When it Rains...
According to EEI, Wade Miller's start has been given to Arroyo tonight, with Wells slotting in tomorrow. It seems Mr. Miller is experiencing some shoulder stiffness.
This makes things interesting, in a bad way. We're now down to three starters that we know will make their next starts; Arroyo, Wells, and Wake. For all the noise that Clement is doing wonderfully and may only miss one start - if that - we don't know for certain... which likely means the Sox don't know for certain, as that's the kind of thing they'd rush to press. If Miller's injury is serious, meaning he has to miss 4 starts or more, we're going to need a better rotation entry than Jeremeye Gonzalez, as much as I... don't dislike him. Add to that Wells' upcoming suspension... and we may see Jon Papelbon sooner than expected.
Add to that Nixon's absence, which I'm betting will be for the rest of the season, and this team has holes the size of the one in the Geico commercial. The deadline's 2 days away, but without sacrificing top prospects - and if the team does that, there goes the 'building for the future instead of panicking on the now' idea - how many pieces can we expect to actually receive? We can trade Mueller/Youkilis, Kelly Shoppach, Alan Embree (until the end of the day), Kevin Millar, Adam Hyzdu/Gabe Kapler, Roberto Petagine, and any prospect not named Hanley, Dustin, Jon (x2), or Anibal. You have to put Manny in that discussion as well, at this point, though I'd be legitimately stunned. Is that enough to swing a reasonable RF fill-in, an additional reliever, and at least one more solid starter?
I suppose it doesn't matter if it's enough; it'll have to be enough. We need a starter, we could really use an OF, and a reliever - once the only thing we really needed - is now kind of relegated to the back burner. This will be an interesting two days for Theo; here's hoping he can come out of it with an intact team.
[Of course, if Miller's sitting out, we should trade him. Doesn't he know the team needs him? What a bum.] (Comment this)
Booing any player -- Manny especially -- is absolutely disgraceful. What are we -- Yankees fans? For the record, Ortiz lashed out at said "fans", and Francona backed off his comments about Manny sitting out. (Comment this)
Also said the manny situation would be handled "in-house" and that it's unfotunate that the media is making such a fuss about it.
oh, and he said they would be "burning the midnight oil for the next few days here."
Even though theo gives up no information, ever, I am sad that I don't get to hear his interviews most of the time. (Comment this)
Mrs. Rad - I do so love it when Sox fans get indignant about booing. We're talking about the lamest thing one can do at a ballpark that isn't the wave. But Boston fans? We treat it like bowing to royalty. We discuss wiely whether it's proper or improper to boo in a certain given situaoin, we analyze how many people werebooing and what that means and what message it sends to the players and what message it sends to people watching on the teevee and good lord. If players really need a whole bunch of people making stupid noises at them to tell them they screed up, a guy sitting out a game is the least of our worries.
What's that? The guy sitting out a game is the least of our worries anyway? Well, there you go then. (Comment this)
In any case, glad you enjoyed the game. (Comment this)
Nice article you wrote in Firebrand. I'd never heard of that one until you put it on your blog. (Comment this)