The Boston Red Sox currently have eight players on the 60 day DL and five players on the 25 day DL. Among those players, there are some key stars like Jacoby Ellsbury, Carl Crawford and Kevin Youkilis. There are also a few players like  Aaron Cook and Daisuke Matsuzaka that could be significant contributors if healthy, but there is not room on either the 40 man roster or the 25 man roster without some players being demoted and the Red Sox do not have many players with remaining options.

A few of the moves are fairly predictable. Che-Hsuan Lin, the defensively gifted centerfield prospect is certainly headed back for Pawtucket when the team needs to free up a spot. However, beyond Lin, there are not obvious candidates to be demoted once Youkilis, Matsuzaka and Cook are ready to return. That could happen as soon as this week as Youkilis is 2-5 in his rehab starts for Pawtucket and will be returning some time this week according to Bobby Valentine. Masuzaka is expected to make a rehab start on Tuesday, but that may be delayed. He cannot make another start after that date however, as there is a 30 day limit to minor league rehab assignments and Tuesday will mark the end of that period for Daisuke. Cook threw a bullpen session today and should also be make a rehab start within the week. He is on a minor league deal but he also has a June 1^st opt out date.

The simple solution for Youkilis’ return would be to option Will Middlebrooks, one of the few Red Sox with options available back to Pawtucket. There has been some resistance to that in the media, but it is almost certainly the best option for both Middlebrooks and the team. However, there are far fewer options to help the Red Sox accommodate the pitchers coming back. No member of the starting rotation has options left, so even if the Red Sox wanted to option Felix Doubront or Daniel Bard, they would need to pass through waivers before they could join theAAA and that is simply not going to happen.

The same is true for almost every member of the bullpen. The Red Sox had to option Scott Atchison  during the off-season, but the way he has pitched lately, he is almost certain to be claimed. Justin Thomas, who was easily one of the Red Sox worst relievers, was claimed on waivers by the New York Yankees after he was designated for assignment. The two members of the bullpen who can still be optioned are Rich Hill, Vicente Padilla and Andrew Miller, since all are on minor league deals. However, Padilla and Miller have been two of the most important relievers in the bullpen since the unit turned itself around and even if Daniel Bard were placed back in the bullpen, they would deserve to stay. Hill could be optioned but he may be better than the other available lefty, If the Red Sox are going to find a place for Cook or Matsuzaka, they are going to loss a player like Matt Albers or Franklin Morales. The situation is further complicated by the presence of some very capable relievers in Junichi Tazawa, Clayton Mortensen and Mark Melancon.

With the coming roster crunch, the Red Sox may become active on the trade market. Though Kevin Youkilis is the big name there, dealing a player like Hill, Morales or Padilla may be more realistic. The Red Sox added a great deal of pitching depth this off-season and that strategy is one of the reasons they have been able to turn their bullpen around, but it has also led to a logjam on the roster sheet. This week is going to be the first of several weeks where the Red Sox will need to make some tough choices about who stays and who may need to go.

Jacob Peterson of Beyond the Boxscore did a study last June 26th entitled, “Identifying the Streakiest Teams in MLB” and found that to that point the Boston Red Sox had been the streakiest team in baseball. At that point, the Red Sox were rolling with a 45-32 record that put them just ½ a game out of first place in the AL East. Though the results have been different thus far this year, the team is once again extremely streaky. Peterson’s methodology counted every win or loss after the first two games of a winning or losing streak. By that methodology, the 2011 Red Sox had 31 “streak games” 22 streak wins and 9 streak losses by June 26.

Using the same methodology, the 2012 Boston Red Sox have already had 15 streak games. They have 8 streak wins and 7 streak loses thus far, a rare positive sign in what has been a frustrating season. If the Red Sox continue to play as streaky as they have, they will nearly duplicate their streakiness of last season, reaching 29 streak games by the 77^th game,  the point at which Peterson’s study occurred. That would likely make them one of the streakiest teams in baseball once again.

Just what has led the Red Sox to be so streaky is hard to define, but the inconsistency of their starters is an easy suspect. As we have seen this year, top starters Josh Beckett and Jon Lester can be dominate for a few games and then extremely hittable for a few games. The team has struggled to find back end starters that can give them consistent results and therefore, they tend to rely on their lineup to carry them two or three times through the rotation.  Whether or they are winning or losing , the Red Sox have been extremely streaky for several years now. That tendency has not changed with the overhaul of the coaching staff and the front office and it does not appear that it will.

The 2012 Red Sox may be a good deal better than they have appeared thus far this year, but one thing they are not going be is consistent. Whatever has made the Boston Red Sox one of the streakiest teams in baseball, it is not going away. The front office would do when to understand this better and find a way to bring more consistency to the team.

Back in January, Scott Atchison designated for assignment to make room for Cody Ross. The 36 year old righty had to clear waivers to remain with the Boston Red Sox and all 29 other teams passed on him. Since returning from Japan, where he pitched from 2008-2009, Atchison had become an organizational solider for the Boston Red Sox, moving back and forth between Boston and AAA Pawtucket as needed and pitching as a spot starter and mop up man when needed. His career 3.70 ERA and 3.85 FIP do not make him an elite reliever, and before this season, Atchison seemed destined to life on the borderline of the major leagues.

This season, however, something has changed. It would wrong to overlook the element of luck in Scott Atchison’s success this year. He has a .232 BABIP and a left-on-base percentage of 91.8%, both of which are not sustainable going forward. However, Atchisonhas shown a few tenancies that indicate he may be slightly better than the pitcher who first returned from Japan. His control has been getting better and better since his return to MLBand his strike out rate has been climbing up as well. Over his last 79 innings, he has a K/BB ratio of 3.43, comparable to elite relievers like Kimbrel, Andrew Bailey  and Ryan Madson. Add to that a GB% of 52.4% in the last calendar year and you have a one time replacement level pitcher who, at 36 years old, is becoming a force in the late innings.

Atchison’s best quality is not his stuff, however. While heavier reliance on his curve and his slider/cutter hybrid have raised his punch outs, he is most valuable to the Red Sox because he can pitch multiple innings. Atchison is now finding himself filling an important role in the bullpen, the role that Alfredo Aceves played last year. In 2011, the current closer pitched 114 innings, 93 of them in relief. Ace averaged over an inning and a third out of the bullpen and helped Terry Francona  deal with the his pitcher’s inability to go deep into game. This season Atchison is on pace to pitch almost 99 innings and appear in 71 games, a very similar workload to Aceves.

Atchison is a guy that is easy to root for. He signed with Boston in 2010 primarily so that he could be closer to his then-two year old daughter who was being treated for a rare bone disorder in the Boston area. He has done everything the team has asked of him, shuttling back and forth between the minors and the big league club as needed. At 36, he may not have much time left as a big league pitcher, but it would be great to see to him spend his final few seasons as a key member of the Boston Red Sox new and improved bullpen.

Eighteen days later, the story is completely different. Since May 1, the Boston Red Sox have had the best bullpen in all of baseball. Red Sox relievers have combined for 65 innings in the month, the third highest total and posted a 1.51 ERA, the best in the game. The turnaround is not all luck either. The Sox pen has the third best FIP in that time as well, at 2.74. The team has even been forced to keep two extremely effective relievers, Junichi Tazawa and Clayton Mortensen down in AAA Pawtucket due to the lack of options among their other relievers. Even without injured closer-to-be Andrew Bailey  and struggling setup man Mark Melancon, Boston has once again found a way to assemble a strong group of relievers to keep them in close games and preserve wins.

The difference is a combination of improved performance from some pitchers and the addition of a few new faces. Closer Alfredo Aceves has settled in to his new role now and has struck out 16 and walked just four since that epic collapse against the Yankees. In fact in May, Aceves has nearly a clone of 2011 closer Jonathan Papelbon, with a 10.80 K/9 rate and just a 2.70 BB/9 rate, good for a FIP of 1.77 to match his 1.80 ERA. Vicente Padilla has become the go-to high leverage reliever after Aceves and he has responded with an excellent run in May posting a 2.57 ERA and a 2.39 FIP. Lefty Andrew Miller has become more than just a LOOGY for Bobby Valentine since being called up earlier this month. While he may not maintain his fantastic 1.42 BB/9 rate, he is now matching his big time strike out ability with better control and he looks to be emerging as a quality late inning reliever at long last.

The biggest surprise however has been Scott Atchison. After spending his career as a spot starter and mop up guy, Atchison has been anything but a replacement level arm so far this year. His season ERA is just 1.13 and that is backed by a 2.51 FIP. Bobby Valentine has learned to trust him this month, giving him the ball more than anyone else in the pen with 11 2/3 innings in May. Atchison has responded by holding opponents scoreless in those innings, thanks largely to his miniscule 0.77 BB/9. Atchison is almost certainly pitching over his head, but he also appears to have improved his groundball abilities and combined with his control, that makes him an excellent bullpen arm and someone deserving of his current workload.

While this is an extremely short sample, much of what is happening now appears sustainable. Aceves is throwing harder than ever before in his new role and the strike outs should continue to pile up for him. Padilla and Atchison are both getting some good luck right now, but they also have the control and strike out ability to remain quality late inning relievers for Boston. If Miller has indeed figured out how to repeat his mechanics enough to maintain some semblance of control, he will be setup man or closer down the road as his stuff is the definition of nasty. Combine these strong performances with the possibility of some new blood later in the year in the form of Bailey, Mortensen and Tazawa and the Red Sox most glaring weakness early on could wind up being a major strength from here until October.

While David Ortiz is not a great option as an everyday first baseman, he is capable enough to handle the position for a game or two, and with his red hot bat and his new an improved ability to hit left handed pitching, playing him in place of Gonzalez for a game or two makes sense. However, playing Adrian Gonzalez in right field is a big risk. Gonzalez has played just 13 innings there, all last year as Terry Francona indulged in the same gamble that Bobby Valentine recently claimed he would make. Gonzalez did not make an out as a right fielder last year and thankfully he avoided injury as well. Playing him in right adds unnecessary risk while giving the team just a small plus on the offensive side.

In the coming series against the Phillies, that offensive plus is less than it would normally. The Red Sox will see two lefties in the series, with Cole Hamels taking on Daniel Bard tonight and Cliff Lee facing Josh Beckett on Sunday. That will mean that Gonzalez would be replacing Cody Ross or Daniel Nava in the lineup. While Gonzalez is an upgrade from the switching hitting Nava against lefties, the difference is not as large as you may think. Gonzalez has a career .340 wOBA vs lefties and Nava has a .322 wOBA. Losing Gonzo’s bat for a handful of plate appearances to leave Ross in right and Nava in left is unlikely to have a dramatic impact on the team’s runs scored and the net gain may be zero when defense is factored in.

The one game it may make sense for would be Saturday, when Jon Lester faces Joe Blanton. In this game, the idea of getting two power hitting lefties in the line up instead of one has greater appeal, and with the left-handed Lester on the mound, right field is a good place to hide Gonzalez for one game. In this one game, hiding Gonzo in right is justifiable, but the injury risk that comes with him playing out of position may make even this one game more of a gamble than it is worth.

However, when you consider that Boston has been terrible in close games thus far, the idea of going big on offense may make sense. The Red Sox are 3-5 in one run games and they have won just one game where they scored less than four runs. They are 3-17 when scoring less than five runs. This has been partly due to their bullpen, which has been far better in the past two weeks (leading all bullpens with a 1.74 ERA in that time, backed by the 6^th best FIP, 3.16). However, the Red Sox are also a rather weak defensive team, even with Gonzalez at first. Their .690 defensive efficiency is the fourth worst in baseball. While putting a better defense on the field may help in a close game, playing for fewer runs scored plays into the Phillies hands.

By runs scored and runs allowed, these teams are very, very close, despite their records. Boston has a Pythagorean record of 20-18, while Philadelphia has a Pythagorean record and true record of 20-19. Playing under National League rules, on the road, the Red Sox are at the disadvantage. Trying to play the Phillies game will only add to that. As risky as it may be,Bostonmay need to consider getting both Gonzalez and Ortiz into two of the three games together. Just be sure to tell Gonzo no heroics out there.

Will Middlebrooks’ batting line is, quite simply, phenomenal. He is hitting .304/.347/.674 for a wRC+ of 178. He has four home runs in just 49 plate appearances and that has given him a gaudy 13 RBIs. However, he is not going to sustain anywhere near that level of production. Currently, he has a HR/FB ratio of 36.4%, which is 10% higher than any player with enough at bats to qualify for the batting title thus far. If sustained for a full season, it would be the second highest ratio in the past ten years, behind only Ryan Howard’s 2006 season, when he hit 58 home runs. Unless the Red sox really believe that Will Middlebrooks is, at 23 years old, with just 11 games experience, ready to become the greatest home run hitter in baseball today, they should let him improve the rest of his game in Pawtucket.

Beyond his power hitting, Will Middlebrooks bat needs work. He is striking out in 26.5% of his plate appearances in the Majors so far. That is a difficult rate to sustain even for a power hitter, but when your walk rate is just 6.1% it becomes almost impossible. There have been 24 instances of qualified players with strike out rates over 26% since 2001 and not a single one has a walk rate as low as Middlebrooks. Even looking at players with just 250 plate appearances in a season, there are only six instances of players who had strikeout rates over 26% and walk rates under 7% and still managed to be better than average hitters. Four of those instances belong to Wily Mo Pena, who is currently playing in Japan. Middlebrooks is still young and while he will never walk much, he should learn to strike out less and be a productive, though free swinging hitter. Right now, however, his offensive upside is comparably to Wily Mo Pena. Wily.Mo.Pena.

That is just considering Middlebrooks development apart from the fact that Kevin Youkilis is the player replacing him. Following a down year frought with injuries in 2011 and returning from the DL this year, Youkilis is still projected (Zips) to have a .361 wOBA from here on, which should make him at least 20% better than league average at the plate. Middlebrooks is projected to have just a .309 wOBA, below league average. The difference between Youkilis and Middlebrooks would be close to 50 runs over the remainder of the season. Even if you believe Youkilis is one of the worst third basemen in baseball and Middlebrooks is Brooks Robinson at the hot corner that is probably too big a gap for defense to make up.

There is also the issue of Kevin Youkilis’ trade value. If Youkilis can prove that he is still an above average hitter, he could be the Red Sox most valuable trading chip this summer. The Milwaukee Brewers have lost their starting first baseman and could interested in Youkilis. The Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets are both surprisingly in contention more than a month into the season and their first basemen have been struggling terribly thus far. Returning Youkilis to first base is not an option in Boston with Adrian Gonzalez there and David Ortiz at DH, so the Red Sox need to play him regularly at third if they want to create an opportunity to address one of their many flaws via the trade market.

It is hard to see a promising young player like Middlebrooks come up and succeed only to be sent down, but it is the best thing for him and for the Boston Red Sox. His call up has hopefully given him confidence that he can succeed at the highest level and playing everyday at AAA will help him sort out the holes in his game. If he continues to be too good to ignore in Pawtucket, the team has an enviable problem on their hands and they should be able to solve it with a trade that also improves their pitching. Not sending him down would make the roster less flexible, set Middlebrooks up to fail and depress the value of their most tradable player. As appealing as it may seem, it isn’t the right now and the Red Sox know it.

“there might be something that he’s doing that is signaling [oppenents] effectiveness, Valentine said following his short outing in Cleveland. He was even specific about what led him to this conclusion. “When the cutter came in to the left-hander, they always were out in front of it. That’s suspicious,” Valentine observed. Pitching Coach Bob McClure was not so sure. “Like [Beckett] said, he made some bad pitches and they whacked ‘em” McClure said. Beckett was also skeptical, though he did feel that the Indians were “on him” more than other teams.

I think there could be something to this, though it is probably not the root of Beckett’s problems. His declining fastball velocity is a far bigger issue and more likely to be the cause of his long-ball-itis. His cutter and curveball have been reasonably effective pitches for him but his straighter offerings, his fastball and his change have been hit hard. Beckett is the type of pitcher who throws strikes in high volume and when he is missing, especially up in the zone, he gets taken deep. It will be interesting to see if he and Kelly Shoppach (who appears to be his personal catcher) change up anything tonight, but it is unlikely to make much difference.

If Beckett has good command and can stay on the edges of the zone, he should be fine. I expect him to lean more on his cutter at least until his velocity climbs up. That strategy has worked for him in his better starts this year and facing the punchless Seattle Mariners he can attack the zone more and depend on his defense as Jon Lester did last night.  

Josh Hamilton’s story is very well known. After being taken as the top pick in the 1999 draft, Hamilton was the number one prospect in baseball in 2001 according to Baseball America, but by 2004 he was out of baseball entirely due to his struggles with drug addiction. Since getting sober and returning to baseball, Hamilton has more than fulfilled the promise that he showed in 1999, finally settling in as a center and left fielder for the Texas Rangers and leading them to back to back AL Championships.

Joey Votto’s story is not as dramatic or as well known. Votto was selected in the second round of the 2002 draft by the Cincinnati Reds and though his advanced approach at the plate was immediately apparent, he was rarely ever mentioned among the game’s top prospects. Despite posting an on-base percentage over .400 across two levels in both 2003 and 2004, Votto did not crack the Baseball America Top 100 until 2007 and never ranked above 43^rd on that list. As ridiculous as it may seem now that has averaged 31 home runs per 162 games as a major leaguer, as he was coming up through the minors, scouts had serious questions about his power given that he was limited to first base as a defender. In A and A+ ball he had middling power and a distinct opposite field approach. It was not until he reached AA that he managed a slugging percentage over .500 for a full season and even at that point, he was more of a doubles hitter. As a minor leaguer, he never hit more than 22 home runs.

The two players may represent two very different plate approaches, but both are capable of massive production.

Josh Hamilton is extremely free swinging and depends on his excellent batted ball profile and phenomenal power to keep his batting average and on-base percentage up. He has swung at pitches out of the zone at and aggressive 36.4% and he is even more aggressive in the zone, swinging at 81.1% of pitches there, while the league average is just around 64%. He misses a great deal, 13.9% career and is below average at making contact.

When he does hit the ball, however, he makes it count. His career .341 batting average on balls in play is excellent and a quick look at his batted ball averages explains why. Hamilton has an almost perfect batted ball profile. He has hit line drives 21.6% of the time he makes contact. He also hits almost an even number of ground balls and fly balls, and very few (2.9%) infield flies. To the surprise of no one, he also has an excellent 19.4 HR/FB rate. His hitting approach may make Hamilton’s production a bit more streaky than a player who swings less and takes more walks (his 8.1% walk rate is basically average, but low for such a prodigious power hitter), but Hamilton has yet to suffer a major downswing in his BABIP and aside from the injury marred 2009 season, he has been consistently excellent as a hitter, with a career 141 wRC+. Hitting line drives and home runs the way he does, he can sustain plus production without being a very disciplined hitter

This season he is benefitting from an excellent .407 BABIP and a crazy unsustainable 45% HR/FB. Given that success, you can’t blame him for swinging at even more pitches than normal; he is currently chasing 45.5% of pitches out of the zone and swinging at nearly 60% of pitches overall. However, this super-aggressive approach will likely cool down when a few of those extra hits turn into outs. No one should reasonable expect Hamilton to hit over .400 for the season or slugging at anywhere near his current .866, but it would still be wrong to call his success unsustainable. Hamilton is the classic free swinging masher. When he is on he hits at other worldly levels, when he is off, he misses a ton. Over the course of a season, he will go through periods of both.

Joey Votto is the opposite type. He is extremely selective and has swung at just 26.1% of pitches out of the zone. He has also begun to swing and miss at fewer pitches, down from 10.4% in 2008-10 to just 8.7% last season. He does attack balls in the zone though, swinging at an average number of pitches in the zone on his career. This excellent pitch recognition and patient approach has lead Votto to consistently post stratospheric walk rates and his career 13.4% is among the best in the game.

Add to that an even better line drive rate (24.4% career) and BABIP (.353) than Josh Hamilton and the same HR/FB rate (19.4%) and you have an unstoppable run production force. Votto lacks the obvious athleticism thatHamiltonhas in spades, but he is a more complete hitter. His approach will slump less thanHamilton’s, but it also means that people who lean on traditional numbers like batting average and RBIs are likely to underrate Votto at times. When he was coming up as a minor leaguer, his lack of speed, positional limitations and modest power output for his position left people understandably skeptical. Now as major leaguer, those issues are largely irrelevant.

Like Hamilton, Votto has been an extreme version of himself during his early season surge. He is swinging at even fewer pitches overall (just 37.6%) and not chasing anything outside the zone (just 19.4% O-swing%). He is walking an absurd Ted Williams-esque 21.2% of the time and getting some breaks on BABIP with a .388 average there. While he also won’t sustain those levels, he is due for less regression than Hamilton, who is producing at superhuman levels. Votto actually hasn’t been hitting as many home runs per fly ball as he usually does (17.9% HR/FB) He won’t hit 34.1% line drives forever, but he depends less on contact than Hamilton and so his numbers will ebb less when they do.

These two players may be on the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to plate approach but the similarity in their overall results is a good reminder that there isn’t just one way to succeed in the Majors. Many sabermetic people lean too far towards players like Votto and overlook the value someone likeHamiltoncan provide. I have been guilty of that often enough. Similarly, the cool reception Votto got in prospect rankings points out that raw tools like Hamilton’s can be overrated too. The difference between the value of a Joey Votto and a Josh Hamilton is much less distinct than the differences in their styles and, in the end, that is really all that matters.

Beckett’s performance this year is not the only reason that fans were booing, however.  Yesterday, before the Beckett had the chance to disappoint the Fenway Faithful with his pitching, the media was cursing his name for playing golf on his day off. The narrative that was being brandied about was this-

On May 2, the Red Sox announced that Aaron Cook would start in place of Josh Beckett- history’s greatest monster. The reason Beckett would be skipped was stated as “soreness” or “tightness” in his right lat muscle. On May 3, an off-day for the Red Sox an uncaring and unmotivated Josh Beckett decide to play golf despite being too sore to pitch, an unforgivable sin, proof positive that he doesn’t care about baseball, America or Freedom. Did I get that right?

Here is what we actually know about this incident-

- Aaron Cook had to be called up before May 1 and he was not, so he was able to opt out

- Josh Beckett wasn’t injured. (Call it semantics, but a sore or tight lat is not an injury, it is the result of pitching. Pitchers are sore all the time after 100+ pitch outings)

- He was able to pitch and he wanted to pitch.

- The team decided his start would be skipped to keep Aaron Cook around.

- Josh Beckett played golf.

- Josh Beckett was awful in his next start.

The reality that is now becoming clear is far less dramatic. Having failed to call up Aaron Cook by May 1, the Boston Red Sox needed to give him a start to prevent him from exercising his opt-out clause and leaving. With the off-day Thursday, they could pitch him in place of Daniel Bard Friday night, Josh Beckett Saturday or Clay Buchholz Sunday. Bard had been skipped once already after a rain delay and between Buchholz and Beckett, the team picked Beckett, likely because he had thrown 126 in last outing. Beckett was ready and willing to pitch and the team decided not to pitch him, offering the shoulder soreness as an excuse. It was the team’s excuse, not Beckett’s.  The decision may have been a bad one, as he looked very rusty, but it was not his decision, so that is not on him.

Of course, that isn’t the end of it. Many writers like the Boston Globe’s Chad Finn and Nick Cafardo (just to name two prominent ones), still want to push their anti-Beckett narratives. Pressing Becket on the question of whether or not fans have the right to question his decision to play golf, Beckett said, “Not on my off day. We get 18 off days a year. I think we deserve a little bit of time to ourselves.” That isn’t what Cafardo wanted to hear. He wanted to hear Beckett say, “Yeah, given that I missed a start with the lat muscle, I shouldn’t have gone out and played golf. I know now how that looks to the fans and I need to exercise better judgment in the future.’’ We know what Cafardo wanted to hear because he actually wrote the response he thought Beckett should have given him. Apparently, questions about how you spend your own time are simple multiple choice. Good to know.

Beckett’s response isn’t great, granted- as Finn points out, he does get 4 1/2 months off- but his frustration with this situation is justified. From the beginning, the reporting of this story has been terrible. Josh Beckett can’t be expected to say he missed a start because of his lat muscle, when he was told he would miss a start. He didn’t offer the excuse and the true reason for the missed start was Aaron Cook’s opt-out clause. By why let inconvenient facts interrupt a good anti-Beckett narrative?

Simply because Josh Beckett would rather be combative with the media instead of playing their preferred role of the repentant man doesn’t mean he is guilty of anything. His performance on the field is a major concern for the Red Sox right now, but this issue is just not real. Earlier today, David Cameron of Fangraphs suggested that Beckett may have been pitching hurt this entire year, as evidenced by his lower average velocity since the season began. If that is case, you can be sure you won’t be reading any narratives about how he toughed out an average of 102.3 pitches while his shoulder was hurting him. At this point, if Josh Beckett ran into a burning building to save orphan children, a large segment of the local press would chastise him for putting himself at risk and use it as further proof that he doesn’t care about the game.

Josh Beckett may not be the most likable player on the Boston Red Sox. For all I know, he really may not be dedicated to his game the way a Dustin Pedroia or a Jon Lester. However, as of yet, there is no proof that is the case. All we know for certain is that the media loves to paint Beckett as the problem child and he too defiant to just say what they want him to say. If Beckett turns things around, the same people will probably spin weak stories about how he has changed his attitude. More than likely, the reason then will be an improved fastball. Real explanations aren’t as sexy as loose talk about heart and dedication, though so this is what we will continue to get. That’s fine, but I don’t want to see the people pedaling these weak narratives playing golf on their days off.

Podsednik has hit just .203/.289/.216 in AAA thus far this season and his outfield defense has greatly declined since his peak as the Chicago White Sox speedy left fielder and lead off man. Even as battered as the Red Sox outfield is, it is hard to imagine Podsednik being anything more than minor league depth and a replacement for Nava in AAA, at least until he proves he can still play at a high level.

This move will get a lot more attention than it deserves because of Scott Posednik’s past heroics with the White Sox. Given that no one was traded from the Red Sox, it will not mean much to the Red Sox long term and the idea that Podsednik is going to impact the major league roster is extremely far-fetched. While he was a useful player in his last season in the major leagues, that was 2010. He has very rarely been able to hit at league average levels and his defense, which was never great, is now a major liability.

At this point in his career, Podsednik should be well behind Ross, Nava, McDonald and possibly even Lars Anderson. He is not on the Red Sox 40 man roster and without an available space for him, the team would have to expose someone more valuable to clear waivers. He can opt of his minor league deal after June 1 if he is not on the 25 man roster, but with his current level of production, he is unlike to find a spot in the big leagues anywhere. Should the Red Sox be misguided enough to put ephemeral qualities like “veteran leadership” and “grit” over the more tactical ones like replacement level hitting and fielding and actually play Podsednik in the majors, this could hurt them some in the short term, but I don’t see that happen. This is a minor league depth move and despite his name recognition, Podsednik is a minor league player now.