The Lefthanded Hitter Search For The Red Sox Continues...

As I reported in an earlier post a few days ago, the Boston Red Sox have stepped up their search for a lefthanded bat, a player who can give Kevin Youkilis a game off once in a while. Boston is concerned because as the season unfolds, Kevin's average drops. His defense is ALWAYS there, but fatigue might be a factor. This is from the Tuesday Globe internet publication "Extra Bases," and then I'll be back with a few thoughts of my own...

"There are still interesting ones (lefthanded bench bats) out there such as Sean Casey, Tony Clark, Doug Mientkiewicz, Mark Sweeney, and Eric Hinske.
Casey, 33, is an intriguing possibility. He's lost his first base job to Carlos Guillen in Detroit. He's limited defensively, but he hit .296 last season with four homers and 54 RBIs. There are also lefthanded-hitting outfielders such as Trot Nixon (!!), Shawn Green, Luis Gonzalez, and Ryan Klesko (who can play first), but the need is more for a true first baseman or third baseman from the left side.
Clark indicated in an e-mail yesterday he would love to return to the Red Sox. He has a very good relationship with Terry Francona, but sources indicate Clark would be further down on the list of preferences.
The Red Sox are hoping to obtain a player who can give Youkilis more rest. Because of the hard-nosed nature of Youkilis's play, the Sox are concerned he wears down at the end of the season."

Peter here. There are some old and familiar names in that excerpt from EXTRA BASES. Old friend Tony Clark, who was a bust at the plate while with the Sox, and our much missed Trot Nixon, to name two. Sean Casey intrigues me, because he can give Youkilis a rest and seems to be potent enough at the plate to fill the void. I didn't mention ball stealer Mientkiewicz because his name is too hard to spell, and I don't want to spend the summer typing out the many confusing letters. Seriously, we all know he can play a good first base, but his plate skills are suspect. The team will sort out this bunch of charactors and choose one, but I do hope they will not forget that the bullpen needs one or two more arms added to their magnificent collection of clutchness. Setup type of guys, who can build that bridge to Paps and make it strong. The basic setup guys (Timlin, Delcarmen) are there, but one or two added arms would not hurt. Not at all.

Enjoy your Hump Day Wednesday as we slide yet again towards the weekend. It seems that time is flying by uncontrollably quickly for me...is that what happens as the years go by? If so, I DON'T LIKE IT! But I'll survive. And you will too.

Please click on the title of this post to be linked to the entire Boston Globe article. And thanks for being here...yesterday I hit an alltime low in reader hits. I guess it's that time of the year. But I ain't going to stop writing a post or two, everyday. I don't and won't quit. EVER. Not until my last breath. Again, I appreciate your being here SO very much, and as always, be safe and BE WELL. That's my wish for you. FOREVER.