Odds And Ends: Red Sox, Mateo, Sano

No one wants to believe me, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. Now there is no desperation to move Buchholz or Bowden because one of the two is days to weeks away from being called up to fill in.

I think Dice-K is definitely not going to be himself this year. However, I am confident that a pitching coach with the credentials of John Farrell will help him work it out. He's lost some velocity, which as Francona said is no surprise considering he didn't warm up properly. Not only that, but Matsuzaka is considered a power pitcher in Japan, but 93 is not a power pitcher in MLB. Power I consider 95+. Beckett is a power pitcher. Lester is a power pitcher. Dice-K is a nice combination of precision and power. He misses the plate usually because he means to. Thats just his style. Its how he strikes so many people out without throwing 95-96mph up in the zone. Farrell will teach him to work his off-speed stuff a little more, same as he did with Schilling, and Dice-K will be back in great shape next year. For now, this gives us a chance to hold onto a very effective Brad Penny and not have Clay barking trade threats.

As far as Brett Tomko goes. I was laughing and cheering when I heard that the Yankees signed him. What were they thinking? Their bullpen needs help! Not more horrible relievers. Why don't they go ahead and just get Eric Gagne while they are at it.

Shut down Matsuzaka until at least August, or maybe the year and try to get him back next year. They can do without him this season and just *hope* his arm is not totally wrecked.

Wilson signing is kind of old news that was 1st reported last week that an agreement in principle had been made, or soxprospects.com had it, but glad that you linked the official signing here Ben.

Santana, what are you sure Dice-K's velocity is down? I haven't seen that. He is still generally operating in the 92-93 range and I have seen some of his fastballs hit the 94-95 range. That is where he has always been. Kurkjian came up with the thing that his velocity was down when it never was. He just is a mess all around. Is it really an injury? I mean, Gammons has been known to be the mouthpiece for the Sox before, so take this with a grain of salt.

He may be injured seriously, but I think that they would have known about it WELL before now if that was the case and never would have sent him out the last couple of times he has blown up.

I agree with most of Peter Abraham's points, but I don't see why the Yanks don't try Cano in the two hole when Damon/Jeter has a day off.

Also, I dont think they can win with 4 super young pitchers out of the bullpen with Coke, Bruney, Aveces, and Hughes, not to mention the eventual promotion of Mark Melancon or Edwar Ramirez when Tomko gets released.

I think another veteran presence is needed to bring stability.

A healthy Dice K is still maddening to watch, an 'injured' one is even worse. Dice-K's last start actually made things very easy for Tito and Theo going forward. Penny CAN still be traded but that's less likely to happen now. Smotlz is in the rotation now and if anyone else gets injured, there is Masterson and Buccholz. Bowden looks like a bullpen candidate especially if Saito is moved.

I see minor 'enhancement' trades occurring at the deadline for the Red Sox, but nothing major. If Papi sustains his slow climb, they should be fine.

There will be a SS/utilityman logjam once Lowrie returns and I have no idea how that will be addressed.

Bad pitching doesn't mean Dice K is injured and so far any evidence suggesting injury seems purely circumstantial. The move could be a matter of team convenience...poor performance warranting a pitching change and the DL being a means of face-saving while allowing them to assess their starting pitching.

They now know what Penny can do. Once Smoltz auditions for a few starts the picture gets even clearer. If they bring in Bucholz and/or Bowden they can assess whether either can sustain at the MLB level. At that point they'll know what they have and what the best mix would be heading into the second half. Losers could be tradebait or in the case of Buchholz/Bowden turn into another work in progress for next year. At worst, by looking at all starters under real MLB conditions Boston maximizes their opportunities to make good decisions. So despite some questions they're still in a good place on the pitching end.

A worry bigger than pitching might be positional players wearing down. Infield starters have played alot of games so far and its beginning to show in batting averages and scoring. Lowell is hurting and Youk/Pedroia could use some time off. Another healthy experienced insurance player or two (especially a power bat) would be nice before August hits.

The Red Sox are about to sign Alex Wilson? Quick! Somebody tell Drew Silva that all that depth that the Red Sox lost with Dice-K going on the DL has been replenished.