stevece80

Just curious, but why do you like Hillenbrand so much? Just my opinion, but I can't think of a single player on the Red Sox in recent years that I've ever had more of an unbridled hatred for. There was nothing more frustrating than watch him flail on 0-2 at pitches that were in the lefty batter's box, or him calling Theo a "faggot", or his constant shots towards the Red Sox, the veterans on the Red Sox, the Red Sox minor league staff, Fenway Park, et cetera after he was traded. Beyond this stuff, people who were around him when he played for the Trenton Thunder said he's the most pompous dickweed they ever had to deal with. Not a big fan of Mr. April.

2004

I didn't say they were "safety teams" for you, but it seems a lot of people have a backup team in case their main one is eliminated. I suppose, though, if I had to pick a team to respect more than the rest of the MLB competition, it would be the Padres. I've got one favorite, though.

Safety teams are gay.

Unlike Clemens, he hasn't thrown a hissyfit about the Hall having the final say in what hat he'll wear on his plaque. He's open to their choice, and it's obviously Boston, and he was on record saying he's glad it's out of his hands. Congratulations, Wade. It would have been nice for you to finish your career in Boston, but superstar Scott Cooper was willing to work for peanuts. On a side note, what do you think it's like to be Cooper? He was the untouchable that led to Bagwell being traded, and he took Boggs' job. He was out of baseball long before either of them.

What manager is always right, though?

Pitching Pedro in game 7 really burned him out for game 3 in St. Louis. Please, I don't buy the "getting the crowd into the game" argument, either. If professional athletes don't have enough motivation trailing in a do or die game, in the League Championship series, then I don't have any clue what sort of motivation they'd need. The Yankees didn't have their home crowd spurring them on in that 19-8 walloping in game 3, so I'm wondering if it comes down to talent? I'd say so. Someone needed to be burned in that inning to keep at least someone fresh for game 1 of the World Series, considering the game was sealed at that point. Francona would have been butchered by the second guessers just as much if he had sent Mendoza out there. Those same second guessers would have bitched if Mirabelli had faced a righty reliever later in the tie game had Varitek been pulled. Face it, for all the blame you're placing, none of these qualms are FAR from the clear-cut choice. If Varitek hits like Pat Borders, then you obviously make the move without question. Even when he helps bring the franchise it's first title in 86 years, he still can't win. In retrospect, keeping Grady Little may have been the right choice, if not only to have some justification to the bitching that goes on in regards to every manager that has ever been at the helm in Boston. The first one in who knows how long that shows a bit of a clue, gets thrown under the bus at the first opportunity because of rampant microanalyzation. There will be no "wrong" moves in the age of human error. Once the game is played on paper, with pre-scripted plays will it be alright to judge someone based on borderline decisions. Judge a manager on his team's results, judge him on the MAJOR decisions, but please don't judge anyone on "fork in the road" moves.

I'm sorry, are you recycling a Yankee fan excuse for why Tino has only hit .239/.326/.359 in Postseason play? 9 out of 20 postseason series, did he bat below the Mendoza line. 9 out of 20, he slugged below .333. 9 out of 20, he had an OBP below .273. 9 out of 20, all small sample size. .239/.326/.359, is 348 at bats worth of large sample size suckage. That's Yankee-up-three-games-to-none bad.

NESN has been around for 20 years, and it's trying to be like an upstart channel?

Get DirecTV. Have your billing address be someplace in the Boston area, or specifically the NESN coverage area. Have your monthly service deducted directly out of your checking account. Set up your dish in whatever state you're living in. You've got NESN.

Three year splits: Clement: 587 2/3 IP, 486 hits, 241 BB, 576 K, .223BA/.306OBP/.360SLG, 3.80 ERA Pavano: 559 1/3 IP, 590 hits, 143 BB, 364 K, .269BA/.321OBP/.417SLG, 4.00 ERA Difference in age, 1.5 years. Difference in salary, 1.5 million. Lefties versus Pavano: .290/.344/.445. That famed short porch should serve him well. My personal favorite: http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B06270BOS2003.htm Game Played on Friday, June 27, 2003 (N) at Fenway Park FLA N 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 1 2 - 8 10 0 BOS A 14 2 1 2 1 0 1 4 x - 25 28 1 Florida Marlins IP H HR R ER BB K Pavano L(6-9) 0 6 1 6 6 0 0

The best part about the year 2090 is that you'll be dead.

The head honcho did. Though my s/n, which is a reference to that giant wall out in left, was safe. I disagree on Vazquez, unless you think it's due to an unwillingness to sell on the part of the DBacks. Vazquez was Theo's Holy Grail dating back to 2002 when he was assistant GM, and he's not the type to be turned off by a down half season.

Considering how much the Yankees have undervalued their farm system over the past few seasons, it's not a shock to see they've essentially placed a 7 million dollar price tag on Navarro and Duncan. Are they aware that while they're decent prospects to the rest of baseball, they're blue chippers by no means? So if every single prospect in baseball is thrown back into a draft, do Navarro and Duncan get a combined 7 million dollars in draft bonuses? No. 5th round picks are typically slotted at a much lower dollar amount than that. Anyways, despite his troubles last season, I'd love to see the Red Sox work out a deal to get Vazquez once he's dealt. It would be amazing to see what he can do with the benefit of actually having a pitching coach that knows what he's doing, in Boston. Stottlemyre is so incompetent, the second Vazquez started having troubles after the ASB, he just went further and further down the toilet.

Wow, I didn't think I'd find someone more annoying than "Dirt Dog", and then I found "Guy who posts all of 'Dirt Dogs' annoying crap on other message boards".

Well, I'd say being a good prospect typically has to do with the amount of upside you possess, so I made my list based on the potential I viewed each player to have. Papelbon isn't Schilling. I'd say his upside would maybe be Kevin Millwood. He's 24 now, and eventually he's going to have to make huge strides to really vault himself to top prospect status. Furthermore, Schilling was an MLB regular by age 23, so beyond saying he's a future HOFer with better control, I think it's a bit disingenous to just assume Papelbon is even a lock to pitch more than a handful of above average innings in the majors based on dominating kids 2-3 years younger than him. I just think if he's taking baby steps next year at AA, his upside is a decent reliever, if anything. Just being good again next season, with all due respect to the fact he started pitching late, doesn't mean he's anything better than a Marcus Thames, Josh Hancock or John Hattig level prospect. As of now, he's either learned how to pitch, or he hasn't. His build and his lack of mileage on his arm only means he'll likely be more durable than the average pitcher in the future. There's plenty of durable long relievers out there. I just think it's time to bust out for him, or time to temper the hype surrounding him. It's nice that he started pitching late, but that's no excuse for him not getting a cup of coffee next season based on his advancement as a pitcher. Rafael Soriano and Victor Zambrano both started pitching at a later age than Papelbon, and both were pitching well in the majors at age 25 or younger. It doesn't take 10 years to refine your stuff enough to fool MLB hitters. Either you do, or you likely never will.

Yes, Tom Brady is a Yankee fan. In the past, he would wear a Red Sox hat occasionally because he "had to" (he was wearing Yankee hats when he first came to the Patriots, he stopped the practice when a reporter informed him it wasn't kosher). It was kind of a joke to him. Ever since the Red Sox knocked the Yankees out of the playoffs, he hasn't been spotted with a Red Sox hat once. I'd say it's not a joke anymore to him, and it really hit a nerve after this year's ALCS. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for him to be spotted with a Red Sox hat on again, either, unless the Red Sox corner the market on metrosexual/hunter caps.

1. Hanley Ramirez (need I say anything? Consistent power away from being HOF-level talent, needs a full season of production to prove he's the s***) 2. Jon Lester (young, lefty, good K totals, his pedrigree holds the biggest upside in the system) 3. Manny Delcarmen (first full year back from TJ should be the breakout) 4. Brandon Moss (needs to develop more power, but 2004 is hard to ignore) 5. Anibal Sanchez (hey, I can dream) 6. Mickey Hall (can't not love the raw power at his age) 7. Jon Papelbon (a bit old, with a young arm, if he's not in Boston by Sept., he's MR fodder) 8. Abe Alvarez (will be an MLB starter, ceiling is a number 4, though) 9. Luis Soto (Hanley part II?) 10. Christian Lara (SS, MLB eye) Honorable mention aka put up or shut up: Kelly Shoppach David Murphy Dustin Pedroia will be a MLB regular, likely, but he's Jody Reed at this point. If there's a top ten future major leaguers list, Alvarez and Pedroia are likely right at the top of the list. If Shoppach's plate approach in 2004 was an aberration, then he immediately shoots to the top half of the list on the basis of his power alone. I'm still willing to give Murphy some benefit of the doubt, though if there's no progression in 2005, then by 2006 it's bustville. Why Mickey Hall so high? Why, because he's going to tear up high-A in 2005, that's why.

I'm wondering whose Yankee obsession is bigger, Hater, or in2010.

I'm just disappointed that Myers wasn't even a type C free agent. It was a no-risk move to offer him arb, but the upside was just having him for another season. His K of Bobbing For French Fries II in Game 5 was pretty key.

Don't be a hater.

And by Yankee fan logic, the amount of tax the Red Sox paid is in the neighborhood of what the Yankees paid because it's the second most.

What Cashman really sees: