Tag: Boston Red Sox (Page 15 of 37)

      Is John Smoltz done?

      August 7, 2009 /

      John Smoltz has been one of the finest pitchers in his era, but has he reached the end of his career?

      Thursday night, Smoltz was rocked for nine hits and eight earned runs in just 3.1 innings of work as the Yankees crushed the Sox 13-6 in New York. Smoltz got through the first three innings without giving up a run, but once the Yankees started turning over their lineup, they began to tee off on him.

      This was his fourth start in a row where he’s given up at least five earned runs. Over that span, he’s not only been incredibly hittable, but he also has been missing with his fastball and last night he struggled with his control. When he’s missing with his pitches, he’s leaving the ball in the zone and he’s getting crushed. One of the main reasons he’s still pitching at 42 is because he’s always had impeccable control. But if he doesn’t have that part of his game, he might as well be throwing beach balls at hitters.

      Smoltz was a nice signing for the Sox in the offseason and maybe he still needs time to work himself back into game shape after having shoulder surgery earlier this year. But Boston can’t continue to lose every fifth day waiting for him to work out the kinks.

      Maybe it’s time for Terry Francona to move Smoltz to the bullpen.

      MLB

      Massarotti: What’s next for Ortiz?

      August 6, 2009 /

      Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe throws out an intriguing question about Red Sox slugger David Ortiz and what his next step is after reports surfaced that he tested positive for PEDs in 2003.

      Here are the questions we all need to ask: Will anything short of a full admission from Ortiz be enough to satisfy those of us who generally are cursed with cynicism? Or is he simply doomed, regardless of what happened, because there are certain things we need to hear?

      Fans don’t appreciate being lied to, so there will still be a ton of people who will forever be upset with Big Papi no matter what he does or doesn’t admit to. But fans are also forgiving in nature as long as an athlete is honest and completely upfront with his omission.

      Take Andy Pettitte, Jason Giambi and to a lesser extent, Bronson Arroyo (who recently admitted to using androstenedione and amphetamines before they were both banned in 2006) for example. All three of those players admitted that they had taken PEDs in the past, apologized for it and immediately showed regret for what they had done. Do you hear any of their names being mentioned with the likes of Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Ortiz or Ramirez? Nope.

      If Big Papi comes out and completely admits to what he did, then fans will be less forgiving. Granted, we’re not going to just forget that he ever took PEDs, but we’ll certainly be more forgiving of him when we throw stones at the players who did cheat.

      MLB

      Pedro Martinez weighs in about steroids

      August 3, 2009 /

      When asked recently about his opinions regarding former Boston teammates David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez testing positive for steroids in 2003, Phillies’ pitcher Pedro Martinez shared some interesting answers.

      “I’m not going to say anything, because I don’t agree with it. I believe the game should be played clean. They’ve got my total support. They weren’t the only ones. There were a lot of guys.”

      “There’s no crying in baseball,” Martinez said. “We won in 2004. That’s it. Are you going to tell me that the other guys, who used it on other teams are now whining? They used it, too. One thing that’s really caught my attention is — why is it all Dominicans? What’s going on? Why is it all Dominicans that all of a sudden come out positive? The last one standing might be me.

      “That’s a big question to ask. What’s going on here? Why is it I’m the only one who might be left standing? All of a sudden, they’re going to come up and say: ‘Pedro [did it], too.’ That’s when I’m going to start stripping my clothes off and showing everybody I’ve never had acne on my back. If I did use it, it didn’t help me. They need to give my money back. It didn’t work.”

      Martinez raises a great question that most media outlets are afraid to touch: Why are there more Dominican players testing positive for PEDs?

      Granted, we don’t know what percentage of the 104 is Dominican and we may never know. But of the seven players whose names have been linked to the media, four are of Dominican descent: Ramirez, Ortiz, Sammy Sosa and Alex Rodriguez. Barry Bonds, Jason Grimsley and David Segui (who was born in the U.S., but his father is Cuban) were the other three names.

      It’s an interesting topic and surely something that will gain further attention if the names of more Dominican players are released from that ’03 list.

      MLB

      Red Sox fire two security staffers following steroid probe

      August 3, 2009 /

      The Boston Red Sox fired two security staffers last summer after an investigation into steroid use.

      Jared Remy, the son of Red Sox television commentator Jerry Remy, and Nicholas Alex Cyr both told the Boston Globe they used steroids, but denied any knowledge of drug use by players.

      The Red Sox issued a statement saying they worked with Major League Baseball in investigating the staffers, but said that investigation is confidential. Major League Baseball said its investigation was “thorough and detailed.”

      The Globe says state police confiscated a vial of steroids from Cyr’s car just before last year’s All-Star break and Cyr told police he had bought the drug from Remy.

      The media might try and spin this, but these two being fired because of steroids doesn’t mean any of the players were involved. For all we know, this was an isolated incident involving to two security guys that the players didn’t even know.

      We’ll have to wait to see if more details come out, but I doubt this story picks up much steam.

      MLB

      Indians trade Victor Martinez to Red Sox

      July 31, 2009 /

      The Red Sox had their sites set on possibly acquiring Padres’ slugger Adrian Gonzalez at the start of the day on Friday, but wound up trading for Indians’ catcher Victor Martinez instead.

      In a completely separate deal, Boston also swapped first baseman with the Braves, acquiring Casey Kotchman for Adam LaRoche.

      In this trade, the Tribe will receive right-hander Justin Masterson and minor league pitchers Nick Hagadone and Bryan Price. Masterson was Boston’s second-round pick in 2006, going 3-3 with a 4.50 ERA in 31 appearances including six starts this season. He also went 6-5 with a 3.16 ERA in 36 games last year after being called up from the minors.

      Hagadone was drafted No. 55 overall by the Sox in ’07 and missed most of the ’08 season after having Tommy John surgery. Price was the No. 45 overall pick in ’08 and has struggled thus far in the minors.

      For Boston not to have to give up Clay Buchholz in trade for V-Mart was huge. Martinez is a nice upgrade and adds pop to a Red Sox lineup that desperately needs it, but Boston would have overpaid in a deal involving Buchholz. Now with Martinez and Kotchman, they have options to play with regarding both their lineup and defense, where V-Mart will likely split time at both catcher and first base.

      As for Cleveland, it’s hard to determine if they got good value in this deal or not – and we may not know that answer for a couple of years, just like we won’t know if they got good value in the Cliff Lee trade.

      Pundits seem to like Masterson, but he seems to struggling against left-handers and really only has two pitches. Hagadone is a hard throwing reliever who could blow through the minors but he’s also coming off of Tommy John surgery and will likely start off in Double-A next year. Price is only 22, but he has struggled so far in the minors.

      So if you’re an Indians fan, you’ve got to be in flux right now. Your team traded away its best pitcher and its most popular position player outside of Grady Sizemore, but got a slew of prospects that may or may not develop. You’re club is building hope for the future, but the future may be three or four more years away and who’s to say that once all of this pitching develops that you might not have any hitting at that time? Then you’re just the San Francisco Giants of the American League.

      Every Tribe fan across the nation must be sighing right now and saying to themselves, “We’ll see.”

      By the way, it’s Victor Martinez bobble head night in Cleveland tomorrow. Whoops…

      MLB

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