Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. Today's topics: Clay Buchholz's troubles on the road, and how it makes the club's decision about Bartolo Colon easier, looking to deal Julian Tavarez and giving Craig Hansen a vote of confidence, Josh Beckett's assignment tonight in Baltimore, Alex Rodriguez's injury and the Rays' run for first place.
Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: The hits keep on coming
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. Today's topics: the relentless Red Sox offense, Kevin Cash the .375 hitter, doing it with speed and power, tonight's date with Livan Hernandez, and the still-hot Tampa Bay Rays.
Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: That hot-starting Youkilis
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. Today's topics: Kevin Youkilis' hot start -- can he make it last? -- Josh Beckett's steady improvement, Manny Ramirez's quest for 500 home runs -- and is 600 a realistic goal? -- and the Minnesota Twins, who are hanging in there despite the loss of Johan Santana and Torii Hunter.
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. Today's topics: a tough, tough way to lose a game, Julio Lugo's channeling of Edgar Renteria, whether there's a market for Julian Tavarez, and the struggles of tonight's Tigers starter, Justin Verlander.
Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: The old guys can still throw
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. Today's topics: the combined shutout by 41-year-old Tim Wakefield and 42-year-old Mike Timlin; the first throwing session of the year for 41-year-old Curt Schilling; Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz becoming a force in the middle again; and the MLB Players Association's investigation of the owners' failure for not finding a job for Barry Bonds.
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. Today's topics: Daisuke Matsuzaka's inability to control his pitches, Craig Hansen's inability so far to seize the opportunity handed to him, Mike Lowell's first RBIs of the season, and the inconsistency of the Detroit Tigers.
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. Today's topics: the bizarre balk call that prolonged last night's game (I had already turned the thing off...); the Red Sox' abysmal offensive showing this week; a showdown series against ... Tampa Bay; and the injury problems down in the Bronx.
Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Another dramatic victory
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. Today's topics: A fourth consecutive fine pitching performance offsetting the general offensive futility, Toronto's penchant for beating itself, the latest injury news and the advantages of a potential spring-training move to Sarasota.
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. Today's topics: Last night's ninth-inning victory, Dustin Pedroia as a danger to his own health, up-and-down Jon Lester very much up last night, and Roy Halladay's frustrating world.
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. Today's topics: Jacoby Ellsbury's 17-for-17 stolen-base streak, Bartolo Colon's path back to the mound, the Toronto Blue Jays struggling early in the season, and the latest Roger Clemens scandal.
Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Swept Away in Tampa Bay
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. Today's topics: the five-game losing streak, Tampa Bay's prospects to compete down the road, Josh Beckett and Clay Buchholz giving good outings, and the coming return of Mike Lowell.
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. Today's topics: the illness that is messing up the Red Sox' plans, what to expect from Justin Masterson, and Craig Hansen's 2008 debut.
Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Ellsbury shines vs. L.A.
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. Today's topics: Jacoby Ellsbury's terrific night against the Angels, the Ellsbury-Dustin Pedroia duo looking great, David Pauley's future with the team, and the roster move to come later today.
Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Happy stories all around
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. All's right for the Red Sox fans of the world, as our conversation topics suggest: the team's fast start (same record through 21 games as they had en route to the World Series last year), Jacoby Ellsbury's standout play of late and Julio Lugo responding to the challenge from young Jed Lowrie. Also, Sean provides a briefing on the L.A. Angels, who hit Fenway for three games beginning tonight.
Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Earning the split in New York
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning as from New York. He discusses Manny Ramirez's mastery of Mike Mussina, Kyle Farnsworth's brush-back pitch and possible repercussions down the road, Josh Beckett, similarities between the current editions of the Sox and the Yanks, and why Jonathan Papelbon struggles when the game is not on the line.
Projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam: A long and fruitless night
Last night's was a pretty ugly game, so I guess it's appropriate that today's edition of SoxTalk is sound only, with no pictures. Sean discusses Clay Buchholz's tough night, Chien-Ming Wang's inability to follow up on Friday's excellent effort, Kevin Youkilis' injured foot and the strange scheduling decision by Major League Baseball to have the Yankees finish this season on the road.
Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Another ninth-inning win
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning from as he was en route to the Cleveland airport and a morning flight to New York. He discusses the motivation teams get from late-inning wins, Jason Varitek's early-season power surge, Jed Lowrie's debut, Alex Cora's injured elbow and tonight's Clay Buchholz vs. Chien-Ming Wang matchup.
Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: High drama in Cleveland
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning from chilly Cleveland. He discusses Julian Tavarez, Joe Borowski, Jon Lester, and the David Ortiz-Terry Francona text messaging story.
Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Yankees go home, and now we're off to Cleveland
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning as he was on his way to Cleveland. He discusses the Red Sox bullpen, Daisuke Matsuzaka and the Red Sox' ability to capitalize on Phil Hughes' mistakes, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz and the continued difficult schedule.
Last night: "They were able to score runs in bunches, had three different innings where they scored four runs, and kind of broke out a little bit offensively. That's something they haven't been able to do."
Ortiz: "It may only be 10 games, but ... he really seems lost up there. Some of it may be the surgically repaired knee is not yet 100 percent. He has traditionally been a slow starter, who has said that it usually takes him a little while to find his swing, and it's pretty obvious right now that he hasn't found it yet. And until he does, there are going to have to be others who come through and pick up the slack a little bit."
Cash: "He's very solid fundamentally and defensively. He's not going to provide a lot of offense, but then again neither was [Doug] Mirabelli, and I think they're very happy with the way that Cash not only catches the knuckleball and handles Wakefield, but is available and pretty sound to contribute in other ways when he's behind the plate."
The Yankees: "They are a little banged up. They just got [Jorge] Posada back, and [Derek] Jeter looks like he's going to be out for a few more days. And as a result of a couple of those injuries, the offense really hasn't clicked. ... No one doubts that the Yankees are going to be able to score runs in bunches. They haven't yet ... and maybe the Red Sox are catching the Yankees at the right time this weekend, if they're able to get these games in."
Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: An ugly loss to Detroit
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. He discusses last night's game, Mike Lowell's injury, possible roster replacements for Lowell, the bullpen dilemma and Edgar Renteria, who has hit .342 against the Sox since being booed out of town after the 2005 season.
Here are some excerpts from Sean's comments:
Last night's game: "It was not the best showing for the Red Sox on either side. Jon Lester had control problems, walked four, and that directly cost him. And after geting Bonderman on the ropes early, the offense wasn't able to take much advantage after that; the attack was pretty nonexistent after the third inning."
On Lowell: "He was pretty uncomfortable last night. In fact he needed some help getting his jacket on over his hand and that sprained thumb. ... He'll be reevaluated today, but I think it's clear that were not going to see Mike Lowell for the next few days. I guess for the Red Sox the best case scenario at this point is to stay away from a D.L. visit early in the season, and hope that it can maybe calm down in the next four to five days."
Call-ups if Lowell goes on the DL? "It's not going to be [Chris] Carter, because they do not see him as a first base candidate -- he's had real difficulties over there. [Brandon] Moss could be a possibility to come up, and have Youkilis play third base every day. Another option would be essentially what they did last night, with Casey taking over at first, Youkilis at third and then maybe bringing in somebody like Jed Lowrie to give them some flexiblility; Lowrie can play third as well [as shortstop]."
Aardsma vs. Corey vs. Lopez: "I would have said a week ago that Corey was the guy who probably was going to be kept. ... But he's not helped himself in the last week, either with his showing Saturday in Toronto, or last night when he had a bad inning. For that matter, neither Aardsma nor Lopez have looked sharp of late. So I'm not sure what decisions are going to be made here, but it seems as though neither one of these guys is stepping up and claiming this job for himself."
Renteria, a target of Boston fans: "It seems as if he has used that as some sort of motivation in coming back here, either with Detroit, or playing pretty well against them as a member of the Atlanta Braves. I think it's more evidence that the year he had here was essentially a fluke and that ... hes been a pretty good major league shortstop for 10 years."
Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: The Opening Day victory
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. He discusses the struggling Tigers, Daisuke Matsuzaka, J.D. Drew and Bill Buckner.
Here are some excerpts from Sean's comments:
On the Tigers: "I think it's O.K. to get worried now, if you're Jim Leyland. When you go more than a week into the season and are still without your first win, then that spells trouble, particularly when you're in a division with a team that came within a few outs of the pennant last year -- the Indians -- and other teams that are kind of upstarts, like the Royals."
Matsuzaka attacking the hitters: "I think the problem last year came when he got himself in a situation where he fell behind so often that he was throwing the fastball on hitter's counts, and of course that spells trouble for a pitcher. But they clearly seem to try [this year] to get ahead more with the fastball and let other pitches do the work once he does that."
J.D. Drew's fast start: "If you go back and look at his April last year, the first two or three weeks were pretty good. And the hope if you're the Red Sox is that he continues that hot start this season, and doesn't dip the way he did last year."
On the Buckner tribute: "I thought the time to have Buckner back would have been for the 2005 ceremony, when you're trying to wash away all the sins of the past and put all the curse stuff behind you. To me, yesterday, it seemed out of place. I think the 2007 world championship that they were celebrating yesterday, and I don't want to classify it as just another championship, but it seemed to me that the time for that would have been a few years ago. And I think people forget that Buckner has already been forgiven, back in 1990 when he returned as a player for the second part of his career with the Red Sox. I thought it was a little bit of wallowing in the Red Sox' tragic past, when they should have put all of that behind them."
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning as he was driving to Fenway Park. He discusses the plan for opening day, Bartolo Colon's trip to the disabled list and the continued challenges of juggling Coco Crisp and Jacoby Ellsbury.
Here are some excerpts from Sean's comments:
On today's pregame ceremonies: "The bar has been set pretty high from past pregame extravaganzas, specifically in '05 -- they'll be hardpressed I think to top that from an emotional standpoint, given that that was the first [championship celebration] in 86 years -- but I don't think Red Sox ffans are tired of the ceremonies yet."
On changes at Fenway: "They've done the best with a less than optimum situation. ... I still think -- and maybe this makes me a heretic among Red Sox fans -- but I still think they'd be better off with a new ballpark. But I think financially, they decided that was not viable, so they decided to do the best they can with this, and indeed they have. ... For the first time, this year we can assume that the Red Sox will draw more than 3 million fans, and that's something I think that few people ever imagined possible at Fenway."
On Colon: "I think people got a little too amped up when he had a couple good performances, both for the Red Sox in Los Angeles and, more recently, opening Pawtucket's season. ... I don't think it's going to be much of a setback. I think that it's still quite possible that Colon will be in the rotation by the end of the month."
On Crisp and Ellsbury -- will they continue to get equal playing time? "I don't think it will be equal. I still think that they envision Ellsbury as the guy who is going to take over the job sooner rather than later, but I think early in the year it's smart to keep both of them sharp. It's also not a bad idea to showcase Crisp for some scouts who might be interested in dealing for him. ... Given that Crisp missed so much time in spring training, that sort of made it more difficult to move him, as did the whole Japan and travel and timing issues. So i think eventually they'll get to that, but until they do, they've got to find a way to work it out."
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. He discusses the Red Sox' sorry showing in Toronto as well as the coming series with the 0-6 Detroit Tigers.
Here are some excerpts from Sean's comments:
On the team's travel fatigue: "I think it was inevitable that it would catch up with them at some point. I think the combination of a pretty good team to beat, and maybe the Red Sox sort of collectively hitting the wall right before they got home, combined to result in those three losses."
On Josh Beckett "It's worth remembering that Beckett did not have a traditional spring training. He faced a college team in his first actual start down in Fort Myers at the end of February, and then when he took the mound the next time, that's when the back spasms happened, and he had to scratch himself from what would have been his first real Grapefruit League start. And then everything after that was either in a camp game, a simulated game, a minor-league game -- he never really faced major-league hitters. ... So they understood that he was not going to be at 100 percent [yesterday]. He hadn't maxed out on his arm strength or thrown as many pitches as he normally would have before facing major-league hitters in a regular-season game. So I think that's the explanation for tiring in the fifth inning and having some difficulty, and that resulted in leaving the bases loaded, and things unraveled after that."
On the bullpen: "One of the things I thought was interesting was that you have the fifth inning yesterday, which is hardly the time when you would ordinarily bring in one of your power setup guys that might otherwise be used in the seventh or eighth, and Terry Francona felt compelled to go to him in the fifth. To me that spoke to some issues about perhaps not having a lot of faith right now in the middle guys, and sort of having to use a guy like that far earlier in the game than you might otherwise do."
On the Tigers: "They're not 100-percent healthy ... they're without both Gary Sheffield and Curtis Granderson, so that affects that lineup that everyone knows is going to be pretty fearsome when it gets clicking. And it just seems like they came out of the gate and had everything bad happen to them at once. Bullpen blew a couple of games late ... really nothing has gone very well for them."
Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Colon, Hansen, Wakefield, previewing Toronto
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. He puts last night's events in Pawtucket into context and looks ahead to the weekend series in Toronto.
Here are some excerpts from Sean's comments:
What's next for Colon: "I would think, and this is just conjecture on my part, that they would want at least one more Triple A start for him, if only to build up that pitch count a little bit. ... I would think they would want him to crack that 90-pitch threshold somewhere else other than the big leagues for the first time, and that would translate into at least one more start, and then you're looking at probably the 16th, 17th, 18th of April where he's ready to make his [Boston] debut.
Craig Hansen -- this year's Manny Delcarmen? "I think that's exactly how they envision him. ... They have not given up on this guy, and that's understandable. They invested a lot of money in their number-one pick, signed him to a major league deal to get him signed, rushed him to the big leagues to their detriment -- and his, now it would seem. But anyone who can throw in the mid 90s the way he can, and has the kind of arm and raw ability that he has; they believe he's still salvagable."
Wakefield on the eve of his 14th Red Sox season: "He had a great spring and there are no physical worries on the Red Sox part at all."
Can the Blue Jays contend? "It seems every year we think that this is going to be the year they break through that glass ceiling in the American League East and give the top two teams a real run for their money, and unfortunately for the Blue Jays it seems like every year something happens to derail them. A lot of times it's been injuries, and already they've got Scott Rolen sidelined for a month and [closer B.J.] Ryan not quite ready to go. ... I think Dustin McGowan is going to be one of the guys to keep an eye on in the American League; I really think he could break through into a 15- to 18-game winner this year, and that would give them some additional pitching depth. But the key is keeping everybody healthy. ... If they do, I think they can hang in there at least for a while. Even with their injuries the last couple of years, they've given the Red Sox all they can handle."
Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Wrapping up the Oakland trip
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning, as he was headed for the San Francisco airport and a cross-country flight back to New England. (Steve Krasner will pick up our Red Sox coverage this weekend in Toronto.) Sean discusses Jon Lester, David Ortiz, the Oakland A's future and Bartolo Colon.
Here are some excerpts from Sean's comments:
On Lester:"Even though he did walk three, he did get ahead of most of the hitters and put himself in control to sort of dictate what was going to happen in the at-bats, and you can do that when you can throw strikes with multiple pitches."
On Ortiz: "He did not feel great in Japan -- kind of battled the bug, or a flu, or something -- and wasn't at full strength, in addition to all the demands of the travel. And then you factor in the fact that Ortiz has traditionally been a slow starter; by his own admission it usually takes him a little while to get his swing together when the season starts. So all those things conspired to get him off to a slow start. ... But to be able to knock the first one out and have it be the hit that gave the Red Sox their first two runs yesterday in the seventh inning, must have been something of a relief for him."
On the state of the A's: "They made an awful lot of moves in the offseason, trading Danny Haren, Swisher, Kotsay, and it's clear that they are in a rebuilding mode. When you talk to people in the game, they maintain that Billy Beane did a good job in getting a good inventory of prospects back for those guys, particularly the Haren deal ... and those are the kinds of guys that are going to dictate how good this franchise is going to be in another two, three or four years."
What to expect from Colon tonight: "His velocity was pretty good at Dodger Stadium on Friday night. He was up pretty regularly at 91-92, which is certainly enough for him to be effective at the big-league level. In terms of workload and pitch count, I think they want him to get up to about 75, maybe 80 pitches maximum."
Multimedia: Projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam, from Oakland
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. He discusses Daisuke Matsuzaka, Kevin Youkilis' errorless streak, Jason Varitek, and the latest injury to former Sox ace Pedro Martinez.
Multimedia: Projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam, from Oakland
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. He discusses the the Red Sox' challenges in the month of April, Clay Buchholz's tenuous hold on the fifth starter job, and J.D. Drew's health questions.
Multimedia: Projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam, from Los Angeles
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. He discusses the rocky first outings by Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jon Lester in Japan, Manny Ramirez's new attitude, and Saturday night's freak-show exhibition game at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
Multimedia: Projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam, Monday, March 24
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded today from Tokyo. The topics include the Red Sox' decision to bat Dustin Pedroia leadoff, Mike Timlin's health and what it means for the bullpen, and some lasting memories of Japan.
Today, Sean discusses Jonathan Papelbon's new contract, the general mood around the team this spring, Bartolo Colon's latest bullpen session and Joe Torre's challenges with the Dodgers.
Today, Sean discusses the competition for the fifth starter spot, Bartolo Colon's role in the rotation and Jonathan Papelbon's contract dispute. Click the play button below to see and hear the show; we'll post a transcript of Sean's comments later.
TRANSCRIPT
The fifth starter competition: Is it a competition? "Certainly the first four spots are accounted for, with Beckett, Matsuzaka, Lester and Wakefield. With the fifth spot, you'd have to figure that Clay Buchholz is the odds-on favorite to win that. It would be a natural progression for him, having made a few starts last year, including the no-hitter of course against Baltimore. He did not pitch particularly well in his first outing [of spring training], sort of piggy-backing on Tim Wakefield Sunday afternoon, had a rough first inning in which he allowed four runs, and then settled down and came out and got the side in order in the second inning. So, I think they were happy to see some adjustments. I would say that, while Tavarez and Kyle Snyder remain sort of on the periphery of any sort of competition for the number-five spot, it really is Buchholz, with Colon maybe coming up fast on the rails, given how impressive he's been. We have not seen him in a game situation yet, but they like his arm strength, they like the way he looks so far. We'll know a lot more tomorrow, after his second bullpen session. Following that is either a third bullpen or a live batting practice session, and then they determine when his first game is -- it will probably around the 15th. It's hard to imagine that he could be ready to start the season, and we don't know whether he's going to go to Japan to continue to make some progress, or get left back in Florida to stretch out his arm, but he would seem to be Buchholz's principal competition for that fifth spot, and again, it could be that Buchholz starts the year as the number five, and if he struggles at all, then they have some depth in Colon to make some changes."
Could Colon be a reliever? "I don't see ... there hasn't been any mention of that. In fact, Colon really sort of chafed last year in September, when Mike Scioscia attempted to use him out of the bullpen; he does not like pitching in that role. I'm fairly certain that there was some agreement when he signed his deal here that he would not be asked to pitch out of relief. I think it's starter or bust for him.
Why not just give Papelbon the money? "I think it sets a precedent of sorts for them, where every second- and third-year player who is not yet eligible for salary arbitration could come in and point to Papelbon's more than doubling his salary from $425,500 to 900,000 from his second to third year, and that happens a few times, and it starts adding up to possibly some money. The fact of the matter is that major-league players for the first three years of their big-league careers, the teams have the hammer. They have the power, because players have no leverage or arbitration rights, and after the third year the pendulum swings over dramatically in the players' favor. ... Prior to [years] four, five and six they have the rights to go to arbitration, which owners and executives claim artificially escalates salaraies at a rate higher than should be, and then after six years there's the prospect of free agency. The Red Sox are actually fairly generous with their 0-3 players. You look at what Florida has done with Hanley Ramirez -- here is a guy who had an MVP-caliber year the last couple of years, in two years of service time he's established himself as one of the best young shortstops in the game, and he got renewed at about $440,000 over the weekend. That's $60,000 more than the minimum. The Red Sox will not do that with Jonathan Papelbon, but nor will they give him Ryan Howard-like money, I don't think."
Today, Sean discusses Terry Francona's new contract, the Bartolo Colon acquisition, and the prospects for Jed Lowrie. Click the play button below to see and hear the show; we'll post a transcript of Sean's comments later.
TRANSCRIPT
On Francona's extension: "Certainly it wasn't anyting that they wanted to have dragon once the seaon began, or even later into the exhibition season here, so they took the opportunity when it's a litte quieter in the first couple of weeks to get it taken care of. It was said to be a priority of ownership after the World Series win last October, and as these things tend to do, it got put off and really kind of came together over that last week, where they narrrowed some differences and were able to get it done first thing Sunday morning. I think everyone's glad that it's off the plate and they have Francona under control for as many as six more years, if they wish: the final year of the existing deal, three years that are guaranteed and then two additional team options. So it's conceivable that Terry Francona could be the manager of this team all the way through 2013, which would be quite a run for any franchise, but particularly this one."
What should we expect from Colon, and what are his chances of making the team at some point? " think that second one is very difficult to answer, Mike. He has not done a lot in the last three weeks since pitching in the Caribbean World Series, so they kind of have to start him from scratch, from long toss to bullpen sessions to live BP and then ultimately in some games later this month. But it's a project that they think is worthwhile, given that only three years ago this was the American Cy Young Award winner. The last two years he's been limited by injuries and ... I don't think his conditioning is probably going to be working in his favor here. The Red Sox are braced for the fact that he's going to be pretty big. I think the Red Sox have been told as much as a preemptive warning. But he's always been a guy, as Theo Epstein said yesterday, that pitches with a pretty big body and it hasn't affected him. My only comment to that would be, it gets a little difficult as you get into your mid to late 30s to carry that excessive weight. We've seen guys that have struggled with it, guys like Sid Fernandez with the Mets back in the 80s and early 90s, that got so big that he was putting additional stress on his knees, and you know, it becomes problematic. You can get away with that in your 20s; as you get older it makes it tougher."
What does Jed Lowrie need to do to get to the big leagues? "Well, I think it's really just playing time and experience. He's had a pretty quick rise through the organization, last year was at both Double A, then finished up in Triple A the last couple of months. I think the problem with him is that there is no obvious in the immediate future opening for him. You've got Dustin Pedroia, who was the Rookie of the Year last year, is going to be the second baseman for some time. You've got Julio Lugo, who's got three years left plus some options on his long-term deal, and you've got Mike Lowell, who just signed a three-year extension. So the three positions that Lowrie could conceivably help out in are spoken for for the time being, and so for that matter is the utility spot of Alex Cora, who the Red Sox love. He's got a two-year deal that is up after this year, but i think the Red Sox would be very much interested in bringing him back and having him fill that role, so you wonder if there's much of a future here for Lowrie, or if he gets put in a deal. His name certainly came up quite a bit in the offseason in the Johan Santana talks, so it will be interesting to see where he fits in, if at all. But the Red Sox like him; in fact francona the other day was making some comparisons to Dustin Pedroia: they both played at Pac-10 schools, they're both middle infielders and they're both pretty polished players. But the tough part, as I said, is figuring out where Lowrie fits in in the immediate future here."
In our first edition of SoxTalk for the 2008 season, Sean discusses the handicap the Red Sox already face with Curt Schilling injured, just how much the team is paying attention to the Mitchell fallout, the Terry Francona contract talks and what is in store for the rest of this week. Click the play button below to hear and see the show.
