DL David

There has been a lot of speculation bandying about that Ortiz is injured, including a statement by The Man, The Myth, The Human Cookie Monster, The Human Stitch, that he might need offseason surgery, and that it is these injuries that are causing him to have his power outage. While I think our offense (already struggling to score runs) would take a hit if Ortiz was on the DL, am I the only person anywhere who thinks it might be a good idea to DL David now, with a 10 game lead and 3 months to the playoffs, rather than have him play through it? Seriously, if he is unable to hit for power because of the injury, he isn't a legit #3 until he is healthy. With a pretty decent lead, let him take 15 days to heal up and get back. If 15 days won't do it, then scope him now so that he is back by the playoffs. The only reason he shouldn't be DLed is if correcting the problem would mean he is out for the year, in which case I would wonder how he will be able to make it through the whole season healthy anyhow.

Getting Ortiz healthy on the DL could also help the rest of the team out, too. With Ortiz resting, we have 2+ weeks of Wily Mo Pena and Manny splitting up LF and DH, allowing Manny to get some rest on his knees and Wily Mo the playing time that he desperately needs to develop.

This, of course, leads to the interesting result of seeing whether Wily Mo will be a good everyday player, as the bench thing seems to not be working. If Wily Mo starts to capitalize on the playing time and finally developing into the type of hitter we want, great: either we have another power hitter on our roster that will help our team moving forward or a plus trading chip to move at the deadline or in the offseason (or even trading Manny with his 1 year left in the offseason with Wily Mo as the permanant LF moving forward). If he falls flat on his face, well, at least then we'd know that it makes sense to cut bait with him and move on. The team obviously doesn't think much of him in center (see the Murphy/Ellsbury call-ups), so this is perhaps an opportunity to accurately gauge what we might be able to do in the future. The lead (and the pitching) allows the Sox the luxury of resting up a star for the stretch run and measuring potential simultaneously.

Please note, my advocation of this course of action is dependant on the idea that rest will actually help Ortiz return to form this season. Potential "no-Ortiz" lineup:

Pedroia
Drew
Youk
Manny
Lowell
Pena
Crisp
Varitek
Lugo

A little righthanded, and a little lacking in pop (maybe switch Lowell and Pena). I also wouldn't have a problem with Crisp as a leadoff to get a switch-hitter at the top, though I do like my speed to come after the heavy hitters as their speed is more useful if the guys behind them are less likely to get a hit or hit for power (i.e. less likely to be driven in from 1st).