Someone joining their ranks?
Or just an excuse to post another great Kyle photo from Kelly O’Connor?
So, according to Amalie Benjamin (also known as “my mortal enemy” – I kid, I kid. No, really.), both Sean Casey and Alex Cora come off the dl tomorrow (Sunday). In spite of Terry Francona assuring us Cora’s return didn’t mean Jed Lowrie takes the bus back to Pawtucket (I tried to link this story but it seems MLB.com has taken it down. Which, frankly, cracks me up.) it seems that he’s one of the logical choices, no? He and Craig Hansen. See, they both can be sent down. They both still have options.
NO ONE ELSE on the team has options. Not even Manny Delcarmen (don’t know why that surprised me. I must not pay enough attention). So, unless someone else suddenly goes on the dl, if anyone other than Lowrie or Hansen are leaving the team it’ll have to be via dfa’ing.
I hated dfa’ing. Especially when it seems a lot of the time players will be dfa’d just to make room, not necessarily because they’re performing at a level that warrants being unceremoniously dumped from the team. And before I get comments and emails about how I shouldn’t feel ‘sorry’ for people making the kind of money ballplayers make, let me just say – I don’t care.
Sure, even the guys in AAA make much, much more than I do or probably ever will. Putting that aside, they’re all still PEOPLE. And buckets of money doesn’t change how you feel about things or how you react to, effectively, being rejected. When Kyle Snyder got dfa’d in Toronto, at least two writers made it a point to describe Kyle as ‘dejected’ when he left the park that day (and Benjamin felt the need to point out that he “slipped out” a back door when leaving). Do you think he went back to his hotel room and rolled around in piles of money not caring that he was just “dumped” from a job he loved? He had to leave people he had been ‘working with’ for over a year – guys he accomplished the greatest thing you can accomplish in his profession. How much money makes it “okay” that you’ve been told you’re expendable?
But in the name of pre-emptively striking down your “don’t feel sorry for millionaires” arguments, I digress. 🙂
The point is, tomorrow the decision gets made on who goes down when Cora and Casey come up. If not Lowrie and Hansen, who? And, truth be told, seeing Lowrie go doesn’t thrill me. I like having a couple of extra butts on that bench that I have a little faith in. But his sitting with Cora and Casey IS redundant, so I’m guessing (like everyone else) he’s back in Pawtucket for Kyle’s start on Monday. (Another trip to Pawtucket I won’t be able to make.)
I don’t think Hansen is as easy a call. The bullpen is shaky, to say the least. So if Tito et al make the decision that it’s more important to have him here than there, what’s that mean for the rest of the guys? Don’t know if my little heart can handle someone else being dfa’d. Aardsma? It would probably be Aardsma, huh? Aside from my harboring nagging “You took Kyle’s job, dude” feelings toward him, I don’t mind Aardsma. And I saw him a couple of times where he pitched well. I do think he’s the logical one to go if they want Hansen around, though. I’ll miss the high socks. I wouldn’t miss the 14 walks and 13 hits through 17 innings, though. 🙁
On the other hand, Aardsma is boasting a 2.60 era with 14 strikeouts in those same 17 innings. The player in the bullpen no one wants to talk about is little Manny Delcarmen. In 13 innings (he’s only pitched 13 innings? It feels like so many more!) he’s carrying a 6.75 era, having given up 10 earned runs off of 17 hits. (You’ll notice I rarely go into the deeper stats in instances like this. The basics tell the story as well as any others.)
MDC makes starting pitchers cry, methinks. I know he makes me close my eyes.
Truth be told, I don’t want to see either of these guys dfa’d. I’m a sensitive mush that way, I know. Howsabout they put Julio Lugo on he dl before some idiot fan chucks a water bottle at him? Or MDC or my man Mike Timlin? Either one of them could benefit from a ‘rest’. (“Ow, my leg!!! I need to sit for 15 days!“)
Can’t we have a 30-man active roster? 🙂