Wild American Gooner

When Sports Are More Than Just Sports

Category Archives: Red Sox


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The Red Sox Are Making This Complicated

All this recent winning is going to give General Manager Ben Cherington a huge headache over the next ten days. If the Red Sox keep winning in the next couple days, how will he possibly be able to justify selling off assets if there’s any hope of making the postseason? And yet, will he really be able to justify mortgaging the team’s future on trying to improve a sub-.500 team if three weeks from now this team is still at the bottom of the American League East?

The Red Sox kept things rolling with a sweep of the Royals this weekend coming off of the All-Star break. Now winners of seven of the last eight, they are finally putting things together in all aspects of the game. In yesterday’s 6-0 win, there was balanced hitting, with Shane Victorino and Brock Holt leading the way. There was excellent defense, marked by Holt and Stephen Drew on the left side of the infield. And of course there was yet another fantastic performance from Jon Lester on the mound. This looked like a team that could contend.

Things were bound to turn around for the reigning champions, as so many players had been underperforming all at once. They had also lost more one-run games than anyone in the league, suggesting that they were only a few plays from winning more games. And with the pitching staff turning in quality start after quality start, the Sox were a few hits away from getting the train back on the backs.

There has been a ton of talk about the youth movement in recent weeks, with Christian Vazquez and Mookie Betts leading the charge. But Betts has now returned to Pawtucket, and it has been the veterans that have turned things around. Victorino has provided the spark in right field that this team has been missing in his return from the DL. He gives the team an extra bat in the lineup that hasn’t been there all year, and he’s a real outfielder unlike Holt or Betts. Daniel Nava and Jonny Gomes are also slowly returning to their 2013 ways in left field. And with Jackie Bradley Jr. starting to hit a little, the worst outfield in the game could be getting a little bit better.

But the biggest reason this team might be in position to make a second half run lies in the rotation. Between Lester, John Lackey and Clay Buchholz, there are three pitchers on the staff capable of being aces. With Buchholz putting together two solid starts in a row, they could get on a role. Rubby de la Rosa also has been nothing less than stellar at Fenway Park. Even Jake Peavy has pitched well. And in the bullpen, Andrew Miller is quietly putting together a career year. He would be the man to get the game to Koji Uehara come October should the team make a run.

It’s notable that the Red Sox swept a decent Kansas City team this weekend without David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia having much of an impact. The two stars of the Red Sox were a combined 2-25 in the series, and continue to struggle. They are usually the ones picking up their teammates, but it has been the other way around recently. You have to believe they are likely to get hot sometime soon, and should everyone else keep playing well, this could be a scary team to face in August.

There are a lot of reasons to like this team right now. But then you remember that it’s July 21 and they are 46-52. Just two weeks ago, almost everyone but the players were throwing in the towel. So what can Ben Cherington do to prepare for the Trading Deadline now?

I think he needs to wait at least a week. If the team wins 5 of the next 7, or 4 of the next 5, he simply can’t sell at the deadline. There’s no way he could explain trading away a postseason hero such as Jonny Gomes to a team that still believes it has a chance. But should they lose 3 of the next 5, he needs to do what’s best for the future. However, it’s worth remembering that Cherington could still trade players away in August.

On the other hand, I don’t think this team need to be buyers at the trading deadline. What do they really need to buy? A third-baseman? An eighth outfielder? Costs skyrocket at this time of the year, and it wouldn’t be worth trading away any of the prized youngsters for a mediocre filler piece in the lineup. I think all the talent the team needs is on the roster already – they just need to all play well together.

So I suggest Cherington holds his cards at least until the 28th. If things are still looking up, try to ride the wave, then re-evaluate in mid-August. We can always sell then. But if the Sox have trouble on this upcoming road trip, I wouldn’t be opposed to selling.

What do you think the Red Sox should do these next 10 days? Would you be upset if they became sellers? Please comment below.


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And It Begins, Sort Of

Good morning, everyone. Today is a great day, for the 2014/2015 Arsenal campaign unofficially kicks off with the first friendly of the summer. The wait between the World Cup and the start of the Premier League will feel like an eternity, but games like these ones help help make the waiting a little easier.

Before I get to Arsenal though, I want to say something about the Red Sox. Don Orsillo has been the team’s outstanding play-by-play commentator since 2001. He is so good at the job that you take him for granted sometimes. He is rumored to be in a contract dispute with NESN, the Red Sox’s TV station, and his forced in-season vacation right now makes it seem like NESN might be nudging him out. I can’t stress enough how big a mistake that would be for the network. Watching the last few games without Orsillo in the booth have been painful on multiple levels. Jerry Remy’s color commentary is replaceable, but Orsillo’s play-by-play is not.

Now to the Gunners. I know very little about Boreham Wood, Arsenal’s opponent today, but it’s not the opponent that matters in the first game of the year. It’s about the players slowly regaining their form and fitness, and it’s about giving youngsters a chance to prove they belong in the first team. Even if Arsenal were playing a high school team, it would still be a valuable exercise for the preseason’s first game.

Personally, I thoroughly enjoy watching these games. It’s not that I want to see the starting 11 on the field though. I prefer watching the youngsters, and it’s usually my only chance to do so. Players like Thomas Eisfeld, Kris Olsson and Chuba Akpom excite me tremendously, and I love getting a look a their development. And beyond that, there is usually an abundance of goals in this first friendly against the inferior competition. While the goals might not be the prettiest at this stage, it’s nice to see Arsenal players hit the back of the net in any situation.

I don’t have many expectations for today’s game, because Arsenal haven’t said much about the squad they are planning on playing. They’ve suggested many of the first team players who weren’t in Brazil will be on the field, but I’d imagine there will a number of new faces mixed in. And I would guess as many as 22 or 23 players will see the field. Beyond saying that they’ll be wearing the new yellow Puma strip, Arsenal have offered very little about the preparation for this game other than a series of pictures yesterday.

The first thing I noticed in those pictures was the presence of Francis Coquelin. Remember him? Wearing yet another different number this year, Coquelin has seemingly returned from a season-long loan in the German Bundesliga. I don’t know how long he’ll stay around, but it was a pleasant surprise to see his face again. I’d almost entirely forgotten about him, and a quick internet search suggests most Arsenal fans are in the same boat. It wasn’t that long ago that the versatile young player was starting Premier League matches at the Emirates.

Obviously, this match and the rest of the preseason will be vitally important for Coquelin’s chances at Arsenal. Should he put in a series of impressive displays, Arsene Wenger might have to give him another shot. But if he doesn’t, a transfer arrival at the defensive midfield position could send Coquelin on his way out the door for good. For his sake, I hope he gets a chance to see the field today.

The other first-team player I think preseason will be important for is Yaya Sanogo. I’m sure I’ll have much more to say on him in the coming weeks, but Sanogo has been somewhat of an enigma in his year at Arsenal. I’d be inclined to say he impressed me last year, especially in the biggest matches of the year – remember that his two best displays were against Bayern Munich in the Champions League and off the bench against Hull in the FA Cup Final. However, he never scored a goal. And for a striker, that’s not a good statistic. He simply must score this summer to show everyone he is physically capable of putting the ball in the net.

Carl Jenkinson could also use a huge performance today, as this might be his last shot at convincing the Arsenal brass that they don’t need further cover at right back. Jenkinson should get the start today, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him be the most dangerous player today. With Mathieu Debuchy coming in as the starter, I would like to see Jenkinson go out on loan to another Premier League club. He needs playing time to keep improving, and it would be a shame to see his growth as a player stunted by a lack of time on the field. Remember that not long ago, he earned an England call-up.

I am way too excited for this match for what it is. But it’ll be great to see the Gunners back in action. I’m sure I’ll have lots to say post-game, so check back later today. COYG!


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A Tip of the Cap to Derek Jeter and Now a Needed Sports Respite

There was a time in the not so distant past when the All-Star Game was one of the highlights of my summer. I would look forward to it for weeks, devoting hours and hours to following vote totals, roster predictions and of course all the roster announcements and replacements. But as I sat on my couch watching the game last night, I realized I had done none of that this summer. Two days removed from the World Cup, it was finally time to move on to other sporting events. The next four years of sports before Russia 2018 officially began last night in Minnesota.

But of course the All-Star Game was much more about Derek Jeter than it was about the baseball. If there’s someone out there who doesn’t respect the retiring Yankee shortstop, I don’t want to meet them. Growing up a Red Sox fan, I was always taught to hate every Yankees player but Jeter and Mariano Rivera. They were different. And after saying goodbye to Rivera last year, we got to do it again this time with Jeter. There isn’t much to be said about the shortstop that hasn’t been said already, but he is something special. He was the face of baseball when I became a fan around the year 2000, and he remains that today. What Jeter has accomplished on the diamond is incredible, and he has done it in style. I wish him only the best in his final two and a half months in baseball.

The Air Jordan Jeter commercial that I’m sure you’ve all seen by now is incredibly well done and encapsulates how everybody feels. There is nothing but respect for the captain. Forgetting the fact that the now former Red Sox A.J. Pierzynski never caught Jon Lester, the commercial was an appropriate tribute to the Yankee shortstop by the footware company. It was fitting that yesterday’s in-game tributes began with Jeter tipping his batting helmet to everyone as he stepped to the plate. And of course he went 2-2 at the plate.

I thought he was taken out of the game too early though. That it was still light out when Jeter was called back to the dugout will make the moment less memorable than Mariano Rivera’s farewell last year. While it’s unfair to compare the two All-Star Game goodbyes, it’s inevitable to do so. And in my opinion, Rivera’s was done much better. Jeter’s All-Star Game suddenly wasn’t his any longer in the top of the fourth. I would have liked to have seen more of him.

As such, I wish there was less pressure on the managers to get every player in the game, as I really would have liked to have seen some of these pitchers go more than an inning. The game used to be decided by the superstars, but now it’s decided by the fringe all-stars in the later innings. Something has to be done so that we can have more star power playing in the important moments. Wouldn’t we all have preferred to see more from Clayton Kershaw for example?

On a different note, today is probably the slowest sports day of the year. But at least we get the ESPY’s tonight. The ESPN equivalent of the Oscars for the past twelve months in sports is always a favorite of mine. However, I don’t think Drake will do a particularly good job hosting the show. My all-time favorite ESPY’s moment was after the World Cup four years ago when Seth Meyers was the host. His German accent making fun of Paul the Octopus was too funny. Somehow I don’t think Drake will be quite as hilarious as the great Seth Meyers. But at least we’ll get a night full of highlight videos and celebrations of the great moments in the sports world. I wouldn’t dare miss it.

This week of rest from the sports world comes as a refreshing break after the World Cup. But after few light days, the sports world will begin to go back to normal by the end of the week, with baseball soon taking over the spotlight from the World Cup and NBA free agency. The Red Sox will then have an interesting week or two as they try and sort out whether they will be buyers or sellers at the trading deadline. And Arsenal have their first preseason match this Saturday. So while this might be the only three days in the year we get somewhat of a break from the sports world, it’ll be nice to recharge the batteries.

 


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My Thoughts on the Celtics Trade and the Pierzynski DFA

Good morning, everyone. I write this knowing there’s a strong likelihood I’ll have a lot more to say later today about a certain Arsenal transfer story. If that is announced, expect my thoughts and analysis on it in the late afternoon.

Yesterday in Boston saw a couple moves from our hometown teams. The Red Sox took step one towards 2015 by designating A.J. Pierrzynski for assignment in order to make room for rookie catcher Christian Vazquez. The young backstop is major league ready defensively, but his bat will take time. I’m a fan of giving him time to adjust in the major leagues for the next few months, as he could struggle now rather than in April and May of next year. Hopefully given some at-bats, he’ll find his stroke at this level. At worst, he’ll be another sub-.200 hitter for the rest of the year, but if he can throw out some runners and get comfortable with the pitching staff, it’ll be a good investment in the future. Being around the veteran David Ross could also do wonders for Vazquez. Last night’s walkoff win was an exciting start to the Vazquez era, and who knows, maybe this team still has some life in them this year.

As far as Pierzynski, I feel for the man. Clearly he thought that coming to Boston would be his best opportunity at another championship late in his career, but instead he got three months on an uninspired team. He struggled at the plate, devoid of the power that once made him a valuable bat in the lineup, and his swing-at-the-first-pitch style never was going to sit well with Boston fans if he wasn’t producing. At his age and with his short-term contract, keeping him in the lineup was doing nobody any good at this point. Hopefully he can catch on as a backup on a contender for these next couple months, but I think getting rid of him was a solid first step towards next year.

The other trade in Boston yesterday saw Danny Ainge and the Celtics collect three assets for essentially nothing. Ainge’s track record on trades gets better by the minute. With the trade exception from the Paul Pierce departure (when did everyone decide that trade was the Pierce trade as opposed to the Garnett trade?) set to expire this week, Ainge had a lot of incentive to make a move. And with lots of teams trying to shed cap space in the LeBron James hunt, it was the perfect opportunity for the Celtics to improve. In addition to acquiring another first-round pick, which can never be a bad thing, Ainge also added an intriguing expiring contract in Marcus Thornton and a young center in Tyler Zeller.

Marcus Thornton could help this team in a number of ways, even if he never puts on a Celtics jersey. His expiring deal will be attractive to many teams looking to shed cap space in 2015, and he could be a valuable trade chip. He might even be a piece the Celtics could use in the hunt for Kevin Love. I doubt he ever plays in Boston, but Thornton could help accelerate the rebuilding process in other ways than his play on the court. Zeller, on the other hand, will be a true center on a team that lacks one. I’m sure many Celtics fans will remember Zeller having a couple good games against us in the last two years, and he’s somebody who could play alongside Jared Sullinger or Kelly Olynyk. There won’t be much pressure on the UNC product, but he could prove useful, even if he’s no superstar.

That’s all for now, but hopefully there will be big news today on the Arsenal front. Check back later.


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The Red Sox Only Deserved the One All-Star, Arsenal Begin Pre-Season and a Thank You to Josh Radnor

Good morning, everyone. With another day before we get back to World Cup matches, I thought I’d take this opportunity to write about a couple different things.

I’ll be disappointed once the World Cup ends, but it’ll be nice to have time to focus on baseball again. The Red Sox seem hell bent on keeping fans away this summer though, as they continue to find ways to lose. Yesterday’s game was yet another in which the Red Sox showed glimpses of last year, this time coming back from a 6-1 deficit with a five run seventh. But yet again, all clutch hitting disappeared and the Red Sox fell once more in extra innings. The late-inning magic epitomized by Jonny Gomes that the Red Sox had an abundance of last year has not existed this year when it is needed. They’re a frustrating team to watch at the moment.

It seems fitting that our defending World Champions have only one all-star on the roster selected by their own manager. Jon Lester will be the only one donning the special all-star game hat next week in Minnesota. Reports say David Ortiz told John Farrell that he preferred time off this year, but really, was Ortiz even worthy of a selection?  While I do think Lester was deserving of a spot, he hasn’t exactly been the stopper his team have needed at times. He’s had a lot of games where he pitched well, but not well enough. For an ace to beat other aces, he needs to be almost perfect. And Lester has been far from that.

I made the case for John Lackey to be an all-star a few weeks back, but he’s cooled down a bit since then. The only other player I think should have made it from the Sox is Koji Uehara. It’s hard to believe there have been many relievers better than him this year, and I would have thought Farrell would have wanted to turn the ball over to his closer at the end of the game. Uehara’s success over the last 12 months certainly merited a spot, but ultimately, his team’s failure cost him his place on the team, as Farrell couldn’t give his Red Sox an extra spot they didn’t deserve. Hopefully Uehara gets in as a replacement, but I understand why there is only one Red Sox on the roster this year.

Maybe this announcement will serve as a wake-up call for Dustin Pedroia. The former MVP has seen a dramatic drop in production this year, and it seems like there’s no injury to blame this time. I’m sure Pedroia likes to think of himself as the best second baseman in the game, but he was not even close to making the American League roster this year. Even if the Red Sox don’t turn things around as a team, for Pedroia, a return to his best could help get next season’s team back on the right track.

On a different front, Arsenal’s pre-season is about to get under way. I love the World Cup, but I am dying to see Arsenal get going again. Personally, I really enjoy watching preseason games, as I like seeing young players like Chuba Akpom, Thomas Eisfeld and Kristoff Olsson get run outs. It’ll be fun to watch those guys get another few games under their belts to prove they belong at this level. The friendly against Boreham Wood on July 19th can’t get here soon enough.

But as pre-season heats up, the transfer sagas begin to get more important. It’s at this point that I, along with just about every other Gooner in the world, would like to see Arsene Wenger get something done. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a big slash yet, but I would just like to see some movement. There are a lot of signings needed this summer – backup goalie, right back, center back, holding midfielder, forward – and I would hate to see Wenger need to fill all of those on the last day of the window. Getting a signing out of the way now would help ease some pressure off of his overall load.

I don’t like to comment on transfer rumors because they rarely turn out to be anything more than letdowns for Arsenal supporters. But I will say that a certain Chilean attacker currently heavily linked with a move to North London would be an incredible signing – one that would legitimately put Arsenal squarely in next season’s title race. The other major link – the one with a certain French right back – would also be a useful signing. I’d like to see that deal get done in the next couple days to get things moving towards the new season. I won’t name any names until the signings get done, but these rumors excite me. It’s going to be a fun year.

And on a similar note to yesterday, I’d like to thank How I Met Your Mother star Josh Radnor for reading my post about HIMYM and favoriting my tweet. Little votes of confidence like that inspire me to keep writing, and I’m incredibly thankful for what Josh Radnor and Craig Thomas have done for me over the last few days. If I go on to become a writer full-time in the future, I’ll have them to thank.

As the How I Met Your Mother post has now nearly quadrupled the number of hits that any other post has gotten, I want to ask if anyone has any desire for further HIMYM content. If you have an idea of another piece I could do, put it in the comments or tell me on Twitter (@MrMcGinnis94). Writing a non-sports piece every once in a while would be a nice change of pace, and people seemed to enjoy the one I did. Hope your day is wonderful. And thanks for reading.