Every morning we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump...
New Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine and starter Josh Beckett celebrated the New Year together -- with a 2.5-hour meeting at Beckett's ranch in Texas.
[...]
"I did backflips," Valentine said. "I knew that [intense] look from walking in the clubhouse or on gameday when he'd sit on the bench before the game. For 2.5 hrs, he came out, asking questions.... It was real long. We missed the whole football game."
Providence Journal: Valentine and Beckett have productive meeting in Texas
Isn't that just peachy? The Sox manager and Ace are having nice conversations on New Years Day and missing football games. I don't really care much, but that should have been their first conversation that was held last month. Instead, we had to listen to two weeks worth of Josh Beckett being unhappy with Valentine because of his criticism as an ESPN analyst.
Valentine also commented on other conversations he had with various players...
"Everybody I've met, and that's why I do it, I've had a different impression," Valentine said. "Ellsbury fooled the hell out of me, from what I heard and everything. Totally different. Clay was much different than I expected, in a good way. He's a good guy."
There was one notable exception.
"Except for Dustin. He's exactly how I knew him. That's who he is. But Pedroia, what a guy."
I don't want to constantly criticise Bobby all the time, but it is pretty obvious that he would get a different impression from different players. I would hope everyone would have a different personality and he would have a variety of conversations. Unless this team has become robots and just don't give a damn, this should be what he expected and it is a good sign that players are being themselves with him.
I may be reading too much into this and it may have been easily summed up with a, "Good job for making contact with your players, Bobby", but I still don't really like the guy...and it's Sunday morning.
On Page 2, 200 innings would be nice from any Sox starter.
Beckett’s 193 innings and Lester’s 191 2/3 were 1-2 on the staff. Buchholz gave them only 82 2/3 before going down with a back injury. Lackey gave them 160 horrible innings, and the Sox had to rely on Tim Wakefield to give them 137 1/3 starter innings. Fill-ins Wakefield, Andrew Miller, Alfredo Aceves, Erik Bedard, and Kyle Weiland accounted for 276 1/3 innings, a 15-17 record, and a 5.44 ERA. Ouch.
Looking ahead, the Sox could go into the season with a rotation of Beckett, Lester, Buchholz, Daniel Bard, and Aceves. It’s difficult to see 1,000 innings there, especially if Bard spends his first season as a starter building up his innings.
Globe: Good starting point for Sox is 200 innings
That would be magnificent (yeah, I just used the word magnificent) if the Sox could have a 200 inning starter. I don't even know what word to use if the Sox could have more than one 200 inning man, since I already used up magnificent. It just rolls off your tongue nicely.
Nick Cafardo pointed out five teams with 3 starters that exceeded that mark in 2011.
Five teams had as many as three pitchers with 200 innings: the Angels (Dan Haren, Jered Weaver, Ervin Santana), the Brewers (Randy Wolf, Yovani Gallardo, Shaun Marcum), the Phillies (Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels), Diamondbacks (Dan Hudson, Ian Kennedy, Joe Saunders) and the Giants (Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, Madison Bumgarner). The Brewers, Diamondbacks, and Phillies made the playoffs.
Four out of the five teams are in the NL! The Sox and Yankees were supposed to have a couple of the best rotations in the majors and they had nothing to show for it.
The fact that Beckett pitched only 56 more innings than Wakefield did as a starter pissed me off. Sure, 56 is a lot, but when you average it out, Beckett averaged 6.43 innings per start (30 starts) and Wakefield averaged 5.97 innings per start (23 starts). What makes it that much worse is the fact that Beckett is 13 years younger and made $15 million more. I can't let this crap bother me, it's all in the past and we have to sit back, and enjoy the Bobby V era.
The rest of the links:
Globe: AP source: Yanks C Posada set to retire | Herald: More gone from Gonzo | Bobby V able to line 'em up | WEEI: Video: Andrew Bailey and friends (including Bobby Valentine) shine at 'Bailey Bowl'
Original Story:
