4/8 @ Detroit

[mvp 78]

If BV doesn't shift for Fielder: 5-4-3 DP to end the game.

[jung]

I really do not get these shifts and while I will never claim to be somebody that could manage better than the guys that actually have the jobs, I actually do not think I would put shifts on at all and if I did I would not make them so radical as to have guys completely out of position to cover a particular part of the field.

 

Ortiz beat the shift three times this weekend hitting right into the thing!

 

Fielder hit a nothing ball right through it. Granted it was a masse shot banked off the bat but don't you want guys to earn hits. Do you want them dribbling the ball through a spot where there is nobody?

[Brown28]

Not sure if someone has done this yet but I thought I'd give my series wrap up.

 

Positives: Lester, AGon, Papi, Pedroia all starting off great. Sweeney had a nice series at the plate. Padilla looked good today and so did Morales. Offense wakes up for the finale.

 

Negatives: #2 and #3 starting pitcher had to bow their heads and call the Tigers their Daddies (Pedro voice) We have no closer, or if we do he's gonna make a start in 2 days. Defense was brutal with the exception of Pedey. Youk looks old or hurt not sure which. Aviles brutal defensively the whole series and offensively for 2/3 games. Cody Ross in all facets of the game.

[a700hitter]

Before the season started, it was obvious that our pitching was thin and that we had little room for injury under performance. Losing Papelbon and Bard from the pen was going to be a difficult adjustment even with a healthy Bailey. Losing Bailey for an extended period throws the pen into chaos and disarray. I have no idea whether anyone in the current pen can step up and be a reliable closer. It seems that Bobby V is already considering sending Bard to the closers role. If he doesn't have a very strong performance in his first start and the team doesn't win, he could be headed straight back to the pen.

[FredLynn]

A decent bullpen wins 2 of those games against the Tigers.

 

I'm livid at Cherington right now for putting this team in the situation it's in regarding the bullpen.

 

Bard needs to be the closer. Period.

 

You know, I posted that our bullpen was s*** after the first game. In fact, I posted it before the season started. I have been accused of "going crazy", being a bad fan, and being a broken record.

Guess what...our bullpen IS s***. For those of you who criticized those posts, maybe a little apology is in order.

[FredLynn]

You need to stay out of the Game Threads....yawn! Most posters don't like you. Go away.

 

Sorry VA, but in order to stay out of personal attacks and the boring discussions that result from them, I am going to have to put you on ignore. I really don't care to hear from you any more. Bye....

[FredLynn]

And the Grand Dame of Talksox has spoken!

 

Heed her words!

 

I mean it.

 

Sorry. I don't intend to heed her words.

I have no problems with you Spudboy, nor with most posters here. Some folks like to try to lure me into the personal back and forth, and I made that mistake once. I won't make it again.

[FredLynn]

The Sox should certainly look better against the Jays cause the Jays cannot make them pay for their mistakes like Detroit can. That said we would hope that the Jays are not an issue anyway.

 

By the time we are done with Rangers, Rays and Yankees we will either feel much better about things or we won't. One good thing about facing most of the teams you have to get by to even make the playoffs early in the season is that it won't take long to figure it out.

 

The Jays played very good ball in ST. I think we will win one game up there, thats it. Our pitching......well.....you get the point.

[a700hitter]

It may be a good thing that the staff is experiencing these problems so early on. It would be worse if Bard and Doubront had performed adequately as starters and the pen held together for most of the season, but encountered injuries etc after the All Star Break. Injuries that occur later in the season are harder to address, because several other teams will be trying to fortify themselves at that time. Let's face it, no team escapes injuries. It was unrealistic to think our staff wouldn't experience injuries. It is better that the crisis comes right out of the gate. The FO will have to address this if the pen continues to s*** on itself for another few games.

[FredLynn]

It may be a good thing that the staff is experiencing these problems so early on. It would be worse if Bard and Doubront had performed adequately as starters and the pen held together for most of the season' date=' but encountered injuries etc after the All Star Break. Injuries that occur later in the season are harder to address, because several other teams will be trying to fortify themselves at that time. Let's face it, no team escapes injuries. It was unrealistic to think our staff wouldn't experience injuries. It is better that the crisis comes right out of the gate. The FO will have to address this if the pen continues to s*** on itself for another few games.[/quote']

 

Its hard to get quality pitching so soon after the season has started. Who do you remember being acquired in a trade in April? Most teams think that they will see how things go before they trade away anyone good. This issue has been with us ALL OFFSEASON, and nothing useful was done to adjust it. I don't really think that any help is coming our way anytime soon, unfortunately.

[example1]

It may be a good thing that the staff is experiencing these problems so early on. It would be worse if Bard and Doubront had performed adequately as starters and the pen held together for most of the season' date=' but encountered injuries etc after the All Star Break. Injuries that occur later in the season are harder to address, because several other teams will be trying to fortify themselves at that time. Let's face it, no team escapes injuries. It was unrealistic to think our staff wouldn't experience injuries. It is better that the crisis comes right out of the gate. The FO will have to address this if the pen continues to s*** on itself for another few games.[/quote']

 

I don't think I've agreed as much with one of your posts in quite some time. A catastrophe right off the bat could yield an over-reaction, and an over-reaction is better than assuming an ascention to the mean will come eventually.

 

I don't know what an over-reaction means in this case, or who is available, but they need to search aggressively.

[a700hitter]

Its hard to get quality pitching so soon after the season has started. Who do you remember being acquired in a trade in April? Most teams think that they will see how things go before they trade away anyone good. This issue has been with us ALL OFFSEASON' date=' and nothing useful was done to adjust it. I don't really think that any help is coming our way anytime soon, unfortunately.[/quote']It won't be easy. There aren't a lot of available pitchers at this time of year. Similarly, there isn't as much competition for available players now as there will be later in the season. There are some pitchers who are available at this time. Uehara has been actively shopped by the Rangers. Mike Gonzalez is still a FA. There may be others who are available.

[FredLynn]

It won't be easy. There aren't a lot of available pitchers at this time of year. Similarly' date=' there isn't as much competition for available players now as there will be later in the season. There are some pitchers who are available at this time. Uehara has been actively shopped by the Rangers. Mike Gonzalez is still a FA. There may be others who are available.[/quote']

 

Not really that familiar with Mike Gonzalez. Is he worth looking into? My guess is that any high quality pitcher is going to be expensive. I am not sure I want to pay that price this year, frankly. I think that the fix involves more than just getting one good pitcher. We need 2-3 of them, really. Probably best just to go with who we have now. This should have been addressed long ago, not now when the price is at a maximum.

[a700hitter]

Not really that familiar with Mike Gonzalez. Is he worth looking into? My guess is that any high quality pitcher is going to be expensive. I am not sure I want to pay that price this year' date=' frankly. I think that the fix involves more than just getting one good pitcher. We need 2-3 of them, really. Probably best just to go with who we have now. This should have been addressed long ago, not now when the price is at a maximum.[/quote']I don't know his price, but I can't imagine that it would be too high. It would be worth exploring.

[User Name]

So the pitchers who haven't signed even though the season started are now more expensive? That makes no sense.

[example1]

It won't be easy. There aren't a lot of available pitchers at this time of year. Similarly' date=' there isn't as much competition for available players now as there will be later in the season. There are some pitchers who are available at this time. Uehara has been actively shopped by the Rangers. Mike Gonzalez is still a FA. There may be others who are available.[/quote']

 

No, there aren't a lot of pitchers available. There weren't many available during the offseason either. What they need to do is target a youngish, multi-year controlled reliever and overpay in younger prospects for him. I'm still a pretty strong believer that they will be better off with Bard as a starter this year, but they need to find someone capable of making guys miss. I'm still voting for Morales like I was a few days ago. He's not ideal but he might be servicable.

[FredLynn]

So the pitchers who haven't signed even though the season started are now more expensive? That makes no sense.

 

I was referring to Uehara. Gonzalez is a FA who could be cheap. I admit that I know nothing about him. Is he worth it? Is he a good quality pitcher-because we already have enough low quality pitchers on staff.

[example1]

I was referring to Uehara. Gonzalez is a FA who could be cheap. I admit that I know nothing about him. Is he worth it? Is he a good quality pitcher-because we already have enough low quality pitchers on staff.

 

He's mediocre with slightly above average track record. He's a recognized name, putting him above a bunch of other guys you have never heard of. Lefty. Weird delivery. Looks hard to hit, but has never been among the league's best.

 

He wouldn't be an obvious upgrade over Melancon or Morales for the closer position, but he could fill in one of their roles if, say, Morales were promoted.

[FredLynn]

Just checked out Mike Gonzalez's stats. I do think he might be worth a flyer. We are going to need him plus one or two more, minimum. I am a pretty strong believer that Bard belongs in the pen this year, but I understand E-1's reasoning. I would prefer to wait until next year for that transition as we could have a very strong staff next year if Bard is strong as a SP and if we get one more very good SP as a FA next year. There will be lots of them available, relatively speaking.

Its just going to be a very rough year.

[FredLynn]

He's mediocre with slightly above average track record. He's a recognized name, putting him above a bunch of other guys you have never heard of. Lefty. Weird delivery. Looks hard to hit, but has never been among the league's best.

 

He wouldn't be an obvious upgrade over Melancon or Morales for the closer position, but he could fill in one of their roles if, say, Morales were promoted.

 

I think he could be an improvement over Miller or Albers potentially. Again, no easy answers. Too many weaknesses on the pitching staff.

[Brown28]

Cole Hamels is gonna be a free agent in December. I am all for staying cheap on pitching this season and throwing the kitchen sink at him in the off season. That guy would be amazing for us

[BornToRun]

Cole Hamels is gonna be a free agent in December. I am all for staying cheap on pitching this season and throwing the kitchen sink at him in the off season. That guy would be amazing for us

 

This'd be kewl

[FredLynn]

Cole Hamels is gonna be a free agent in December. I am all for staying cheap on pitching this season and throwing the kitchen sink at him in the off season. That guy would be amazing for us

 

There is a long list of high quality SP who will become FA this year. Hamels would be a great addition, but there are many more. I think that list was posted here earlier. If not I would be happy to dig it up for anyone interested. Also, with lots of $$ coming off our books next year we should be able to spend relatively freely on the available FA.

Many people think that I am a pessimist here, but thats not entirely accurate. I am only pessimistic for the short term, this year. I think that if we play our card right the long term outlook is very very good. This is the transition year.

[iortiz]

This is becoming a chicken/egg game. Your starter could give you a QS, but if your BP sucks, you will lose several games, like today. On the other hand, if your SP shits the bed, will be hard for your BP and offense keep you in the game, like the collapse. This is our situation and dilemma right now. The situation became more complicated since Bailey will be out for a long time in the season. Cross your fingers and hope that our 1-3 do not go to DL for a long time or under perform, otherwise fasten your seatbelts gentlemen cause this could be a rough and long season.

 

We as fans just can support this team and try to enjoy the season and opine about situations, so... do not take the discussion in personal battles, it is not worthy my friends.

 

Animo!

[Brown28]

Our "transition" season could very well end in a title if everything breaks our way, I still believe that. Things could be worse. We could be Seattle

[RedSoxNC84]

At least Bailey was injured, and not the one who was blowing leads.

[FredLynn]

Our "transition" season could very well end in a title if everything breaks our way' date=' I still believe that. Things could be worse. We could be Seattle[/quote']

 

Sure. Thats possible. If our SP perform much better than expected we could have a very good season. DiceK is back in a couple of months, and Bard could then go back to the pen where, IMO, he belongs. Bailey will be back in July. If we can pick up another good arm for the pen, if Beckett isn't injured and performs well, if the offense does what is expected, if we can find a closer...if if if......it could break our way. I would not bet money on it. I really wish it weren't so.

[Brown28]

Sure. Thats possible. If our SP perform much better than expected we could have a very good season. DiceK is back in a couple of months' date=' and Bard could then go back to the pen where, IMO, he belongs. Bailey will be back in July. If we can pick up another good arm for the pen, if Beckett isn't injured and performs well, if the offense does what is expected, if we can find a closer...if if if......it could break our way. I would not bet money on it. I really wish it weren't so.[/quote']

 

I wouldnt put money on it either. I was just pointing out that even at our lowest, we can still contend. Nobody gets on a plane on to Boston thinking "Well here's 3 easy wins, cant wait to get there" no matter what our situation is like with the bullpen or starters. We're a good team with a chance to be a great team.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

Only in Red Sox land can a 3 game losing streak in April drive people this batshit.

 

f***ing idiots.

[FredLynn]

Only in Red Sox land can a 3 game losing streak in April drive people this batshit.

 

f***ing idiots.

 

Not idiots. Passionate. Red Sox fans are some of the most passionate fans in the world.