Mirabelli released

As soon as Cash drops a knuckler the man Mirabelli will be back.

The real reason is weight limitations and distribution on the flight to Japan - they could only choose one of Bartolo Colon or Mirabelli.

'Bout time. Guy can't hit...run...move, for that matter. Cash proved he can catch Wake and is hitting the ball well this spring. That, and Kottaras and Brown have been hitting the ball well, so they'll be in Pawtucket in case Cash struggles.

Nick,

They signed Doug for the year. Do the Red Sox still have to pay him for the season?

He will me missed. I'm not sure with all of the turmoil within this staff right now that you go and mess with Wakefield's comfort level.

We'll see

i'm crushed. i love dougie.
why did the red sox re-sign him if they didn't have the intentions of keeping him?

Go with Cash, he did a great job for the Sox at the end of last season and did
a great job catching Wake, he is experienced and has what it takes, give him the chance

It's about time. My feeling is that if the sox didn't have Wakefield, then "Mabs" would have been gone a long time ago.

It is unfortunate when a team has to fill an active roster spot to catch one
pitcher maybe once a week.I like Wakefield,but I cannot remember his era
ever being under four.

Adios Dougie. When someone offers you free money and you refuse to work out hard during the offseason, you have earned your release.

KOTARRAS.

Nooo! Well, I'll for one miss Dougie. He didn't have a tremendous bat, but he was an asset to the team.

Wow....2 World Series Rings and a police escort to the park after he was reaquired from San Diego......and now a "everybody who is starting todays game get on the field....NOT SO FAST MIRABELLI" Oh well....it sucks getting old and fat....Thanks for memories Dougie, and don't fret, there is always slow pitch softball!

wow...after what they did last time he was released i don't know why they'd want to take the chance that wakefield might not perform as well as he can during the season with mirabelli...strange move, i don't think mirabelli makes a lot?

Make way for MICHAEL BARRETT!!!!!!!!

First the Pats don't offer Troy Brown a contract and now this. All the negativity in this town SUCKS!!!

Dougie'll get over it...he'll have some Sambuca and take his frustration out on Mr. Hamm...

This leads me to question our intentions for Wake... there have been talks of him going to the pen in the past... I don't see the point in keeping a roster spot for catching a reliever either... could Colon's performance have made it a Beckett/Dice-K/Lester/Colon/Buchholz rotation?

We're talking a guy that hits 150 and can't run to save his life. If it were up to me i'd kick Wakefield out too. His pitching isn't exactly a mystery to veterans of the game. The Yankees know how to hammer Wakefield...remember 03? 07 was pretty disappointing for that guy as well - I don't care how many W's he got .

We as Red Soxs fan will miss Dougie but the team needs carry on and just get it done. We thank him for all his efforts and everything that he has done for the team and we all look forward to the future and all it has to offer.

Bringing back 36 year old receivers and catchers who can't hit worth a lick isn't the end of the world Brendan.

For whoever asked Mirabelli is receiving $150K which was what he was guaranteed when they signed him.

i do recall that besides beckett, wakefield was pretty much the only other consistant arm on the staff last year...no? and granted wakefield in ability may only be average but the fact that he can go out and throw 200 pitches.(because quite frankly throwing that knuckleball is nothing more than playing toss) like its nothing is a huge asset because it chews up innings, and i for one have no issue with a guy chewing up some serious innings at an era of 4.5 because it rests the rest of the arms in a staff thats been beaten up over the last years.

either mirabelli will be back or wakefields season goes to the shittter and our bullpen gets train wrecked because nobody can pitch more than a few innings effectively.

I don't care what everyone else is saying, this chick still thinks he is HOT in that pin stiped suit...,good luck Doug in what ever you do!

why not trade coco for ryan doumit who plays C/1B/OF? the pirates need a CF and the red sox need a younger catcher with some potential.

IF FOR SOME REASON CASH (WHO THE HECK IS KEVIN CASH ? ) DOES NOT WORK OUT THERE IS ALWAYS FORMER N.Y. MET PAUL Lo DUCA CURRENTLY OF THE NATIONALS. WAIT A MINUTE THE BOSOX HAVE A THING AGAINST SLOW FAT BACKTOPS.

Personally, I don't understand why the Sox haven't gotten rid of Mirabelli YEARS ago. The man hasn't been able to hit or run since who knows when, and he catches the worst pitcher on our team once every 5 games. Not that Tek has been all-star material offensively the past few seasons, but Mirabelli was an absolute waste. Not to mention the fact that Wakefield stinks every year. He will win you only a few more games than he loses each season, and given the Sox' great offense...that's not saying much. I know he won 17 games last year but again, the Sox offense should give you at least 15 wins a year if you are halfway decent. Plus, I can't even remember the last time Wakefield's ERA was under 4.00 so clearly we're not winning games because of his dominance. You mean to tell me that you can't find a pitcher in the Minors who can throw better than Wake can? He's 40 years old, gets 4 million a year, and stinks. Find a young kid you can bring up and pay the league minimum, and I guarantee he'll be better than Wake...not too mention we won't need to designate a terrible backup just to catch him.

Did everyone on here forget last season? Wake had 17 wins - that is more than the COMBINED total of wins posted by Lester, Buchholz & Schilling... WAKE is a solid starter, a proven winner for Boston, and an all-around Class Act.

Mirabelli has not posted any redeeming numbers other than the ability to catch Wakefield, so they let him go - hoping the young guys will finally be able to handle it.

But to talk trash about Wake? You are obviously not red sox fans, or possibly bandwagoners who showed up after '04. You people have no respect.

Coco Crisp for Jerrod Saltalmachia? Rangers need a center fielder . The also have Gerald Laird to catch every day. This could be a good move for both teams.

6 years too late if you ask me. I can see them going with Cash for a while, but sooner or later you will see Kottaras or Brown coming up this year. They need a backup that can actually hit the ball at more than a .171 clip.

Seems like people are too concerned about Cash working out as the back-up catcher. Remember Josh Bard? His hitting certainly came around when the Sox traded him to the Padres in order to get Mirabelli back.

Mirabelli made some great contributions to the SOX over his career and will be missed.

But I wish this move would have been sooner and maybe the SOX would still have Clay Meredith and Josh Bard.

As a Padre fan, I'm always happy to hear of any bad news for Mirabelli. Mirabelli, after being traded back from the Padres to the Sox said "It's good to be back with a major league team"...... Well good riddance Doug, because its apparent that a "major league team" doesn't feel the same way about you. Have fun coaching little league a--hole..... no one is going to sign your pathetic a--

Thinking about it, the Sox should give Mike Piazza a call to see if he wants to play another year. He can certainly hit better than any backup catcher in the league, and he did a very good job catching Tom Candiotti's knuckler.

You ppl suck...you're missing the point. The fact that 'Belli can't hit/run is not why they have him. He's another coach on the bench and can maturely fulfill the leadership role when 'Tek needs a rest. As far as Wake, he eats innings for $4M/yr. I think each of them have earned every penny in Boston and I think his release is a big mistake!

You guys who think that Wakefield "eats" up innings are idiots. Last year he averaged 6 innings per game, while managing to have an ERA of a whopping 4.76. That's not exactly what I would call "eating up innings." Wakefield does not belong as a starter on the Sox staff. If you wanna keep him on the team then he should be stricly a mop-up man and pitch only when real pitchers are getting hit hard....then you can say he'll eat up innings by not wasting the 'pen. A minor league pitcher can certainly pitch 6 innings a game with an ERA of 4.76 over the course of the year. And again...we're forgetting that Mirabelli is an automatic out when he's at the plate, so when we have a struggling Crisp, Mirabelli, and Lugo at the bottom of the order, that's an easy 1-2-3 and it hurts our offense every time Wake pitches. And I'm tired of the fact that this team bends over backwards for this guy just because he's been here forever. He hasn't had an ERA of under 4.00 since he became a full-time starter for this team. He stinks, period.

Wakefield averages about 200 innings per season. He's not a "complete game machine" like Luis Tiant, but in today's game who is? At 17-12 for a 4th or 5th starter, that's not bad. How many Yankees won more than 17 games last year? Only Wang. If you factor in Wake's salary, he enables the team to spend in other areas (meaning we don't need a steady stream of marginal guys who won't win 17 games in their entire careers). You can't win the world series with 5 Wakefields on your staff, but having one is a strategic advantage. If nothing else, he screws up the timing of hitters who will surely face a [relative] power pitcher the next day.

So Dave, you think Wake's 4.76 ERA is "whopping", eh? The league average in 2007 was 4.47. So over the course of the entire season, he was 6 earned runs off the middle mark. If that's an abomination in your eyes then go pout about it. Most of us feel he is a bargain at $4M. Yeah he's good for 10-12 losses a year, but we know that up front. That's why he only makes $4M. If you want to talk about a waste of money in 2008, let's talk about Curt Schilling.

So what if Wake hasn't had an ERA of 4.00 as a starter? That's not the only measure of success. If we have minor league pitchers who are a "slam dunk" to pitch 4.76 baseball in the majors, then where are they? Why haven't the Sox promoted them yet? Why don't you call up Theo and bring this to his attention, since I'm sure he's never thought of replacing Wakefield with a minor leaguer. Clearly, he needs a deep thinker like you on his staff.

red sox rock!

GET RID OF WAKEFIELD AND TIMLIN THESE TO GUYS GIVE UP TO MANY RUNS THEY WILL LOSE YOU BALL GAMES. REDSOX SHOULD MAKE PAPALBOUN A STARTING PITCHER HE IS YOUNG AND HE IS ALMOST UNHITABLE. THEN SEARCH FOR ANATHER GOOD BULLPEN CLOSER.

MIRIBELLI SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!