Trade deadline primer Red Sox eBook

Leading up to the trade deadline, having a good handle on what the Red Sox are seeking and what other teams have available are obviously musts.

That's why I have contributed to TwinsCentric's trade deadline primer eBook, and the folks over there have come out with 30 different eBooks per team, which costs just $9.95 per team.

All proceeds are divided evenly between TwinsCentric (of which most goes to supporting the actual production of the eBook) and Fire Brand. Fire Brand's costs have risen dramatically in recent days and we need every last cent in order to keep Fire Brand functioning. Not only does this eBook contain fantastic content that would make a great personal resource or gift to a baseball fanatic, it's just $9.95. Which, believe it or not, will go a long way toward sustaining Fire Brand.

Beckett Impressive in Rehab Start

When it comes to real estate, the key is location.

Without question location was the key Sunday when Josh Beckett made a rehab for the Pawtucket Red Sox who beat the Syracuse, 2-1. Beckett allowed the one run on two hits while pitching for innings. He didn’t issue any walks, struck out four and threw 42 of 68 pitches for strikes. “Maybe he missed a couple of times but for the most part he located all of his pitches very well,” catcher Mark Wagner said. “By that I mean his cutter, curveball, changeups, two-seamers and sinkers. “He made my job really easy.”

Game Calling, Pitch Sequencing, and Reading Hitter’s Timing

Without a doubt, one of the best perks of working for a baseball team is the access to players, coaches, scouts, and countless others with intimate knowledge of the game. I can’t say enough kind works about the Sky Sox staff who have, over the last six months, imparted a great deal of their knowledge to me about how the game is played. Recently, I sat down with Sky Sox catchers Paul Phillips and Michael McKenry - as well as a number of scouts and coaches – to pen an article on game calling and pitching sequencing; discussing both the basic and the finer aspects of calling a game from behind the plate...

7/11 Online Seats Game Thread: Dice Tries to Secure Rubber Match

Lackey's hard loss yesterday force the Boston Red Sox's into a game three rubber match against our neighbors to the North. Daisuke Matsuzaka will do his best to pull out the series win, as Jesse Litsch looks for his first win of the season.

07/10 Online Seats Game Thread: Adding Insult to Injury

After the Jays took an absolute shelling on their home turf, the Boston Red Sox's will look to add more insult to injury, as John Lackey will take on Brandon Morrow.

7/9 Online Seats Game Thread: Sox Making Moves

The Boston Red Sox's head north once again to start the series against the Toronto Blue Jays, as ace John Lester looks to clip the wings of Ricky Romero.

Red Sox and Royals Could be Trading Partners

As we discussed previously, Kerry Wood is the odds on favorite to be the Red Sox new name reliever come August. The Olde Towne Team’s lack of upper-level prospects performing well and/or a desire not to part with these assets gives the Red Sox only a financial advantage over most other teams. Since Cleveland may not find many clubs willing to adsorb Wood’s large salary for the rest of 2010, Red Sox would seem to be one of the front runners for the hard-throwing relievers services. But another possibility could emerge in Kansas City.

Per usual the Royals are going nowhere in 2010. Their trading deadline focus will be on moving players that are unlikely to contribute to the next competitive KC club. Even with a better farm system than in the past, the Royals are probably not going to be contenders in 2011. Productive players with reasonable but short-term contracts like David DeJesus and Kyle Farnsworth should be on the move come July 31, 2010.

The DL All-Stars

Kevin Youkilis left last night's game in the 4th inning with an ankle injury. At the moment, it appears he'll be fine -- the word out of Fenway is that he'll be in the lineup tonight. Still, the sight of Youk leaving the game yesterday must have caused remotes across New England to be flung in exasperated disgust as the injury bug appeared to claim another key player on this 2010 Red Sox team. In recounting the injuries that have plagued the club this year, it occurs to me that we could field a fairly talented club solely from our DL. In order to find out exactly how good, I decided to draw up a lineup (nine offensive positions, two starters, a setup man, and a closer) and see how well it would stack up given their projected 2010 WAR (I'm using CHONE projections for batters because they're the easiest to find, but the estimates shouldn't be too far afield; for pitchers it's a bit tricky, but I'll resort to using fangraphs.com's fan projections -- imperfect, but close enough). This is obviously a thought experiment more than anything else, but it's interesting to see exactly how much talent the Sox have lost so far this season.

7/6 Online Seats Game Thread: Red Sox Go to the Well, Again

It was, indeed, a cold comeback from a nice holiday weekend. Now, as the injuries continue to mount, the Boston Red Sox's will need to get creative in order to keep their footing in the AL East, sending Felix Doubront to the hill to face Jeff Niemann.

COVEROO Trivia: Walk-off Losses

How many walk-off losses have the Red Sox suffered in 2010?