Matt Clement was put on the disabled list today after he returned to Boston and had an MRI on his strained right shoulder. The procedure showed some laxity in his arm that the team is attributing to muscle spasms. No structural damage was found but the team is putting Clement on a strength program.

To fill Clement's spot on the roster, Gabe Kapler's contract was purchased and he was activated. Kapler, sidelined since last season with an Achilles' injury, has no limitations on what he can do, manager Terry Francona said.

The Sox also claimed pitcher Kyle Snyder after he was designated by assignment from Kansas City. Snyder has 72 hours to report and the team has not yet designated where he will be assigned, Boston or Pawtucket.

To make room for Snyder and Kapler on the 40-man roster, the Sox designated pitcher Mike Holtz and outfielder Dustin Mohr for assignment; the team has 10 days to trade them.

The team still hasn't designated a starter for Monday's game at Fenway vs. Washington.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/reds...as/extra_bases/

About time Clement when on the DL. Synder is a likely nobody if he was DFA'd by KC.

Anyone got any guesses as to who pitches on Monday? I for one didn't think that Jon Lester would be the #4 starter on June 16th.

VERY happy to see Kapler back.

It was only a matter of time--having Harris as the only backup OFer was not a good situation.

Snyder was once a terrific prospect, a first-round draft pick, I believe. But he's had a bunch of arm problems -- elbow and shoulder both. Obviously this is a longshot when you're talking about a guy released by the Royals.

Lets hope Kapler can be a boost to a weak bench right now and can lead to the end of the Willie Harris era.

Cool. No limitations. Hopefully that includes middle relief.

Pretty impressive that he's back so soon. Funny, coming into the year, I figured he was pretty much going to be relegated to mascot duty, not only because of the achilles, but because Mohr seemed to be an upgrade...and then once Wily Mo entered the mix, where would Kapler possibly fit in?

Ha. The Dustan Mohr era worked out about as well as the Scott Sauerbeck era. I'm not even sure what Kapler contributes...and yet, he does. Glad he's back.

I wonder how long we will be without Matt Clement?

Schill, Wake, Beckett, and Lester can only hold down the fort for so long...

...when is Dinardo due back? What is Abe Alvarez's status?

Was Mohr found hiding in bushes with his skank girlfriend with the 0.26% blood alcohol content?

Oh, that goodie of Sauerbeck's wasn't during his tenure with the Sox.

I'd rather have Sauerbeck, recently DFA'd by the Indians, sitting next to Riske in the pen....rather than a AAA guy.

Meh, I dunno. What I do know is that Theo won't pick up a guy who was found drunk with a skank in the bushes. Tavarez's history is hardly much better, though, so what's the problem, huh?

And I think I just traumatized myself for life imagining Julian Tavarez with a skank in the bushes. What kind of skank would that be?

Thank you Dustan Mohr. You were one of the.... Your contributions were.... Well, you were an amazing.... Um, what exactly did you do again?

Yea, I mean that'd be terrible. Luckily Theo gave out more than $10m so far to a drunk who got his face punched in at a bar, and who admitted to pitching while intoxicated. Phew, glad Theo is worried about the baggage these guys have. I for one would never want someone like that on the Red Sox, because as we know, winning is secondary to fielding a team of real nice guys.

That's why I'm glad Gabe Kapler is back. I mean sure, one could look at the mediocre numbers he's put up in his major league career (and that was before he blew out his Achilles), or the .250 OBP he put up in his week long stint in Pawtucket and say, "This guy sucks." Not me though. I look at it and say, "Sure the numbers are bad, but he is a really, really nice guy. All those outs he makes will be offset by his niceness." And really, that's all that matters.

Chris Snow is saying that Kyle Snyder will be replacing Clement on Monday.
A guy who has been so bad that K.C. just released him(6.75 ERA last year, bombed in his one start this year). Crazy.

OK, there is no way Wells is making that much the way his contract is structured. I think it's more like $3M. But point well-taken anyway. And I never brought Kapler up at all, so I'm not sure where that came from. For the record, I think he's mostly a waste, but he's a DIFFERENT waste than Willie Harris, who I wish would fall in a hole, so who knows. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. Maybe we'll get lucky.

I sort of assumed Sauerbeck totally sucked and that the skank in the bushes incident just pushed it over the edge with the Indians releasing him so that it would just be another reason for us not to take him on, but I can't figure his numbers out this year, so I'm not sure about that anymore. I guess it's because there isn't a big enough sample size at all, but his numbers against righties aren't bad at all. Granted, it's in like 6 innings and his numbers against lefties are horrible, but Cleveland's pen is not exactly stellar and it seems like they cut bait pretty fast. Would you advocate us taking a flyer on him? I personally think a team can deal with only so much flotsam at once, but eh.

Maybe the Red Sox will gain some of that Al Lieter/DFA mojo and hurl a shut out against the first team he faces?
It worked for the MFY last year against us.

You can put someone on the DL for sucking now?

The Braves once DL'ed Mark Wohlers for "inability to pitch."

I would love to see what we wrote.

Only if it's a sucking disorder.

I think given their recent play, they might need his incredibly positive attitude. And I'm surely not going to complain if he's taking at bats away from Willie Harris.

David Wells' 2004 salary added to what he's made this season to do nothing (not meeting incentives, just the base) has paid him $10m or more. I didn't mean this year, but I cans ee how it may get misconstrued.



I only mention Gabe because the thread is a Clement/Kapler thing, and I didn't want to make a totally off topic post. He's really not a good baseball player. I don't think he'll be sgnificantly better than Willie Harris and his .264 OBP, because at least Harris has speed, and can play a bunch of positions. IMO, they're both junk, so we're just trying to find out who sucks less.



IMO, Saurbeck most definitely does suck. He only pitched 13 innings this season, and well, we all remember that 6.48 ERA he had for the Sox in 2003. I don't think he's worth picking up at this point, and I doubt the Sox do either. Just saying that if they felt he was capable of helping, I doubt whatever happened to him with the whole hiding in a bush thing would deter them. Doesn't he have arm or shoulder problems or though? I'd rather them go after a different RP if they're looking for help.

Why, he hit the longest home run of the year by a Sox player. That's what.

Still doesn't make up for K'ing 50% of the time. However, if I were Dustan Mohr's representation, I'd capitalize on the trajectory of that particular HR cuz it's about the lone bright spot.

So Clement is on teh DL with "laxity" in his arm?

Good to see Kapler again. I have great memories from his first stint with the Red Sox, especially when he was involved in the infamous brawl. I think it was he, Trot and Papi that were taking on Tanyon Sturtz. Its also good to see that we have someone to take WMP's spot for a while.

Now for Clement; You can put him on the DL for sucking but you still have to pay him. So half the problem is solved here.

It was a Perfect Game.



That sounds like it belongs in the B vs. C thread.

Oh, yeah, Kyle Snyder!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great to see him back, especially for his attitude in the clubhouse. I'll take him over Harris any day.

Glad to see Clement out too, maybe he can straighten out whatever issues he may have, then again he might just loose his spot to one of the young guys by that point...

I would say Clement really has about 1 more chance to straighten this out before everyone is going to lose complete faith in this guy (if they haven't already). If he comes back from the DL and continues to throw stinkers he will never recover.

I agree. Kapler? Geez...

The bar has to be set extremely low before Kapler looks like a good addition to the squad. Granted, the bar is set low for the present Red Sox team.

I'm afraid that now the Sox will think that their RHH 4th OF problem is solved, instead of going out and getting someone who is actually good.

To be fair, we're not looking for a permanent RHH 4th OF solution, I think the Sox just need a stopgap until Pena is healthy again.

What's the prognosis on that?

Not crazy.

So Snyder had a bad two innings in MLB in 2006. In 2005 he had a FIP of 3.90. The ERA was 6.75 because KC was the worst-fielding team in MLB last year, and Snyder had a BABIP of .388 despite an LD% of 20.9%. He was flat-out screwed by the defense.

Snyder's AAA stats support his 3.90 FIP--he's had an ERA below 4.00 in the Pacific Coast League two years running. He missed 2004 with injury--he was better before the injuries, but he's still a good pitcher.

But KC has a bad defense, he's a ground ball pitcher, and the two don't match...I understand the release, and I understand why we signed him. As waiver-wire acquisitions go, I consider him a good one.

I agree that Snyder's worth a shot. The guy had some serious talent before his injuries. His 43/9 strikeout-walk totals in AAA this year suggest that he's reasonably healthy. I have to admit, though, I'd be more optimistic if it was Allard Baird and the old KC regime that released him as opposed to Dayton Moore. I think Moore is less likely to make a mistake on a pitcher that could help his team, but Boston's options are limited right now and they only need Snyder for one start at the moment.

I think that any waiver-wire acquisition is liable to struggle, and I certainly understand your caution. Still, it's a case where Snyder was hurt far worse than the average pitcher was on the team with the worst defense in MLB in 2005...there's a strong tendency to believe that an ERA over 6.00 has to reflect terrible pitching, but in this case it might not.

Kapler was 2-4 for the first Fenway game. Keep it up Gabe and don't just be "that nice guy" be that "holy crap did you see what he did?" guy!

I would love to see it, he gets so much respect for his work ethic, I would love to see the results match up with it. Definately great to see him back, and the standing ovation was really special.

Good call, JhB.

Plus, is it just me, or does Snyder look like Arroyo? He's the next best thing to getting Arroyo back!

He sure does look like him, especially with the hair, thats the first thing I thought when I saw him, just an older version of Arroyo.

Sox have already gotten their money's worth from Snyder. Anything else he contributes is gravy.

Ditto, actually, for Kapler. Nice to see some moves working out for a change (yes, EZ boys, I'm looking at you).

The ovation that was given to Kapler when he stepped into the Batters Box last night was great. He truly is a fan favorite.

Good to see Kapler back. He's a real "clubhouse guy," one whose value isn't necessarily measured in terms of numbers. He can do nothing but help.



Yeah, but can he sing?

I did a double take when I saw this picture on Boston.com:

As others have said, no it was not just you. I kept looking for the high kick on the mound. and then the post-game only reinforced it.

Thanks.



I was wondering if Curt Schilling had possibly fathered a child just as he had entered puberty decades ago...did you see the two of them together in the dugout?

Yeah, if somehow Bronson Arroyo grew to be 6'8"...

Back to Gabe Kapler, though, I think that we are much better off with Kapler backing up Trot Nixon, Coco Crisp, and Manny Ramirez rather than Willie Harris. And this thought was only confirmed when Harris looked helpless on that flyball to left the other night.

I love Willie Harris because I feel that every team needs a guy who can fly to come off the bench in those tight, late game situations (i.e. Dave Roberts). But defense and offense are not his forte.

I can't see Willie Harris being on this team too much longer, Kapler can hold the line just fine and Harris can't even play the outfield properly. Gimme Kap anyday.

Willie will stay until WMP is ready. At that point, we'll have to choose between Harris and Kapler. While I'd love to have Willie's speed on the bench, pretty much every other factor favors Gabe. Willie will need to go.