Is the roster set now? (besides trading for a catcher) I think we need someone to backup at 3rd and 1st. Maybe *cough* Nomar *cough*

Smoltz is almost assuredly planning on being a starter.  We will have to see what the incentives are, but I would bet they deal with starting (he said at the beg. of the offseason he only wanted to start).

he also wont be ready to pitch at the beg. of the year, so I think they see him filling in like they had Colon last year (you know, if colon hadnt been a fat lazy slob and actually been a part of the team)

Quote from: yall hate on January 08, 2009, 12:28:52 AM

Smoltz is almost assuredly planning on being a starter.  We will have to see what the incentives are, but I would bet they deal with starting (he said at the beg. of the offseason he only wanted to start).

he also wont be ready to pitch at the beg. of the year, so I think they see him filling in like they had Colon last year (you know, if colon hadnt been a fat lazy slob and actually been a part of the team)

Why would Smoltz sign on just to be a fill-in starter? Wouldn't he want some sort of guarantee that if he's healthy and ready to go, there will be a spot open for him to pitch? Right now, the Red Sox have 7-8 healthy starters (depending on whether you count Bowden). If they all stay healthy (which could happen), who's moving to the pen?

all your starters never stay healthy, and should never count on them to be. its like the golden rule of baseball "you can never have too much starting pitching"

who are you counting as starters anyways?

Becket
Lester
Dice K
Bucholtz
Wakefield
Penny
Bowden will see time as you said
Smoltz

i see wakefield giving less innings cause he IS gettin old, Becket has shown that he can be infury prone. and penny was either injured or innaffective last year. so i think that Penny and Smoltz are your Colon type fill in guys, that if it works out AWESOME, if not oh well good think we have hundreds of billions of dollars to spend.

Also, if we don't sign Varitek we might have to send some prospects to pick up a young catcher.

Quote from: yall hate on January 08, 2009, 12:28:52 AM

Smoltz is almost assuredly planning on being a starter.  We will have to see what the incentives are, but I would bet they deal with starting (he said at the beg. of the offseason he only wanted to start).

he also wont be ready to pitch at the beg. of the year, so I think they see him filling in like they had Colon last year (you know, if colon hadnt been a fat lazy slob and actually been a part of the team)

Why would Smoltz sign on just to be a fill-in starter? Wouldn't he want some sort of guarantee that if he's healthy and ready to go, there will be a spot open for him to pitch? Right now, the Red Sox have 7-8 healthy starters (depending on whether you count Bowden). If they all stay healthy (which could happen), who's moving to the pen?

He wont.  He will likely be our 5th starter (which is why I said "he will almost assuredly be a starter")...when he is ready to pitch which wont be for a while.

In my opinion, Bowden wont be pitching in Boston this year (unless they are decimated by injuries, or need a spot starter).

I am also not all that convinced that the Sox are expected much for the beginnning part of the year from Buch. 

When you think about it, even with this and the Penny signing, the sox have huge questions after becket, lester, dicek.  Is Wake healthy and able to pitch (there was a report earlier in the offseason that he wasnt).  Will Penny make the transition from NL to AL and return to form.  Will Smoltz be healthy.  Will Buch remember how to pitch.

Quote from: Toine43 on January 08, 2009, 12:46:27 AM

Quote from: yall hate on January 08, 2009, 12:28:52 AM

Smoltz is almost assuredly planning on being a starter.  We will have to see what the incentives are, but I would bet they deal with starting (he said at the beg. of the offseason he only wanted to start).

he also wont be ready to pitch at the beg. of the year, so I think they see him filling in like they had Colon last year (you know, if colon hadnt been a fat lazy slob and actually been a part of the team)

Why would Smoltz sign on just to be a fill-in starter? Wouldn't he want some sort of guarantee that if he's healthy and ready to go, there will be a spot open for him to pitch? Right now, the Red Sox have 7-8 healthy starters (depending on whether you count Bowden). If they all stay healthy (which could happen), who's moving to the pen?

He wont.  He will likely be our 5th starter (which is why I said "he will almost assuredly be a starter")...when he is ready to pitch which wont be for a while.

In my opinion, Bowden wont be pitching in Boston this year (unless they are decimated by injuries, or need a spot starter).

I am also not all that convinced that the Sox are expected much for the beginnning part of the year from Buch. 

When you think about it, even with this and the Penny signing, the sox have huge questions after becket, lester, dicek.  Is Wake healthy and able to pitch (there was a report earlier in the offseason that he wasnt).  Will Penny make the transition from NL to AL and return to form.  Will Smoltz be healthy.  Will Buch remember how to pitch.

I think if your the Red Sox, you should expect Dice-K, Beckett, and Lester to stay healthy and pitch well throughout the season. I'm not saying it's a guarantee that this will happen, but those 3 guys should know that they're being relied upon to stay healthy. Disregarding Bowden, if between Buchholz, Penny, and Wake, 2 out of 3 stay healthy (which could very well happen), then that's 5. Yeah, Buchholz may again start the year in AAA, but eventually the guy is going to have to prove himself by earning a promotion to big leagues, and performing. All I'm saying is that there may be a possible scenario in which one of 2 things will occur:

1) Buchholz is ready to pitch in the majors and is stuck on the farm because the big three starters are healthy, and 2 out of 3 of Smoltz, Wake, and Penny are healthy.

2) The Red Sox front office cannot ignore Buchholz's performance in AAA, so they call him up to be in the starting rotation. Assuming the big three starters are healthy, if 2 out of 3 of Smoltz, Penny, and Wake are healthy, one of them must move to the bullpen.

Yeah, I know you can never have enough starters, and I agree with the Red Sox philosophy about having 9 starters available at the start of the season. Most likely, things will happen, and if Smoltz is ready to go he'll fit perfectly into the rotation. But if for once our pitching staff actually stays semi-healthy, then what? That's the only quesiton I'm asking.

The fact that two of the guys that they are planning on being starters (Wake and Smoltz) both have a lot of experience working out of the bullpen helps a lot.  If someone's hurt, they've got options - and if they've got too many starters, a couple of them have experience working out of the pen.

Plus, weren't some people talking about how this might make it easier to trade Bucholtz for a catcher?

The Sox are so deep pitching wise that their depth has depth. I wonder if Wake really is cooked. A friend of mine told me he heard that they might be looking to make a deal for Dontrelle Willis. Did anyone else hear this? You would think that with Willis coming in that Lugo would probably be going out. Garbage for garbage. Detroit does need a SS, afterall.