Yesterday was a sign to me and I am sure most of Red Sox Nation that the start of the 2010 season is just a month away. The Sox played their traditional Spring Training games yesterday afternoon and last night to kick off their pre-season game action. I can tell you first hand hearing NESN’s, Jerry Remy and Don Orsillo was something that has been longing since last fall. Even though it was a exhibition game against the Boston College Eagles it made realize that the season is coming and its coming fast! All I could think to myself was thank god to that. It has been one hell of a long off season.
In both games yesterday the Sox came away with a W. The Sox shoutout the Northeastern Huskies 15-0 and then in the night cap they beat the Boston College Eagles 6-1. The good points for me out of the 2 games. Boof Bonser and Casey Kelly opened my eyes a bit with their inning of dominance. Casey Kelly I have to say I think is the real deal. Another good sign for me was seeing David Ortiz hitting a HR in the first game of the day. I know its spring training, I know what they do here doesnt mean jack. I do know that Big Papi to me looks like he has something to prove.
The much anticapated press conference by Mike Lowell has come and gone. Mike spoke to the press according to many news sources for about 20 minutes today. Mike Lowell says his hip feels alot better than it did last year. He also went on to say that the only time it bothers him is when he runs, he said his first step out of the box feels good. He said he has been hitting of a tee and his surgically repaired thumb is healing rapidly. Mike feels like he will be taking some batting practice sometime next week.
The biggest part of the press conference for me was hearing Lowell say that while he appreciates the support of the fans, “Nobody should feel sorry for me.” He said he is able to separate baseball from his life and that his life is fine. “I’m pretty sure I’m going to be in the big leagues this season,” he said.
Lowell went on to say that he was on the trading block before and he is sure that he still is depending on his recovery. Lowell said that he is preparing this spring as he did any other year prior to get ready for the season.
Lowell met with Terry Francona and Theo Epstein earlier today, which is something every position player did. Lowell said there were no surprises or talk about him playing off the bench. It’s fairly evident they plan to trade him. Lowell went on to say.
So time will tell, How much longer will Mike Lowell being wearing a Red Sox uniform? Will he make it out of spring training as a Red Sox?
Well Red Sox nation Spring Training is here! Finally! Today is the reporting day for the position players and from what I have been reading the only player left to make an appearance is newly acquired shortstop Marco Scutaro. According to boston globe Lowell arrived to camp around 2:30pm this afternoon. He didn’t have alot to say other than he will be having a press conference tomorrow. This is sure to be one of the most anticapated interviews of the spring training with the situation he has been placed in. Its a tough situation for sure. I like Mike Lowell, I like what he has done for the city of Boston as well as the Boston Red Sox. I am not quite sure how I would handle it if I was placed in the same scenario. It would be one thing if it was the first year that the team I have played my heart and soul for tried to move me. But its not. Its clear that the Sox are moving in another direction and that is without Lowell in the plans. I know its a business, I know that younger talent is always out there. But it definitely has to suck.
In reports that I have been reading about today’s spring training session, I guess Adrian Beltre put on a show at the plate hitting quite a few long balls. Hopefully this is just the beginning and he proves once again that Theo Epstein knows what he is doing.
On an update on Daisuke Matsuzaka. He, or shall I say his translator spoke with the media briefly today and made it known he felt no pain and plans on playing toss everday to prepare himself to be ready to go off the mound. He made some tosses today from 60 and 90 feet and with the reports I am reading he threw with no signs of discomfort keeping the same throwing motion but wasn’t following threw on his motion.
So far everything and one seems to be all in good spirits and on the same page. There hasn’t been a whole lot of drama. Ellsbury and Cameron are ready to get things under way in their new rolls. They both have re-itterated they are fine with the situation and understand why it was made. So we will see. I am very interested to see what tomorrow brings when Mike Lowell speaks.
Well Red Sox Nation 2010 spring training has arrived. It has been one heck of a long off season. All the talks and rumors of who the Sox will sign, trade, who will be pitching and who will not be is about to come to an end. All the off season chatter of Daisuke Matsuzaka working his butt off and being in the best shape for this spring and being ready for the 2010 season kind of got a hit today. Reports from boston.com are saying that Daisuke Matsuzaka has been side lined with what they are calling precautionary measures with a mild back strain which they believe is simply from being over worked, the reports states the this is coming from the mouth of Red Sox GM Theo Epstien outside of the Red Sox training complex. Daisuke reported to camp last Thursday and was playing catch on Friday and that is when he felt the pain. Dice K flew back to Boston on Monday, according to Theo it was for personal matters. Epstein stated while he is their he might as well be checked out to make sure its just a mild strain and nothing more. He will be checked out again when the Sox do the routine physicals for the pitchers and catchers at the Sox spring training complex. So Red Sox Nation will we see once again the Dice K that struggles to make it through the 1st three innings of the game or are we going to see the Dice K that was dominant in the World Baseball Classics?
Yesterday the Red Sox announced their non roster players they have invited to spring training. With the non rosters invites this will bring the Sox total to 60 players at spring training this year.
Pitchers (10)
Randor Bierd
Fernando Cabrera
Kris Johnson
Casey Kelly
Adam Mills
Edwin Moreno
Joe Nelson
Brian Shouse
Jorge Sosa
Kyle Weiland
Catchers (2)
Luis Exposito
Gustavo Molina
Infielders (4)
Lars Anderson
Yamaico Navarro
Angel Sanchez
Gil Velazquez
Outfelders (4)
Zach Daeges
Ryan Kalish
Che-Hsuan Lin
Darnell McDonald
Pitchers and catchers first on-field workout in Fort Myers on Saturday, February 20. The first full workout of the Red Sox Spring Training camp is on Wednesday, February 24.
According to a reports on MLB.com, reliever Joe Nelson has reached an agreement with the Red Sox on a minor league deal.
The 35 year old Nelson, who had a real brief stint with the Red Sox in 2004 (2 2/3 innings pitched), he also spent sometime in the Red Sox minor league system in 2002. Nelson had a rough season in 2009 as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays, posting a 4.02 ERA with 36 strike out to go with 27 walks in 42 relief appearances before being sent to the minors for August and September.
Nelson’s best season was with the Florida Marlins in 2008 when he had a 2.00 ERA with 60 strikeouts and 22 walks in 54 innings.
“They pretty much have five spots in the bullpen locked up, barring injuries, and there’s still two spots,” Nelson said in a phone interview with MLB.com on Monday night. “But they’re not bringing in a whole bunch of guys to spring training.
“For me, I had multiple teams making multiple offers, and they just seemed like the best fit.”
The Boston Red Sox have signed 27-year-old catcher Gustavo Molina to a minor league deal that includes an invitation to spring training, a source told MLB.com on Friday.
Molina, who is not related to the cathing brothers Bengie, Javier, and Yadier, played in 72 games for the Washington Nationals’ Triple-A team in 2009. He last appeared in the major leagues with the Mets in 2008 when he played two games. Molina has played ina a combined 17 big league games with the Orioles and White Sox in ‘07. He had 4 hits in 34 at bats durind his time in the Majors. In 762 minor league games, Molina has a career .235 batting average with 46 home runs.
The Red Sox today agreed to terms with outfielder Jeremy Hermida on a one-year, non-guaranteed contract for the 2010 season. Hermida made $2.25 million last season. According to Boston Globe baseball writer Peter Abraham, Hermida was seeking $3.85 million and the Red Sox had offered $2.95 million. In most of these cases the sides split the difference, which is likely what the Sox did here. Mike Silverman of the Boston Herald is reporting that the Sox and Hermida have agreed to a $3,345,000, which is just a little below the difference of what the Sox offered and Hermida was wanting.
Hermida, who was acquired by the Red Sox from the Florida Marlins on November 5, 2009. The lefty batted .259 with 13 home runs and 47 RBI over 129 games with the Marlins in 2009 and set a career high with 56 walks.
With today’s move, Boston has no unsigned players eligible for salary arbitration in 2010. This also means that Theo Epstein’s mark of not going to arbitration with any player since becoming the GM has made it through another off season.
I was reading an article on boston.com’s, Touching All The Bases Blog and found it quite interesting. I figured why not follow their lead and make our own 20 predictions on the 2010 season before the season starts to see how we fair at the end of the 2010 season.
Prediction 1: Which Red Sox will player will lead the team in HR’s?Victor Martinez will lead the Red Sox in home runs with 34.
Prediction 2: Who will lead the Red Sox in victories? Josh Beckett on the last year of his contract I think he will have something to prove and lead the Red Sox with 19 wins.
Prediction 3: Which off season acquisition will contribute the most offensively?Adrian Beltre will be the one to contribute the most. Offensively he will have some power numbers, especially in the friendly confines of Fenway Park. Defensively he will have a stand out season at 3rd one of the best in his career.
Prediction 4: Who will be the Sox’ breakthrough young pitcher?We have to agree with the gang at boston.com and go with Clay Buchholz as well. I see him being the key number 5 starter for the Sox andhaving a career season with innings pitched and wins.
Prediction 5: Which player is most likely to bounce back from a difficult 2009? Daisuke Matsuzaka is our choice here. Daisuke will show Red Sox Nation the guy that appeared in the two World Baseball Classics and was quite dominant. We are predicting Dice K will have over 10 wins for the Sox this year and be a solid number 4 starter.
Prediction 6: How many bases will Jacoby Ellsbury steal? Our lucky number here will be 57 stolen bases. To give him a career total of 186 stolen bases and 115 stolen bases left to swipe to over take the Red Sox career stolen base record held by Harry Hooper.
Prediction 7: How many games will Jason Varitek play behind the plate? Jason Varitek will start 40-50 games behind the plate this year given that Managae Terry Francona has made it clear the V-Mart is the starting catcher for the Sox.
Prediction 8: How many starts will Tim Wakefield make? Wake will get 10-15 starts we believe. Whether it be a spot start here and their or to fill in for one of the other 5 starters due to injury or precautionary reason. Wake going on his 16th season as a Red Sox and being an All Star in the 2009 season will be a valuable option for the Sox in 2010.
Prediction 9: Of the potential free agents after the season, who are the Sox most likely to sign to a contract extension?
Victor Martinez is the no brainer for us. We are actually going to predict the V-Marts signing will happen before the All-Star break.
Prediction 10: Which of these players is most likely to regress from his 2009 performance? We have to agree with the Chad Flinn andgo with Daniel Bard for the exact same reasons. As Flinn said I can’t make it say I disagree. “This being the 2nd full season for the young right handed reliever it won’t so much be a regression as it will be a reminder that he needs to continue to improve if he is going to be the heir to Jonathan Papelbonas the closer. While there is a perception that Bard was dominant last season, In the second half he had a 4.74 ERA and allowed five home runs in 24.2 innings. He’s a remarkable talent, but he’s not a finished product, and we’ll be reminded of that from time to time. ”
Prediction 11: Who will lead the Red Sox in OPS? J.D. Drew is our guy here. Drew led all American League right fielders in OPS (.911) last season, and had an .999 OPS in the second half, which was second-best in the league. He’ll do it again in 2010, and rank amongst the elite in the League.
Prediction 12: How many home runs will Adrian Beltre hit? Beltre will hit 29 roundtrippers in his first season with the Red Sox.
Prediction 13: Who will be the Red Sox’ starting shortstop at the end of the season? Marco Scutaro was signed in the off season to be the Sox shorts stop and will play the whole season at short other than a night off here and there. Granted Scutarois coming off career numbers last season with the Jays and am guessing he won’t have a stand out year like he had a year ago. Defensively he will make up for it in the middle for the Sox.
Prediction 14: What will be this team’s greatest strength? This is a tough one. Its definately a toss up between the Sox starting rotation and the Sox in the field defensively. Our choice is going to be the starting rotation for the Soxin 2010. With Beckett, Lester, Lackey and Matsuzaka being your one through 4 starters and most likely Buchholzbeing your number 5 starter with Wake getting spot starts. The rotation this year has to be one of the best in the AL if not the entire league.
Prediction 15: Which low-cost, low-expectations pitching acquisition will have an impact? Boof Bonser is our pick here.
Prediction 16: How many home runs will David Ortiz hit in 2010? After the horrid slump Ortiz endured at the beginning of last season and the numbers he finally produced we think Papi will hit 26 home runs for the Sox this year a contract year possibly for the aging Ortiz.
Prediction 17: Which position player slated for Pawtucket will contribute the most in the big leagues this season? We have to go along with Chad again here and pick Tug Hulett. Hulett is a useful utility man and we predict will most likely be the first callup if the Sox need an extra infielder on the bench, since the club wants Jed Lowrie to play every day in Pawtucket. Josh Reddick is another good possibility, but the Sox want him to get at-bats and more experience in Pawtucket after his up and down 2009 season.
Prediction 18 Which infielder is most likely to win a Gold Glove? We are going with 2nd baseman, Dustin Pedroia. After a mediocre 2009 season we think Pedroia will be back. All the off field distractions of his wife Kelly being pregnant and the pressure as the returning MVP will be gone. Look out for Pedroiato be solid on the right side of the diamond this year putting up career defensive numbers.
Prediction 19: Which outfielder is most likely to win a Gold Glove? With managements decision to slide Ellsbury over to left this offseason it will play out to be one of the best position moves for the Sox with Ellsbury having a solid year covering the field in front of the Green Monster.
Prediction 20: Who will win the American League East? We have to go with the home town team andgo with the Boston Red Sox. Even though the Yankees offensively look alot better on paper than the Sox we are predicting the starting rotation is going to be the difference maker. The Sox will win the East and also have the best record in the American League.
So there you have it there is NHRSN’s 2010 predictions at the end of the 2010 season in October we will pull this post up and see how we ranked.
Tomorrow at the Baseball Assistance Team’s 21st Annual ” Going to Bat for B.A.T. Dinner being held at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York, knuckle baller, Tim Wakefield will be presented with the 2009 Bart Giamatti Award for service to the community. Wakefield has been making contributions to the Boston community and his hometown Melbourne, Florida through a program he created in 1998 called “Wakefield Warriors”. This program that allows patients from the Jimmy Fund and the Children’s Hospital of Boston to make visits to the ball park posibble. For the past 17 years Wake has hosted the Annual Tim Wakefield Celebrity Golf Classic in Melbourne, FL which benefits the the Space Coast Early Intervention Center. The Red Sox veteran is the 3rd Sox player to receive the award, joining Curt Schilling(2005) and former Red Sox 1st baseman, Mo Vaughn(1996)
For more information about B.A.T. please check out their site www.baseballassistanceteam.com.
