Wednesday’s Links – Decisions, Decisions

Photo by Kelly O’Connor of sittingstill.smugmug.com

It’s nearing crunch time for the Sox. Who will stay, and who will go? The postseason roster isn’t all cut and dried, you know. You gotta make hard choices.

• The Red Sox lost last night, so fears that the Oakland Athletics would tie for home field advantage were rampant…until Oakland lost. You can breathe now. (Red Sox lose, as do the Athletics)

• Boston has to avoid getting into a tie with Oakland. There’s some rules and stipulations that would make anyone’s brain hurt to read, and you don’t want to get into that. (Red Sox must avoid tie-dyed madness)

• Don’t believe me? Here’s the tiebreaker rules, simplified as far down as we could make them. It’s chaotic, and the league never really decided to tell us of this change. (The absurdity that is MLB’s tiebreaker system)

• Dustin Pedroia‘s no stranger to playing through pain. He’s done that the entire year. And he’s prepared to endure it a bit longer for the biggest prize. (Dustin Pedroia Ready To Weather Some Pain For Ultimate Gain)

• It’s been a long while since Jake Peavy was in the postseason. At this point, he’s just happy to be here. (Peavy thankful for another chance to make his mark in postseason)

• He’s been solid, but the use of Brandon Workman – and his short-term future – is still in doubt. There’s no easy solution. (What to do with Brandon Workman?)

• Just like in spring training, Jackie Bradley Jr. is making a push to be put on the postseason roster. Could he do it again? (Jackie Bradley Jr. Could Strengthen Case for Playoff Roster Spot)

Yep. This is a thing that was tweeted.