If you could get rid of anyone on the current Sox roster?

[Lucienbel]

I'm going Salty on this one. As someone above mentioned, he swings the bat good and everyone starts to love him. It just kind of proves that offense sells mentality, which sort of sucks, because pitching and defense win. This is especially important when it comes to the catcher behind the plate.

 

The worst part about this is that I think a little more time in AAA would benefit Lavarnway, at least at the start of the year. Get away from whatever happened to him when he was up in the Majors last year and get a clean start. Not saying it has to be a ton of time in AAA....just a little. That would make it difficult to trade Salty though.

[dupree]

Salty

He is more valuable as a trade chip to bring us pitching than a primary catcher

I do like his power potential but he is extremely streaky far too often

The red sox tried to get him from Texas for a few years before they landed him

I would honestly like to hear what Gary Tuck & John Farrell feel about Salty

 

Maybe another year would be good or atleast half a season to see what hes got

Lav is the catcher of the future but a little time to start the season in AAA & get his confidence up & let him hit a few homers then bring him up might be the best scenario

lav's major league experience was a little too disappointing to hand over the job

thats why i think the david ross signing was good.. an overpay but a good sign

[lospunchados]

Lackey

[rjortiz]

Yeah, definitely Lackey.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

John Lackey

 

Still, Salty right behind him.

[Lord Snow]

1. Lackey

2. Victorino

3. Gomes

 

3 worst contracts because they're vastly overpaid and will have a negative affect on the team winning games.

[SoxSport]

Not Lackey. He may well rebound this year, after pitching with a bad elbow for 2 yrs. Could be the pitcher of several years ago.

 

Salty will get traded. Other driftwood like Melancon should be discarded.

[Laser Show]

Can we get rid of Lord Snow and bubbakeg instead? I'd give Lackey an extension if we could make this happen.

[rjortiz]

Gomes is signed for $5 million, hardly overpaid in the baseball world. I agree with Victorino if Hamilton signs for the rumored deal that's out there.

[RiceLynnEvans]

Tough call on Salty - we tried so hard for so long to land him. I'm still waiting for those streaks to be less, well, streaky and his handling of pitchers to be more effective. But, package up Salty, Melancon and a prospect or two and we might land an half decent pitcher.

 

That said, I HATE the Victorino deal - I thought they signed Gomes to be the 4th OF.

[dupree]

The Gomes deal had to for insurance of a right handed bat

I keep seeing post of peoples line up with Gomes starting in left

Even tho he may be the best guy in the world & keeps the clubhouse atmosphere in check, i find it hard to believe that the franchise with all of red sox nation looking on say ok we r gonna run an outfield of Gomes - Ells -Vic when u have $ & hamilton & swisher are still unsigned. They need a bat in the middle of the order to solidify the order

I agree that defense & pitching win championships but for respectiblity another move to the outfield has to be done

Baseball is a game & it is also a business & from a business aspect a team has to have a storyline especially in the big market media that is boston. The Oakland story of lastyear was a feel good story & shows the drama of sports, but i dont think that the management & owners can throw a team out there and say hey the sabermetics say we will be good just trust us. Ticket sells will be down & people will lose interest quickly and by the first week of May they start sayin "Wait till next Year we will be better!" It is still early in the offseason and moves are still to be made. I think sooner rather than later a splash move will be made to put people in the seats & people tuning in at home

But winning is what all things better we'll just have to wait & see

[kapsis21]

Salty/Ellsbury for James Shields.

[Lord Snow]

Not Lackey. He may well rebound this year, after pitching with a bad elbow for 2 yrs. Could be the pitcher of several years ago.

 

Salty will get traded. Other driftwood like Melancon should be discarded.

 

Nobody would be willing to pay a 34-year-old pitcher coming off TJ $15M. Get a grip. The Sox are lucky if Lackey pitches 75 innings during the remainder of his contract.

 

History has shown that guys typically don't bounce back from TJ when they have it in their 30s.

[User Name]

History has shown that guys typically don't bounce back from TJ when they have it in their 30s.

 

Where's the data to back this up? You keep spouting dribble with absolutely nothing in the form of research to back it up.

 

Give me a list of pitchers in their 30's who have not been able to come back from TJ effectively in the last decade.

[Bellhorn04]

Nobody would be willing to pay a 34-year-old pitcher coming off TJ $15M. Get a grip. The Sox are lucky if Lackey pitches 75 innings during the remainder of his contract.

 

History has shown that guys typically don't bounce back from TJ when they have it in their 30s.

 

Too funny. Tommy John, the guy who the surgery is named in honor of, had it when he was 31 and won 164 games after the surgery.

 

I'm guessing history isn't your favorite subject.

[User Name]

Too funny. Tommy John, the guy who the surgery is named in honor of, had it when he was 31 and won 164 games after the surgery.

 

I'm guessing history isn't your favorite subject.

 

What about John Smoltz? Or Chris Carpenter?

[mvp 78]

Too funny. Tommy John, the guy who the surgery is named in honor of, had it when he was 31 and won 164 games after the surgery.

 

I'm guessing history isn't your favorite subject.

 

Favorite is uncreative writing?

[NZSox]

John. Lackey.

[iortiz]

I'd say Lackey but considering the lack of pitching in our current roster, we have to deal with him and see whether he can bounce back or not.

[Lucienbel]

Nobody would be willing to pay a 34-year-old pitcher coming off TJ $15M. Get a grip. The Sox are lucky if Lackey pitches 75 innings during the remainder of his contract.

 

History has shown that guys typically don't bounce back from TJ when they have it in their 30s.

 

No one would, this is true. Fact is, we gave him this money before he had the surgery (not saying that it was a good deal then either, but yeah). That is what happened. You said it yourself too, no one will be interested in him. May as well hope the best, even if it doesn't happen.

[Lord Snow]

Where's the data to back this up? You keep spouting dribble with absolutely nothing in the form of research to back it up.

 

Give me a list of pitchers in their 30's who have not been able to come back from TJ effectively in the last decade.

 

Ben Sheets, Paul Byrd, Mike Hampton, Eric Milton, Edinson Volquez, Joey Devine.

 

Some of those guys are under 30. My point is simply you can find plenty of examples of guys who had TJ and never made it back to the majors in a meaningful role, or who took 2-3 years to "recover". So its wishful thinking to believe Lackey will come back and be the same, or better. Odds are he will be worse, and it's certainly possible he only makes a handful of starts next season.

[User Name]

Ben Sheets, Paul Byrd, Mike Hampton, Eric Milton, Edinson Volquez, Joey Devine.

 

Some of those guys are under 30. My point is simply you can find plenty of examples of guys who had TJ and never made it back to the majors on a full-time basis, or who took 2-3 years to "recover". So its wishful thinking to believe Lackey will come back and be the same, or better. Odds are he will be worse, and it's certainly possible he only makes a handful of starts next season.

 

Sheets had a myriad other maladies. Paul Byrd? Lawl Hampton? Made of glass. Milton? s***** pitcher. Volquez? Jury's out. Devine? Never that good.

 

I can give you a s***-ton of examples of pre-and post-30's guys who have come back from TJ surgery throwing harder and being generally more effective after they fully recovered from TJ. You picked and chose some of the worst cases, because your argument holds little merit. There's a higher chance he comes back with similar stuff than what he had a couple years pre-surgery than there is of him coming back with further diminished stuff. Can you stop being a whiny bitch for just a minute and acknowledge the possibility, minuscule as it is, that Lackey's problems could have stemmed from his need for TJS? If that was the problem, then the possibility of him being at least decent after the surgery are real.

[jung]

I think it unlikely that Lackey will only start a few times next year even if he is awful. The Sox will want him to work his way out of awful so that they either have a pitcher to use or a pitcher to trade.

 

On the other hand it would not surprise me if he struggled.

[Palodios]

I think it unlikely that Lackey will only start a few times next year even if he is awful. The Sox will want him to work his way out of awful so that they either have a pitcher to use or a pitcher to trade.

 

On the other hand it would not surprise me if he struggled.

 

No one will want Lackey. Period. If you hear rumors about teams who want him, they're about teams who are wondering if the Red Sox will give him away for free.

[iortiz]

No one will want Lackey. Period. If you hear rumors about teams who want him, they're about teams who are wondering if the Red Sox will give him away for free.

 

[iortiz]

... And some teams would ask Lackey to pay 'em hahahahana

[User Name]

He has more value to the Red Sox than anyone else. And that value is comparable to a couple packets of chewing gum.

[BSN07]

Lackey and it's not even close.

[onlybereaved]

Salty because he isn't defensively capable.

 

Elsbury because he is good as gone after next season anyways. Get something for him while we can.

 

Melancon because he is terrible.

 

 

Prior to last season's blockbuster, I would have said Beckett and Crawford.

[Behindenemylines]

If we didn't need starting pitching so badly it would be Lackey.