been AWFUL for him the last few starts. But when things are going bad as a pitcher everything that can go wrong does.

AS for Triboy saying Buchholz need to gain weight, no he doesnt. The Red Sox had him go to API last winter and are 100% happy with him physically, as a former pitcher i can tell you that you dont need to get stronger to do good from the stretch. He needs to use his strength better and push off more towards home instead of falling of to first base, when he does that he gets under his pitches and tends to leave them up in the zone. Its a mechanical problem and that is all they will work on with him when he gets to AAA because once his balance is where it should be his stuff will be that much better, however its going to take awhile, most likely the rest of this season so he can get used to replicating it over and over. I have no doubt he will figure it out, with his stuff bad mechanics is the only thing holding him back.

im rooting for tony. we definitely need him now. and to his credit he said all the right things about just giving himself to the team and not wanting to go anywhere else after he was resigned so thats good.

good assessment on buchholz. i didnt put together the getting out in front of and/or under his pitches but i did see that he was leaving everything up. there was a comment in the herald the other day about his change cutting too much and screwing up the deception a bit as well.

[iowa plowboy]

Buchholz is a gamer and will be a solid pitcher.  He's had one bad inning in most of his starts this year.  But when given the chance, has battled through and pitched well after the bad inning.  But he needs more seasoning.  The no-hitter was an aberration.  Buchholz isn't ready for prime time yet.  That's why the Byrd addition is a good move.

[Redz]

But for the hottest Byrd in Boston look no further than Marlon...He's 3-for-3 tonight and was 11-for-17 in the last 4 games headed in.