The Boston Red Sox have finalized a trade to obtain catcher Doug Mirabelli from the San Diego Padres in exchange for catcher Josh Bard, minor-league pitcher Clay Meredith and cash, ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney is reporting. Mirabelli, Tim Wakefield's normal catcher last season when Mirabelli was with the Red Sox, will be in the starting lineup Monday night against the Yankees.
The Yankees also tried to obtain Mirabelli to keep him from returning to the Red Sox.
The Red Sox traded Mirabelli to the Padres for second baseman Mark Loretta in December. The Padres' compensation in this latest deal is still unclear.
Mirabelli had been Wakefield's personal catcher in Boston before being traded. In 2005, he batted .228 in just 136 at-bats in 50 games. This season, he is batting .182 in 22 at-bats for the Padres.
He is a career .240 hitter with 47 homers and 165 RBI in 459 career games for Boston, Texas, San Francisco and San Diego.
Bard, who has caught Wakefield's five starts in 2006, leads the major leagues with 10 passed balls.
Great news. This should make Wake a different pitcher, not to mention Belli's pretty good with the bat. Pretty happy he's back in the fold. Even better is that the Yanks tried getting him but couldn't.
I dunno which is more nuts...Boston bending over to get a light hitting backup C because he can catch a knuckle ball better than Varitek or the Yanks contemplating a move to block them.
TheYanks04 wrote:I dunno which is more nuts...Boston bending over to get a light hitting backup C because he can catch a knuckle ball better than Varitek or the Yanks contemplating a move to block them.
If you saw Bard catching him, you would understand. Like nails through my eyes.
So let Varitek catch the guy and have Bard spell him with someone else. IMO, if you want a personal catcher, you better be Greg Maddux or Carlton. Wakefield does not quite make that grade.
So let Varitek catch the guy and have Bard spell him with someone else. IMO, if you want a personal catcher, you better be Greg Maddux or Carlton. Wakefield does not quite make that grade.
So making a move that will help give Boston a chance at winning baseball games is based on reputation?
I could hear the meeting:
Francona: We need Mirabelli, Bard isn't getting it done and Wake prefers him.
Boston Brass: I don't know, Wakefield isn't really established enough to have his own catcher.
Francona: Hmm, you might be right, he hasn't really done anything to garner a personal catcher.
That is the most absurd comment I have ever heard. Bard was obviously having a hell of a time catching Wakefield and last time I checked, Wakefield is a knuckleballer, not a finese guy like Maddux or fireballer like Carlton. If I run a team and I can get a guy who will undoubtebly help one of my starting pitchers, I'm going to do it, especially over a guy who isn't getting it done.
Sure, Wakefield isn't Oswalt, Carpenter, or like any of the upper echelon pitchers, but the guy throws a knuckleball which makes him entirely different from all of those guys.
Last edited by p32bars on Mon May 01, 2006 12:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.
TheYanks04, you try and catch a Tim Wakefield knuckleball. You obviously haven't seen the ridiculousness that was Bard trying to catch it. Varitek probably doesn't want to get embarrassed like Bard did. I think it was Bob Uecker that said "the best way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until it stops rolling."
So let Varitek catch the guy and have Bard spell him with someone else. IMO, if you want a personal catcher, you better be Greg Maddux or Carlton. Wakefield does not quite make that grade.
So making a move that will help give Boston a chance at winning baseball games is based on reputation?
I could hear the meeting:
Francona: We need Mirabelli, Bard isn't getting it done and Wake prefers him.
Boston Brass: I don't know, Wakefield isn't really established enough to have his own catcher.
Francona: Hmm, you might be right, he hasn't really done anything to garner a personal catcher.
That is the most absurd comment I have ever heard. Bard was obviously having a hell of a time catching Wakefield and last time I checked, Wakefield is a knuckleballer, not a finese guy like Maddux or fireballer like Carlton. If I run a team and I can get a guy who will undoubtebly help one of my starting pitchers, I'm going to do it, especially over a guy who isn't getting it done.
Sure, Wakefield isn't Oswalt, Carpenter, or like any of the upper echelon pitchers, but the guy throws a knuckleball which makes him entirely different from all of those guys.
Wakefield has been one of the sox most reliable pitchers over the past decade, so lets not overlook his value as an innings eating and quality pitcher. Plus, 10 passed balls versus 1 or 2 is a big difference. If the price of getting Belli back is reasonable, it is a easy decision.
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by Pacman » Mon May 01, 2006 11:52 am 
