Red Sox Trying To Trade Aceves

The Boston Red Sox optiond right-hander Alfredo Aceves to Triple-A Pawtucket Wednesday, but the news did not end there. Sox will try and trade Aceves, who has 72 hours to report.

Thank God. I have said it before, I can't fucking stand that guy. Anyways, I doubt they can deal him, and most likely he will just be let go. Lackey is supposed to be back this weekend, and even if he needs a little longer than can bring back up Allen Webster, who looked good in his 1 start in the pros.

I am just happy I don't have to see Aceves face again. 

Red Sox Grades

This game was just a complete failure for the Red Sox. Right after getting arguably their best win of the season they endured their worst loss of the season. The umpires mercifully called off the game in the 7th because of the rain, but this game was over long before the end of the 7th. Alfredo Aceves had a complete meltdown. In his major league debut, Steven Wright didn't help matters on mop up duty once Aceves was pulled from the game. To top it all off the Red Sox managed only 3 hits in 7 innings on Bartolo Colon. I'm astounded Bartolo Colon is still pitching in the majors. I remember he made some starts for the Red Sox back in 2008 when he was considered washed up. Apparently, Colon is still bouncing around the league and he's currently 3-0 this season in 4 starts. Hopefully the Red Sox can move past this with Jon Lester on the mound tonight.

We all knew that Alfredo Aceves wasn't supposed to be a major league starter, but he had chugged along making some spot starts with John Lackey injured and finally we got burned by him. He had a complete meltdown in the 3rd inning that carried over to the 4th when they were hoping Aceves could at least eat some innings and preserve the bullpen. The third inning looked like a lowlight reel that should have had the Benny Hill music going in the background.

All totaled the third inning had 3 walks, 3 hits, 6 runs, 2 throwing errors and 2 balks. This was profoundly bad. They sent Aceves back out in the 4th in the hopes of preserving the bullpen, but he quickly gave up a 1 out, two-run home run at which point he was mercifully pulled from the game. There's a lot of buzz going around that they're going to release Aceves today and I wouldn't complain if they did.
STARTING PITCHING GRADE: F

Steven Wright was brought in on mop up duty and didn't fare much better than Aceves in his major league debut. He induced a double play to get out of the 4th, but gave up a bunch of walks and hits in the 5th to give up another 4 runs. He walked two more batters to start the 6th and got hit up for another run on a double to create the final tally of 13-0. At least he managed to get out of a 2nd and 3rd with nobody out jam and didn't give up any more runs in the 7th. After the 7th the umpires did everybody a favor and called this game.
BULLPEN GRADE: F

As bad as the pitching was, you won't win many ball games if you don't score any runs and that's exactly what the Red Sox did. Pedroia, Salty and Gomes all managed a single and Ellsbury worked a walk. That accounts for all 4 Red Sox baserunners this game. Pathetic.
HITTING GRADE: F

It's Time to Say "Adios" to Alfredo Aceves

You broke my heart, Fredo. You broke my heart.

It's time to give Aceves the kiss of death. I don't want him here. And I don't think he wants to be here either.

In Spring Training he was the only player on the team who had an apparent problem with the new way the Red Sox were doing things. He isn't on the same page with the catchers' signals. He isn't on the same page with who covers second base in a pickoff. And last night was a mixture of walks, balks, and what the fucks. Late to cover first, then doesn't immediately turn to hold a runner at third, then throws the ball away.

He just needs to go. Find some journeyman bum to take his roster spot. Give some guy who has been stuck in AAA for 5 years a shot. I don't care. I'm tired of him being on this team. Because he isn't on this team. He goes out there, on an island, pitches like crap, then the rest of the team suffers for it.

So let's either release Fredo, or put him on a boat, take him fishing at Lake Tahoe, shoot him, and toss his corpse in the lake.

Oh, and Bartolo Colon looks like a younger version of deceased Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

-The Captain

13 A's, 0 Sox

Didn't think I would ever say this, but, we need john Lackey back. Alfredo Aceves blows and he is the reason we lost. To be honest, I don't mind him and think he could be useful in different areas if we need him, but this starter thing isn't going to work.

Don't really want to even get into this game too much because 1. I didn't watch it, 2. It seemed like it stunk.

Whatever, Sox lost, still winning the World Series.

Red Sox Grades

The excuses for the Red Sox losing this game were already written. Justin Masterson was tied with Clay Buchholz for the lowest ERA among starters in the AL at 0.41 and was coming off of a complete game shut out against the White Sox in his last start. Alfredo Aceves is making another spot start in place of the injured John Lackey and looks like he could implode at any second. The Red Sox were coming off of the emotional high of the recent terrorist attack on their home city. That's not how this game went down though. Justin Masterson got roughed up for 4 runs and 11 hits. Masterson had given up 1 run and 10 hits in his first 3 starts combined.

Do you understand Alfredo Aceves? Because I don't. I have no idea what to expect from him on a nightly basis. He allowed a number of base runners. Shane Victorino bailed him out nicely with a good catch in the outfield and an outfield assist. I want to talk for a bit about Victorino. His hitting has been good and often timely, but what's really impressed me about Victorino is his defense. I knew Victorino had won some gold gloves in the past but it seems like every other game he's making a crucial outfield assist to rob somebody of a double or making a tough catch in the outfield. It's been a nice unexpected bonus from him. John Farrell left Aceves in for one inning too long and he had a mini meltdown in the 6th inning. He gave up a leadoff walk to Carlos Santana and then back to back home runs to Nick Swisher and Jason Giambi to cut the lead to 2 runs. He also allowed a double to Mark Reynolds before being pulled.He ended up throwing 104 pitches, which is probably a bit much for a reliever making a spot start. Overall, he managed to not completely blow the lead before being pulled from the game, but 5 innings three runs is nothing to get excited about.
STARTING PITCHING GRADE: C

Aceves handed off the 6th inning to Junichi Tazawa with no outs, a man on second and the tying run at the plate. Tazawa quickly collected the three outs and kept the run from scoring to keep the Red Sox lead at 2. In the 7th Tazawa struck out the side in an impressive display. 2 more clean innings for Tazawa and 4 strikeouts. Koji Uehara came on to pitch in the 8th with a 3-run lead to protect. Uehara had another clean inning with two strikeouts. Have I mentioned that I am very impressed with Uehara? That's 6 1-2-3 innings in his 7 appearances this season. Andrew Bailey came in to close in the 9th with a three run cushion. Bailey blew his last save opportunity but collected the win in the 3-2 walkoff win against the Rays on Marathon Monday. There was no dramatics this time as Bailey pitched a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts to collect his first save of the season. The Red Sox bullpen combined for 4 innings, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks and 8 strikeouts. Very impressive work.
BULLPEN GRADE: A+

I feel like I've been doing this a lot lately, but I'm going to complain about the Red Sox offense after they score 6 runs in a game , 4 of those runs against one of the hottest starting pitchers in the American League. The problem is that the Red Sox had some great opportunities to deliver an early knockout punch to Masterson but couldn't capitalize. They got to Masterson in the first for 3 runs, but they had a 2 men on base with no outs and couldn't put any more runs across. With Aceves starting the Red Sox really needed all the insurance they could get. They loaded the bases again in the second on Masterson with no outs, but couldn't put a run across. They loaded them up AGAIN in the 4th with one out and AGAIN they couldn't score a run. Finally, Mike Carp was able to score Stephen Drew from 1st base with a triple in the fifth. In the 6th with Masterson gone they managed to get a run off of Corey Kluber and still had men at first and third with one out, but a failed steal by Nava (may have been a failed hit and run) and a fly out by Middlebrooks ended the threat. Jacoby Ellsbury would score another insurance run for the Red Sox in the 8th after a single, advancing to second on a wild pitch, advancing to third on the sacrifice bunt by Shane Victorino and scoring on the throwing error. The final result was 10 men left on base and 8 for 19 with runners in scoring position for the Red Sox. Still, Masterson is a good pitcher, 6 runs will win you most games and they had to get enough hits for me to be disappointed with the number of runs in the first place. Despite all this offensive production there were still some no-shows in the lineup with Middlebrooks and Salty both going 0 for 5 in the game. Stephen Drew also went hitless going 0 for 3 with a walk. Everybody else in the lineup had multi-hit games. Mike Carp had a monster game going 3 for 3 with two doubles and an RBI triple that nearly made it over the fence.
BATTING GRADE: B+

6 Sox, 3 Indians

I know it's against the Indians and that pill popping douche Francona, but this Red Sox team is fucking unstoppable. It doesn't matter which pitcher we face, which team, the World Series march is impressive.

Yesterday the Red Sox faced a red hot and former Sox pitcher Justin Masterson. We made his day miserable, he barely made it through 5 innings allowed 11 hits and 4ERs. The Sox were all over him from start to finish. Alfredo Aceves coasted through five innings, Mike Napoli and Daniel Nava drove in two runs apiece.

The Red Sox have the best bullpen in baseball. Aceves did a great job through 5 innings, but our relievers were more impressive. 4 innings letting up zero hits and 6 Ks. Taz, Koji and Bailey are just awesome.

World Series or Bust.

P.S. John Farrell has already accomplished more as the Red Sox manager than Francona did during his whole time here.

Red Sox 7, Yankees 4

The Red Sox are making hay when the sun shines, taking advantage of the injury ridden Yankees, and starting their season 2-0 for the first time since 1999. The Yankees lost starter Hiroki Kuroda in the 2nd when a ball hit his finger. The Red Sox capitalized as Kuroda struggled, then went to work on the Yankees bullpen.

Clay Buchholz scythed his way through the JV Yankee lineup, needing only 96 pitches in 7 innings of work. The one blemish on his outing was a Travis Hafner solo homerun. Buchholz typically struggles against the Yankees and in April. It's April, and these players were technically the Yankees, so good for him.

It was a game the Red Sox should have won. Which is good news for two reasons:

#1. The Red Sox are back to being a team that is supposed to win games.

#3. The Red Sox are winning games they should win. They didn't do that often enough last year, or in 2011.

Are they the best team in baseball or their division? Impossible to tell after 2 games against a hodgepodge Yankee roster. Are they taking care of the business that should be taken care of? So far, yes. That's an improvement. It's refreshing.

Not so refreshing was the fact that Alfredo Aceves allowed a 3 run bomb by Vernon Wells that made the late innings interesting. This worries me because Aceves wasn't reliable at all last year.

In the 9th, Joel Hanrahan was on the opposite end of the spectrum. He looked very sharp, hitting 96 and 97 on the radar gun, with movement.

Jackie Bradley Jr. continued his ROY/MVP/HOF campaign with an RBI single in the 3rd. His first Major League hit.

Jose Iglesias went 2 for 4, and is hitting the softest .556 in history.

The Red Sox knocked in 5 runs with 2-outs. That's my favorite stat of the night. That's the difference between winning 7-4 and losing 4-2 right there, just a few 2-out at-bats.

Ryan Dempster faces Andy Pettitte tonight. With that matchup and Jaromir Jagr coming to the Bruins, I feel like it's 1999 again. I'm going to check my smartphone for the Y2K bug.

-The Captain

Maple Syrup vs. Salsa, Canada and Mexico Brawl at WBC

Brief sequence of events:

Canada was up 9-3 when a Canadian bunted for a single. Normally this would be against an unwritten rule, but run differential is a tie-breaker in this tournament, so it's not clearly black and white in this instance.

A Mexican pitcher repeatedly threw at the next Canadian batter, eventually hitting him in the back.

The Canadian batter walked toward the mound, the benches emptied, a melee ensued. A melee which involved Red Sox reliever Alfredo Aceves.

Some thoughts..

The bunt single, even with that run differential tie-breaker, is still a douchebag move. And maybe in the next WBC, they can modify that tie-breaker so the most positive run differential a team can have in a single game is 5. So if a team is up by 10 runs or 20 runs, they still get credit for +5 and no more. That way teams up by 7 or 8 runs won't continue to pile on in the 9th.

No need to throw at the next Canadian batter. It's an exhibition tournament, Mexico was essentially eliminated. It was just a childish reaction to a meaningless bunt.

Baseball hitters have become unbelievable babies. They get hit in the back or the butt, then act like the pitcher just threw a baseball at their mother's face. Over the last few decades batters have become insufferable whiners when pitchers throw inside. This Canadian got hit in the back, not the head, not the wrists, and wasn't at all injured. And he turns it into a brawl.

There's a prevailing attitude that if a batter is hit, he has the right to charge the mound. And that's bullshit.

And Canada, if run differential was so important to you, wouldn't you take the free base from the HBP? Wouldn't that please you? It would help precious your tie-breaker!

As the fracas simmered, a Canadian coach got a full water bottle thrown at him (that's why many sports venues don't give you bottles with caps on them), and then Canadian short-stop Cale Iorg threw it back into the crowd, which is an extremely stupid thing to do. How do you guarantee you hit the right person? Did Iorg even know who he was throwing at?

The PA system implored the crowd to calm down, making announcements in English and Spanish. I'm surprised no Quebecois have complained that announcements weren't also made in French.

This kind of douchebaggery reminds me of the Canadian National Hockey Team. I wouldn't call them dirty, but they push rules as far as they'll bend. They act like jerks, then whine and complain when other teams push them back a bit or when things don't go their way. Canadians are typically very nice, considerate people. Until they're playing a sport and then they turn into pricks.

I'm going to start calling Canadians who participate in this kind of misbehavior Eh-holes.

-The Captain

Alfredo Aceves Is An Asshole

"Alex Speier of WEEI.com runs down a list of the team's options with Alfredo Aceves, who recently garnered some negative attention for himself by lobbing pitches to batters in live batting practice rather than actually pitching."

Aceves butted heads with Bobby V last year, which everyone kind of ignored because who didn't butt heads with him. Yet, Aceves is known for being a hot head, and one has to wonder if he wants to be in Boston anymore. The Red Sox are trying to change the culture in the clubhouse and if Aceves keeps pushing the Red Sox managements buttons he could be out real fast just to send a message.

This is my 2nd post today with a Red Sox pitcher being an asshole. DP has already written one about Lester, Buchholz pulled a hamstring, and it's hard to believe Lackey isn't still a dink (even though he at least showed up in shape). It just sounds like more of the same from these guys.