COVERITLIVE.COM

11:55

Boston.com - Hi chatters. Chad will be here in a moment, but feel free to start submitting your questions now.

12:08

Chad Finn - Hey gang -- Thanks for stopping by as always. Don't know about you, but I'll never look at Patriot Place the same way again. Well done, Randy Cross. Well done. Anyway, let's get right to the questions . . .

12:09

[Comment From John]
Looks like Drew might not be that bad a player. Remember he has been clutch in the playoffs, and in big games

12:11

Chad Finn - All right, we'll give him his due right off the bat -- great performance last night be the scourge of all irrational Trot Nixon fans, and he's actually on an excellent run the last few weeks, with an OPS right around 1.000. I've said it many times, I like Drew as a ballplayer a lot -- he does many things well. But you just can't rely on him, which is also something we saw last weekend when he asked out of a game when the Sox were short on bench players. When Terry Francona is publicly incredulous, you know you've done something wrong.

12:12

[Comment From Brendan666]
Hey Chad, let's talk Yankees for a second. In the second half, they are 25-8 .758, 14-4 in August, and 6.5 games up in the East. Also in the 2nd half, Capt. CalmEyes is batting .357 5HR, Cano is batting .325 5HR, Teixeira is batting .302 10HR 26RBI, Damon is batting .308 6HR, Sabathia is 6-1 2.86ERA .234BA, Phil Hughes has a 1.69ERA in 16INN w/ a 14.1SO/9, Andy Pettitte has a 2.04ERA in 6 starts. Besides Wang being done, and Gardner being on the DL with a broken finger, They are practically 100% healthy, and on fire. Questions. Can they keep this up? Can they stay healthy? Do they run away with the division and steamroll everyone in the playoffs? Or, does this team hit at least one more slumping stretch before the regular season is up? I know you can't really predict injuries, but dosen't baseball usually work that way with guys going down? They're scary.

12:14

Chad Finn -

Wow, way to do your homework, Brendan. Suzyn Waldman and John Sterling don't even do that much preparation. To answer the question, though, I think it's fairly resonable to assume the division belongs to the Yankees. Six and a half games is not an insurmountable lead, but the Sox probably have to sweep this weekend to have a reasonable hope of winning the division. And the pitching matchups just don't suggest that such a thing is likely.

12:16

Chad Finn - The Yankees are legitimately a very good team. But by no means should the AL be conceded to them. They've got a lot of key players with iffy big-game resumes -- Sabathia, A-Rod, and Burnett hasn't proven anything yet. I still feel like the Sox could take them down in October. And I know the Angels can.

12:16

[Comment From AJinME]
Now thats the Sox line-up I wanna see just about every night....Does Tito see the light or is this just temporary until Varitek can play even if the offense continues to produce? I think I know the answer to this....and thats what scares me.......

12:18

Chad Finn - I'm with you, A.J. I feel Tito will still use Varitek more than he should -- which is anything more than twice per week. The encouraging thing is that Lester pitched brilliantly last night with Martinez behind the plate, so maybe Tek becomes Beckett's personal catcher, gets some time on day games after night games and when Lowell and Papi need a rest. That's the ideal scenario. They just can't afford to have his dead bat in the lineup any more.

12:18

[Comment From Dennis]
What is worse - listening to Felger pine for "Vrabes", or the Mike Adams show?

12:20

Chad Finn -

I actually agree with Felger and his conspiracy theory about Vrabel. Given his versatility and intelligence, it's increasingly curious or surprising that he's gone while Bruschi, who is a liability at anything besides tackling a ballcarrier at the ankles after an 8-yard-gain, remains. Vrabel is a much, much better player, even though he's declining, too. So indirectly, the answer is listening to Planet Mikey.

12:21

Chad Finn - To be completely honest, I feel bad every time I criticize Adams. People who know him say he's a hell of a nice guy. But then I listen to the show again, and after about three fart jokes, that twinge of guilt is gone.

12:21

[Comment From Juice]
Hi Chad. Up until last night, Ortiz and Victor Martinez were tied for HRs. Kinda surprising, given the contrast in attitudes towards the two. Yes, Ortiz is getting paid a ton, plays a position where he MUST produce, and has a much lower batting average, but all things considered, maybe he's not having THAT god-awful of a year.

12:24

Chad Finn - He's not -- he had a terrible start, and since then, he's either been good or been all or nothing, meaning he'll hit an occasional home run and nothing else. But he has some impressive numbers, some of which I used in the Tek column the other day. Offhand, I believe one of them was that he has the second-most homers in the AL since June 6 (after Kendry Morales), and is tied for second in RBIs. If the Sox have their best lineup on the field, Papi's batting sixth or seventh, and you can certainly live with that kind of production at that spot in the order. It's insane that some people think Tek's intangibles behind the plate are worth more than Papi or Lowell's production.

12:25

[Comment From Craig]
Not to forecast too much - but do you see the Red Sox looking to lock up VMart after this season? His impact has been great on this team....

12:26

Chad Finn - That's a good question. Haven't heard any talk along those lines, but it certainly makes sense. You know Theo has a pretty good idea of what he expects this lineup to look like two years from now, and you have to figure Martinez is a very big part of that, even if he's only a part-time catcher at that point.

12:26

[Comment From Dave]
I liked last night's lineup. How long will Tito go with it?

12:27

Chad Finn - Until Tek grits his teeth, scowls, looks Tito's way, and sends him the subliminal message to put him back in the lineup. Telepathy is another of his intangibles, you know.

12:27

[Comment From Kenny]
I'm not a Tito basher, he is probably the best manger in Red Sox history, but he should have taken advantage of the recent off days and set up the rotation so Lester and Beckett both go against the Yankees this weekend.

12:30

Chad Finn - Completely agree, Kenny. If I have it right, Penny would have been on regular rest last night anyway, and it wouldn't be a bad thing for Lester to get an extra day. I realize that the Sox don't like to give the impression that games with the Yankees are any more important that any other game, but in this case, they're wrong. The Yankees have two advantages and one draw in the pitching matchups in this series, and given that the Sox must take at least two of three to have any hope of catching them in the division, they should have made the logical alteration.

Page 1 Next >