What are the chances of Porcello being offered a contract extension?

[moonslav59]

I think he’s a good pitcher but I just don’t like him. It’s such mixed emotions. When he helps us win I’m happy but still don’t like him lol.

 

I feel the same way. I wish I didn't have to deal with these conflicted sentiments, but if he can give us some quality innings, it will make it easier.

[Bellhorn04]

I feel the same way. I wish I didn't have to deal with these conflicted sentiments, but if he can give us some quality innings, it will make it easier.

 

So the better he pitches, the less conflicted the sentiments?

[S5Dewey]

I feel the same way. I wish I didn't have to deal with these conflicted sentiments, but if he can give us some quality innings, it will make it easier.

 

IMO the FO has made a lot of us conflicted about the players the Sox have acquired or kept on the roster. There was a time when I was proud of the fact that the Sox had resisted picking up (or keeping) any player with PED issues. I've always believed that the Sox released Eric Gagne because his PED issues were revealed and I've always believed that the dust-up over Papi was because "haters gonna hate" with a minimum of proof, but it's a bit difficult now to see Chavis in a Sox uni knowing about his PED issues. Now in addition to a known PED abuser we also have a player with "domestic violence" as a part of his resume.

 

On the flip side...We don't have knowledge of what actually happened in the Wright household and as I posted yesterday I'm (somewhat) willing to accept his punishment as evidence that there was no battery involved - it was all about Wright's trying to defuse an emotional situation.

 

Chavis has served his suspension and said all the right things and as a very young man he's entitled to make ONE mistake and be forgiven. Most of us probably have a mistake or two we need to be forgiven for. However, it does bother me a bit to no longer be able to take the moral high road when discussing players on other teams with PED issues.

 

I'm hoping that these two isolated incidents aren't the start of a pattern of the FO's ignoring character issues while searching for flags though. Only time will tell.

[Bellhorn04]

I think the moral high road in baseball has been washed out.

 

It still irks me that the Yankees profited heavily off Chapman's DV issues by robbing the Reds and then turning him into Gleyber Torres. One of Cashman's finest moments, some might argue!

 

And the Astros took advantage of the Jays' moral dilemma with Osuna.

 

(Admittedly I'm just trying to stir up crap on the All-Star Break.)

[notin]

K

I think the moral high road in baseball has been washed out.

 

It still irks me that the Yankees profited heavily off Chapman's DV issues by robbing the Reds and then turning him into Gleyber Torres. One of Cashman's finest moments, some might argue!

 

And the Astros took advantage of the Jays' moral dilemma with Osuna.

 

(Admittedly I'm just trying to stir up crap on the All-Star Break.)

 

So... you’re saying the Sox should acquire Addison Russell?

 

(Hey if you’re stirring up crap...)

[Slasher9]

IMO the FO has made a lot of us conflicted about the players the Sox have acquired or kept on the roster. There was a time when I was proud of the fact that the Sox had resisted picking up (or keeping) any player with PED issues. I've always believed that the Sox released Eric Gagne because his PED issues were revealed and I've always believed that the dust-up over Papi was because "haters gonna hate" with a minimum of proof, but it's a bit difficult now to see Chavis in a Sox uni knowing about his PED issues. Now in addition to a known PED abuser we also have a player with "domestic violence" as a part of his resume.

 

On the flip side...We don't have knowledge of what actually happened in the Wright household and as I posted yesterday I'm (somewhat) willing to accept his punishment as evidence that there was no battery involved - it was all about Wright's trying to defuse an emotional situation.

 

Chavis has served his suspension and said all the right things and as a very young man he's entitled to make ONE mistake and be forgiven. Most of us probably have a mistake or two we need to be forgiven for. However, it does bother me a bit to no longer be able to take the moral high road when discussing players on other teams with PED issues.

 

I'm hoping that these two isolated incidents aren't the start of a pattern of the FO's ignoring character issues while searching for flags though. Only time will tell.

 

it's like you typed this for me

[mvp 78]

I don’t give a flying f*** about PED use.

[Slasher9]

I don’t give a flying f*** about PED use.

 

where the f*** you been?

[TylerD]

I don’t give a flying f*** about PED use.

 

Doesn’t overly bother me in the sense I think a ton of athletes do it and get away with it. I’m more curious about what happened with him and his wife.

[OH FOY]

If MLB is juicing the balls, I have no problem with Players juicing themselves. Just helping the game.

These balls are juiced, I've seen guys hit balls to Right Center, who never had this kind of Power before, throughout their careers.

Now we can get Bonds and Clemens into the HOF too. Where they belong.

[notin]

If MLB is juicing the balls, I have no problem with Players juicing themselves. Just helping the game.

These balls are juiced, I've seen guys hit balls to Right Center, who never had this kind of Power before, throughout their careers.

Now we can get Bonds and Clemens into the HOF too. Where they belong.

 

+ 1

[jung]

If MLB is juicing the balls, I have no problem with Players juicing themselves. Just helping the game.

These balls are juiced, I've seen guys hit balls to Right Center, who never had this kind of Power before, throughout their careers.

Now we can get Bonds and Clemens into the HOF too. Where they belong.

 

Also you can see it in the way the OFer's track the baseballs. Sorry folks, you are not a CF because you guess how the ball is tracking better than the average bear. You are standing in CF particularly because you KNOW how to track a baseball. How many times have we seen the CFer retreat to where he thinks he needs to be only to see the ball keep going and going and going either over the fence or 10-20 past where his best effort to track the ball put him initially and its not the prevailing breeze either. This happens regularly now, hitting into the wind, with the wind, indoors, outdoors, does not matter.

 

How many line drives do we see now that just never come down. And yes, the number of times now a hitter can simply give up all the power in his swing, be entirely out on his front foot and flick the barrel of the bat ONE HANDED and hit the ball out to the opposite field power ally is just flat ridiculous.

 

Balls go out now that look and sound like they are hit close to the label of the bat. Balls go out that the hitter has just barely gotten some part of the barrel onto the ball....they are going out left and right and center in swings and contact that simply should not yield a HR's and they are going out on all sorts of pitches, not just 98 from the pitcher. In fact, its often not 98 from the pitcher. Chavis can only hit Sliders thrown down main st. Does he appear to have any difficulty hitting them a long way???????

[TylerD]

If MLB is juicing the balls, I have no problem with Players juicing themselves. Just helping the game.

These balls are juiced, I've seen guys hit balls to Right Center, who never had this kind of Power before, throughout their careers.

Now we can get Bonds and Clemens into the HOF too. Where they belong.

 

Well said.

 

Wright is still a dink though in my opinion. Granted I guess I don’t know the entire story of what happened with his wife.

[jacksonianmarch]

I have a problem with juicing the players from a health perspective and because not all the guys are doing it. I'm ok with a juiced ball because everyone is using it. It's a method of juicing the game while keeping an even playing field

[notin]

I have a problem with juicing the players from a health perspective and because not all the guys are doing it. I'm ok with a juiced ball because everyone is using it. It's a method of juicing the game while keeping an even playing field

 

Or from an influence perspective. I don’t like sending the message to younger players “Juice or Fail!!”

 

But so far the repercussions of juicing are “No Cooperstown!!” Really not the message I want to be sent...

[jacksonianmarch]

Or from an influence perspective. I don’t like sending the message to younger players “Juice or Fail!!”

 

But so far the repercussions of juicing are “No Cooperstown!!” Really not the message I want to be sent...

 

Exactly. No juicing of the players. Juicing of the ball. The history of this is pretty easy to follow. In the late 90s, he juicing phenomenon hit its peak. The HR record fell twice, the career HR record fell and guys looked like body builders stepping into the box and crushing everything. You had juicer Kevin Brown punching walls and other crazy crap occurring and the health and safety of the players took precedent over the HR race. The big PED studies and penalties came and it became harder to juice. With that, the HR's started to fade. Add in the shifts and you started to see offense drop. Offense drives the game. The commish then starts working on a new ball just in time for player philosophies to change to address the shift. Guys are working on launch angle instead of hitting the other way. Add in the juiced ball and guys like Tommy LaStella are heading towards 30+ HRs (prior to the broken leg). The commissioner wanted the bigger offense by developing the ball, but didn't see that the shift has already been made. If the commish wants to do something about the game, he would go back to the original ball and limit shifting. This will bring some more excitement to the game. The skinny speedsters are getting squeezed out if they cannot hit the ball over the fence. We are essentially seeing long counts, huge K numbers, bad BAs, and a total reliance on the HR. Go back to the original ball and eliminate the shift. That will bring the game back into balance

[dgalehouse]

It was always kind of hypocritical, or at least naive , to think other teams were using steroids while the Sox were squeaky clean. Usage was very wide spread. I don't mind giving a pass to Chavis , who does seem like a good kid , for a youthful mistake . Just don't let it happen again. Wright is another story. If you are a lowlife, being able to get hitters out with your knuckleball does not make you less of a lowlife. I do not like to see him pitching for the Red Sox .

[a700hitter]

Also you can see it in the way the OFer's track the baseballs. Sorry folks, you are not a CF because you guess how the ball is tracking better than the average bear. You are standing in CF particularly because you KNOW how to track a baseball. How many times have we seen the CFer retreat to where he thinks he needs to be only to see the ball keep going and going and going either over the fence or 10-20 past where his best effort to track the ball put him initially and its not the prevailing breeze either. This happens regularly now, hitting into the wind, with the wind, indoors, outdoors, does not matter.

 

How many line drives do we see now that just never come down. And yes, the number of times now a hitter can simply give up all the power in his swing, be entirely out on his front foot and flick the barrel of the bat ONE HANDED and hit the ball out to the opposite field power ally is just flat ridiculous.

 

Balls go out now that look and sound like they are hit close to the label of the bat. Balls go out that the hitter has just barely gotten some part of the barrel onto the ball....they are going out left and right and center in swings and contact that simply should not yield a HR's and they are going out on all sorts of pitches, not just 98 from the pitcher. In fact, its often not 98 from the pitcher. Chavis can only hit Sliders thrown down main st. Does he appear to have any difficulty hitting them a long way???????

If they stick with this supercharged Baseball the stats in baseball will have no historic comparative legitimacy. Part of the greatness of baseball is its history and comparing players across generations. This baseball is producing stats that can’t be compared to stats of just 10 years ago. And I don’t think that it is increasing interest in the game.

 

A number of things have reduced the enduring and future popularity of the game and most of them involve the economics of the game.

 

First and foremost is that there are almost no Day games and no Day World Series games. In the pursuit of advertising dollars they have sacrificed generations of kids who are safely sleeping in bed before games get to the 5th inning.

 

Another problem is that kids in many cities and states are never able to develop an attachment to players because they leave in FA as soon as they become stars. Kids feel abandoned when that happens and it sours them on the game.

 

The games have become intolerably long and a attention spans are too short.

 

Obviously, ticket prices are too high for kids to go to a game with their allowance money and they have to starve if they get in, because you can’t bring in food or drinks and the food costs as much as the ticket.

 

These are major problems that will affect the future popularity of the game.

 

This is not going to be fixed by a juiced baseball or by playing in Europe or Japan or anywhere else.

[dgalehouse]

Gimmicks are seldom the answer . The juiced ball , the many home runs are not bringing in fans . Attendance is down in many cities. Manfred seems unable or unwilling to implement any meaningful solutions. To me , something has to be done about the teams who are tanking . Bad business. Bad for the game . And I would give the umpire the authority to keep the game moving at a good pace . Forget the gimmicks. Forget the juiced ball . Put a good, competitive , fast moving product on the field.

[S5Dewey]

If they stick with this supercharged Baseball the stats in baseball will have no historic comparative legitimacy. Part of the greatness of baseball is its history and comparing players across generations. This baseball is producing stats that can’t be compared to stats of just 10 years ago. And I don’t think that it is increasing interest in the game.

 

A number of things have reduced the enduring and future popularity of the game and most of them involve the economics of the game.

 

First and foremost is that there are almost no Day games and no Day World Series games. In the pursuit of advertising dollars they have sacrificed generations of kids who are safely sleeping in bed before games get to the 5th inning.

 

Another problem is that kids in many cities and states are never able to develop an attachment to players because they leave in FA as soon as they become stars. Kids feel abandoned when that happens and it sours them on the game.

 

The games have become intolerably long and a attention spans are too short.

 

Obviously, ticket prices are too high for kids to go to a game with their allowance money and they have to starve if they get in, because you can’t bring in food or drinks and the food costs as much as the ticket.

 

These are major problems that will affect the future popularity of the game.

 

This is not going to be fixed by a juiced baseball or by playing in Europe or Japan or anywhere else.

 

Excellent, just an excellent post!

[mvp 78]

where the f*** you been?

 

Training my replacement/vacation/moving 1,500 miles away

 

Still in the thick of it right now.

[mvp 78]

Doesn’t overly bother me in the sense I think a ton of athletes do it and get away with it. I’m more curious about what happened with him and his wife.

 

Definitely

[a700hitter]

Training my replacement/vacation/moving 1,500 miles away

 

Still in the thick of it right now.

Don’t start bitching about the hot weather. People in the NE are not going to cry for you. LOL!

[dgalehouse]

Exactly. No juicing of the players. Juicing of the ball. The history of this is pretty easy to follow. In the late 90s, he juicing phenomenon hit its peak. The HR record fell twice, the career HR record fell and guys looked like body builders stepping into the box and crushing everything. You had juicer Kevin Brown punching walls and other crazy crap occurring and the health and safety of the players took precedent over the HR race. The big PED studies and penalties came and it became harder to juice. With that, the HR's started to fade. Add in the shifts and you started to see offense drop. Offense drives the game. The commish then starts working on a new ball just in time for player philosophies to change to address the shift. Guys are working on launch angle instead of hitting the other way. Add in the juiced ball and guys like Tommy LaStella are heading towards 30+ HRs (prior to the broken leg). The commissioner wanted the bigger offense by developing the ball, but didn't see that the shift has already been made. If the commish wants to do something about the game, he would go back to the original ball and limit shifting. This will bring some more excitement to the game. The skinny speedsters are getting squeezed out if they cannot hit the ball over the fence. We are essentially seeing long counts, huge K numbers, bad BAs, and a total reliance on the HR. Go back to the original ball and eliminate the shift. That will bring the game back into balance

 

I would not be shocked if we found that quite a few players are presently juicing . Maybe in a way that keeps them one step ahead of the testers .

[notin]

I would not be shocked if we found that quite a few players are presently juicing . Maybe in a way that keeps them one step ahead of the testers .

 

Former Sox farmhand Frankie Montas wasn’t one step ahead...

[notin]

Gimmicks are seldom the answer . The juiced ball , the many home runs are not bringing in fans . Attendance is down in many cities. Manfred seems unable or unwilling to implement any meaningful solutions. To me , something has to be done about the teams who are tanking . Bad business. Bad for the game . And I would give the umpire the authority to keep the game moving at a good pace . Forget the gimmicks. Forget the juiced ball . Put a good, competitive , fast moving product on the field.

 

Gimmicks never work. Have those NFL games in Europe done anything for the league?

 

Manfred has been the “pace of play” guy who missed the two biggest opportunities to speed the game up. Enforce EXISTING pitch time rules. And stop the asinine roster expansion that gives managers 14 man bullpens for a full month. Quit fretting shifts; hitters will figure that out on their own. Quit trying to limit pitching changes by suddenly forcing pitchers to face 3 hitters. Just don’t give them 14 man bullpens for a full sixth of the season.

 

I’d also like to see the return of Sunday double headers, but that will be tougher to push past the MLBPA. Although it will go a long way to reducing the chances of snowed out World Series games in northern cities...

[a700hitter]

Gimmicks never work. Have those NFL games in Europe done anything for the league?

 

Manfred has been the “pace of play” guy who missed the two biggest opportunities to speed the game up. Enforce EXISTING pitch time rules. And stop the asinine roster expansion that gives managers 14 man bullpens for a full month. Quit fretting shifts; hitters will figure that out on their own. Quit trying to limit pitching changes by suddenly forcing pitchers to face 3 hitters. Just don’t give them 14 man bullpens for a full sixth of the season.

 

I’d also like to see the return of Sunday double headers, but that will be tougher to push past the MLBPA. Although it will go a long way to reducing the chances of snowed out World Series games in northern cities...

Owners don’t want to sacrifice the revenue to schedule double headers. I think the players would like it as it would give them additional days off.

[Bellhorn04]

Gimmicks never work. Have those NFL games in Europe done anything for the league?

 

Can any of us actually answer that?

[jacksonianmarch]

Another big issue with the MLB is you have the best player in the game playing in anaheim on a continually non competitive team in the Pacific time zone

[OH FOY]

Another big issue with the MLB is you have the best player in the game playing in anaheim on a continually non competitive team in the Pacific time zone

 

Its too bad too. I know if I was back in my younger days and my buddy was pitching to me a wiffle ball, I would have his stance down to a tee. Be a great role model for younger kids, that love the game.