Projo Sox Blog

Those are the questions Sean McAdam raises as he reports on the Red Sox' waiver claim of Brian Giles from the Padres. Giles is no longer the 35-plus-homer machine he was in midcareer but he's still a productive bat -- a .295 hitter with an .813 OPS this year -- who would certainly bolster the Sox' attack. The problem, as Lou Gorman might say, is what they'd do with him. Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune says Giles wants to play every day and the Red Sox don't have an everyday job available. And it's hard to see where they have a part-time one for him, either. He's left-handed so there are no obvious job-sharing possibilities, not since both J.D. Drew and Jacoby Ellsbury are also lefties and the Sox aren't about to platoon Jason Bay. (Boston Globe) He's only played the outfield, so there's no chance to get him into the first-base mix. (And besides, their regular backup first baseman is left-handed, too.) As for DH, well, that position seems well-manned at the moment. So if you're inclined to think they did this simply to keep Giles out of Tampa Bay or Anaheim, there's a possibility you're right.

On the other hand, you're talking about a .295 hitter. And who knows just how healthy David Ortiz actually is?

The window to complete a trade for Giles closes today, so we'll know the answers to these questions sooner rather than later. (I didn't hear it, and can't find it anywhere, but SOSH poster cwright says Buster Olney is reporting the Red Sox and Padres have agreed on a trade and are waiting to see if Giles -- who listed Boston as one of the teams in his limited no-trade clause -- will accept it.) One thing we can say: The passing of the trade deadline doesn't seem to mean the Sox still aren't looking to improve things.

AND TOWARD THAT END . . . McAdam also reports Boston is in the market for some backup middle infield help and Providence College's John McDonald is a possibility.

WAKE UP, PEOPLE! The blog Mets Fever thinks Omar Minaya was asleep at the wheel for not claiming Giles.

BASEBALL MUSINGS: With apologies to old friend David Pinto -- who has redefinied the very term with his sublime site -- Steven Krasner ponders several things Red Sox, including Jed Lowrie, Jon Lester, Jacoby Ellsbury and Manny Ramirez.

BAD TIMING: Just before Ellsbury got five hits in two games in Kansas City, Patrick DiCaprio of The Fantasy Baseball Generals declared he was "barely even a credible major leaguer in his current state . . . . His recent stats are simply atrocious and [reflective] of a guy who has no business being in the majors."

UNRAVELING THE MYSTERY: Jim Rice thinks Ellsbury's recent upturn is a result of his fixing a flaw in his swing. (ask14.sullivantire.com)

AND THIS ONE, TOO: A change in his throwing program has turned Mike Timlin's season around. (Hacks With Haggs)

YOUR LOSS IS OUR GAIN: Marty York of the Canadian-based metronews.ca says that prior to the trade deadline the Pirates offered Jason Bay to Toronto for two minor-leaguers, but the Jays turned them down.

EYRE BALL: The Sox missed their shot at lefty reliever Scott Eyre -- in whom Sean McAdam said they had mild interest -- as the Cubs traded him to the Phillies. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

HANDICAPPER: The Boston Herald's Michael Silverman analyzes the A.L. East race as it heads into the final seven weeks.

FEELING THE HEAT: Boston's weekend opponent, the White Sox, is also in the postseason race, and Mark Buehrle -- while saying he thinks John Danks will handle the pressure just fine -- wonders if Gavin Floyd is up to the task. (Chicago Sun-Times)

C'MON, THEY PLAY THE GAMES ON THE FIELD, NOT WITH COMPUTERS: Patrick Smith of Bugs and Cranks doesn't know what to make of Baseball Prospectus' analysis that the Rays, Angels, Twins, Rangers and Orioles have been lucky so far this year and the Red Sox and White Sox are about to take command of their respective divisions.

TODAY'S MANNY UPDATE: No, as you can see, he still hasn't cut his hair -- this picture is from yesterday -- and he still hasn't faded from our consciousness. En route from Kansas City to Chicago, the Herald's Tony Massarotti stopped off in St. Louis to catch up with Manny Ramirez, whose new team was playing the Cardinals. Manny wouldn't talk about Boston ("That's in the past. It doesn't matter."), but Joe Torre and Derek Lowe spoke about the newest Dodger and the ever-honest Lowe had the day's most insightful comment: "He's about as steady as they come when he wants to play. And clearly, he wants to play right now."

Wanting to play. That, according to the Globe's Dan Shaughnessy, is at the heart of an MLB investigation into "the circumstances of Manny's final hours with the Red Sox." Writes Shaughnessy: "Ramírez . . . wanted to be a free agent at the end of this season. His agent [Scott Boras] wanted the same thing. Boras inherited Ramírez's old contract and stood to earn nothing until Manny signed a new one. It was in the interest of the player and the agent to have the options dropped. Manny's only leverage was withholding services and playing at half speed. So that's what he did . . . He made sure the Sox knew he could not be trusted to play hard if they kept him until the end of the season with the options intact."

It all sounds interesting, and it certainly will inflame a populace none too happy with Ramirez to begin with, and I can't say for a fact it isn't true. But how do you prove such a thing? As Rotoworld.com points out, "[All] Manny did in July was hit a mere .347/.473/.587 in 22 games," which, says ShysterBall's Craig Calcaterra, means that "the hard evidence -- the kind that gets presented in response to investigations because you can't admit a suspicion as an exhibit -- rebuts the story of a lazy, unproductive Ramirez."

I can't fathom how anything will come of all this. Except you can sure it'll make for an interesting day on talk radio.

I LIKE IT: Jeff Kent is the latest Dodger to say that the acquisition of Ramirez has helped turn things around in L.A. (mlb.com)

GAIN WHILE YOU SLEEP: The Red Sox picked up ground in the A.L. East race in the wee hours of the morning, as Warwick's Dan Wheeler surrendered a walkoff home run to Raul Ibanez in the bottom of the ninth and Tampa Bay lost to the Mariners, 2-1. (St. Petersburg Times) Tough night for Andy Sonnanstine; he retired 17 in a row at one point (a Rays franchise record) and gave up only one run in 7 1/3 innings. Boston now trails the Rays by 2 1/2 games overall and three in the loss column. (projostats.com)

TURF WAR: Safeco Field in Seattle has natural grass so Carl Crawford returned to the outfield last night, but he says artificial turf bothers his ailing legs (St. Petersburg Times) . . . which is a problem, since there's turf at The Trop and if Crawford has to DH the Rays have to take Cliff Floyd out of the lineup. It won't be an issue for a while, though, since Tampa Bay is just starting a 10-game road trip in which all the games are on grass fields.

'HE WANTS US TO RUN THEM OUT, SO I'LL RUN THEM OUT': Why else would B.J. Upton bother to hustle? (Tampa Tribune)

DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME: The Rays bolstered their bullpen by acquiring Chad Bradford from the Orioles. (Tampa Tribune) Roch Kubatko comments: "That's how much times have changed in the AL East. The Rays are acquiring a veteran reliever for the stretch drive." (masnsports.com)

ALL HAIL: Mike Mussina continues to make monkeys out of those of us -- like me -- who thought he was washed up as he pitched the Yankees to a 3-0 win last night in Texas. (New York Daily News) That's 15 wins for the Moose, and God knows where the Yanks would be without him.

DUELING REPORTS: On the one hand, we have the New York Daily News saying Andy Pettitte has a tired arm and may miss his next start. On the other, we have the New York Post quoting Pettitte as saying "I feel great" and that he's not missing anything.

INSURANCE: But in case he can't go, there's always Carl Pavano. (New York Post)

GETTING THEIR PHIL: Phil Hughes pitched well for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last night (Newark Star-Ledger) and the Yankees think he is two minor-league starts away from being ready to rejoin their rotation. (New York Post)

SMILE THOUGH YOUR HEART IS BREAKING: Johan Santana's record is stuck at 9-7 as the Mets' relievers continue to fritter away leads he hands them, but he says the team is winning and that's all that matters. (Newsday)

NOT SO FAST: Some Orioles fans have put up an online petition that they plan to present to the team pleading with them to sign Mark Texeira when he becomes a free agent this winter. Texeira -- a Maryland native who grew up rooting for the Orioles -- says he's flattered but he's not going to start thinking about free agency until the season is over. (Baltimore Sun)

CLOSED OUT: The Dallas Morning News' Jean-Jacques Taylor thinks C.J. Wilson has lost the trust of his manager and teammates and wonders if he'll ever be able to regain the closer's job for the Rangers, even after his bout with elbow bone spurs is over.

PLOWING AHEAD: Roger Clemens continues to move forward with his defamation suit against Brian McNamee. (New York Daily News)

HERE AND THERE: Bobby Abreu, whose contract expires at the end of the season, says he'd like to return to the Yankees (mlb.com) . . . Eric Byrnes, whose season was thought to have been ended by a torn left hamstring, thinks he can play again this year (Arizona Republic) . . . Brandon Webb says he and the D'backs were close to a $54 million contract extension that would have kept him in an Arizona uniform through 2014, but talks broke down and won't be resumed until after the season (East Valley Tribune) . . . Rafael Furcal says he wants to return to the Dodgers (Los Angeles Times) . . . Jason Schmidt is probably done for the season (insidesocal.com) . . . As is Ryan Church (New York Daily News) . . . The Blue Jays are bringing back Cito Gaston to manage in 2009. (Toronto Globe and Mail)

OLD FRIENDS: The Nationals are interested in re-signing Willie Harris (mlb.com) . . . David Murphy will miss two to four weeks as the result of a sprained knee suffered in his home-plate collision with Ivan Rodriguez the other night (Dallas Morning News) . . . Keith Foulke's not pitching particularly well in his rehab assignment at Sacramento so the A's may extend it a bit (San Francisco Chronicle) . . . Tom Gordon had to leave the game during his rehab outing with Class A Clearwater because of discomfort in his elbow, and the Phillies are flying him back to Philadelphia to be examined (Philadelphia Inquirer) . . . Pedro Martinez admits he "can't predict" what he'll provide the Mets down the stretch. (New York Observer)

LAST WORD: It's a holiday in these parts -- VJ Day; we're one of (I believe) only two states that still officially celebrates the end of World War II -- so we won't be here Monday. See you all on Tuesday.

-- ART MARTONE