Red Sox need backup shortstop

With the signing of Adrian Beltre and impending acquisition of Bill Hall, it seems that the Sox only have one thing left to do: dump Mike Lowell to bring in a backup shortstop.

Lowell is perhaps even more redundant with the acquisition of Hall, who can play third and has done so primarily for a while now. There are now four third basemen on the roster (Kevin Youkilis included).

What the team lacks is a viable backup shortstop. While Hall can play every position but catcher competently, he hasn’t tried his hand at short in three years — and thus shouldn’t be considered an option there. He figures to serve as the fifth outfielder and primary third base backup and likely first base as well. He also can appear at second base but is his position of least experience (assuming you sum all his outfield games).

Assuming that the team dumps Mike Lowell (who deserves a better fate and I feel should have a nice season in 2010 but it is what it is, and I can’t argue with the team’s decision), who can they bring in?

Guest Sunday: Turn it around, Theo!

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.

Sunday Notes: Wake done, Farrell staying, etc.

Happy Sunday, everyone. It’s the last day of the 2009 regular season. Mixed emotions abound… a dark winter is foretold, but the most exciting time in baseball is well within our grasp.

Let’s check out what’s going on in Red Sox land…

Injuries Among the Contenders

There is nothing that can derail a team quicker than a slew of injuries in October. The Sox have seen their fair share of injuries lately, though the M.A.S.H. unit has had some success returning the boys to action.

But they are not the only team in the hunt, as the Yankees, Twins, Angels, and Tigers all have their own bumps, bruises, and breaks to deal with. And no, we are not including Texas anymore, as their playoff odds have now dropped below half of one percent. The only race left is between Detroit and Minnesota for the AL Central.

Here’s a rundown of the significant injuries on each team:

Tweets on the Red Sox’s 25-man roster

In a homage to Twitter, the new social media application that is changing how news is delivered (in the same vein how blogs changed everything) I bring to you a summary of each Red Sox player on the 25-man roster in 140 characters or less (the maximum number of characters you can enter on Twitter).

Have Twitter? Follow me. Tim’s on too. Oh, and Fire Brand has one as well. You’ll notice that had you followed Fire Brand, you would have gotten all these tweets last night.

TEX 3, BOS 1: Slumping Sox swept

Boston has made a couple of moves before the trade deadline but the best move to break this slump will be a day off and a return home.

Green or Lowrie?

Although Green has developed nicely on the defensive side of the ball, I prefer to take a chance on Lowrie as the starter–even coming off injury. While Green serves as the utility infielder.

Your thoughts?

Pressing Questions For The Second Half

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With the unofficial second half of the season set to kick off with Clay Buchholz much-anticipated 2009 debut on Friday night, it seems like an appropriate time to gauge where exactly the Red Sox stand and how they stack up going forward in this years campaign. With the best record in the American League and a three-game lead on their hated rivals, even the most pessimistic Sox fan has to be fairly impressed and satisfied with the Red Sox first half performance.

Midseason Grades: Position Players.

I’ve given in and am going to do midseason grades, position players only. Starting ones only, actually. As the sample size for bench players is so small that it isn’t exactly telling from what they’ve accomplished thus far. I may be a little hard, but see for yourself…

Jason Varitek: B: The captain has played well better than expected. And aside from that, he has actually been a pretty good player. The .239 average is a little low, and throwing out base-runners isn’t exactly his thing. But the OBP and Slugging are both above average, and one could simply not ask for any more out of Tek at this point in his career.

Kevin Youkilis: A: Youkilis has now established himself as a great player. His line is an awesome .298/.419/.566. And even though he missed some time with an injury, he’s still third in WAR among 1B. Youk was more aggressive, taking more hacks at that baseball in 2008. And that resulted in great production. Well, his overall swing percentage is right back in line with the norm now, and the production is still great.

Bailey likely to hit disabled list

Yesterday, first baseman Jeff Bailey suffered a high-ankle strain trying to make a play on Brad Penny’s acrobatic flip to first base Saturday. He’s likely to hit the disabled list, a loss given that the Sox are about to face two left-handed pitchers.

How can the Red Sox replace Bailey against left-handed starters?