Jason Varitek

Thanks for making the division interesting for a month or two. We'll take the lead now.



GO YANKS!

Too me that is a devastating injury for them. Yes they still have Papi, ManRam,Beckett,Schilling and other quality players but IMHO JV is the main ingrediant....the Captain. I think Boston will miss him badly....especially in the stretch run now.

He is captain of the team--I'm sure his presence is going to be sorely missed.

In related news, their RF "Jungle" Rot Nixon has been placed on the DL as well.

Until I heard about Varitek's injury, I really did not realize how many injuries the Red Sox have at the moment...and losing Vartiek will sure hurt the Sox...and might hurt the pitchers as well (I do not know a lot about the backup for the Sox, whether he is good defensively or not or calls a good game, etc)

You never want to see injuries like this, even if I am a Yankees fan

Mirrabelli is the backup, losing varitek could set the pitching back,maybe.

Yeah, I could see the pitching staff missing him. He will still be around the clubhouse, so his leadership (at least off the field) will be there. At the plate, though, Varitek has been atrocious this year. He is at .243 (which may be his high-water mark) and has 11 homers.

They have to be nervous that they didn't create any separation from the Yanks while NY went through their massive injury stretch. The BoSox are starting to lose guys while the Yanks will start to get guys back. Plus, Theo was scared to pull the trigger at the deadline, while the Yanks picked up a decent arm and a solid bat. I wouldn't be surprised if the Red Sox hung around, but I would be surprised if they won the East or the WC. Epstein should've gotten another starter, IMO.

I smell 8 AL East titles in a row

Never has there been a team as lucky as the Sux. Never. This is what, the 10th time this year they've won on a walk-off?

Hmmmm...

Red Sox Pursuing Javy Lopez

Newspapers from both Boston and Baltimore are confirming that the Red Sox have contacted the Orioles about catcher Javy Lopez. The 35 year-old Lopez has only caught twenty games this season, but he could certainly provide acceptable offense for the rest of the month until Jason Varitek comes back.

Red Sox Need A Catcher

Jason Varitek needs knee surgery, and WEEI in Boston is saying he may be out 4-6 weeks. I'm sure Will Carroll will have the definitive word on this Wednesday morning.

In the meantime, the Red Sox are scrambling for a catcher who can hit above the Mendoza line. They're going to have to shop for the high-salary, waiver-passing guys. Who's available?

Javy Lopez is the first name that comes to mind. Lopez wants a flat-out release, but the Orioles won't do that. According to the Baltimore Sun, the team would like to pass him through waivers and cover some, but not all, of his salary in a trade. He's only caught 20 games this year. There's always the possibility the Yankees put in a claim on Lopez just to thwart the Sox. Lopez has worked with current Yankees Jaret Wright and Sidney Ponson before.

Bengie Molina was a name thrown out by Jerry Crasnick today as a possible waiver trade candidate. Molina makes $5MM on the season and the Jays are 6.5 games back (3-7 in their last ten games).

Mike Lieberthal is in the last year of a huge contract with the Phillies. Liebs has experience catching Mike Timlin and Curt Schilling. As a 10 and 5 player he can reject any waiver claim.

Jason LaRue is a player the Reds wouldn't mind sending off. He makes $3.9MM this year and $5.2MM in '07. LaRue is not happy as Dave Ross's backup.

Rod Barajas is being pushed aside in Texas, and he'll hit free agency after the season. He was a teammate of Curt Schilling's for several years in Arizona.

I've stayed away from these pissing contests as of late but something about cheese top go with what you are saying comes to mind...

I love when Boston or NYM fans cry about the Yankees going out and buying players whenever they get in trouble. A huge salary to rent Javy for a month? Boston can afford it. These teams are all rich enough that they can even pick up somebody they don't want just so that another team doesn't get him.

Trust me, I'm not pissed about it. I understand the economics of the game, and that's just the way it works. It just strikes me as funny when fans of the Mets and Sox criticize the Yanks (who are the worst offenders, BTW) for something they all do.

I suppose the whole point is to put the best team on the field that your financials allow. The difference is that the big markets have the luxury of making mistakes with high-priced players, while the small-timers don't.

I don't know if I would equate picking up Lopez to a team that needs a catcher to a team loading up on players it probably didn't need. (not sure if Lidle is an answer & Abreu is getting paid way too much for his recent production)

I get your point though. I actually was applauding the Yanks for getting it done with role players to surround their stars, but as it turns out that wasn't good enough and it is back to piling up as many all-stars as possible. I still think NY could have used an upgrade at pitcher but I suppose a post-season rotation of RJ, Moose, Wang and Lidle won't be so bad. I don't think anyone will be able to match up with Det/Min/Chi, which ever teams make it.

Nah, I was actually referring to the Yanks here...The article mentioned that they might make a play at Lopez just so the Sawx can't get him, and have to play Mirabelli and his .185 average. But that's something the Sawx would do right back at the Yanks if they had the chance. I actually heard the only reason the White Sox were interested in Soriano was because they were scared the Tigers would get him. I'm not sure the Twins would pick up Javy Lopez with his huge salary if Joe Mauer got hurt last night.

It's kind of like the ARod deal...I wasn't mad the Yanks got him, but I mean damn! The guy isn't even playing his real position! He won a GG at short, and the Yanks said, "Well, Aaron Boone tore his knee. Let's go get the best shortstop in the league and have him play third for us."

ARod and his $25 million to the Yanks is not frustrating. ARod to the Yanks to play a different position because they already had an $18 million shortstop is frustrating. But it is what it is. The small timers have to invest their money in the farm and in the scouts, and they have to be POSITIVE they are right when making a splash in the free agent market.

The Yanks are percentage points ahead of the Sox right now, so a move would be quite timely, because of the whole waiver rule about worst to first. I like Beer-a-Belly, and his batting average (this year) is not indicative of his career but we are one injury away from having a Huckaby as a full time player. I wouldn't even mind a player like Larue at this point. I just hope something gets done.