With the trade deadline come and gone and the Red Sox doing very little to shore up a run for the post season, perhaps the rest of this season is more or less try outs for next year.<\/p>\n
Of the regular players on the 25-man roster the following players should all be eligible for trading come this winter: Jonathon Papelbon, Josh Beckett, JD Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury and Hideki Okajima.<\/p>\n
Are more prayers and supplications said at any other time than when Papelbon and Okajima pitch? (Three runs in the bottom of the 9th Jonathan?) You never know if you’re going to get three strikeouts or three straight hits. Consistence and reliability are hallmarks for any player. Neither of these two pitchers have those qualities.<\/p>\n
Beckett has been plagued by back problems for several years now. What will it be next year, out all season after a handful of starts? Extending his contract at the beginning of the year for four more years has already turned out to be a mistake. Unless he’s got a magic exercise that keeps his back from freezing up as he gets older, I hope a no-trade clause was left out of the deal.<\/p>\n
Drew and Ellsbury have their moments but few and far between to be of any value for a strong team of the future. Ellsbury has the defensive skills but watching what was admittedly, a spectacular diving catch last weekend against the Yankees, it’s a matter of time before he’s nursing another rib injury. (Oh wait, he is back on the DL with a rib injury) And, what’s with the 0-for-16 start coming off the DL, is that a forecast of what’s to come? Doesn’t matter, injuries are a forecast of what’s to come.<\/p>\n
With Kevin Youkilis gone for the season, now there is only one starter hitting over .300. The next closest? Marco Scutaro. Who?<\/p>\n
Since there are so many players that elicit a “Who?” response on this team, perhaps now is the time to see who can shed that distinction to become a clubhouse regular and fan favorite in the coming years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With the trade deadline come and gone and the Red Sox doing very little to shore up a run for the post season, perhaps the rest of this season is more or less try outs for next year. Of the regular players on the 25-man roster the following players should all be eligible for trading […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":759,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,9884,9888,476,9886,9887,3535,3086,567,8070,3568,1141,2584,9883,3771,432,9889,588,9885,2008],"class_list":["post-7391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-clubhouse","tag-consistence","tag-distinction","tag-dl","tag-four-more-years","tag-hallmarks","tag-handful","tag-hideki-okajima","tag-jacoby-ellsbury","tag-jd-drew","tag-josh-beckett","tag-kevin-youkilis","tag-man-roster","tag-marco-scutaro","tag-matter-of-time","tag-pitchers","tag-prayers","tag-red-sox","tag-supplications","tag-trade-deadline"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t