2009 Sox Pitching: Octavio Dotel, Rotation Concerns

First I want to talk about Octavio. Hes 35 this year.

He had a  17% HR/Fly ball ratio last year, vs about 10% for his career.

He was really good IMO last year, but my wife hated him largely because of that stat.

Can we count on this guy this year? I mean we have to, but should we? What about Linebrink? Hes no spring chicken, either. I have some concern about the pen, but mostly that because of the question marks in the rotation.

Why havent they signed a SP? I dont think Freddy is the answer in the same way that KW doesnt like Garland.

Lets go sign Ben Sheets AND Pedro Martinez.

Pedro put up two of the best seasons by a starter of all-time in 99 and 00, hes definitely worth a look.

Sheets is downright nasty when he's healthy, and last year he was good for 198 IP. 200+ in 02, 03, and 04. Its just that 106 IP in '06 that everyone remembers and frankly I kind of expect. But 120 IP of a 3.8 ERA looks ok to me.

There are other options as well:
 What about El Duque? Hes Cuban, so that fits the bill. Who cares if hes older than my grandfather. Randy Wolf? I dont know, Im grasping at straws now, but they should do something. Even Mark Prior got a minor league deal with SD. Make a move.

Im not sold on Richard, and I dont think the Sox are either. At least they weren't last year, after he had a good start they went to Javy in NY twice when Richard should have had that second start. That would have been a good time to see what the kid was made of, they missed the chance to test him on the big stage at crunch time.
Poreda is going to be really good, but I rather see him on the Buehrle career path. A year in the pen before taking a spot in the rotation.

So where do we stand then:

Buehrle and Danks - lefties that should be pretty reliable as far as quality and workload.

Floyd- 34 HR given up last year, a number that is pretty high and has no reason to go down really, hes a flyball kind of guy. I still like him though, and he pitched his ass off last year, any improvement at all would be great.

Thats it, thats the rotation. Three freaking guys, and last I checked, its 2008, not 1908.

The Count is out until the dog days and frankly could be done forever.

They need to sign somebody. I know they didnt expect to have that Thome money on the books, and Im aware of the economic climate, but I also know this fan base, and having Pedro will fill those seats. Sheets and Pedro together can be a badass 1/5 of the rotation, and anything after that is gravy.

Fire up the pilot light on that hot stove and do something Kenny, we've got some holes to fill.