2013 Spring Training

[Station 13]

Is it just me, or does the offseason seem to get longer every year?

 

when the team sucked it is expected.

[a700hitter]

Fred 71

VA 29

100

 

 

Still getting 100 with my recalc. Where's the variance?

 

Menaopause at 29. Call the people from Ripleys'

[Bellhorn04]

Is it just me, or does the offseason seem to get longer every year?

 

There are a few possible explanations for that, none of which are pleasant.

 

I'll just speak for myself. The offseasons get longer as I get older because my life, generally speaking, gets more boring, and my need for the narcotic of baseball gets stronger.

[VA Sox Fan]

Menaopause at 29. Call the people from Ripleys'

 

You wish I was menapausal so you could actually be right about something!!! :lol:

[kapsis21]

You wish I was menapausal so you could actually be right about something!!! :lol:

 

lol that made me chuckle.. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[mvp 78]

Is it just me, or does the offseason seem to get longer every year?

 

It's just long after crappy seasons. If the Sox do well this year, the lack of a bitter taste in our mouths will help the offseason fly by.

[jung]

Apparently though it does seem to be a long off-season, it is not long enough for Mr. Ortiz. The news seems to get worse each day. The last couple of days, he has not even been comfortable jogging.

 

Some lofty projections for the Sox in the division's thread. Clearly anybody picking us to be fighting even for a WC has to be thinking the Sox get significant production out of Ortiz. Frankly, I think His Holy Eminence, the Insulted One is about to give us "all a big shitburger to eat". I did not think much of our chances WITH Ortiz but now, more and more I think we end up totally f***ed thanks to His Holy Eminence.

[mvp 78]

His Holy Eminence?

 

SCM33?

[jung]

Tonight's game against the Twins should be on NESN if anybody is interested. Looks like another 7:05 PM Eastern start time.

[wyo-sox]

Tonight's game against the Twins should be on NESN if anybody is interested. Looks like another 7:05 PM Eastern start time.

 

Just got my pizza ready, putting the game on now!

[jung]

Notice Iggy is playing SS. So far the shorter stroke at the plate seems to be paying some dividends. Hope he shows us more of the same tonight.

[jung]

Dempster doing his best Bard imitation, had two outs in the 3rd (likely his last inning) then promptly gave up four straight hits and two runs. He seemed to lose focus completely, a real trademark Bard two out move. Dempster was pitching batting practice from that moment forward and the Twins took advantage.

 

Lavs looks like he is well on the way to another 0-fer tonight. Geez you know there is more ballplayer there than he is showing.

[seabeachfred]

Ease up there, champ. There was plenty of room to hope it would happen, but nothing guaranteed. Fans had plenty of reason to be worried.

 

Fans still have plenty pf reason to be worried. It was only one inning, one assignment. Yes, he looked good and struck out the side....that is to his credit but how about we see him a few more times before some of you start pounding your chests and saying he's back. He was so screwed up last season, phyically and mentally, that some of us thought he might never come back. He would be a big help to the bullpen if does make it all the way back but I think a few more trips to the mound is needed before we can be certain he is back in form.

[seabeachfred]

Seriously you two? Your combined age is 100+ and you're doing this?

 

Older than that yeszir....Hell, I'm almost three fourths there already---but you are right. I should ignore her completely. We have never gotten along and suggested she put me on ignore----and I think I will do the same to her. There should be no more of that.

[Palodios]

Christian Vazquez continues to impress with his glove. I'd love to see him push Salty to first base or something.

[mvp 78]

Fans can be worried, but it's nice to have a little hope once in a while.

[seabeachfred]

Menaopause at 29. Call the people from Ripleys'

 

Hell, when I got up this morning I was 72. Now I'm 71? Maybe this reverse process does begin at my age. If I wake up at 69 this weekend the drinks are on me.

 

Well a little humor is terrific. VA and I will stay out of each other's way and take any pressure off yeszir who runs a terrific board.

 

Now, when the hell is Ortiz going to be ready to play. In his case ST can't be long enough.

[jung]

A pretty funny NESN moment. During the Twins/Sox game, the Twins broadcasters have been interviewing Twins players (from the booth with the player miked up) and our girl Jenny has been down in the Sox dugout for Sox interviews.

 

So time to interview Ells. What does Dell do? "So Jacoby, what do you like about JBJ as a player?" Ells looked at her with one of those "you have got to be kidding" looks. But to Ells credit he tried to cobble together an answer prefacing it by saying he has not actually played with JBJ at all. So Dell apparently still not getting the message asks "So what qualities do you see in JBJ that reminds you of yourself". So now Ells is kinda' irritated but in great Bull Durham fashion answers that JBJ is "a hard worker and that is what you like to see from a young player". That was it. Interview over. Leave it to f***in' NESN. Good thing they have Orsilo and Remy cause beyond that, they got nothin'. Their Producers suck and Dell is just eye candy.

[mvp 78]

Them's fightin' words jung!

[seabeachfred]

Apparently though it does seem to be a long off-season, it is not long enough for Mr. Ortiz. The news seems to get worse each day. The last couple of days, he has not even been comfortable jogging.

 

Some lofty projections for the Sox in the division's thread. Clearly anybody picking us to be fighting even for a WC has to be thinking the Sox get significant production out of Ortiz. Frankly, I think His Holy Eminence, the Insulted One is about to give us "all a big shitburger to eat". I did not think much of our chances WITH Ortiz but now, more and more I think we end up totally f***ed thanks to His Holy Eminence.

 

A big shitburger coming up Jung!!!!!! You know, on another board someone suggested that when he injured his achilles last summer that he get it operated on, but once again our pathetic medical staff and the front office agreed to do by therapy and rest. Ryan Howard of the Phillies ruptured his achilles, had it operated on and in eight months was back in action. It has been eight months for "His Eminence" and he still can't run to save his ass.

 

Papi has meant a lot to the Red Sox and maybe we should go easy on him, but between he, Lucchino, Cherington and the medical staff a real royal fu@k up has occurred. We now had better get good pitching and good high average hitting because we might be suffering a power shortage this season-----and I don't want Middlebrooks, Pedroia and Napoli swinging from their asses and ruining their swings. More than ever, we will need Drew, Victorino and others to step up and that includes Ellsbury who has to force himself to stay in the lineup this season.

[Palodios]

A pretty funny NESN moment. During the Twins/Sox game, the Twins broadcasters have been interviewing Twins players (from the booth with the player miked up) and our girl Jenny has been down in the Sox dugout for Sox interviews.

 

So time to interview Ells. What does Dell do? "So Jacoby, what do you like about JBJ as a player?" Ells looked at her with one of those "you have got to be kidding" looks. But to Ells credit he tried to cobble together an answer prefacing it by saying he has not actually played with JBJ at all. So Dell apparently still not getting the message asks "So what qualities do you see in JBJ that reminds you of yourself". So now Ells is kinda' irritated but in great Bull Durham fashion answers that JBJ is "a hard worker and that is what you like to see from a young player". That was it. Interview over. Leave it to f***in' NESN. Good thing they have Orsilo and Remy cause beyond that, they got nothin'. Their Producers suck and Dell is just eye candy.

 

It did seem a little awkward. I don't really understand why he wouldn't like Bradley though... Ellsbury wants his money, and Bradley is next in line-- he isn't going to lose his spot unless he leaves.

[jung]

Sort of off topic but not really. The world of baseball has got to figure out what to do with this WBC s***. Too many ballplayers away from their teams. I would really be flipped off if I were a Manager and one or more of my pitchers was involved.

 

I don't know where they should put it. Doesn't belong here though. Maybe shorten it a bunch and every other year lose the All star game and try to do something then. I don't know....Maybe the WBC has got to do something without the ML players. There is no shortage of baseball players in the world. If they need the MLB players to make it work there is something wrong with the thing in the first place.

[Spitball]

A big shitburger coming up Jung!!!!!! You know, on another board someone suggested that when he injured his achilles last summer that he get it operated on, but once again our pathetic medical staff and the front office agreed to do by therapy and rest. Ryan Howard of the Phillies ruptured his achilles, had it operated on and in eight months was back in action. It has been eight months for "His Eminence" and he still can't run to save his ass.

 

Papi has meant a lot to the Red Sox and maybe we should go easy on him, but between he, Lucchino, Cherington and the medical staff a real royal fu@k up has occurred. We now had better get good pitching and good high average hitting because we might be suffering a power shortage this season-----and I don't want Middlebrooks, Pedroia and Napoli swinging from their asses and ruining their swings. More than ever, we will need Drew, Victorino and others to step up and that includes Ellsbury who has to force himself to stay in the lineup this season.

 

Fred, Howard tore his Achilles in the 2011 playoffs and still hasn't returned to full strength. The Phillies rejected the WBC request for him to replace Teixeira because he is still recovering.

 

"Though Howard has played in every game this spring, he is still building strength after missing significant time last season because of a torn left Achilles tendon. That gave the Phillies some reservations about turning Howard loose."

 

Some players never return to full form after tearing the Achilles.

[a700hitter]

You wish I was menapausal so you could actually be right about something!!! :lol:

 

:thumbsup:

[seabeachfred]

Fred, Howard tore his Achilles in the 2011 playoffs and still hasn't returned to full strength. The Phillies rejected the WBC request for him to replace Teixeira because he is still recovering.

 

"Though Howard has played in every game this spring, he is still building strength after missing significant time last season because of a torn left Achilles tendon. That gave the Phillies some reservations about turning Howard loose."

 

Some players never return to full form after tearing the Achilles.

 

Some players never return to full form after tearing the achilles........that's what you said and you are right and that is why I' m beginning to think Papi may be on his last legs for us. Howard tore his in October of 2011, but didn't he wait a few months before he had it operated on? I thought he did. No matter, though, we're not concerned with Howard, but Ortiz' absence from any real activities in ST make me wonder if maybe it would have been wiser for them to operate on his achilles instead of going the rest and therapy route? I'm getting the impression the Red Sox gave Ortiz two years because they want him to retire as a Red Sox player and if so that is not a bad idea from where I sit.

[Spitball]

Howard's road back

 

Recovery even in the best of circumstances is a process. Studies have shown that return to function after non-operative care is almost the same as after surgery. However, there is greater incidence of infection in the post-op population. In both cases treatment begins with a period of immobilization with the tendon in a shortened position (the foot pointed downward), in order for the tendon to heal. This is followed by restoration of soft tissue mobility and mobility at the ankle and foot, as well as calf flexibility and strengthening, Power and agility are addressed in the later stages of rehab prior to a return to competitive play. Any weakness or ongoing symptoms are clear signs that an athlete is not ready. For Ryan Howard, this has taken longer than the Phillies expected.

[jung]

Well SBF, I kinda' think it would be unrealistic to have expected Ortiz to go for surgery at the end of the 2012 season. He did not have a contract at that point. At his age given the average recovery time, it would be very easy to envision Ortiz unable to sign a next contract on the other side of recovery from surgery. Certainly, two years would have been completely out of the question at that point and he very likely would have been looking at light money even for a one year deal.

 

Now the shoe is on the other foot. While I think it is much easier for Ortiz to accept the idea of surgery at this point if that is what is presented to him, we won't be too happy about seeing Ortiz go off to surgery with his two year deal in hand.

 

While Hamilton would have been a huge gamble and more money, could that have been worse than what the Sox are now facing with Ortiz? While none of us can really know how the Achilles feels to Ortiz, to me he looks like he is moving around about the way he was from the point when he apparently came back too early late last year. That is not much improvement for 6-7 months of "healing". While the healing process is often not serial, it seems like it would take something of a miracle for him to be ready by opening day considering what little progress he has made to date. Comments he made after his last light jog were really discouraging. If anything it looks like as soon as he puts the tiniest bit of pressure or strain on the Achilles he ends up with even more discomfort. That sounds like he is making no progress at all and is in fact going backwards.

 

Would the Sox have taken some hits in the press if they resisted the temptation to sign Ortiz when they did? Maybe. To believe that you have to believe that some other AL team would have signed him for money he would have taken. I don't believe that possible with the open Achilles issue.

 

As it is now, at least for the moment it looks like the Sox really got snookered. If it really does turn out that Ortiz goes to surgery before swinging a bat in anger again, the Sox are going to look incredibly stupid.

[BSN07]

Sort of off topic but not really. The world of baseball has got to figure out what to do with this WBC s***. Too many ballplayers away from their teams. I would really be flipped off if I were a Manager and one or more of my pitchers was involved.

 

I don't know where they should put it. Doesn't belong here though. Maybe shorten it a bunch and every other year lose the All star game and try to do something then. I don't know....Maybe the WBC has got to do something without the ML players. There is no shortage of baseball players in the world. If they need the MLB players to make it work there is something wrong with the thing in the first place.

 

What? There are no roster restrictions, so it's not like they are short staffed. It also gives young players an extended 2 week look from the ML managers and coaches that they may not have gotten otherwise. They get to see some MLB level opposition along with players from their own levels. I actually can't think of a better low stress situation to put them in.

[BSN07]

I'm thinking with all this questions popping up about Ortiz, Thome looks like a good plan B. I suppose Rolen would make a decent DH at Fenway too.

[jung]

What? There are no roster restrictions, so it's not like they are short staffed. It also gives young players an extended 2 week look from the ML managers and coaches that they may not have gotten otherwise. They get to see some MLB level opposition along with players from their own levels. I actually can't think of a better low stress situation to put them in.

 

And if a front line pitcher, somebody you had plans for gets injured, then what? The pitchers are clearly going to be pitching more innings sooner than they would have under normal situations.