DownSwinging.com

I’ll start with the news from earlier today. After the Yankees rocked John Smoltz last night, the Red Sox designated him for assignment today. I have to imagine that this was the result of Smoltz coming forward and saying he’s done. Even though no one has reported that Smoltz decided to call it quits, I can’t imagine the Red Sox would be willing to give up on its rather expensive project. To me, there was a very good option still available, and that was to put Smoltz in the bullpen. Obviously Smoltz has had success there in the past, and while I’m no scout, it seemed to me that Smoltz did have some flashes of success in his starts, so had he only been planning on pitching an inning or two, he might have been able to concentrate his efforts.

Really, the bullpen might have been where Smoltz should have started. But the fact that there isn’t going to be an attempt with the bullpen suggests to me that Smoltz has given up, realizing that his body just wasn’t ready for another season. If he was going to come to this conclusion anyway, he saves the Red Sox a lot of money by doing it now instead of later. As far as I’m concerned, it’s still a shame, I would have loved to see his resurgence in Boston.