by dpoarch | Dec 9, 2013 | Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma, Mike Zunino, New York Yankees, Robinson Cano, Seattle Mariners
On Friday, the Seattle Mariners made Robinson Cano the third-richest player in MLB history. I’d call it a statement signing, but that doesn’t really quite cut it. This was, put simply, a coup; a player just left the NEW YORK YANKEES for a team that lost 91 games last...
by bcowett | Dec 9, 2013 | 2013 Winter Meetings, 2014 Red Sox offseason, Ben Cherington, Boston Red Sox, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Mike Napoli, New York Yankees, Robinson Cano, Roy Halladay, Seattle Mariners
Well, the Red Sox might already be done with all that signing free agents stuff. It’s only December 9th! That just seems so crazy at this point… Was that it? Ben Cherington might be done with his offseason wheelin’ & dealin’ and it’s...
by bcowett | Dec 6, 2013 | 2014 Red Sox offseason, Boston Red Sox, Edward Mujica, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jon Lester, Koji Uehara, Mike Napoli, Robinson Cano, Seattle Mariners, Xander Bogaerts
Holy offseason, Batman! Everything just decided to snowball this week. This week has been chaotic in terms of headlines and breaking news in baseball. The Red Sox aren’t making many big moves, but instead they’re just shoring up weaknesses right now,...
by bcowett | Aug 2, 2013 | Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Felix Hernandez, Jake Peavy, Jose Iglesias, Ryan Dempster, Seattle Mariners
I’m still amazed over what I saw last night. That’s not something I’m gonna forget for a long, long time, and probably forever. That’s one of those games that stick with you. A sharp Felix Hernandez. An awful Ryan Dempster. Things were looking...
by bcowett | Jul 31, 2013 | Ben Cherington, Boston Red Sox, Brandon Workman, Brock Holt, Chicago White Sox, Giancarlo Stanton, Jackie Bradley, Jake Peavy, Jose Iglesias, Seattle Mariners
All hail Ben Cherington, for he has brought upon this team a solution to a vital need in the form of one Jake Peavy. Well done sir, well done. “There’s a right way and a wrong way for a team to go for it. This is the right way.” Need I say more about this...
by bcowett | Jul 21, 2013 | Boston Red Sox, Jon Lester, Kansas City Royals, Pitch F/x, Raul Ibanez, Seattle Mariners
One can make the point that baseball is like natural evolution – to succeed/survive, you have to adapt, either constantly or gradually. Rookie pitchers, at least when they first enter the league, are already ahead of the curve. The hitters & advanced scouts...
by dpoarch | Jul 14, 2013 | Boston Red Sox, Dan Straily, Jackie Bradley, Jose Iglesias, Jurickson Profar, Leonys Martin, Mike Zunino, Nick Franklin, Nick Tepesch, Ryan Lavarnway, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Wil Myers, Xander Bogaerts
If I told you at that start of the year that the Red Sox would have a Rookie of the Year candidate in their lineup, who would you have guessed? Jackie Bradley, right? Maybe Ryan Lavarnway if you were feeling particularly bold? Or Xander Bogaerts, if you were feeling...
by bcowett | Jul 12, 2013 | Boston Red Sox, Daniel Nava, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Oliver Perez, Seattle Mariners, Steven Wright, Will Middlebrooks
From one bay to another. Now the Sox are in Oakland for the final leg of the last road trip of the first half. Steven Wright – the baseball player, not the comedian – was the man in Seattle on Thursday. Nearly pitching the equivalent of a quality start, he...
by bcowett | Jul 8, 2013 | Aaron Harang, Allen Webster, Andrew Miller, Boston Red Sox, Dustin Ackley, Endy Chavez, Felix Doubront, Franklin Gutierrez, Hisashi Iwakuma, Jason Bay, Justin Smoak, Kendry Morales, Kyle Seager, Michael Morse, Mike Zunino, Raul Ibanez, Ryan Dempster, Seattle Mariners, Shane Victorino
And now the Red Sox leave the warm confines of Southern California to head north to Seattle, home of grunge, Starbucks and we’ll even give them the honor of inventing “rain that never stops”. Why not. I’ll give Seattle some credit, though,...
by dpoarch | Jun 2, 2013 | Alfredo Aceves, Boston Red Sox, Bryce Brentz, Clay Buchholz, Clayton Kershaw, Cleyton Mortersan, Derek Jeter, Dustin Pedroia, Felix Hernandez, Garin Cecchini, Garin Cecchini, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jake Peavy, James Loney, Jon Lester, Lars Anderson, Los Angeles Dodgers, Michael Young, Seattle Mariners, Will Middlebrooks
Ok. So I had a simple thought coming into this week’s column: I wanted to do a mailbag. We’ve had a long-standing tradition here at Fire Brand of mocking Nick Cafardo’s regular mailbags, and let’s face it—those things are ridiculous. What I wanted to accomplish, then,...
