Ted's Army: The Voice of Red Sox fans

Jays trade Aviles to Indians

Just when Mike Aviles was getting comfortable in Toronto, they shipped him out of town. Yup, two weeks after the Jays received Aviles in exchange for compensation for John Farrell, he was traded to the wonderful city of Cleveland.

Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports that the Blue Jays have shipped Aviles and utility man Yan Gomes to the Indians in exchange for right-hander Esmil Rogers.

Aviles, who turns 32 next March, batted .250/.282/.381 with 13 home runs, 60 RBI and a .663 OPS in 136 games this season for the Red Sox. He earned $1.2 million in 2012 and is arbitration-eligible for the second time this winter. The Indians already have Asdrubal Cabrera and Jason Kipnis as starters at shortstop and second base respectively, so Aviles could be in the mix at third base or as a backup infielder.

It seems Mike Aviles was just a pawn in Toronto's grand scheme to take over the AL East. Or, they just thought he has more trade value than what he is worth to the franchise, as they prep for another disappointing season. The latter makes more sense.

I don't know about Mike, but I would rather be in Toronto than Cleveland. Not only because of the strong possibility of becoming a back-up, more because the city just plain sucks. That brings us to another perfect segue to the hastily made Cleveland tourism video...

 

Aviles: Iglesias is "special", "amazing"

Blue Jays second baseman Mike Aviles talked to Peter Abraham of the Globe about the fallout from his trade for a manager, his thoughts on Jose Iglesias, and his allergy to taking pitches.

Since I can't be bothered to think about anything other than Jose and his future Gold Gloves piling up at Fenway, here's what Mike has to say about Iglesias' future:

"That kid is special. He does things in the field I've never seen anybody do and I know I can't do," Aviles said. "His hand-eye coordination in the field is amazing and it's only a matter of time before that translates into hitting for him. It will happen.

"I like Jose a lot. I was planning to talk to him a lot in the winter and I still will. He can do the job and I hope they give him the chance. It's fun to watch him play."

On the one hand, listening to Mike Aviles talk about how he can evaluate stellar shortstop play is a little bit like hearing Nomar Garciaparra give ESPN viewers the ins and outs of postseason play (enjoy that ring, Nomar!).

On the other hand, if he's a fan of Jose I'm on board with him. Thanks for the endorsement, Mike!

In the aftermath of the trade, sentiment seems to be all over the place. On the one hand is the argument that it's amazing that they were willing to give up a major leaguer for a manger. On the other hand is the understanding that while Aviles surprised us in the field last year, he still was a .282 on-base guy with no ceiling.

I feel some guilt in making fun of Aviles -- he was fine. He was acceptable. In fact, I do think he's a useful utility guy. But so is Pedro Ciriaco, or a handful of other guys that can be had. He was ultimately a redundant asset on a team with a lot of issues, and if unloading him is what gets us the right manager -- and the right shortstop, hopefully -- it's not worth crying about.

Go read the rest of the piece; Mike seems happy about the trade and the opportunity to play. He also indicates some tension with Bobby V -- not that that's a surprise at this point.

Report: Red Sox among teams interested in Stephen Drew

FOX Sports (via MLBTR) is reporting that the Red Sox have joined the Pirates and Tigers as teams looking to acquire Diamondbacks shortstop Stephen Drew. Yes, JD's brother.

If you're like me, your first question is: Why?

Drew has been a massive disappointment, hurt for all but 15 games and bad (.496 OPS) in those he's appeared in. That's just this year; like his brother, Stephen was expected to be an All-Star caliber player, and generally he has been a let-down.

Further, the Red Sox have been getting adequate production out of Mike Aviles.

Further, Jose Iglesias is waiting in the wings.

Further, Drew makes $7.75 million and has a $1.35 buyout on his contract next year.

These dots just don't connect, unless it's part of a much bigger plan that involves unloading salaries and players.

Your Morning Dump...where Youkilis is ready to move on

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.

“Yeah, if you get traded, you have to go play baseball, you’ve got a contract and stuff like that, you’re playing the game,” said Youkilis on whether he would be OK hearing he got traded. “I don’t know the right way to put it — if I get traded, I get traded. Nothing you can do. I wouldn’t be the first or the last person here in this room to be traded.”

Youkilis then mentioned how Nomar Garciaparra was traded in 2004, which is an interesting name to bring up because around this time eight years ago, the strains between Garciaparra and the team were beginning to set in, setting in motion the July 31 trade.

Garciaparra was not a happy teammate then, and now it is hard to catch Youkilis playing with much joy, never mind a smile. He was ejected from Friday’s game at Fenway and on Monday night here, he and home plate umpire Ron Kulpa got into a loud and unpleasant discussion after the final out.

[...]

“Am I happy here this year?” Youkilis said, repeating the question. “I mean, did it start out well this year? It hasn’t been fun. So what are you going to do? You’ve got a game, you’ve got your teammates, you’ve got to play. That’s all you can do.”

[...]

“Yeah, there’s been a couple of things that have happened,” Youkilis said. “But that’s just part of this, you find little things that have happened, you’ve got to overcome them. It hasn’t been the easiest road, it hasn’t been easier than past years but what are you going to do?”

Herald | Kevin Youkilis about good to go

Apologies to the Herald for using so much of that article in the snippet, but that was some good stuff. (Go click that link so I don't feel so bad. See, Herald? We're driving traffic!)

It is time for Youk and the Sox to go their separate ways. Bill Simmons has described Youk as the "ultimate change of scenery guy", and I have to agree with him. Youk hasn't lost his talent over night. He's still a really good ballplayer. But he doesn't fit into this team.

And if he's identifying with Nomar (in whatever way), it's reached a point of no return. He's been an important part of the Red Sox for years, but it looks like his time is up. We have a shiny new toy in Will Middlebrooks, and Youk's helmet-throwing, ump-clashing tirades have grown old in the light of a .500 team. 

There's no reason to wait until the deadline. Sure, you might get a touch more value by going through a bidding war. But with an old guy like Youk, you risk him getting reinjured (he bruised his ribs last night). And if the off-the-field portion of things is as contentious as it sounds, why wait? There are plenty of teams that can use his bat (the Dodgers come to mind first, but there are more), so call them up and make a deal.

On page 2, Sean McAdam wants to credit Mike Aviles' clutchness.

Recap: Clay & bullpen bend but do not break as Sox beat A's 11-6

The offense scored early & often and the bullpen was able to bend but not break and the Sox hold off the Oakland A's 11-6.

With Oakland scoring in the top of the second thanks to a Cliff Pennington RBI single, Boston's offense unleashed 11 unanswered runs in the second, third & fifth innings. In that span, David Ortiz hit two solo homers, Darnell McDonald hit a two run shot, and Mike Aviles hit a three run bomb to give the Sox an 11-1 lead.

And it appeared that it would be more than enough for Clay Buchholz  as he was in cruise control for the six innings: allowing just one run on three hits while throwing only 72 pitches. Then he complete unraveled in the seventh. He loaded the bases before he could even record an out when he got Pennington to ground into a fielder's choice for one out. 

Then two former Sox outfielders put in two damaging hits to end Buchholz's night. Coco Crisp with a shallow single to drive in two runs and Josh Reddick hitting a three run shot to make it an 11-6 game. Buchholz finished with his fifth straight start allowing at least five runs & eight hits and was clearly frustrated as Bobby Valentine came to take him out of the game.

Junichi Tazawa was brought in relief and he failed to get an out as he hit gave up a bloop hit to Yoenis Cespedes, then plunking Seth Smith, and finally after getting Anthony Recker to pop one up in the infield, Nick Punto dropped it to load the bases. It was starting to give horrible flashbacks to the debacle against the Yankees when the bullpen was destroyed for 13 runs. Thankfully Vicente Padilla struck out Daric Barton to get out of the jam and give Sox fans a sigh of relief.

But the relief was only temporarily, as the A's managed to get the bases loaded with no outs on Scott Atchison. Atchison managed to punch out Crisp and leaving the rest up to Franklin Morales. Morales was able to get Josh Reddick to ground one up the middle and Dustin Pedroia made a great effort to get the inning ending double play.

Alfredo Aceves came up in the ninth and had a relatively easy outing as he only gave up a two out double . He now has four straight scoreless appearances but he still couldn't get that ERA down to single digits. (Currently at 10.29.)

The Sox end the month .500. Not bad.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Box Score

 

Your Morning Dump...where shortstop has become a position of strength

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. 

“We lose an All-Star center fielder and leadoff hitter and Mike has picked up the slack. He’s hitting the crap out of the ball,” Dustin Pedroia said. “He’s been unbelievable. He’s aggressive. I like the damage that he does, the extra-base hits. And he can run, too. He does a lot of thing that help us.”

When Ellsbury was injured, Bobby Valentine told Aviles to stay aggressive and not to change his style.

“I go up there trying to be aggressive until I recognize the pitch is going to be a ball. Then I’ll just let it go,” Aviles said. “If I go up there trying to take balls, then I find myself behind more often. I pretty much try and stay aggressive in the zone and try and get on base as much as possible.”

Said Valentine: “Michael’s been a godsend with Jacoby going down and all the questions surrounding our squad, to fill that void as seamlessly as he has with outstanding at-bats, production and playing great defense is a tribute to his athleticism and competitiveness. He’s a good player.”

Globe | Faith in Aviles being rewarded

Every time Mike Aviles does something good (which is becoming a lot), the reaction is some variation of "Marco who?" or "Jose who?" Now you can add "Jacoby who?" to the mix as Aviles is filling in admirably for Ellsbury at the top of the lineup.

We can't expect him to keep up his current pace (he's hitting .333 with three homers, which projects out to 32 over the course of the season), but if he can be a spark at the top of the lineup while Ellsbury out, that's great. If he can stay around .300 -- and his batting average is important because he doesn't walk much -- it will be a big help to the team.

The biggest surprise for me has been watching him play defense. He does have three errors already, but he's gotten to a lot of balls I didn't expect him to. He's also started 12 double plays. Even a big Jose Iglesias lover like me thinks Mike is the right guy at this time. And we certainly don't miss Marco Scutaro, who's off to a rough start in Colorado.

On page 2, the Sox are looking for the next Daniel Bard in Pawtucket.

Recap: Sox beat up on Rays again

(Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Sox bats stay hot against Tampa; notch 5 home runs in 13-5 victory.

The game didn't start off so promising.  Buchholz walked the first batter of the game, then gave up an RBI double to Pena.  He quickly got two outs, walked Zobrist then gave up a 3-run home run to fan favorite Luke Scott.  Buchholz looked awful, Valentine had Michael Bowden warming up, and it looked as though we were in for another classic burn 'through the bullpen' game.  To his credit, Buchholz bounced back, and lasted 7 full innings.  He only gave up one more run (a double to Luke Scott in the 3rd), struck out 5 and walked 3.  Not a great stat line, but after the rough first inning, an impressive performance.

Morales relieved Clay and pitched a perfect 8th.  3.2 innings isn't the largest sample size, but he's looked great this season, only allowing a single hit against Detroit.  Aceves followed Morales and closed it out in the 9th, striking out Molina and Rodriguez to end the game. 

But the offense was the story here.  Papi gets my MVP with a 4-hit, 5 RBI game.  He hit a 2-run home run in the 5th to tie the game, and he cleared the bases with a 2-out double down the 3rd base line in the 8th.  I don't want to tip off any opposing managers, but Papi is destroying "the shift" this season going the other way.  His 3-run double doesn't happen if Rays LF Elliot Johnson wasn't patrolling center.   His single in 7th was also thanks to the shift, with the Rays leaving a gigantic hole between third and second.

Other than Papi, Aviles had a great game batting leadoff in place of Ellsbury.  3-5 with the go-ahead solo shot in the 7th and 2 runs scored.  Saltalamacchia hit a two-run home run in the 2nd, and Pedroia hit a solo shot in the 3rd (one of his two hits on the day).  Cody Ross even brought his bat out to play, hitting the Sox 5th home run of the afternoon to cap off a fantastic 2-5 effort with 4 RBIs.  

If you squinted, it almost looked like the Rays were playing the Detroit Tigers and not the Red Sox. 

BOX SCORE

Your Morning Dump...where we have two starters who are ready

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.

Beckett easily handled the Rays, pitching five scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and three walks with five strikeouts in Boston's 8-0 win. The 84-pitch effort lowered his Grapefruit League ERA to 0.95 in five starts. 
 
“Josh is working on his changeup a little, and I thought threw a lot of really good pitches today,” said manager Bobby Valentine. “I think he got his work in, put up a bunch of zeros, was competitive working against their hitters and I think that’s what he needed. He’ll have one more short [start]. But he had pretty good stuff today."
  
Beckett’s next start is scheduled for Sunday against the Twins.
 
“As far as arm strength and stuff goes, there’s still stuff you got to figure out during the season, too," Beckett said. "I think if you hit the ground running in April, you’re probably not very old. So spring training’s in my opinion a little bit long, but it’s to get everybody ready.

CSNNE | Beckett goes five scoreless innings, lowers spring ERA to 0.95

Yesterday it was Lester, now it's Beckett who looks ready. I'll be more excited when he can get to more than five innings, but given his even-year performances throughout his career, I'll be happy to see any productivity.

Beckett's 2006, 2008, and 2010 were noticeable dropoffs (2008 less so) than their prior years. Some more superstitious Sox fans (or those who think he just can't maintain a level of focus and health for more than 18 months) wondered whether 2012 would follow that pattern. If spring training is any indication -- and it very well may not be -- that will not be the case.

Of course, I'm as big a Beckett homer as there is. There is certainly plenty to be concerned about. Could his (overblown) lethargy come around again in 2012? Could his poor workout habits return? What about the blisters?

I suppose all of that is something to worry about, but I think Beckett will be good. He's a stud, and when he's on he's among the game's best.

On page 2, Bobby V thinks Mike Aviles is among the game's best.

Iglesias among five Red Sox demoted

It's a sad day, my friends. The coming of our shortstop of the next decade has been delayed, as Jose Iglesias was optioned to Pawtucket, along with Lars Anderson (no surprise there).

Many of us were holding out hope that Iglesias' flashy glove would outshine his weak bat, but it appears it was not enough.

It also makes you think Ben Cherington has a leg up on Bobby Valentine, which is actually the good news in this.

Cherington should be calling the shots on the development of young players, and if as an organization they really believe Jose needs more seasoning, I'm glad they didn't succumb to Bobby V's dreams of Rey Ordonez.

With that, Mike Aviles is your starting shortstop. The lineup gets a slight boost, but the pitchers (especially groundballer Aaron Cook) need to pay a little more attention. Less pitching to contact, more trying to get the ball past the guy. Because plenty of ball are going to get past Aviles.

I don't hate Aviles by any means. He's a perfectly productive player, he's just no one's long-term answer. But to keep the seat warm for Jose while he figures out how to get over the Mendoza line, you could do a lot worse than Aviles.

Your Morning Dump...Where it's the same old story

 

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.

The Red Sox are not going to make any decisions about their rotation based on one day in spring training. That Felix Doubront pitched well against the Florida Marlins Saturday while Alfredo Aceves was getting rocked by the Philadelphia Phillies back in Fort Myers doesn’t necessarily put one ahead of the other.

“You have to look at the body of work,’’ manager Bobby Valentine said before the game. “I don’t know if today is a test. This stuff is so unfair.’’

“He filled up the strike zone with all four pitches,’’ said catcher Ryan Lavarnway. “He went right at guys. I haven’t seen him throw that well in a long time.’’

As Doubront cruised, Aceves lasted three innings against the Phillies, allowing nine runs on 10 hits, three of them home runs.

Globe: Felix Doubront shows his stuff

Please, end this quickly. Yesterday, Aceves had a leg-up in the race to be named a starter, then he had to go out and suck ass. On top of that, Doubront took advantage of the situation and pitched like an ace. My head is on the verge of a "Scanners"-like explosion.

I know Doubront hasn't earned a spot in the rotation with just that one outing, but you can't tell me that his outing didn't turn Valentine's head in his direction just slightly.

I'm done with the topic today.

Related: ESPN Boston: Doubront excels in 6IP vs. Marlins

On Page 2, We visit the shortstop situation.