Comments on: What does the release of Josh Bard mean?

By: DirtyWater

DirtyWater — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:11:27 +0000

Sorry forgot..
Wakefield is heading for the bullpen; why carry a “personal catcher ” for a reliever.

By: DirtyWater

DirtyWater — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:07:46 +0000

I’m sick of hearing all this Wakefield’s personal catcher crap. Tek can catch Wakefield just fine ; he only loses out on a day of rest every 4 games. and given his offensive woes thats not a good thing.
Tek hits better from the right side George is a lefty perfect for late inning relief.
Bard was a pawn in Veriteks contract issues; the Sox needed to show Boras they were moving on, Bard gets dumped while its cheap for the Sox to do so; Kottras is out of options and better start playing like it.
Trade winds are blowing.

By: Evan

Evan — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 16:48:23 +0000

Boh, I know. Sorry if that wasn’t clear… I was just saying that they did end up winning a ring.

By: Orange Julius

Orange Julius — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:06:32 +0000

I think it’s a bad development simply because there will be a nauseating amount of articles about how Varitek is mentoring Kotteras, blah, blah, blah. The Boston writers will make it sounds like Kotteras couldn’t start for the Special Olympics (you go Obama!) baseball team without the wisdom and knowledge of the great “pithcer whisperer.”

By: rock from hyde park

rock from hyde park — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:43:41 +0000

Wake is crucial to the SOX staff . . . people dont understand that Wake is not only the wild card, but also the X-factor.
The SOX have “power” and “control” pitchers. Wake basically throws a BUTTERFLY and dares you to hit it.
To have to hit Beckett, Wakefield, and then Lester (for instance) over a three day period has to play all kind of mind games on hitters . . .

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:22:33 +0000

The original Bard trade was one of the worst moves Theo has made, along with WM Pena!
Have to say even though Wakefield has been an important part of this run, it is OVER! The rest of the East has seen this guy so much the last few years, especially TB and NY, they crushed him last year. Against the teams that don’t see him often he’s still effective, but near worthless within our division.
Keeping 1 player(Kottaras) over another(Bard) for the sake of being a guy’s personal catcher that has outlived his usefullness isn’t good strategy, and I wouldn’t be surprized to see Bard stick it in Theo’s @ss 1 more time!

By: Boh

Boh — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:20:43 +0000

The Red Sox didn’t win the World Series the year they traded back for Mirabelli — that 2006, they won in 2007.
In fact, the move was panned as Cla Meredith had success, and Bard was better than Mirabelli. Varitek got hurt, then Mirabelli got hurt — leading to the acquisition of Javy Lopez.
And the Lopez deal was pretty awful too… poor Adam Stern! :P

By: hpike33

hpike33 — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:11:40 +0000

Marcos, as fans we all have players we aren’t particularly fond of. Nobody has a ‘man crush’ on every player on the 25 man. That being said, there is no need to disparage one of the most durable, valuable pitchers the Sox have had in recent memory. Tim Wakefield is a professional and a gentleman, and epitomizes everything that is a right with Red Sox baseball. SO DON’T RIP THE KNUCKLAH!

By: M@

M@ — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:08:44 +0000

Man crushes aside, I think that cutting Bard was a good idea. It really seems to me that seeing what Varitek does this year and giving Kottaras the every day experience is beneficial. This seems like a long term move for the Sox in that they get Kotty some experience, and see what they can do about reeling in a really good catcher.
My bet is Theo is working on somehow grabbing Mauer from the Twins – 25 and has a good head on his shoulders. I’m pretty sure he’s up for Free Agency after this season.
As for the rest of the ‘man crushes’, Lugo has to go. I thought his trade was bad, and his performance since he got here has always been sub-par. Didn’t he just hurt himself? Nothing made me happier than seeing Lowrie in fulltime. Hopefully he’ll be able to play uninjured this season and really show what he’s got.
Now that they’ve got long term deals with the major players, if they could get Bay in long term, I think I’d feel a lot better.

By: Jason H

Jason H — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:00:49 +0000

To be honest, I don’t see this as much of an issue. If they set their hearts on bringing Varitek back, then its not like Kotts can really underperform what Tek did last year. In a perfect world, Wake is gonna be pitching out of the bullpen in long relief anyway. Granted its highly unlikely that the staff will stay totally away from injuries, but if penny and smoltz can stay healthy June to September, then it will be interesting to see what role Tito sees fit for Wake. Not to mention if Bucholz continues to rebound. Granted this is a perfect scenario, which almost surely wont happen, but what if? I can only hope.