Loose Scraps on a Monday:

As an unabashed Red Sox suckup, I am starting this blog to officially nominate myself to start the Chris Carter fan club. As stated earlier in this blog, I love Mark Kotsay and what he brings (more than Darren Bragg, stop chuckling). However, he's hurt and this spot is open. Thankfully, Brad Wilkerson's 50% strikeout rate looks like it will run him out of town. Jeff Bailey is a good soldier and has done well in his Red Sox stints. They could do much worse. However, you simply cannot ignore what Chris Carter has done this spring.

Carter hit his 6th homer yesterday. He's not simply hitting them against AA pitching, either. I've been reading that he's super intense and is always grabbing coaches to hit him balls at first and in the outfield on back fields after practice. Obviously the guy wants to get better and he is. The Sox have little organizational power and the fact that he's a lefty swinger makes him a perfect complement to Rocco Baldelli. I want to see them hitting for Varitek this year. Lowell will need a day or two off a week initially. I love Carter for this role.

One guy I feel for right now is Clay Buchholz. His ERA is so low this spring that you can't even see it. At this point, it looks pretty much inevitable that he's heading back to Pawtucket. I love the aggressiveness the Sox showed in grabbing Brad Penny and John Smoltz. I admire the mutual admiration that Sox management and Tim Wakefield have. But, it's a shame that a 24 year old pitcher with lights out stuff has to go down I 95. I understand it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Clay had a reputation as a bit of a wild child when he came here and I think his no hitter in '07 likely went to his head. He was unprepared physically and mentally last year. He pitched scared. Something has clicked with him and he looks ready to move forward. People may forget how highly touted he was a year or two back. Think David Price, think Joba Chamberlain. He was on everyone's top prospect list.

Moving forward, you've got the big 3 of Beckett, Lester and Dice-K. Wakefield slots 4th with Penny behind him with Buchholz ready to step in. I think it's inevitable this year that the Sox and Wakefield need to have "the conversation". I love Wake, love what's he's done and what he stands for. I'd even quietly extend him for next year. But, at some point this year, they need to temporarily put him somewhere where he won't be in the way. I think we can all agree that he's pitched his last postseason game for the Sox already. If Penny comes through and Smoltz comes back strong and everyone is reasonably healthy, I think Wake needs to disappear for awhile. Buchholz figures in here as well. You know that no one will get more than 30 starts, they'll build in rest and breaks, etc. But, at some point, you got to put your talented guys out there.

Is Joe Girardi getting it?

I have no idea why I'm about to write a few hundred words about the hated Yankees. Perhaps it was the sugar in the bowl of Golden Grahams I just had. Anyway, back from work tonight and I had the great pleasure of printing the New York Times tonight. Editors note: I'm a pressman at the Boston Globe, but we are owned by the New York Times and we print the New England distribution of it at work. I occasionally work this press.

But I digress. . . Not that I was reading the paper or anything, I was too busy finetuning things so the transplanted New Yorkers up here don't throw a hissy fit. But, I just happened to stumble upon a brief article that mentions the possibility of Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon flip-flopping in the batting order. Did Bill James or Rob Neyer get Cashman or Girardi's ear? Not sure, but to this ardent Red Sox fan, this makes complete sense. And, I will tell you why.

Jeter's OBP has historically been better than Damon's. He still runs pretty well. He's good for 180 hits a year and maybe 70 walks. His power has waned and that ballpark does him no favors. So, Jeter leads off with a single or walk. He's on first and getting a decent lead. He's no burner, but still steals quite a bit and takes a pretty good lead. The first baseman has to keep him honest, right? So who comes up? Our beloved Damon. Johnny's funky swing produces a lot of pulled grounders. Some of them could find this wide hole with the first baseman holding Jeter on. Instant first and third with the big boys coming up. Johnny likes to drop an occasional bunt as I recall. If Johnny can bunt towards first, it's him against the pitcher. Even at age 35, I like Damon's chances here.

You want to hit and run with J and J (Jeter and Johnny)? Damon doesn't swing and miss much at all. With the shortstop likely covering second, Damon has the bat control to poke one to the left side. Though Jeter's home run power has sagged, he still hits plenty of doubles. With him on second, Damon is the perfect guy to pull the ball towards second. If he doesn't get it though, Jeter's on 3rd with one out. If he gets it through, it's 1-0 Yanks, Damon's on first and Texiera is up. Hopefully this will be the last Yanks musing for awhile, but I'm amazed that something this practical has finally been discussed.

Brad Wilkerson Can't Hit:

OK

So, I'm up at 1:00 in the morning. And, what comes to mind? The 25th spot on the Red Sox roster, of course. No one applauded the Sox bringing back Mark Kotsay more than I did. He fills several roles and fills them all well. Sean Casey is on the MLB Network now and he's informative, witty and looks like he might have a decent second career as a TV guy. However, he was about the worst bench player the Sox have ever had. He had no power, could not run and could not field. Not too many years earlier, he could do 2 of the 3 here. I saw him perform quite well in the 2006 World Series for Detroit. Something happened to Mr. Casey before he came here, though. Basically, to be kind, it looks like he swallowed a beach ball and he lost whatever mobility he had in the field.

This is likely why the Sox went after Mark Kotsay last year. Kotsay is a pretty good player. He's an above average outfielder who can play all 3 outfield positions. He has a bit of power, runs pretty well and has been a starting player for the better part of a decade. This was a great pickup for the Sox down the stretch last year. They had determined that Casey could no longer bend over in the field and Kotsay ended up playing a significant role in the playoffs last year when Mike Lowell's hip no longer allowed him to play. Kotsay played first base, a position he had rarely if ever played. He looked like a seasoned vet in the field and though he hit in tough luck, he was an important part of an almost World Series team.

During the off-season, I figured Kotsay would be shooting to get a starting job somewhere. He's likely still productive enough to start on a small market team. I was thrilled that the Red Sox were able to bring him back in January. He gives them huge protection at 5 positions and with the injury concerns of David Ortiz, Mike Lowell and Rocco Baldelli, he was that perfect fit. Of course, bad health intervened and he's likely to miss at least the first month of the season with a back injury.

So, I've digressed badly here. Brad Wilkerson is in the title and I should be getting around to talking about him. There is obviously a spot on this roster for an extra outfield/first base type at least until Kotsay comes back. Not 24-36 hours after the Kotsay injury was announced, Wilkerson was brought on board on a minor league deal. Wilkerson has bounced around the league for several years, bringing a versatile glove, a lefty power bat and a lot of strikeouts with him. When they signed Casey last year, it was rumored that Wilkerson was really the guy they wanted, but got more money elsewhere. Anyway, so this is a nice opportunity for Wilkerson and surely he has the upperhand because he can play all 3 outfield positions as well as first base.

I don't really want to get into Wilkerson's supposed ability to play CF. I haven't seen any evidence of this skill, he's below average in the corners and a plodder to boot. It's in someone's scouting report that he can play CF, so we'll run with that. Anyway, I hope the Sox are considering Chris Carter or Jeff Bailey for this spot instead. Wilkerson has struck out in exactly half of his at bats this spring and shows no signs that he can hit any type of major league fastball. Carter and Bailey, though extremely limited with their gloves, have major league bats and both seem to have the desire to hustle through their limitations. My goal is to see Wilkerson pack his bags soon and give one of these career minor leaguers a shot with the big club. We'll see how it plays out.