Alex Remington is a blogger for the Atlanta Braves at Chop-n-Change, and kicks off Guest Sundays, which will be a recurring feature in the offseason, where you hear from other bloggers on issues related to the Red Sox. This Sunday, Remington urges Boston to move on from their underperformers and strike hard this offseason.
After a few days of playing the world’s smallest violin, I thought I might offer Red Sox fans a few words of wisdom. Few teams know division series losses like the Atlanta Braves, who have lost five LDS in the fifteen seasons since the Wild Card was established. Only the Yankees have lost more — six — and only the Athletics’ ‘00-03 have equaled the 02-05 Braves’ four straight LDS losses. The Sox just lost the fourth in the history of their franchise, so I can assure Red Sox fans: you’ll live.
You’ll live, but you’ll live a lot longer when you stop playing guys who are terrible. Nick Green and Jason Varitek somehow combined for 734 PA and a .688 OPS. They should dispatch Sean Casey to tell Jason Varitek how awesome retirement is, then immediately pick up Victor Martinez’s option. Even Edgar Renteria OPSed .721 during his much-maligned tour in the Hub. The failed Matzuzaka experiment is unfortunate, but it will become a lot easier to bear when the rest of their pitching shapes up.
Jonathan Papelbon looked shaky at times, allowing by far the highest walk rate of his career, even before he choked in the playoffs. Justin Masterson was busy fizzling before Theo Epstein managed to turn him into Victor Martinez, a brilliant stroke. And Daniel Bard, whose first three months resembled that of a new Papelbon, turned in one stinkfest after another in August and September, a 6.16 ERA during the stretch run that decisively signaled that he’s not quite ready yet.
Over the last four seasons, Tim Wakefield’s ERA is exactly 4.50 — not very good, particularly if Matsuzaka’s struggles elevate Wake from 5th starter to 4th. They’ll pick him up because of how little he costs, but the fewer innings he pitches, the better off they’ll be.
And it’s time to finally figure out the shortstop situation. The Sox have had six different Opening Day shortstops in the last seven years: Jed Lowrie, Julio Lugo, Alex Gonzalez, Edgar Renteria, Pokey Reese, and Nomar Garciaparra.
All but Garciaparra played their way out of town because of an inability to hit. Of course, it would be easier to accept a no-hit shortstop if they could severely limit the playing time of their weak-hitting DH and get rid of their no-hit backstop.
Theo Epstein started his tenure in Boston by getting rid of one of the most popular Red Sox in history, and the Nomarless team won the World Series as a result. Getting rid of Tek shouldn’t be harder than getting rid of Nomah. Get it done, Theo.
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Holy crap!!!! This is whole new Evan. Dude you just summed up a lot of the things I said throughout the season. Trot Nixon was basically a captain, and he wasn’t very good offensively (but still much better than Varitek). The FO didn’t think twice about replacing him. I don’t know what’s this love affair with this guy.
Oh I’m sorry. I saw Evan’s name under the tittle and thought it was him that wrote it. Either way, I agree with what Alex is saying.
Easily one of the worst posts I've ever read this year: No new angle, No in depth analysis… He's saying what any avg fan could say! We ALL know that we have problems at the SS, that Varitek is giving close to nothing to this team…I also know that when you walk in the rain you get wet!
Please Evan next time invite a real, thoughtful, smart blogger in the mold of RJ Anderson, J.C. Bradbury, Harry Pavlidis…Firebrand standards are higher than that "stuff" below.
Hater
No I'm not!
The purpose of the feature is to give us of a fresh take from other bloggers about our beloved team and what we got here is a guy saying the same stuff that ANYBODY in the nation could tell you!
I don't see the relevance of that new feature if the posts are at this level of mediocrity and I am sure that one of the guys that I proposed will give us some solid stuff, just go and check their work!
You would’ve kept your shut if he wrote the things you would want to hear as far as what the team should do this offseason.
Again you're wrong! What he was saying is that the team should:
Get rid of Varitek (I agree)
Sign an other starting pitcher (I agree)
Fix the SS problem (I agree)
Who's in his right mind would disagree with those "propositions"? I was criticizing the fact that this is not worthy of a whole new feature where bloggers came to give us some in depth analysis from an outsider angle.
And please mind of your own business 'cause I was talking to Evan not you. Thanks
I just think its too early to be critical about this new feature.
Harry is posting Nov. 1.
That's great news!
This post seemed fine to me for most of it, but you lost me when you talked about Wakefield.
His 4.50 the past few years? Better than the ERAs this year of the fourth and fifth starters of the Yankees, and angels, as well as being better than the #4 starters of the Cardinals and Braves, the #3 and 4 best ERAs in baseball.
If we go by IP this year and not rotational slot, his 4.58 ERA this year beats out 3 out of five pitchers within 30 IP either way on the top 5 ERA teams.
If we put aside ERA and look at FIP, he is pretty much right in the middle of the pack for fourth/fifth starters(again, relative to IP, not rotational slot.) The average–from 15 pitchers within 30 IP of Wakefield–is 4.52.
As a side note, Wakefield's FIP and ERA are identical this year, at 4.58. Y'know who else had a 4.58 FIP? Jarrod Washburn, he of the 3.78 ERA.
Not quite a disaster if he spends the year as our #4 starter, especially since a convenient ace ain't walking through that door to help the rotation.
Even if you look at ERA, 4.50 is the definition of a "quality start". This certainly seems acceptable from a number 4 or number 5 starter, even before you consider the cost.
When I said "Cardinals and Braves, the #3 and 4 best ERAs in baseball. ", I meant team ERAs.
Speaking of cost: according to Fangraphs monetary value stuff, Wake has consistently been worth twice as much as he's been payed by the Sox in the context of what other teams pay for pitching.
Most on this site expect Daisuke to be a solid 18W #3-4. and Wake to be his usual strong 12-17W #4-#5 when he comes back. There is little reason to suspect otherwise. Wake's 1st half #'s and Daisuke's 2nd half #'s are the model, as this is their normal bodies of work when healthy. They are both well worth their wages. Thanks for the #'s Daern.
For everyone shitting on Alex,
I'd just like to say, as a Braves fan, that C-n-C is one of the best Braves sites out there. It's a lot to ask for someone to step in and write something about a team they don't follow day-to-day. Expecting the same quality of analysis that you usually get here–from people that watch every game and follow the team closely–is both unrealistic and unfair. Just keep that in mind.
Point well taken. Thanks.