Zenny

The Dodgers aren't trading Mota at all. They wouldn't do it for Beltran, so I doubt they'll do it for Nomar. Nomar for Perez and Joel Hanrahan (AAA pitching prospect) might work. Both of those players would be in our rotation next season. I still love this trade though.

On the surface, they are going to continue to say he's the future, but I don't think they believe it. His production hasn't matched his potential so far and I don't know how patient the Sox are going to be with him, especially since they picked Pedroia and gave a $500,000 dollar contract to Luis Soto out of the Domincan. The Sox are going to hang on to Hanley for now, but I'm not sure for how long. If he has a hot stretch at some point, he may be trade bait over the next two years.

Fantastic. They all love the game he calls. That also may have contributed to his offensive struggles early on. He may have been spending too much time working with the pitching staff and not focusing on his offense. He's definitely coming around, though.

Well, the motherf***ing Yankees took game one thanks to three of our 2004 potential free agents! Nomar- 2 errors Varitek- 0-4, 3 K's Lowe- 5 ER's and allowing 4 unearned to score in 5 IP God, I hope these three guys are not in Sox uniforms next season and I've been preaching that for a loooooooooong time.

Kim won't pitch in the playoffs. They'll have a four-man rotation, or possibly three depending upon personnel (I'm still holding out hope for a Nomar for Odalis Perez trade) and health.

Shoppach went 2-5 with a double, 2 RBI and a K. One of those hits, a single, came off Mets' top prospect Royce Ring, a major-league ready, hard throwing lefty. That is always a promising sign. I still believe going from AA to AAA is harder than going from AAA to the bigs, in terms of the quality of the overall pitching. If a player is good at AA, he's going to get the bump to AAA, thus leveling the field of play. But, if a player is good at AAA, there isn't always a spot for him on the big league club, a huge example of that being Brian Daubach. The player still continues to pitch or hit well. There are a lot of big-league quality players at the AAA level, which leads me back to my original conclusion and provides some insight in to why Shoppach is struggling a bit. Feel free to question me on that. I love a good debate. I still fully expect Shoppach's OPS to be around or above .900 by the time the season is done. He will always have that funny habit of accidentally letting go of the bat and it goes flying into the stands. Season line: .241/.339/.432/.771; .39 (30/77) BB/K ratio; 12 2B, 10 HR, 38 RBI, 35 R

Don't forget total bases.

He wasn't. He was always slated to be the 1B, with Hillenbrand at 3B and Jeremy Giambi at DH. That was the pre-2003 plan. What a s***** plan that was.

Glavine is from the area and I think he'd rather be here than New York. The Mets are still hanging around in that division and I don't think that they are going to deal anyone before July 31st, if they do at all. It should be something to watch, though.

I'm still in favor of option Number 2. I think Theo and Co. rushed Kim back the first time because of public opinion and he wasn't ready. They seem to have smartened up and they are going to take their time with him at Pawtucket. Once his velocity is back and his confidence returns, they should put him in the rotation (where he was a career ERA ~3.35) and move Arroyo to the long-relief role (where he has a career ERA under 3).

Word is they might go after Ramon Castro if he isn't convicted of his rape charge. Castro's always had a lot of upside and power and Jack McKeon wants him out of town. It probably wouldn't take too much to trade for him either, maybe spinning off Ben Davis straight-up.

He walks way too many people. That would really get him in trouble against the better, more patient teams we would have to face down the stretch. Ortiz does it on purpose too, because he's trying to get hitters to chase because he has underwhelming stuff. It's not like he has a mechanical problem that can be fixed, he is actively trying to throw s*** in the dirt.

The Mets aren't going to trade anyone, especially Glavine, until July 31st, if they do it at all. They're trying to make a run at that division and by the time they are out of the race, it'll be too late to deal. I don't want any part of Russ Ortiz, but Andruw Jones is intriguing on first glance. Then I look at the crippling contract that he has. 3 years, $39 million bucks remaining for a CF with a .800 OPS? His defense isn't worth that much. He seems to have stalled on his rise to stardom. A couple of years ago, I thought he was going to hit 600 homeruns in his career, but there seems to be something wrong with him. He might be hurt and Schuerholz is masking it to deal him. That's something to watch. I would love RJ in Boston and I don't think it would cost as much as people think. Remember the Schilling deal? Casey Fossum (back of rotation lefty- hurt), Brandon Lyon (average middle reliever- hurt), Michael Goss (outfielder who could run, but would never hit above the Mendoza line) and Jorge de la Rosa (former top prospect who has a very high ERA for Milwaukee's AAA team). And that was to get a pitcher of equal caliber. Granted, this was a finance move to free up room for Richie Sexson, but I don't think it would take much more to land RJ. He is a 10-and-5 guy though, so he can waive any potential deal. Steve Finley's name has also been mentioned in the rumor mill and the Sox as one of the potential bidders, but I have no idea what the fascination with getting another outfielder is. Pitching, pitching, pitching! I think the Sox should wait on Kim and see how he does in getting his velocity back and then give him a trial in the rotation. Also, we might be able to get a starter when we deal Mendoza to Baltimore. They gave KC a top pitching prospect for Jason Grimsley, so we might be able to get a good, young starter from those idiots for Mendoza.

Couple things: 1) Great deal for both teams. The White Sox are likely to extend Garcia and the Mariners get their C and CF of the future, both of whom are very good. 2) Yankees are out of trade options. The Mariners (for Moyer) and Braves (for Ortiz) already have superior catchers to Dioner Navarro (Yanks' top catching prospect, who in actuality sucks) and they can't really offer anything besides Navarro. 3) Sox don't trade the farm for this one. It was likely the Mariners wanted Shoppach and that ain't good for us. That's all.

Since all of them are big-name, we could get like 4 first-round picks if they all go and we offer arbitration (that's key). If we don't offer the player arbitration, we don't get that team's pick. Example: Montreal didn't offer Vlad arbitration, they didn't get Anaheim's pick. Oakland offered Foulke arbitration, they got our pick. See how that works? Here's what I think is going to happen: We re-sign Pedro. Detroit or Colorado signs Lowe: we get that team's first-rounder (likely top 5 or 10) and a supplemental round (sandwich round between 1st and 2nd) We sign Odalis Perez, LA gets our personal pick, we still have Detroit or Colorado's. LA or Anaheim signs Nomar: we get their pick somewhere between 15 and 30 and a supp. pick. We re-sign Williamson. Varitek signs with one of a variety of teams (Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco, Colorado, wherever) and we would get that pick, probably in the 10-25 range. So that breaks down as: Sox get one first-rounder and one supplemental pick from Lowe's team, Nomar's team and Varitek's team. LA gets our pick from Perez. So, in theory if all this happens, the Sox would have three first-round picks, three supplemental round picks and possibly some second-rounders (I'm never positive how that works).

Manny too. I love these guys.

Me too, I love Manny. Both he and Ortiz are going to hit 40 homeruns and 40 doubles this year. Best 3-4 punch in baseball.

In all honesty, the media can go take a flying **** for themselves. The only people calling Varitek the #1 priority are Jackie McMullen from the Herald and those two nit-wits Buck and McCarver when they did a Fox game that the Sox were in. Other than that, I don't see anyone saying it is Varitek as priority #1, especially the people who have first-hand knowledge of Varitek, the Sox finances along with Varitek's outrageous demands and the Sox system. These people know that Varitek is expendible to some degree unless his price comes down.

Shopp went 1-4 today, no whiffs, no walks. Season Line: .237/.337/.428/.765; .39 (30/76) BB/K ratio; 11 2B, 10 HR, 36 RBI, 35 R

Rough start so far.

Based upon the reaction I've gotten, I say yes he is overrated by Sox fans, but the rest of the league treats him as what he is. In response to Tek04, I have never been a Varitek fan, so there's no jumping off the bandwagon here. I liked the trade back in 1997 mostly because it got rid of Slocumb, but I had always thought the Mad Hatter was the better player, but that is neither here nor there. As far as the Varitek/Posada comparisons, Posada is so bad behind the plate that Varitek is easily a better defender, but that isn't hard. Varitek isn't a top 10 defender in the league and he isn't a top 5 hitter. He's also at the age where catchers start to decline and bringing him back after this season would only mean extra money on an injury-prone, aging catcher. I'm not prepared to become the Mets with their stupid contracts, I don't know about you. As far as the relationships with pitchers, that is very overplayed. Every catcher and their pitching staff work together. Varitek is no revolutionary when it comes to this stuff, they all do it. It is just that the Boston media wants to hype up their players when they do even the simplest of tasks. I'm going to say it again and I have nothing more to say: Brining back Jason Varitek after this season is not a smart business move and would not be beneficial to the team on the field.

Me no spaka da good Inglish wen da Yankez iz around.

Oh yeah, that's why he's said he wants to pitch in Boston with Dave Wallace next season, you stupid motherf***er.

Well, Shopp went 1-4 with 2 K's tonight against the pretty good Richmond Braves pitching staff. Season Line: .237/.339/.431/.771; .39 (30/76) BB/K ratio; 11 2B, 10 HR, 36 RBI, 35 R

Hey, how about you shut the f*** up?