Who should/will be the Sox closer in 2011?

Sale?

Thornton?

Santos?

Closer by committee?

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

isn't that the old guy who used to post excellent porn here

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

not Sale or Thronton

so, Santos.

did we get rid of Putz too?

_________________

"We"??

_________________

Sale but only for this year.

Santo(Ron)

_________________
You never miss your wealth, till your well went dry
Seem like only yesterday, you were here smiling
Now you gone away, but I know you in a better place
No traces of you, what can I do?
Alone and confused

I don't think he's got the legs to last all season.

_________________

I think Santos is probably the best answer.

As much as he fell out of favor with Kenny, Ozzie and the fans, I think Jenks is going to be missed.

Somebody should do a creepy wellness check...

_________________
This is my signature...

_________________

Here's the problem with that, Keyser. If Sale is successful as a closer on a contending team, his role and career path will be established. To me, it's an absolute waste to use a guy like that to pitch 65 innings when he could be handling 200 for you. As a lefthanded starter he gives you flexibility to move Danks prior to his big payday if you want to- perhaps without significantly weakening the rotation. You can find another guy to face three batters with a two run lead in the ninth.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

This guy disagrees with you.

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Wainwright was never a successful closer. He pitched in relief when he first got to the big leagues the way a lot of guys do. If Sale is the closer next season and he gets 30-40 saves, you'll never see him as a starter. And that would be a fuckin' shame.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

4 saves with a 0.00 ERA in the 2006 playoffs. He also won a game in the WS that year. I would say that is successful.


Also, see John Smoltz and Ryan Dempster. I agree that Sale should ultimately be a starter, but guys can go from closer to starter and vice versa. Sale was also outstanding last year out of the 'pen, and the 'pen is still the Sox biggest need at this point.

_________________

This.

A starting LHP with nasty stuff like Sale is much more valueable in the rotation, long term. That being said, I'm worried that his funky arm slot is going to cause problems long term for him pitching 200 innings a year.

Actually, Wainwright is the perfect example of a guy who was a great closer in his first year and then went on to become a great starter. Not saying this will work with Sale, but Wainwright is the last guy you should use as an example.

_________________

If the Rangers don't sign or trade for a starter they are going to turn Feliz back into a starter. I very much want to see Sale as a starter and I don't think 1 year of closing will establish his career.

I read something yesterday that said after the Royals acquired Jeffress from the Brewers that they are thinking of turning Soria back into a starter.

The second and third time a game that batters see Soria, they will knock him around pretty good.

I disagree. Soria has 4 pitches but he doesn't use them all because of the role he's in. This is a move that is LONG overdue.

Wainwright has three career saves. He closed out ten games during that season. He was the defacto closer in the World Series run because they didn't have anyone better. But the Cardinals always intended to make him a starter. To do anything else would have been foolish. Like the decision the Sox appear ready to make with Sale.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I agree. He was still successful in that role.

_________________

Okay. And Sale has already been successful as a closer too. What he hasn't done is establish himself as a closer. Wainwright never did either. The decision with Sale is going to be made now. If he's the closer, that's going to be where he stays- barring failure.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

But originally you didn't say anything about establishing anything. You said that Wainwright was never a successful closer. That simply is not true.

_________________

I don't want to get into a semantic argument, Frank.

Is it fair to say that Wainwright doesn't have a large enough sample of work to call him a "successful closer"? He did the job on an interim basis due to the situation his team was in. I wouldn't say a guy with three career saves was a succesful closer although he may have done that job successfully for a short time.

In any case, do you really think that if Sale is a lockdown closer next season the Sox are going to turn around and make him a starter in 2012?

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I think that would depend on who is available on the open market, how Santos does this year, and if anybody else on the Sox 40 man either emerges as a solid reliever, or takes a shit like Linebrink did.

But yes I think Sale could be a starter in 2012. I have no idea if he will be or not.

_________________

Well, neither do I, but I would bet good money- after watching the way Guillen/Cooper operate- that if he has success in that role, they won't move him around again.

I'd rather just see him in the rotation right out of the gate and go from there.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

There is nothing stopping him from being a successful closer in 2011 and a successful starter after that. Being a closer doesn't "ruin" him as a starting pitcher. That seems to be what you're implying and it just isn't true.

_________________

I'm not implying anything of the kind. What I'm saying is that I find it highly unlikely that the Sox would turn him into a starter if he had a great season as a closer.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

And maybe that's not a bad thing. A lockdown closer is a precious commodity. They wanted to turn Papelbon in to a starter for his first couple seasons but he has proven far more valuable as a closer.

_________________