No Japan trip for Beckett, Dice-K will start opener

It’s official: Josh Beckett will not be making the season opening trip to Japan.

Said Terry Francona:

Beckett threw off the mound yesterday for the first time since injuring his back, and by all accounts the exercise was a success.

Dice-K Matsuzaka, whose wife gave birth to a baby boy on Saturday, now has clearance to travel to Japan and will pitch in the opener vs. the Athletics.

Lester will start game 2.

It should be a pretty special day for Matsuzaka, as he’ll be throwing in front of his countrymen for the first time since defecting to the Major Leagues last year. 

Beckett’s back worsens, Crisp and Lugo still hurt

Josh Beckett’s back flared up today, and he feels pretty pessimistic about his chances of pitching soon.

At this point it seems unlikely that Beckett will be making the trip to Japan, which was my original fear. 

In other injury news, Coco Crisp didn’t take batting practice today because his left groin is still sore.

Damnit Coco, don’t you know it’s hard to trade you when you can’t play?

And why stop there?

Lugo is still out with a sore back. He was expected to take some swings today, but didn’t show up at BP.

Meanwhile, I’m waiting for a smallpox epidemic to hit camp.

Inching towards the panic button

If you had asked me one month ago to name the strongest component of the 2008 Red Sox, I wouldn’t have given it a second’s thought. The rotation, you idiot. We’s gots teh Buchholz and we’s gots teh Lester, we don’t need no stinking Santana!

Contrast that winter optimism to today, where if you asked me what the team’s strong point was, I’d say, “we have a strong point?”

Before you rush to any judgments on my character, let me clarify by saying that I pride myself in being a rational baseball fan 95% of the time. I rarely get caught up in media hype, I hate Tim McCarver, and I never panic during a losing skid (unless that losing skid comes in the first or last week of the season, or during the playoffs). So I do know that I’m being irrational right now, which in many ways is worse than not knowing it.

I feel like Edward Norton when he’s going to fight club for the first time. He knows that he’s about to do something that will cause him a tremendous amount of pain, but can’t stop himself so he just does it anyway. That’s me right now.

Let me give you an example of how messed up I am about this:

Last night I actually caught myself thinking, “I really hope Colon has a great outing this week because we need him.”

The logical part of my brain is telling me that it’s too early to be in panic mode. It’s telling me that spring training performance isn’t much of an indicator of anything, that we see more pitchers per 9 innings than we do in an All-Star game. But damnit, the regular season starts in two short weeks, our rotation is not looking good, and it’s never too early to be worried.

For the sake of making myself crazy(er), let’s go over what’s happened to our rotation since the start of spring training:

1. We learned that Schilling may never pitch again.

2. Lester, Buchholz and Matsuzaka look like they’re fighting for the final spot on the Boston College team the Red Sox pummeled last week.

3. Beckett hurt his back (Francona did say today that the injury is muscular in nature, which is good, but does nothing to extinguish my fears).

The lone bright spot at the moment is Tim Wakefield.

Now, I love Wake as much as anybody else, but when the best thing you can say about the present state of your rotation is that your 41-year-old knuckleballer is looking pretty solid in spring training, that isn’t exactly the highest level of flattery that you can bestow.

We’re going to be fine. Seriously. Beckett will be back within the week, Lester and Buchholz will get it together, and Dice-K will get his head on straight once the baby comes.

I want to believe.

Josh Beckett injures back

Josh Beckett injured his back during warm ups before today’s game vs. the Marlins.

Beckett limped to the dugout after the injury, and will undergo further examination by the medical staff.

Back problems have sidelined Beckett before in the past, so the situation is a little scary. Hopefully he’s just experiencing back spasms or a minor tweak.

Missing a few spring training outings could potentially push back his regular season debut.

Beckett Bowl is packed. Cash date set for July 10th

The 2008 Beckett Bowl has been announced.

Last year’s event raised $275,000 for the Children’s Hospital in Boston, so it’s a pretty cool thing.

“We’re looking forward to building on last year’s success to make an even greater impact,” Beckett said.

The celebrity event will be held on July 10th, with bowling beginning at 5 PM and the after party starting at 8.

You can’t get in, but you should be able to snag an autograph or two if that’s your thing.

At the very least, you could throw something at Boston Rob, who will probably be in attendance.

Preferably something heavy.

Red Sox won’t re-sign Beckett?

Less than a week after the Mets finalized their record-breaking deal with Johan Santana ($22.92 million a year), at least one Red Sox official’s sticker shock has resigned him to the idea that the club won’t be able to retain Josh Beckett after the 2010 season.

“We’d better enjoy [Josh] Beckett the next three years...Because we won’t be able to sign him after his deal is up after 2010.”

I don’t know exactly what position you have to fill in to be considered an “official” (managment? club house attendant? urinal mint manager?), but this sounds like a hopelessly stupid statement to make at this point in time.

Beckett had a fantastic 2007, and he has as much talent as anyone in baseball. But he’s already 27, and would turn 31 during the spring of 2011. Who signs a thirty-one-year-old pitcher to a 6 year $150 million dollar deal?

Further, Beckett would have to pitch three more equally awesome seasons before he’s in Santana’s class. He certainly has the talent to do it, but talent can only take you as far as your health will allow, and nobody knows how Beckett will hold up as he enters his 30s.

He has already spent a considerable amount of time on the disabled list for a twenty-seven-year-old pitcher. Granted, his injuries have been minor, but do you invest $150 million in a player with a history of finger blisters when each blister dock his annual value by 2-3 starts?

And why couldn’t the Red Sox afford him in 2010? We have very little idea what their roster will look like at that time, or even what the salary market will be. The one thing we do know is that the Sox will continue to play in one of the biggest markets in baseball, and should maintain their status near the top of the MLB payroll chain.

The Beckett/Santana comparison really isn’t valid at this point. Speculating on a 2010 roster move before the 2008 season even starts is just stupid.

5 stupid points are awarded to the Red Sox “official.”

1 stupid point is awarded to Gammons for relaying the quote.

10 stupid points are awarded to me for further speculating about it.

Beckett and Dice-K could start first four games of 2008 season for Red Sox

It’s never too early to start speculating, so let’s take a look at the Red Sox’ schedule for the beginning of the 2008 season and play a game of “guess the rotation.”

3/25 – Opening Day @Oakland (Japan)
3/26 - @ Oakland (Japan)
3/27 – off
3/28 - exhibition game
3/29 - exhibition game
3/30 - exhibition game
3/31 - off
4/1 - @Oakland
4/2 - @Oakland

With the way the schedule works out, Beckett and Dice-K could pitch the first four regular season games with six days off between starts.

Here’s the proposed rotation, and I expect the Sox will roll with this if everyone is healthy and present:

3/25 – Beckett
3/26 - Dice-K
3/27 – off
3/28 - Schilling
3/29 - Wakefield
3/30 - Lester
3/31 - off
4/1 - Beckett (6 days rest)
4/2 - Dice-K ( 6 days rest)
4/3 – off
4/4 – Schilling (6 days rest)

Of course, there’s the possibility that Dice-K won’t make it to Japan if his baby hasn’t been born yet. If that happens, then the rotation would probably look something like this:

3/25 – Beckett
3/26 - Schilling
3/27 – off
3/28 - Wakefield
3/29 - Lester
3/30 – Buchholz (it would be a great exhibition start for him, even if he starts in AAA)
3/31 - off
4/1 - Beckett (6 days rest)
4/2 – Dice-K
4/3 – off
4/4 – Schilling (8 days rest)

It’s also possible that the Red Sox would leave their 3-5 starters at home for the trip to Japan and start AAA guys in the exhibition games, but I don’t think the club will decide to do this. With the shortened Spring Training schedule, I think they’ll throw their top guys out there for the extra start before the season begins.

Despite my initial pessimism about starting the season in Japan, this trip could end up being beneficial to the Sox.

It sure won’t feel like Opening Day on March 25th, though.