This is Theo in full panic mode

Even though Byrd pitched with guts last year...Before he retired (unannounced) ???, he sure fits the current Mold of "Over the Hill" pitchers that the Sox have obtained for the 09 team....He is not a difference maker..............Can Theo get someone like Garland?

Can he hit?

Is this a joke?????
Thank god football is just around the corner....my prediction..we miss the playoffs.

Good god, we're in bigger trouble than I ever imagined.

I guess we are a bit desperate until either Wake or Dice-K can come back healthy.

Too much pitching? Never have seen it.

The good part of signing Paul Byrd back is that his old catcher is now with the Sox,I would expedite his ST/Start him at Greenville 2 starts,2 starts at Pawtucket back to the bigs. One thing we know for sure,his arm can't be tired!!!!

Who cares. Byrd sucked for us last year, he'll suck again. Bring up some guys from the farm instead of these charity cases.

What is Theo thinking here?

Theo might as well have given John Burkett a call...

This team is toast.

Francona managed horribly in this 2 game set. Not taking the bat out of Longoria's hands in game 1 (really? you think Saito would have tired out his arm throwing 4 intentional balls? PUH _LEEZ!) and then letting Lowrie hit in 2nd inning instead of bunting and not pinch hitting for Lowrie in the 9th with Ortiz available. Inexcusable.

Not trading for Orlando Cabrera. Ouch. Shortstop position is an automatic out. Cabrera can hit, can field and would have cost us a low level prospect.

Smotlz will not get out of the 3rd tomorrow night. Yankees steamroll us 3 out of 4.

Good night on this season. 2006 all over again.

Theo will spin that he didn't have to give up any prospects...something tells me Byrd is insurance for Dice-K being out for the season and Smoltz possibly retiring.

The way the Sox offense looked down in TB, I would not be surprised to see a Yankees sweep.

Preseason NFL this weekend!

Hooray...our season is saved. I have so much more confidence now. NOT!

Frankcoma the guy is lost

Sign me -- I need the money

Cabrera has some issues that no team can resolve, apparently. No team keeps him for very long in spite of his talents. SS is the weak spot for us, but not for the Yankees, age notwithstanding for Mr. Jeter. No real SS - that's a bad sign.

Signing Paul Byrd is a bad sign, too. Whatever happened to the wide and deep pitching staff that we were touted as having in spring training? It's a train wreck. We split with the Yankees, but still behind by 2 1/2 games. We have to sweep. Otherwise, goodbye 2009. Fun while it lasted.

so what?

A good long man in the pen is more needed now that Masterson is gone.

OMFG. Paul Byrd got wrecked last year. Didn't he end up facing Toronto like five starts in a row? Theo, there must be somebody. King Felix- give them whatever. Paps. A Sam Adams Brewery and two duckboats. I don't really care at this point. Ask about everyone in both leagues if King Felix is off the table- Lincecum, Lowe, knock on the door again about Halladay. Remember Gange and Lugo? There is no place to go but up.

Wow, I guess I didn't fully realize what bad shape this team is in until I read this......

Theo's prospects, Theo's prospect, Theo's prospects. Who are we? The Marlins?
Clay, at 25 no less, is d-o-n-e. Bard is a closer in progress. Is Bowden going to be our savior for the next 3 years? Enough already. Theo blew it this year. We needed a starting pitcher at the trade deadline, and we did nothing about it. This is turning out worse than 2006....

Faith Unrewarded. Pats celebrate 50 years this year! Celts are amped up! B's could go into the 3rd round!

Sorry to say, I agree with most of the previous comments. The season will be over by this weekend unless the Sox take 3 out of 4. How likely is that to happen? They'll be lucky to win 1 game.

Too much pitching? What a joke.

At least, no one will ever steal a base off of the "soft tossing" Byrd.

If Theo was going to panic, why didn't he panic on 7/28 and deal Bard and Buckholtz for Lee or Halladay?!?!?! Pitching wins - duh! Dice-K was a known fat WBC flop since April. Penny always trails off. Wakefield and Smoltz are and were always prayers at their age! SO WTF Theo?! You are pissing/pissed this season away!

Almost forgot - Hey Theo, I bet Sonny Seibert's available and can give you some innings of middle relief! This is just god-awful.

Thank God we are heading to NY, at least we can count on winning the next 4 games. We sure can use this breather in the schedule.

Geez, look at all the rats jumping off the ship. I understand the panic, but let's at least wait and see how the rest of August goes, dontcha think? Wow. Hope none of you act like you knew it all along in the event we actually make the playoffs, never mind do anything in them.

He shouldnt need much seasoningto be one of FranCOMA"s one-inning-wonders. needs tio maximize at about fifteen pitches before calling it a night and resting the next day.

Theo is doing what he can do.

That is the name of the game.

Byrd Theo??? Was Jesse Orosco not available?

Great! Byrd will fit right in with the ''wheelchair gang'', Smoltz, Penny, Varitek, Lowell, Ortiz.
One problem though : night games. Maybe a bit past his bedtime?
Finally, expect to see Red Sox players with Alzheimers in the near future. If you see one of them hit the ball and start running towards third, please show some compassion.

den666

They bite right now. and the best lineup is one without Tek in it. Sorry. If Lester and Beckett are so good they should be able to pitch to anyone.And can Oki pitch everyday?2 innings a day..LOL

Where is Frank Castillo

I'd rather see somebody from the minor league system come up. Next think we'll read is Theo signs Gagne to a minor league contract.

I wanted to shoot my TV after the 4th inning last night. Ok , throw something at anything. I wanted to call NESN & leave a message for TiTo--"YOU SSssssuck."
Pinch-a-Penny throws hard, fast & STRAIGHT=major league Batting practice.
So I switch from NESN to the Rays broadcast--those guys start relaying how they could NOT believe the Sucks pitched to L, who then hit the homer the night b-4.
Intentional Walk-READ the Book. TiTo-have you EVER studied the book "Major League Managing for DUMMYs" you Dummy. All I ever hear from this guy is (paraphrased by me)--I need innings from my starters-gotta rest the pen." Don't you worry Mr. TiTo-there will be rest-a-plenty when the season ENDS w/ no playoffs.
I feel so SORRY, for all you folks who SPEND your hard-earned $$ for tickets--only to see Mr. TiTo (you Dummy) leave a BUM out there to pitch gopher balls.
I paid good $$ for the MLB on Satilite (like 1000's of others) to see SMART-BASEBALL.
NO, I am NOT a bandwagon jumper. I don't expect a win everyday. I just DEMAND to see a hard-fought SMART game both played & managed. Instead of "SMART-BALL"
Don Taylor has been seeing FART-BALL. It's as repeditive as Dave Roberts is in the Nesn booth. I like the guy, he needs to study the tape.
I'm sorry to be so long winded myself--I just now see this 2009 season as going, going...GONE> PS Oh Theo--we have some high school pitchers here in Florida that can throw a fast ball that MOVES--they can give you innings. TiTo-read the book-YOU DUMMY. Elizabeth--the BIG ONEs a comin' Baby.
May God Bless AMERICA
& God Bless our Troops

All of Red Sox nation knows what needs to be done here, except Theo!
What a shame. This is surely to be a lost season. Management needs to
clean house at the end of the season (if not now) and take care of
business. Francona too loyal to his players and can't pull the trigger.
Too many holes in this team.

We should trade Clay for JOba. It would give us another power arm for the bullpen.

I agree with 29... Theo can only control so much. At some point, the guys on the field have to play and get the job done. If they can't...that's why they play the game. I really thought this team was very well balanced from top to bottom...but they're all playing mediocre...this team has no identity or personality.

Francona can't control the fact that these guys are getting hurt, playing like crap, etc...I don't put as much blame on him as I do the players.

Someone mentioned this to me and I thought they must be kidding.

The season only gets tougher to watch from here on out.

Unbelievable!! He'll be ready by Sept. 1???? When the rosters expand and we can bring in a NUMBER of arms from Pawtucket?? Oh wait, this is the "low risk, hi reward" thing again, isn't it? We need a #3 pitcher - desparately - at the trade deadline, and we go out and get a hitter! We needed the help for NOW, not September! Just unbelievable!

what the heck is another experimental/dinosaur pitcher going to do for us?!

THIS IS NOT GOOD. Pitching is not well rounded. After Beckett and Lester you`ve got NOTHING.......Dice K should have been that guy. WOW. Season has come along way since being 8-0 against the Yankees......This is looking more like 2006...NOT SEEING IT WITH THIS CLUB...

Seriously, everyone go back and read your comments. Sounds like everyone is just dying for this team to have problems. This is when you really need to support your team. Byrd is a depth signing, nothing more. He's not even going to be ready until September. Yes, I don't like the pitching match-ups this weekend, but I'm not blaming Theo for that. Smoltz hasn't pitched well. Penny has been so-so. Buchholz has never put it together since the no-hitter. If there is pitching to be had, I am sure the Sox will make a move or two or three. Francona is the best manager for this team and Theo is the best GM for this team. Sometimes things don't work out as planned. If Dice-K was just a league average #3 pitcher, the Sox would be in 1st place. Dice-K failing off the table has killed their rotation.

Sounds like there are a lot of people ready to jump off the Tobin Bridge. . . enough already. I agree that we need to make a respectable showing against the Yankees this weekend, I'm hoping we take at least one.

Regarding Byrd, how can this possibly hurt us? He'll likely do no worse than Smoltz has done or how Dice-K did earlier in the season. Deep breaths, everyone.

The Pats start soon.

The Pats start soon.

Throughout the offseason I was marveling about the number of re-treads that were being signed. The philosophy was sign as many as possible and hope a diamond appears. The only trouble with that is that these re-treads have taken up space on the roster and soaked up innings. And now we have another one coming. Hmmmm, if only we weren't paying Nancy Drew like a superstar, we might have some money left to spend on value.

Theo needs to seriously reconsider the risk/benefit formula that is used to evaluate talent and make trades. My worry is this: flawed evaluation processes of the talent on the 25-man roster and in the farm system have led us to this point. The same people that evaluated the talent on the roster as "wide and deep" also claim that the talent in the pipeline is priceless and untouchable. They were wrong about the former and therefore could be very wrong about the latter. I cannot believe that V-Mart was the best we could do. And Clay Buchholz may be untouchable for trading purposes, but he is definitely hittable for pitching purposes. Tell me why he is still with this team, Theo. Don't make me beg here. Please.

Theo needs to use TIBCO Spotfire for data analysis like Orlando Magic...

Why? Thank god football is starting. 2010 to address - Catcher, SS, 3B, LF, RF, DH, SP. Good luck Theo. Gonna see an overhaul for next year! Get some guys that want to compete, guys with passion unlike the 35 and over group!

Any trade value Bucholz had priro to this year and the deadline will be gone by the end of the year based on his performance this year. A 7-0 lead at Balt in the 2nd and he an't hold on for a win?

One of dumbest moves of all time is paying Atlanta $1 million to get rid of a better hitting guy! Add it up (Penny $5 mil, Smoltz $5.5 mil, Saito $1.5 mil)and I get $12 - $13 million thrown away for nothing. They could have had Derek Lowe for $15 million which would have solved the problem for the next 2-3 years at #3 starter. But oh no, boy genius had to do low ball mining for diamonds in a cole mine. It never works. Look at all of the reclamation projects they tried over the years - Tanana, Wells, Saberhagen, Ramon Martinez. I'm expecting our genius to come up with a waiver deal for Carl Pavano to put the cherry on the top of this disaster. We are done till they smarten up and dump Theo!

I am amazed at most of these comments. So if the Sox don't take 3 out of 4 this weekend the season is over? I thought the season was 162 Games long not 110 games????? So if the Sox are 3.5 games down with 40 games left, the season is over????? I guess the panic button has been pressed big time!!! C'mon people. THERE IS STILL 44 GAMES LEFT IN THE SEASON!!!!!

How many of you were willing to trade Penny because the Sox had too much pitching? Were some of you the same posters that were so excited to get Smoltz for (cheap $$$) this season? C'mon now! I realize many fans are irrational when it comes to your team (remember a few posters here wanting to switch Youks to SS this offseason "But he's a GOLD GLOVER- short would be easy!"). Sometimes you have to wonder about the baseball IQ of some of the fans. Looking at the TV is not the same as watching and understanding the game.

I'll admit I wanted DLowe and Smoltz (as a 4-5 starter) over Burnett (expensive in terms of $$$ and contract length) and Penny (sucks). Also would have loved to see Buch traded in a larger deal this past deadline, but it didnt happen. The people that run the club are by all accounts astute baseball minds (remember when the FO was the envy of the league?) it's not as if Buddy Lareux has come back and hired Chris Wallace to run the team.

For those of you who wanted Cabrera back- Im pretty sure that after he slept with the Sox former closers wife (its just like "Major League"!) it was all over for him. Having him and Dlowe on the same team would have been like having Belushi and Steven Tyler hangin out together for a few months circa 1979.

In 2 weeks the Sox will be in the wild card hunt, have Wake return (he pitches into the 7th- Yeeeaaaaaah!) and hopefully pick up a minor piece of the BP off waivers. The week after will be sept 1- they will still be in the WC hunt and have Bowden, Tazawa, et all with the club.

Im just asking you to relax, breath and think- start using your heads instead of letting EEI morons do your thinking for you.

Paul Byrd ???
What was Bartolo Colon's cell not working in Golden Corral ?

Can someone tell me why we have Casey Kotchman and not another outfielder? Byrd will never pitch for the club this yr, he is just there to show porn in the clubhouse. By the way the Sox still hold the wild card you fair weather morons.

How about Bruce Hurst, Roger Clemens, Shag Crawford, Greg Harris, or Luis Aponte?

How about Bruce Hurst, Roger Clemens, Shag Crawford, Greg Harris, or Luis Aponte?

Wouldn't Justin Masterson have been the person to take over as a possible 5th starter? Wasn't this his job in the minors before he made the big leagues? Before he became the long reliever? Other than second base do we really need to be platooning at every position now? I do like Victor Martinez; he is a great ball player but when he plays we have someone on the bench who should also be starting. What we need is a pitcher right now and his name is Justin Masterson; who has been very good for us and was willing to file any role that we asked him to fill? Start, long-relief, short-relief, I am sure he would have closed games if he was asked. I am going to say I am not overall happy with many of the moves that happened. $5 million for John Smoltz: an experiment at best. Boy, Atlanta was smart on this one. Quite simply a story of greed. Was the money he made out of the Atlanta public over the last 20 years not enough? Could he not give his fans, the kids, and the community the "home town discount". Or did he not sign out of respect? I think not. Pure greed. What a way to end a 20 year career. I wish I could make $5 million to work a few months, and suck at it. Was the million Atlanta was offering an insult? No I think not, the attitude and pure greed of these baseball players is insulting. Keep buying those expensive tickets and $7 beers everyone. These players need it, although they don't deserve it. Ever read Animal Farm? Be careful Red Sox Nation your starting to look more and more like you know who.

Wouldn't Justin Masterson have been the person to take over as a possible 5th starter? Wasn't this his job in the minors before he made the big leagues? Before he became the long reliever? Other than second base do we really need to be platooning at every position now? I do like Victor Martinez; he is a great ball player but when he plays we have someone on the bench who should also be starting. What we need is a pitcher right now and his name is Justin Masterson; who has been very good for us and was willing to file any role that we asked him to fill? Start, long-relief, short-relief, I am sure he would have closed games if he was asked. I am going to say I am not overall happy with many of the moves that happened. $5 million for John Smoltz: an experiment at best. Boy, Atlanta was smart on this one. Quite simply a story of greed. Was the money he made out of the Atlanta public over the last 20 years not enough? Could he not give his fans, the kids, and the community the "home town discount". Or did he not sign out of respect? I think not. Pure greed. What a way to end a 20 year career. I wish I could make $5 million to work a few months, and suck at it. Was the million Atlanta was offering an insult? No I think not, the attitude and pure greed of these baseball players is insulting. Keep buying those expensive tickets and $7 beers everyone. These players need it, although they don't deserve it. Ever read Animal Farm? Be careful Red Sox Nation your starting to look more and more like you know who.