Wakefield left off Boston's roster
BOSTON -- Tim Wakefield will miss the World Series for Boston because of a shoulder injury he just couldn't shake. Aaron Cook, however, is ready to go for Colorado.
The 41-year-old Wakefield was left off Boston's roster while Jon Lester, who threw a simulated game Tuesday, likely will join the rotation and start Game 4 against the Colorado Rockies.
"This stinks for me," said Wakefield, the knuckleballer who was sidelined for the AL division series and pitched poorly in the championship series. "I want to be out there competing. This is the ultimate stage."
Wakefield is Boston's longest-tenured player. Now in his 13th season with the Red Sox, the team has an option to retain him next year for $4 million. Each year the option is renewed, another one-year, $4 million option is added.
Suddenly, though, there's some question about how long the soft-tossing veteran will go on.
"Based on the information I'm getting from the doctors, I'm seriously at risk of injuring myself for the rest of my life," said Wakefield, who described the injury as inflammation in the back of his right shoulder. "So that had a lot of weight in the decision."
Right-hander Kyle Snyder was added to the roster in Wakefield's place. The long reliever went 2-3 with a 3.81 ERA in 46 games, all out of the bullpen, and was not on the roster for the first two postseason rounds.
One of the Rockies pitchers in Denver will be Cook, set to go in Game 4. He's been sidelined since Aug. 10 with a strained side muscle and finished the season at 8-7 with a 4.12 ERA.
Franklin Morales will move to the bullpen and Taylor Buchholz was left off the roster.
Francona said he had an easy choice in deciding who will start in center field for the opener against Rockies lefty Jef Francis.
It will be lefty Jacoby Ellsbury, who took over for a slumping Coco Crisp in Games 6 and 7 of the ALCS against the Cleveland Indians. Crisp, a switch-hitter, banged his knee into the wall at the center-field triangle as he ran down the final out, a long drive by Casey Blake.
"He's not feeling real good, not to the point where we'll take him off the roster," Francona said. "It made a very difficult decision maybe not quite as difficult."