BOSTON vs. NEW YORK '08

[Imgran]

One thing you can count on is that over a 162 game season someone will get hurt. Wakefield being probably the most likely candidate. We'll be glad of Hansack.

[JerseySoxFan19]

That is insane. Buchholz is cleared for 180 innings -- that's a full-time MLB starter's workload, especially out of the 5 spot where his starts get skipped occasionally. This team needs t odo what it does best in order to win games, not to develop third-tier AAAA pitchers. If Hansack comes into the picture as one of the 5 best options to take a start at some point, so be it, but this isn't the minors and playing time is earned.

i'm just saying it could be good if we give those guys a decent shot in the bigs. maybe someone will get hurt. i just think devern might show us something if we give him a chance

[Imgran]

Yep, agreed.

Seriously, WHY does he need to start the season in AAA? I dont get that either. Especially if his innings cap is 180 -- how many #5 starters throw that many innings nowadays?

I think the only reason he's being contemplated to start in AAA is to measure how he passed through the offseason and work on his fastball location -- probably Buchholz' one and only weakness. If they're satisfied he'll be up in a hurry.

[MadHatter]

I think - as usual - the Sox/Yankees will be another close race. Sox pull it out, Yankees get the wild card. Anyone's guess after that.

[Westlake]

That is insane. Buchholz is cleared for 180 innings -- that's a full-time MLB starter's workload, especially out of the 5 spot where his starts get skipped occasionally. This team needs t odo what it does best in order to win games, not to develop third-tier AAAA pitchers. If Hansack comes into the picture as one of the 5 best options to take a start at some point, so be it, but this isn't the minors and playing time is earned.

Yep, agreed.

Seriously, WHY does he need to start the season in AAA? I dont get that either. Especially if his innings cap is 180 -- how many #5 starters throw that many innings nowadays?

[Imgran]

That is insane. Buchholz is cleared for 180 innings -- that's a full-time MLB starter's workload, especially out of the 5 spot where his starts get skipped occasionally. This team needs t odo what it does best in order to win games, not to develop third-tier AAAA pitchers. If Hansack comes into the picture as one of the 5 best options to take a start at some point, so be it, but this isn't the minors and playing time is earned.

[JerseySoxFan19]

Even with that disaster Hansack made the best of limited opportunities and brought his MLB ERA back down to 4.7 by pitching 3 shutout innings against Baltimore towards the end of the year.

that certainly is a good sign. i think we should have buchholz pitch in the 'pen until august or september with hansack/pauley in the fifth spot. just to give 'em a decent shot to prove themselves

[Imgran]

Even with that disaster Hansack made the best of limited opportunities and brought his MLB ERA back down to 4.7 by pitching 3 shutout innings against Baltimore towards the end of the year.

[JerseySoxFan19]

No evidence other than good solid AAA numbers and a couple decent cameos, you mean.

yeah he is a decent hurler. he did well in that last game of the year in '06 but we can't forget that 14-0 spanking that we took from the braves in which he started. personally i think Hansack will qualify as a good september call-up but i don't think he'll be able to rise above the status of a 4th or 5th guy

[Imgran]

No evidence other than good solid AAA numbers and a couple decent cameos, you mean.

[Evangelion]

For those that brought up Livan Hernandez, he signed with Minnesota last week. So, he's longer a option.

Livan seems like a big waste of money.. He would haul in a good 6-10 million for an expected 5.00+ ERA. I would rather see someone like Devern Hansack go out there putting up the same numbers for league minimum pay.

There's no indictation that Hansack would even be MLB effective, let alone become a inning eating pitcher.

[Imgran]

Hansack is the type of pitcher that could succeed though. He pounds the strike zone, and has great command along with some good stuff. Plus he's put up good numbers in AAA, so he's definetely the guy that I would like to see if we need some spot starts throughout the year. I'm actually a little surprised that he hasn't come up more in trade talks, and didn't get much action in the bigs last season.

Hansack could become our very own version of Orlando Hernandez. That would be something.

[FlashGordon]

Not so fast, Schilling may not pitch this season. Which means that Boston's rotation would look like:

Beckett
Matsuzaka
Lester
Buchholz
Wakefield/Tavarez

I realize it might be late in the discussion to bring this up, but how do you figure that Wakefield platoons with Tavarez? I'll be the first to say Wakefield is overrated, but that's because Boston fans are the ones who put him on a pedestal. All things being equal, he's still an innings eater who is likely pull in 10-12 wins on the season. The only question marks surrounding him are health related. I would tend to think we'll find out sooner rather than later if he has another season or two in him. I would also tend to think that if he needs more recovery time and Schilling takes longer to make it back to the rotation, the Sox will be looking to make a deal around early June for a 1-year hired gun. Tavarez will probably be a seat-filler at best. Of course, if the young talent pans out, the Sox might not have to make any moves at all for pitching. I know I'd rather have the Red Sox young guns than the Yankees'.

Good news, though: I think you could get Clemens for a fraction of what you got him for last year.

[Jager]

Hansack is the type of pitcher that could succeed though. He pounds the strike zone, and has great command along with some good stuff. Plus he's put up good numbers in AAA, so he's definetely the guy that I would like to see if we need some spot starts throughout the year. I'm actually a little surprised that he hasn't come up more in trade talks, and didn't get much action in the bigs last season.

[JerseySoxFan19]

Livan seems like a big waste of money.. He would haul in a good 6-10 million for an expected 5.00+ ERA. I would rather see someone like Devern Hansack go out there putting up the same numbers for league minimum pay.

better yet we should call up david pauley or sign dave wells LOL