Kotsay waived for LaRoche, Holliday to Cards

In order to make room for the newly acquired Adam LaRoche, the Red Sox placed 1B/OF Mark Kotsay on waivers today. If he clears, the move allows the Sox to option Kotsay to Pawtucket. It would also qualify him to be traded after the July 31 deadline. This leaves Rocco Baldelli as the only backup outfielder on the 25-man roster; that can’t remain the case for long; the only other emergency outfielder on this roster is Kevin Youkilis.

For those of you predicting a Theo Epstein masterstroke by the trade deadline, one of our targets has been traded already. LF Matt Holliday has been reportedly shipped to the Cardinals for top 3B prospect Brett Wallace and two other prospects.

Wakefield to the DL; who loses their roster spot?

Clay Buchholz made the start last night in place of Tim Wakefield, who is battling minor back issues on the DL. In his second attempt, Buch didn’t exactly wow us, lasting only four innings against the Rangers. I’m not panicking, but you see why the Sox weren’t quite committed to go with him the whole season. A few of those short starts, and that bullpen starts getting taxed very quickly.

Sox trade for Adam LaRoche

Leave it to Theo Epstein to wait until I publish my treatise on Hank Blalock to announce that he’s traded for Adam LaRoche of the Pirates. Pittsburgh will pony up some cash, and receive minor league SS Argenis Diaz and P Hunter Strickland in the deal. Now for the obligatory analysis:

The Case for Hank Blalock

Alright, I’ve had some time to think this through, and I think the Sox should go after Hank Blalock. Here are some of my reasons why:

Links: Papi keeps popping, utilizing Baldelli, Ellsbury keeps running

David Ortiz hit yet another homer today, and surpassed 300 for his career this week. Congratulations to the big lug.

Rocco Baldelli was spotted taking grounders at first base. this makes a lot of sense in case Mike Lowell can’t return to health; Youkilis could move across the diamond and Baldelli would be a right-handed complement to Mark Kotsay at first. Kudos to Baldelli for being willing to do whatever the team needs. Those Sox, always thinking ahead.

Jacoby Ellsbury conditioned himself better this offseason, and unlike last year, has no intention of slowing his stolen base pace this year. He was safe at the plate on that play he was thrown out of the game for, BTW.

The Sox signed three more right-handed pitchers: Mario Alcantara and Raul Alcantara (no relation) out of the Dominican Republic, and Chez Angeloni out of Johns Hopkins.

Links: Sox on the mend, Francona’s health

Mark Kotsay. Now that’s a name you haven’t heard much of lately. But Kotsay is scheduled to return to the Major League roster this Tuesday. It looks like Jeff Bailey’s run as our 1B/OF reserve is over, unless something unexpected happens, like David Ortiz hits the DL or something like that.

Papi goes yard, Sox down Jays

The home run drought is over. Mercifully, it’s over. Maybe now David Ortiz can relax some and stop flailing at pitches out of the zone that he has no business flailing at. Maybe now he can stop overswinging and get back into his groove. Maybe now sports journalists like Jim Donaldson can stop the crazy talk about dropping Papi to 7th or trading for his replacement. With Kevin Youkilis and Daisuke Matsuzaka ready to return, this may signal a resurrection for the Sox, who have been uneven at times.

Linkage: Big Papi, Lugo, Beckett and more

Maybe the biggest story of the year offensively is the absence of David Ortiz’s power. Batting a mere .222/.319/.333, he has yet to jack a single pitch out of any stadium this year. Papi has been scuffling since a very slow start, swinging aggressively, striking out and getting popped up a lot. Much has been made of his 100 AB homerless drought, the longest of his career, but there are still signs that the lovable slugger may be okay yet. Since  April 15th, Ortiz is batting .243/.325/.400 with 9 doubles and a triple. His walk rate is increasing, and he’s hitting a healthy 21.3% line drives, which should all reflect in his numbers eventually. Francona, of course, is steadfast in his support of Ortiz, and has not moved him from the three hole at all. I’m in agreement with that, though I’d consider sitting him a day here and a day there, just to help him clear his head.

Links: Anticipating Opening Day

The Sox roster looks to be set, with Nick Green filling the role of utility infielder in the absence of Julio Lugo and Chris Carter being the left-handed 1B/LF off the bench until Mark Kotsay returns. I hope Carter hits a ton and wins the job outright, but that’s me.

Links: Varitek decision looms, injured pitcher value

Well, it looks like we’ll know who will be our starting catcher in 2009 by tomorrow. The deadline is tomorrow morning for Tek to accept or reject the Sox’ one-year, $5M offer with a $5M team option or $3M player option for 2010. It looks like a 50/50 chance right now, with the retirement option still out there. Michael Silverman doesn’t think we need to panic even if he opts not to sign.