Quote:
Originally Posted by Lip Man 1
Frater:
Briefly...the Sox scored four runs and had the lead late in game #1. That was more than enough to win the game. Win that game and you potentially change the entire series.
Schueler didn't get pitching which was badly needed...which forced the rest of the pitchers into heavier loads...which resulted in guys breaking down (Sirotka and Parque) in September to go along with guys like Baldwin and Eldred who were already hurt and / or missed time.
The bullpen guys also got extended and hurt (Wunsch, Howry, Simas).
The Sox had if memory is correct a half dozen pitchers go under the knife when all was said and done.
Sirotka, Parque, Simas and Wunsch were never the same again or didn't pitch anymore after it.
And that wasn't Williams by the way that was Schueler.
At the time of the trade deadline Eldred was already out with the elbow and Baldwin was starting to have issues. In fact Baldwin would miss a month of the second half of that year and was pitching on guts the rest of the time when he did return.
I do not want to see the Sox in the same situation again if it can be helped remember Peavy probably isn't returning next year and Floyd can be a free agent if the Sox don't invoke the option (again if I remember correctly...)
Delbin:
My correct was based on how long he'd probably be out...not on what type of DL he's placed on.
Lip
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All great points, Lip, and I remember most of that as much as you, and I agree that Schueler should have gotten more pitching at the deadline in 2000. But it was the lack of hitting in games 2 and 3 specifically that killed the Sox in that short ALDS. I'm not sure more or better pitching would have been enough to overcome the bad hitting in that series. Was more pitching needed? Yes. But you also need to score runs and the Sox offense, which had no problems scoring throughout 2000, failed to do so in the ALDS.
Given the sorry state of our pitching going into the 2001 season, upon earning the GM title, KW made the right move on paper by acquiring Wells for Sirotka, who would never pitch again.