Ted's Army: The Voice of Red Sox fans

Dice is progressing nicely

David Brown of Yahoo! Sport's Big League Stew has a nice roundup of the Sox day of camp yesterday.  Among the things he discusses is a bullpen session Dice-K threw yesterday, and how good he's looking.

"That's the best bullpen session he's had," Valentine said. "He and [coach] Randy Niemann have done a little video work, they've done a little talking. Dice is just trying to be himself. He had good finish to his pitches in his delivery. It was pretty good, actually, for a guy who's supposedly as far behind as he is, that was a pretty good pen."

Actually, Valentine wondered if the session was almost too good to be true.

"I wanted to walk away, as a matter of fact," Valentine said. "Because I didn't want to push it. Usually, guys hit a thing when they're coming back. They regress a little. He hasn't had any of that yet and I don't want to be around if and when it happens. Don't want it to my fault."

As Scott has mentioned one or two... thousand times, Bard won't be pitching the full season for the Sox.  That's simply too big of an innings increase. And while no one knows when Dice-K will be ready, it's starting to look like he's going to be suiting up earlier than expected. 

If you're writing the fairy tale version of the 2012 Red Sox, Bard impresses in the first half then successfully transitions back to the pen for the playoff push.  And Matsuzaka steps in and takes over Bard's spot in the rotation mid-season, giving the Sox 15-20 solid starts. 

It may not be that much of a stretch. 

Your Morning Dump... Where Bailey is ready for the pressure

Every morning we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump...

Bailey has toiled in near obscurity with the A's, and he acknowledged that he won't be considered an elite closer until he proves he can do the job in meaningful games.

"I think you do need to have that pressure to be considered elite, and I haven't had that," he said. "And there's no way you can prepare for that until that very first time that you do that. That being said, I think I do know what it takes to close in an big market, being that in the last three years I've pitched against the same guys I'm going to pitch against. I'm not changing leagues. I'm still going to pitch against the New York Yankees, just with a different uniform on and a lot more offensive power, which I'm looking forward to."

"My job is to go out there and get three outs as fast as I can. I try and make pretty good time of that. For me, I slow the game down in my mind, but I just feel so much more comfortable when I'm looking at the hitter getting ready in the box rather than the hitter waiting for me. I'd rather wait for him, get ready, as soon as you put that foot down, I'm going."

"You have a short window to play this game, and I'm going to go as hard as I can. … I just like to be aggressive."

WEEI - Sox' Bailey on D&C: 'I like to work quickly'

I'm loving Bailey's attitude.  Not only is he not intimidated to join the AL East, but he wants to get his outs as fast as he can.   Maybe, just maybe, 9th innings won't take 45 minutes any more!  We may even be able to get to sleep before midnight. 

More than his desire to not be on the mound for hours, I like his "been there, don't that" approach to pitching.  It's a different environment.  The stakes are considerably higher.  But at the end of the day, he's still the man with the ball in his hand trying to fool the same batters he's been facing for the past few seasons.  None of that has changed, so there's no reason for him to approach the situation any differently.

And when you look at how he's fared against the AL East opponents last season, there's reason to be optimistic.  Against Toronto, Bailey pitched 3 innings of one-hit, shutout ball for 2 saves.  Against Tampa, 2.1 innings of shutout ball for another 2 saves.  Against Baltimore, he struggled slightly, allowing 6 hits and 2 runs over 4 total innings.  Although Bailey did tally 6 strikeouts against the O's.  The Yankees scored 4 runs (3 earned) in their 4 innings against Bailey; although Bailey totalled 3 saves against New York.

YEs, the sample size is small (Papelbon, for contrast, pitched 9.1 innings against the Yankees last year), but there's plenty there for Bailey to hang his hat on.  He's not only faced each team in the AL East, he's had success against them.  And for a player whose position is as mental as it is physical, that may be all he needs to shake any AL East jitters.

On Page 2, Ortiz is still talking about the multi-year deal he didn't get.

Roy Oswalt REALLY doesn't want to pitch for Boston

There is a list of several things that Roy Oswalt would like to do before he dies.  His "Bucket List" if you will. 

The list is actually quite large, and includes a variety of items such as: stealing the Declaration of Independence, selling guns to African warlords, becoming some sort of flaming skull wielding vigilante, marrying a cop and kidnapping a baby, falling in love with a girl from the Valley and stealing 50 cars in a single night. 

While Oswalt has a ton on his agenda, he's made one thing abundantly clear.  Of all the things he wants to do with his life, pitching for the Boston Red Sox is not one of them. 

From CSNNE:

It looks like Oswalt is going to announce sometime today that he plans to stay unemployed until midseason, when -- as Roger Clemens did in 2006 and '07 and as Curt Schilling once pondered doing in '08 -- he may auction himself off to the highest bidder. This decision apparently was was sparked by the dual facts that a) the two teams he wants to play for (the Cardinals and Astros) don't want him/can't afford him, at least not now, and b) the team that wants him (the Red Sox, albeit at their price), he wants no part of.

I don't understand his decision at all.  He wanted a place he could pitch for one year, prove he still has it, and compete for a title.  Boston gives him all of that, while providing him with one of, if not the best, lineup in the game.  Who doesn't want to throw for a team that could support you with 10-12 runs on any given night?

His plan now is to sit at home, rest up for the first half of the year, and wait to see which teams are desperate for his services, and milk as much money from them as he can.  It worked out pretty well for Clemens, and probably will for Roy too.  I just really wanted to have him in our rotation this year.

Go Carlos Silva!  Yay...

Ortiz is putting on a show in Ft. Myers

I know none of this matters and spring training means nothing to most of us, but Ortiz is putting on a show in the early-going. Even though it is batting practice, over 410 ft. homers are a good sign.

 

Jenks' back surgery turned nearly life-threatening

Following his December 12 back surgery, Bobby Jenks encountered some complications that proved to be nearly life-threatening.

ESPNBoston:

Jenks had surgery to remove bone spurs in his back on Dec. 12 at Massachusetts General Hospital and was back home in Phoenix a few weeks later when he noticed the incision in the middle of his back was leaking some kind of fluid.

The Red Sox pitcher bandaged it up himself and first thought nothing of it. But the problem didn't subside, so he visited a doctor and was rushed into emergency surgery on Dec. 30 to repair "a mistake" that Jenks said could have been a life-threatening situation.

"It was pretty serious," he recalled Thursday at training camp.

Jenks also was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism last September, and because of that issue he had to wait until December to undergo back surgery. Leading up to the surgery, he was working out and trying to get as physically strong as he could so his body could handle the procedure.

As much as we all expressed our dislike for Jenks and his contract, you have to feel for him. I can't imagine thinking the surgery is going to be fairly routine then experiencing complications that could end your life.

As far as him pitching again, it will be months before we see that.

Your Mid-Morning Dump...where injuring Carlos Silva's knee might not be a bad idea.

 

Every morning we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump...

If Carlos Silva really wants to be the Red Sox' fifth starter, he might want to consider pulling a Tonya Harding on his knee. It was a knee injury, after all, that precipitated one of the most peculiarly noteworthy seasons in baseball history.

On the surface, Silva’s 2005 with the Twins merely seems solid. He was 9-8 with a 3.44 ERA in 27 starts covering 1881⁄3 innings.

Then a number jumps off the page so strongly it seems like a typo: nine walks.

“Wait, really?” closer Andrew Bailey said. “I’ve never heard of anything like that. As a pitcher, you strive to keep people off base. But nine walks in 188 innings? That’s pretty damn good.”

“That’s crazy,” Clay Buchholz added. “I’ve never even heard of anything like that. That’s insane, actually.”

And yet it’s true. Silva’s 0.43 walks per nine innings is the lowest figure in history for a pitcher with at least 30 innings pitched, let alone 188. It’s a record that could last forever.

As Silva attempts to emerge from a crowd to win a place at the back of the Red Sox rotation, one of the things he’ll undoubtedly have going for him is his command. And never was that more apparent than in 2005.

“That year was pretty amazing,” Silva recalled yesterday. “The beginning of the year, I hurt my knee and after one start, they told me I was going to lose the whole season. I had to get knee surgery. I told them I wanted to pitch through it.”.

Herald: Silva hopes to control destiny as #5 starter

So who's willing to take a tire iron to Silva's knee?! Nine walks in 188 IP on an injured knee? He's the anti-Daisuke! Granted, Silva did this back in 2005, but he's always been a solid control pitcher. John Tomase mentions later in the article that Silva has only walked 1.73 guys batter per nine innings which Tomase says is good for 21st all-time (Baseball Reference has him 42nd all-time but either way it's still pretty damn good).His other career stats would normally worry the hell out of me (like the 10.8 hits allowed per nine innings or the 4.68 ERA) but he's had on-again. off-again shoulder issues. Plus he's replacing John Lackey and no one can do worse then him at this point.

If he can keep that shoulder healthy, then he would be the fifth starter at the start of Opening Day. He's not going to blow by people (career K per nine inning is 4.0) but if he can go seven innings and not implode in any of them, then that's a win.

If he does that then there will be a bit of a dilemma in the middle of the season as Matsuzaka-san is hoping to return earlier then the June-July range that was originally estimated. There's no chance they would give up on the Daniel Bard experiment so soon even if he is performing poorly so Silva would be the odd man out. That's the best case scenario. Worst case, he has Sox fans pining for Matsuzaka to pitch, something that hasn't happened since everyone wanted to see the mythical gyroball. Doesn't sound THAT bad, right?

Rest of the Links: Globe: Valentine with no plans to name Captain| Iglesias makes impression on Valentine | Ortiz talks about clubhouse situation of 2011|Herald:  Valentine's videos valuable | Leadership prime need for Sox | Ortiz puts on happy face | Tough call on Ellsbury | CSNNE:Ortiz: "We have a lot of leaders" |  Pedroia not thinking about captaincy | Tito: Manny worst human being I ever met | WEEI: Andrew Bailey: The anti-Pap | Time for Crawford to produce | Ramirez remark blowing off steam

Tito isn't scoring 20-year-old's after all

Yesterday, Busted Coverage posted the above picture of Tito and his so-called 20-something girlfriend. Turns out, it was not true. They were sent false information, but Tito is still living it up as he goes through a divorce.

Cubs fan pulls prank on Sox

So the Sox got a little lazy and forgot to purchase jetbluepark.com, so as a result of their lack of action, someone beat them to it.

WEEI:

Fort Myers resident Eric Engelman purchased the domain name for $8 last March after learning of the new facility’s name.

“I just thought it would be fun to have,” Engleman told The News-Press.

Engelman, 30, is a Cubs fan, but he decided to play a joke and have the site link to the Yankees home page. That got the attention of the Red Sox.

I have to admit, that is pretty funny. Until the Sox make a deal with Engelman, it will continue to redirect to the Yankees website. This could turn out to be a decent payday as a result of a prank that cost $8. Even if he gets $10, it's a win. This is another one of those moment of "Why didn't I think of that". I would obviously redirect to Tedsarmy.com instead.

MLB compensation system should be destroyed

The Epstein Compensation issue isn't over yet.  Yes, we get Chris Carpenter, who's not even a poor man's Chris Carpenter.  But there's still that ridiculous "player to be named later" stipulation to work out.  Because there just hasn't been enough time to work out ALL the details over the past 4 months.  Wouldn't surprise me if it takes another 4 months to bicker over which 32 year old career minor leaguer will complete the deal.

While the absurdity continues in the background, if we take a step back from the process, there are quite a few things we can learn about not only this specific situation, but MLB's compensation system in general.

First, and foremost, the Red Sox are morons.  When the initial Epstein-to-Cubs conversations were taking place, names like Starlin Castro and Matt Garza were being bandied about.  While most didn't think the Sox would get someone with quite their pedigree, it was apparent that the Cubs were going to have to part with someone that was going to cause them some pain.  All anyone had to do was look at what the Marlins had to give up to get Guillen from the White Sox.  The man being given the reigns to the Cubs franchise is surely on par with a manager, if not higher.  Fast forward a week or so, and the Sox decide to let Epstein go without any agreement in place.  Fast forward a little further, with Epstein fully entrenched in Chicago, and the Cubs are thumbing their noses at Boston refusing to give up anything.

And why should they?  They've already got what they wanted.  If the Red Sox were going to insist on getting a player back, they'd have to go through the commissioner's office.  And, they did.  And we all know how that turned out.  All the Sox had to do was hold onto Epstein until an agreement was made.  But, as they are in most areas, the Sox were too smart for that. 

But the bigger problem is the compensation system in general.  To put it simply: it needs to be nuked.  It doesn't need to be altered.  We don't need to tweak it.  It needs to be destroyed in such a way that it never returns.  And left in its wake will be: nothing.  No compensation system at all.

If Epstein is signed through the 2012 season and he wants to go to Chicago before his contract is up, he can ask the Sox to be released.  They can say "yes" or "no".  If they say yes, maybe he has to buy out the last year of his contract and Henry gets a few more dollars in his pocket.  If they say "no", he has to hang around Fenway for 12 more months, at which point he's free to sign anywhere he wants.  Same for managers.  If an Ozzie Guillen isn't working out with the White Sox and he'd rather head down to Florida, the White Sox have the option to let him go or make him stay.  And if they let him go, they get nothing in return.

There's no reason it shouldn't be this simple. These aren't players.  They're personnel.  Trading personnel is a) stupid and b) far too messy.  We've just had a front row seat to that.  Instead of trying to set "guidelines" around every conceivable personnel swapping scenario, as some are suggesting, the whole idea should be erased.

Because no franchise needs to be embarrassed in the way the Sox have been embarrassed over the past 4 months.  Except maybe the Orioles.  Those guys deserve everything they get.

Ortiz: We don't need no more negativity

Via ESPN Boston:

“The deal with the clubhouse, people made it into a bigger deal than it was,’’ he said, later adding: “One thing I’m not worried about with this club is leadership.’’ 

Ortiz said he did speak to the pitchers at one point last season about the time they spent in the clubhouse, but repeated his line from last fall that he isn’t here to be a “babysitter.’’ 

“There’s a difference between being a leader and a babysitter,’’ he said. 

“I’ve got to do what I’m supposed to do, first of all, and then I have the right to go talk to anyone else." 

Later, he added: “If they apologized, that means it’s not going to happen again. If they apologized, that means turn the page. 

“Turn the page, man. We don’t need no more negativity. We don’t need no more confrontation.’’ 

I think it's time to turn the page. And I'm generally one to beat a dead horse.