this is who Steve and I would want on our 25-man rosters for the Boston Red Sox during the 2008 ALDS against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
| Ian | Steve |
| Pitchers | Pitchers |
| Josh Beckett | Josh Beckett |
| Jon Lester | Jon Lester |
| Daisuke Matsuzaka | Daisuke Matsuzaka |
| Paul Byrd | Paul Byrd |
| Jonathan Papelbon | Jonathan Papelbon |
| Hideki Okajima | Hideki Okajima |
| Justin Masterson | Justin Masterson |
| Javier Lopez | Javier Lopez |
| Manny Delcarmen | Manny Delcarmen |
| Mike Timlin | David Aardsma |
| Tim Wakefield | Tim Wakefield |
| Catchers | Catchers |
| Jason Varitek | Jason Varitek |
| Kevin Cash | Kevin Cash |
| Infielders | Infielders |
| Kevin Youkilis | Kevin Youkilis |
| Dustin Pedroia | Dustin Pedroia |
| Jed Lowrie | Jed Lowrie |
| Mike Lowell | Mike Lowell |
| Alex Cora | Alex Cora |
| Sean Casey | Sean Casey |
| David Ortiz | David Ortiz |
| Outfielders | Outfielders |
| Jason Bay | Jason Bay |
| Jacoby Ellsbury | Jacoby Ellsbury |
| J.D. Drew | J.D. Drew |
| Coco Crisp | Coco Crisp |
| Mark Kotsay | Mark Kotsay |
Steve’s reasoning:
Even with the injuries to Lowell and Drew this team is so deep and has so many guys who can play different positions that it won’t hurt them to have both on the roster even if they don’t play right away in the series or at all. If they advance they can re-evaluate their status at that time. Francona has never been one to do a lot of pinch hitting and I expect that won’t change in the post season unless they make the World Series and the pitchers are batting in the NL park. So having guys like Lowrie, Cora, Youkilis, Kotsay and Ellsbury who can all play two or more positions it won’t be an issue to carry Lowell and Drew. They’ll also end up keeping a few extra guys around like Timlin and Smith as well as Velazquez, Bailey and Ross.
Ian’s reasoning:
Obviously when you look at things, Steve and I don’t differ on anything except for one pitcher. He has Aardsma making it while I have Timlin. My reasoning for Timlin is the fact that he’s been a pretty decent pitcher in the postseason for the Red Sox in the past. So while I may be taking him for the wrong reasons since he didn’t have the best of seasons, I’d rather have his experience of pitching in big games over Aardsma who’s never appeared in the postseason.
If the news about Josh Beckett is true and he can’t pitch at least in the ALDS, then I would have to add Aardsma to the roster in place of Beckett.
