Boston Closer, More Matthews, Upcoming Extra List
Trying to project the Boston closing situation is a constant exercise in revision. Within the past 48 hours, it appeared that Mike Timlin was starting to pull ahead of others in the race to be the closer but just moments ago, we get word that because of a strained oblique, he now needs to sit out at least a week. That means Timlin loses significant time to prove he can do the job and Brendan Donnelly and Joel Pineiro again battle for the top spot in the bullpen.
It still wouldn't surprise me to see the Red Sox do something entirely different soon, like go ahead and trade for an established guy here. In the meantime, I'll have to continue revisiting the projected save totals daily and ask readers to forgive that since saves are almost entirely based on what a team wants to do, and since the Red Sox don't even know yet what they want to do, it's constant guesswork here really. I wish there were a scientific way to increase the confidence I have in projecting Boston's saves but I believe that the pitcher who's eventually going to have the most saves for the Red Sox in 2007 isn't currently a candidate for the closing job and may either be in another organization or currently in the starting rotation.
The story I mentioned the other day which suggested that Gary Matthews could be facing suspension if it's proven he even had steroids (regardless of whether he took them) has now grown to the point that there are rumblings about the Angels wanting out of the contract to which they signed Matthews this past off-season. Matthews refuses to say anything about the allegation, not even denying it yet. It probably doesn't make sense that the Angels would have spent so much money without thinking it out carefully but I wonder if there's even a trace of regret already setting in for having given a $50 million contract to a career .263 hitter who's never hit 20 home runs or stolen 20 bases in a season. I've always liked his father (Gary Matthews Sr.) and so I'm rooting for this situation to get sorted out but my bias can't block the now wide speculation that this whole affair may be about to explode to a new level.
Further to that upcoming "Different Type of Prospect List" I mentioned last week, I can now confirm that it will be published on either Wednesday or Thursday of the upcoming week and will be sent on those days only to those on our free mailing list. However, it will quickly scroll into the public pages for all to see on Thursday, March 22, a day I had expected to be away from the blog anyway. So, if you want it a week earlier than everyone else, you'll get it if you're on the free mailing list.
Again, this list is not an official prospect list - it's designed to only talk about short-term value over the next few years. It's neither a scouting profile nor do I usually provide detailed explanations but we started the tradition last year and it was a popular essay so we'll try it again. You can read last year's in the archives available at the bottom of our home page and it had plenty of useful names with Nick Markakis and Kevin Kouzmanoff being two of the most prominent.
It still wouldn't surprise me to see the Red Sox do something entirely different soon, like go ahead and trade for an established guy here. In the meantime, I'll have to continue revisiting the projected save totals daily and ask readers to forgive that since saves are almost entirely based on what a team wants to do, and since the Red Sox don't even know yet what they want to do, it's constant guesswork here really. I wish there were a scientific way to increase the confidence I have in projecting Boston's saves but I believe that the pitcher who's eventually going to have the most saves for the Red Sox in 2007 isn't currently a candidate for the closing job and may either be in another organization or currently in the starting rotation.
The story I mentioned the other day which suggested that Gary Matthews could be facing suspension if it's proven he even had steroids (regardless of whether he took them) has now grown to the point that there are rumblings about the Angels wanting out of the contract to which they signed Matthews this past off-season. Matthews refuses to say anything about the allegation, not even denying it yet. It probably doesn't make sense that the Angels would have spent so much money without thinking it out carefully but I wonder if there's even a trace of regret already setting in for having given a $50 million contract to a career .263 hitter who's never hit 20 home runs or stolen 20 bases in a season. I've always liked his father (Gary Matthews Sr.) and so I'm rooting for this situation to get sorted out but my bias can't block the now wide speculation that this whole affair may be about to explode to a new level.
Further to that upcoming "Different Type of Prospect List" I mentioned last week, I can now confirm that it will be published on either Wednesday or Thursday of the upcoming week and will be sent on those days only to those on our free mailing list. However, it will quickly scroll into the public pages for all to see on Thursday, March 22, a day I had expected to be away from the blog anyway. So, if you want it a week earlier than everyone else, you'll get it if you're on the free mailing list.
Again, this list is not an official prospect list - it's designed to only talk about short-term value over the next few years. It's neither a scouting profile nor do I usually provide detailed explanations but we started the tradition last year and it was a popular essay so we'll try it again. You can read last year's in the archives available at the bottom of our home page and it had plenty of useful names with Nick Markakis and Kevin Kouzmanoff being two of the most prominent.
posted by David Luciani at
3:18 PM
