The Red Sox released Brian Shouse, according to Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe (via Twitter). Back in January, the club signed Shouse to a minor league deal that would have paid him $800K had he made the major league roster.
The 41-year-old lefty posted a 4.50 ERA in 28.0 innings for the Rays last year, with 5.5 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9. For what it's worth, Shouse posted a 0.96 ERA in ten outings this spring. Lefty reliever J.C. Romero won't likely be ready for Opening Day and the Phillies are looking for pitching, so it wouldn't be a surprise if they have some interest in Shouse.
What? He was having a fine spring…
I guess this guarantees Joe Nelson a spot in the bullpen.
I think he was just insurance for if none of the other guys worked out- I don’t think they ever wanted someone who’s really solely a LOOGY in the pen.
Looks to me like 2 spots up in the air right now for Atchison, Nelson, and Bonser (maybe Embree, but i hope/think not). I’d have to guess Atchison and Bonser start in the pen and Nelson comes up and likely replaces someone who isn’t working out before june.
This is the Red Sox we are talking about. I don’t think they are just going to gamble.
To me, the bullpen is like this,
Ramon S. Ramirez
Manny Delcarmen
Hideki Okajima
Daniel Bard
Wakefield (he’s also a spot starter)
Nelson/Cabrera/Bonser/Atchison/Castro/Sosa/Embree
Jonathan Papelbon
You forgot our good friends Fernando Cabrera and the 5’7 Fabio Castro.
I’m not thinking of it as gambling- I’m thinking of it as maximizing depth. It’s something like this-
Wake I expect to see start in the 5th starter position, with Matsuzaka on the DL for the first couple of weeks to build up innings.
Castro and Cabrera both have options left and I don’t see either really overcoming Nelson/Atchison to start the year. I expect to see both at some point in the year (along with Richardson), but I think at the beginning, they’re going to want to have as many players available as possible.
I think Atchison pretty much definitely gets a shot in the pen, if for no other reason because he’s done well so far and if he performs the Sox can keep him for two more years for very little money.
I don’t think Sosa has a shot. Not at this point in his career, he needs to work on consistency, and the Sox are looking for someone who can be effective against lefties.
My guess is since Nelson has an out in June, they keep him in Pawtucket to start and bring him in if MDC or Atchison struggle- otherwise he walks in June.
Embree hasn’t pitched against major leaguers in a long time. He’s going to take a bit to get ready and, even if he does make the team, I doubt it’ll be opening day (I think he’s a long shot in any case)
Now this isn’t for the whole year. Obviously things will shake up a bit when Matsuzaka comes back (and the pen will probably look like what you’ve listed). Just I don’t see this as gambling, I see this as hedging bets so that they have the most pitchers available if someone isn’t working out.
all for allen embree witch i was glad they let go the last time ,great job theo
let a guy go that was having a great spring for allen embree that i was glad they let go last time
Id rather have kept him over Embree.
finally cutting the dead weight around here, getting rid of the guy with the lowest ERA of the spring for the Sox, finally. wait, what??
because they realize that you don’t judge a pitcher based on the stats over 10 appearances. It’s likely a combination of the fact that they didn’t like the way he was pitching and the fact that he wasn’t there first choice and other people they prefer have been doing well.
I like Shouse over Bonser, atleast you know what your pretty much getting with Shouse where Boof is a question mark, and lets face it, his name is “Boof”
I’d tend to agree there, except that I see the name Boof as a plus.
Pretty much, they serve completely different roles- Long man vs. LOOGY, so it may just be down to what roles they think they need the most. I don’t really see either sticking with the Sox in the long-term (and in the pen, that means the whole season), and I think between Wake, Bowden, Tazawa, and Doubront, there’s plenty of rotation depth- though I also thought that last year until Brad Penny became the #3 starter.
This was an absolutely silly move. He was sparkling in spring training on only a minor league contract. I don’t get this move at all.
This was an absolutely silly move. He was sparkling in spring training on only a minor league contract. I don’t get this move at all.
honestly, what do you need to do to earn a spot on the red sox roster….
honestly, what do you need to do to earn a spot on the red sox roster….
ERA here means nothing. He was mostly pitching to minor leaguers. His armspeed was poor, and his pitches were all dead and flat. He’d have gotten creamed pitching on a regular basis to major league hitters. Dustin Richardson was the same. Richardson was optioned back down to Pawtucket on Wednesday. Its no surprise and it wasn’t stupid. Judging purely on a spring training ERA would be crazy.
ERA here means nothing. He was mostly pitching to minor leaguers. His armspeed was poor, and his pitches were all dead and flat. He’d have gotten creamed pitching on a regular basis to major league hitters. Dustin Richardson was the same. Richardson was optioned back down to Pawtucket on Wednesday. Its no surprise and it wasn’t stupid. Judging purely on a spring training ERA would be crazy.