Even Pence is on record as saying he knows he's headed to ST and he's OK with that. It seems the only people outraged about Hunter Pence not starting April in the big leagues are fans and mediots.
This is why I didn't want Garner back at the end of the year last year. He is a great players coach and gets a lot out of his players because they know he believes in him. However, I think his stubbornness is his biggest downfall, and giving Wandy the 4 spot and Lidge the closers role with little to no questions asked to start this season is a huge disservice to the team. He did it last year by sticking with Lidge way too long and countless other mistakes that pretty much all happen as a result of his being stubborn. I respect him as a manager and I believe he is a great guy, but he has major downfalls IMO. I hope everything works out great and Wandy and Lidge prove many of us wrong, but I'm not real confident in it. Time will tell, and I believe Garner is putting his job on the backs of Wandy and Lidge. Not the smartest move IMO.
Interesting note: http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/askedes/03_16_07/ Gordo, Thanks for the update on Jonathan Papelbon's shoulder last week. Perhaps you should have become an orthopedic surgeon instead of a sports writer. My question now pertains to our closer situation, or lack thereof. I keep reading about the usual suspects: Mike Timlin, Brendan Donnelly, Julian Tavarez, and Joel Pineiro or going and getting Chad Cordero. Let's just trade Craig Hansen and Jon Lester or Manny Delcarmen for Brad Lidge and be done with it. Your thoughts? Larry D., Allentown, Pa. A: Nice strategy, Larry, except for one minor detail…the Sox asked about Lidge last winter, and were told the Astros aren't moving him.
Wandy needs to be in the bullpen or AAA. He's never been any good for us. Lidge need to be our closer, despite the knee jerk fans on this board. He's still one of the better closers in the league. He saved 11 out of 13 down the stretch last year after regaining the closers role. So he's having a bad spring, it's spring training after all. How bout waiting till the season freaking starts before piling on him?
I don't think Garner is resting his future with the franchise on Wandy and Lidge...he can be stubborn, to a fault sometimes; but last year at least showed he was willing to move in a different direction for the sake of the team. Wandy has been in and out of the rotation, Lidge lost his job a few times; if either falter coming out of the gate they'll lose their job. The good thing about this club this year is that the club has a number of weapons. We don't have to ride guys simply because there is no else to replace them.
Just because he got the saves doesn't mean he was doing well. Looking at ERA and WHIP are far better stats than saves or save percentages, and he was terrible all year last year. With Lidge its pretty easy to see how he is doing. If he is throwing strikes he'll be good, otherwise he'll be terrible. And I havn't seen him throw strikes consistently in over a year now.
Agreed. We're way past knee jerk reactions here. He should be in the pen, but not as a closer for now.
Definitely ... I think he is going to have to play a meaningful role in the pen for us to win this season. I just want to see him in the 6th, 7th inning role for a good month or two. If he does well, then hopefully his confidence will be built up, and he will be ready to go back into the closers role. Until he shows me he can throw strikes, I think we are playing with fire having him be the closer.
You must not have been watching down the stretch last season after Lidge started closing games again after being removed from the role. (Although Garner did not officially name him the closer again, he was the only one brought in to close each game). He was lights out again and very impressive for about 5 or 6 weeks. He saved 11 out of 13 in pretty dominating fashion. The slider had the movement. He was striking people out. He was throwing fewer balls. Of course he ran into trouble in a couple of games after that stretch right near the end of the season and you guys just forget about the preceeding month and a half when he was Lights Out Lidge.
He was shaky all year. And even if he was his old self for "11 of 13 games," which I never saw, that was less than a quarter of the games he was in last year. He's averaged a little over 70 games a year for the last four years. You want me to get hopeful over 11 games when he was in 70? It looked like he was lucking out in those 11 games. He was walking people and creating pressure situations all by his lonesome.
See, if he was truly dominating and back to his old "Lights Out" self, we would have saved 13 of 13 games. There was a stretch there after he essentially resumed the closer's role that he was performing well and LOOKED like he was on his way back up, but then he started struggling again. There was really no solid stretch of games the whole season where I think you could say that Lidge was back to his old self.
Actually, you are wrong. During that stretch he was dominant. Generally retiring the side in order with a couple of K's, occasionally allowing one runner on and getting the next few guys out. His walks were way down. I attended every home game and watched all the road games on television. And yes, a 6 week period of excellence after his rough first half is very meaningful, expecially when the team was trying to get something started in regards to a playoff chase. All it seems you remember is his first half and the last week of the season when he was struggling (even then he was getting the job done for the most part). How bout actually knowing what you're talking about before responding?
What exactly does 11 of 13 games mean anyway? So, he was good for 11 but crap for 2? You can't single out an 11 for 13 stretch....he stunk in 2 of them. That is not dominant....that is pedestrian. Lidge was shaky ALL YEAR long last year......and right now, confidence is NOT high in Lidge for 2007. And it looks like Lane is struggling again as is Hidalgo, so Scott is probably safe as the starting RFer. DD
Dude I watched 98% of the games last year and at no point did I feel he was back whatsoever. Your "first half and last week" are extreme exagerations. I remember where he put 2-3 games together. Then had a rough game or two (where he might have gotten the save). At no point did he put 11 straight good games together retiring the side in order.
This statement is funny for two reasons. First, people are agreeing with me and not with you on this matter. Second, people never agree with your opinons. So, who knows what they're talking about again?
Lane has crumbled back to about .260 now, and Scott is still hitting .300ish...while Hidalgo is around the Mendoza line. Scott should lock up the starting RF spot fairly soon. Did you guys see that Loretta started at SS today? I wonder if they are truly considering that because of Everett's horrid bat? It would be nice to have an offensive player at SS and maybe put in Everett as a late inning replacement on some nights. DD
Everett's had some back stiffness the last two days and sat out as a precaution. He's not going anywhere.
I would like to see him replaced but if not permanently having someone that has an offensive game to give the team an option would be nice. Can Loretta play SS? Or is he only a 2Bman? DD
