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Boston Red Sox right-handed pitcher Alfredo Aceves recently made headlines with a puzzling lackluster performance during a practice drill. Despite concerns that such actions could negatively impact a team newly committed to a positive clubhouse, Boston shouldn’t give up on him yet. WEEI’s Alex Speier reported that during his first live batting practice pitching of the spring, Aceves had to be prodded multiple times by the coaching staff to throw full-speed, as the drill was intended. After the practice, the Red Sox refused to directly address the matter. According to the Boston Herald’s Scott Lauber, manager John Farrell commented, "The one thing I'll say is he didn't go through the drill as intended, and we've addressed it." CSNNE.com’s Sean McAdam tweeted that a source confirmed Aceves was testing his new manager: #RedSoxTalk Alfredo Aceves was "absolutely" testing his new manager John Farrell today, says a source. ow.ly/hNspr— Sean McAdam(@Sean_McAdam) February 18, ...

The Boston Red Sox should have a different clubhouse culture in 2013 than they did in 2011 or 2012. They have a new manager and an assortment of new players, and the organization has made establishing a strong clubhouse a primary directive.Hence the reason the Red Sox should be keeping a very close eye on Alfredo Aceves. While they're at it, they need to keep him on a short leash.If you're just now crawling out from under a rock that you've been living under for the last few days, Aceves caused quite the stir at Red Sox camp on Sunday during a live batting practice session. The story, according to Joe McDonald of ESPNBoston.com, goes that Aceves was lobbing balls to the plate. The drill typically involves pitchers throwing with their usual velocity and effort level. Aceves was showing off neither.Aceves' lobs caught the attention of new manager John Farrell. He checked to see ...

The Boston Red Sox just bolstered their 2013 starting rotation by signing free-agent right-hander Ryan Dempster to a two-year deal. Despite his addition, the team still need more starting pitching depth, but the answer may already be on their roster in the person of Alfredo Aceves. FoxSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal first reported the Dempster signing via Twitter.   Sources: Dempster close with #RedSox on two-year, $26.5 million free-agent contract.— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 13, 2012   The story was later confirmed in a separate report by ESPN.com’s Gordon Edes. Dempster joins Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Felix Doubront, John Lackey and possibly Franklin Morales in the rotation this upcoming season. With Lackey and Morales coming off injuries, the team could still use another starter to shore up the rotation. Career .500 pitchers Kyle Lohse and Edwin Jackson are the best of the remaining free agents and don’t generate much excitement. A potentially intriguing and ...

Boston Red Sox pitcher Alfredo Aceves had a miserable 2012 campaign, losing 10 games and posting a 5.36 ERA. The low-point of the season came in late August when he was suspended for three games for “conduct detrimental to the team.” Despite this transgression, it appears new manager John Farrell is willing to give Aceves another chance, which is a good thing because of how much value he can bring to Boston's pitching staff. WEEI’s Alex Speier wrote about an interview Farrell did with the WEEI Red Sox Hot Stove Show, and mentioned the skipper had been in contact with Aceves about next year. Farrell explained, “I think the one thing we are going to hold ourselves accountable to is the way we play the game, the way we respect one another in uniform and that we work each night as a unit.” Aceves’ talent is obvious. In 2011 he went 10-2 ...

The Boston Red Sox's busy day continues and that's thanks to the team suspending reliever Alfredo Aceves.   Update on August 26 at 12:42 a.m. EDT WEEI.com is reporting exactly why Aceves has been suspended, a fact that has yet to come to light until now. According to three sources inside Fenway Park, Alfredo Aceves tore off his jersey while making his way from the bullpen back to the clubhouse in the moments after Boston's 4-3 win over the Royals Friday night. The game was saved by Andrew Bailey one night after Aceves allowed six hits and five runs and blew his third save in five chances. Per the same report, manager Bobby Valentine believes that Aceves' suspension might have been a result of the reliever's negative reaction to being passed over for a save opportunity in favor of Andrew Bailey. -----End of Update-----   Update on August 25 at 9:25 p.m. EDT More specifics are coming to light about ...

I know Boston Red Sox fans are not entirely thrilled with relief pitcher Alfredo Aceves right now.  This is understandable. Red Sox nation is a proud, passionate bunch that wants winners, not individuals who blow saves against the likes (or dislikes) of the New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays and Detroit Tigers. Looking at Aceves’ overall statistics this season, I could see how Red Sox fans would unleash nearly every expletive known to mankind. An 0-2 record and 4.91 ERA will do that to even the most casual Red Sox fan. This is especially true when both losses this season came before the faithful at Fenway Park. But looking at the bigger picture, Aceves has been a pretty rock solid pitcher during his five year career in the big leagues. During his time with both the Yankees and Red Sox, Aceves is 24-5 (82 percent winning percentage) with a 3.12 ...

To the delight of many Red Sox fans across Red Sox Nation, we heard an announcement in the eighth inning of last night’s meeting against the Minnesota Twins: Daniel Bard was warming up in the bullpen.As it was stated after the debacle—to put it extremely lightly—on Saturday, Daniel Bard was going to be made temporarily available out of the bullpen. Bard has made it clear: he wants to start, and this move will not involve back-to-back games nor will it push back his next scheduled start against the Chicago White Sox on Friday. "Temporary" appears to be the operative word.But with one out and a runner on in the bottom of the eighth inning last night, in came our savior to squash any potential go-ahead effort by the Twins. And here came the biggest decision that Bobby Valentine has had to make since the regular season started: who comes in to close ...

Jonathan Papelbon's departure. Heir-apparent Daniel Bard's shift to starter. Andrew Bailey's arrival and subsequent thumb injury. Alfredo Aceves' tenuous grasp on the closer role.Needless to say, the Boston Red Sox haven't seen this much focus on their bullpen since the Theo think-tank rolled out the concept of closer-by-committee in 2003.At this point, it's still early. Things will come out in the wash. Someone—be it Bard, Aceves, Franklin Morales, Vicente Padilla, or Mark Melancon—will fall into the role. But, what is the best way of going about determining who that guy is? I know, I know, you're screaming "performance on the field!" But is there a better way than traditional stats—specifically saves—to determine who is the best man for the job? A better way than the eyeball test?The guys over at FanGraphs think so, and that method comes in the form of a pair of stats called shutdowns (SD) and meltdowns (MD).To ...

The Boston Red Sox got some bad news earlier this week, when it was made clear that the return of starting pitcher Clay Buchholz was going to come later rather than sooner.The Boston starting rotation, seen as a major strength of the team going into the season, has been decimated by the loss of Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jon Lester and Buchholz for varying lengths of time.Even Josh Beckett went down for a while earlier this season after becoming ill.Despite this, the Red Sox have managed to hold their own and even maintain a small lead in the American League Eastern Division over their arch-rivals, the New York Yankees.Relying on ageless veteran Tim Wakefield and a handful of reclamation projects, the Red Sox are getting just enough people out to win more than two-thirds of their games.Still, there is a strong call for the team to swing a deal for one of ...

Amid all of the furor of heightened expectations leading up to the 2011 season, the BIG question that surrounded the Red Sox was how the No. 4 and No. 5 starters would perform. John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka were both coming off rough 2010 campaigns, and while Red Sox Nation had high hopes for a championship season, those aspirations hinged on the back end of the rotation. Should either of them fail, or be felled by injury, the ballclub knew it would be able to turn to knuckleballer Tim Wakefield…but, in truth, there were almost as many questions about him as there were about Lackey and Matsuzaka. He had a 4-12 record and 5.61 earned run average dating back to the end of the 2009 season. Many pundits thought you could stick a fork in him. In addition, he had sulked throughout most of the 2010 season, openly challenging the ...