Accept Wild Card Sit Starters?

[BuckFoston]

The New York Mets were the only team last year to win a series with the home field advantage. The Red Sox shouldn’t worry about the division or home field and focus on the post-season.

The Sox have been in a dismal tailspin for the last couple of weeks:

* Schilling is 2-4 since he returned from the disabled list
* Okajima has given up 6 runs in 4 2/3 innings this month (Francona is sitting him)
* Wakefield went from unhittable at the end of August to giving up 17 runs in three starts in September
* Dice-K has matched Wakefield with 17 runs given up in September.
* Manny is supposedly still hurt
* Big Papi definitely could use some rest
* Varitek is doing his usual August-September exhaustion slide
* Coco missed last night’s game
* Youkillis is still recovering from Wang hitting him last week

I have found the winning scenario for the Red Sox to be competitive in the post-season.

* Setup your starting pitchers this week to allow the post-season rotation to be ideal
* Starting pitchers will only pitch five innings or 80 pitches
* Give Manny, Tek, Ortiz and Youkillis 10 more at-bats for the season
* Give Papelbon and the rest of the bullpen two more appearances in the next week.
* Gagne will pitch every single remaining inning of the season.


This scenario will freshen up the team and get them ready to compete in the post-season. Please tell me Red Sox fans how the Sox should play these last 9 games of the season.

Red Sox Advice: Accept the Wild Card and Sit Your Best Players

This actually isn't that bad of an idea...I would rather see them leave their starters in though and then us take the division away.

[Fishercat]

They should do that with the bullpen. They are all tired out and need the rest.

But I'm almost 100% sure this team doesn't make it past the first round.

[Lance324]

How do you turn things around after you've lost momentum? Francona has already conceded the division before they've even lost it, how does a team go out and try to win when your manager already has you written off as losing? They're already on the downswing, they have 9 games to try and turn this back around. I predict the Red Sox postseason win total to be 1 Game.

[Veovis]

Ah, come now guys. The Tigers went all the way to the Series last year after losing the division to the Twins on the last day of the season. Once the playoffs start, anything can happen. You guys should know that better than anyone else. You've seen the best and the worst of it.

[Lance324]

The Tigers got by on dominant starting pitching, a luxury the Red Sox do not have. After Beckett, our starters don't match up well with any team, except maybe the Yankees. Thing is they won't get the Yankees before the second round if at all, and even then the Yankees potent offense tips the scales way in their favor. They keep talking about Wild Card teams winning it all, all those teams prior to Detroit went into the postseason with a ton of momentum, and that momentum carried them through. Most of them had to play hard right up to the last day just to get into the playoffs, not take the last two weeks off and go into the playoffs on a downswing.

[Veovis]

But then there is also the argument that teams that have to fight for a spot wire-to-wire get worn out and collapse in the playoffs. See: Red Sox and NYY, 2005.

Schilling is still capable of being a good #3 in the playoffs. The Sox just need to get Mats and Okajima rested up and they should be good to go too since their problems stem mostly from overwork. And God knows, Wakefield has done pretty well for himself in the playoffs as far as I remember. All is not lost. Anything can and usually will happen in the playoffs.