techsoldaten

I think the answer should be based on matchups. Tavarez has been pitching good, but I would not put him up against Wang. It would be interesting to see how Kyle Snyder fares against him. I would love to see a Schilling / Pettitte rematch. He was great against the Guardians. M

On a related note, even though it wasn't a win, it was cool seeing the bottom of the order load the bases against the Guardians last night. I think the point of having so the guys at the bottom who are there is to grind it out against starting pitchers. Tek, Pedroia and Crisp are getting some long at bats, this is a very patient team. M

Give someone a chance and see what they can do. It's a principle that has served the Red Sox well. With Olerud, I really think it's nice to have him available but pray we never need him. He is a massive hitter when he wants to be and did help the Yankees a lot last season. BTW Chitalian Stallion love the quote. M

Hrm... lots of player bashing on this forum, Bellhorn, Foulke and Rentaria. I wonder if the Sox offense is not fundamentally screwed up in some way. Like in some little way that can be tinkered around with and fixed. Manny's numbers are down. Tek is hitting better than Ortiz. Kevin Millar looks sober at the plate and Bellhorn's strikeout to homerun ratio is siding. To single out Rentaria for his lack of production is like complaining about the 'A' key on your keyboard being too small. Just as all the keys are the same size, there is a lack of production all around from the people we expect to be sluggers. Manny, Ortiz, Miller, Bellhorn and Rentaria are all going to show us what they can do and all we can do is wait for it to happen. And we are all going to be jubilant when it happens. M

Oh, dear. I disagree, Embree is underappreciated. Someone already mentioned his k/9 ratio, he is the guy I would send in if the bases were loaded and there were no outs. As for Foulke, his s*** is another teams starting pitcher. He's been playing against AL East teams so far this year against batters who have had plenty of time to adjust to his stuff. Foulke himself needs to make some adjustments is all, his stuff was great last year and there is no reason to think he's gone through some precipitous decline. He's doing what all closers do: figuring out what works now that everybody has seen what he's got. M

Bellhorn's true colors will show through soon enough. I mean, jeez, it looks like the whole team's numbers are down. When was the last time you saw Manny hitting under .280? Or Bill Mueller with .237, that's got to be a joke. What I think is the team is still mentally exhausted from winning the World Series last year. For me, every pitch was a major emotional event and I am sure it was for every player as well. The saving grace in all this (all praise Theo and his amazing foresight) is that Arroyo is turning into a stud, Halama and Gonzalez don't stink, and we have some big irons in the fire in terms of pitching. While the offense may be down, so are the ERAs and we are winning. So what's to worry about? Bellhorn will start smacking the ball soon enough. He's always been a clutch hitter and we just have not been in too many clutch situations so far this year. M

Why, yes, it is my job to rip on the Yankees. I take great delight in seeing the tables turned on them at this point in the season. You're right, in September it could be a whole different story. But for now, the most expensive collection of guys in baseball ever are getting beaten up on by smaller clubs. Whereas the Sox, the good guys, are throwing back to back shut outs and coming alive as a team. M

He's doing well so far, but we will need to see about him. I just can't see Theo letting him go if he's that healthy. I am happy for Pedro. M

Thus making them not only the most expensive POS team in all of baseball, but making them a candidate for the most expensive POS anything ever. It amazes me these guys are so bad. The being old thing aside, I know that off-field romanaces can sometimes lead to this kind of slip in performance. Thus, to really understnad what is going on, it's time to scrutinize the relationship between ARod and Jeter a little closer. Is it possible this new stud Pavano has come between them and the constant bickering is breaking the team apart? Or maybe that 'Randy' Johnson fell in love with ARod years ago and is doing a Count of MonteCristo on Jeter? Don't know the answers yet, all we can do is speculate. I am keeping an eye out for revealing clues in the press. M

Don't feel too sorry for him guys, he gets to go back to Mia Hamm at the end of the day. Used to watch her play with the Washington Freedom, and cameras just do not do her justice. Nomar is a many blessed man. M

The Yankees put up more than that against the World Series Champion Boston Red Sox last year, then committed the worst choke in sports history. Past performance, in their case, is no indication of future returns - the fact that they are highly talented old people does not change the fact they are fragile, vulnerable and can be contained like waste in a colostomy bag. M

Woo Hoo! Love the knuckleball. M

You said it, not me. They gave up 8 runs against a team they shoud have shut out. Now, why are the Yankees coming apart? It's simple, really. All their all-stars are getting old. Tino is old. Bernie is old. Matsui is old for a japanese ballplayer. Mussina is old (I used to watch him pitch when Cal Ripken was still new to the league). Kevin Brown may not be that old, but I think his body has been ravaged through years of street fights with walls, stop signs, mailboxes, trees and other inanimate objects. Gary Sheffield may not be old, but his little Hitler moustache reveals he's a 1930's man trying to play in the new century (meaning he's old at heart and probably will be complaining about kids on his lawn before too long instead of doing anything productive). Giambi is not old, but they will come up for reliable tests for HGH soon - he's living on borrowed time. Jeter is not old, but we kind of like him and think he will make a good Red Sox someday when he's ready to stop playing with a bunch of geezers. ARod is not old, but he suffers from a sustained adolesence marked by inappropriate behaviors and the inability to express what he thinks in a meaningful way - the frustrations of having to carry a boy's mentality in a man's body are catching up to him and rendering him ineffective as anything besides a rodeo clown (thinking he will be working in a 7-11 after he blows all his money on arcade games someday). The only straight up, dependable guy the Yankees have is Posada. I hate him for the things he has done but can't fault him for doing his job. Which is why I suspect there's something behind the scenes about him, psychopaths only relate to other psychopaths. Maybe he's connected, you know, *rubs the nose* one of the guys. Or a cannibal, I could also see that. M

Wondering what everyone's thoughts are on the rotation when Miller comes off the DL. Assuming he's healthy and back to form, it's looking like people are going to be making some tough choices. I'm thinking: Schilling, Miller, Wakefield, Clement, Kim. Oh wait, Byung Hole in gone. I'm really thinking: Schilling, Miller, Wakefield, Clement, Arroyo. Wells goes to the bullpen for middle relief because Arroyo has earned his stripes. M

You know, for someone coming off experimental ankle surgery and not really getting his training in this spring, Schilling is looking mighty fine. More than his actual performance, I am impressed by the amount of thought that goes into each one of his pitches. When his brow furrows prior to the wind up you can tell he's deep in thought in the midst of the chaos of the ballgame. Makes me feel there is hope for the world yet. What always surprises me is how hard it is for players to come back from the offseason and return to their true form. I went to spring training about 5 years ago and saw what players look right after they arrive - not a pretty site. I'm thinking Schilling has not hit his stride yet - this is going to be a good summer. M

Putting up 19 against a team the good guys just defeated 3 straight times. It was as if they were saying, "Hey, look at us, we're number four!" Guess they showed George what they are all about. ... meanwhile, the Red Sox beat a real team. M

One thing we know about Pedro is he is going to run his mouth, so give the guy a break. At least he is honest about what he thinks and is going to give us the real story, no matter how misguided it is. I'm not saying people can't see things their way too. Just that his attitude is a known quantity and nothing he's saying is really a surprise given the circumstances. He LUCKED OUT REAL BIG this year with the player's market skyrocketing the way it did and his prima-donna-ish-ness is coming to the fore. Let's see how he sounds when he's 11-13 with a 4.25 ERA from the lack of an infield and abysmal run support. He's a Met now, and deserves all that comes with it. M

You know, Rivera is a great pitcher but some of that has to do with being a closer. Hitters do not see him that often and never get the chance to adjust to what he is throwing. This is an advantage that, with enough time and tape, diminishes and actually works against the closer as he has to adjust his stuff against hitters. I think the Sox have him figured out, and other teams are going to as well. M

What's the word on Miller? Somewhere I read he may be coming back by the end of April. M

Spring training is like crab dip before a steak dinner. It ain't what fills you, but it tastes so good you have to have some. I love spring training. It gets people in the mood for baseball. The fact that you don't see the real lineups, the stand ins, the wild games that mean nothing... it's just game and sometimes that means more than the ones that count. M

Yeah, right. I will get past it after someone helps me string up Giambi. It may just be a game, but it's one into which I invest a lot of time and energy. I forgive slowly. Why do you love people who cheat so much? M

Word up. Being a Red Sox fan does not mean forgiving cheaters. M

Mmmm.... Yankees. Too bad ARod won't be there, I heard Blake Aroundio is scheduled to pitch. M

Tek said about 6 of those pitches Kim threw were strikes and the umpires were messing with him. Mixed with the fact it's SPRING TRAINING, we can probably cut him some slack. I would like to see BYK get his groove back. He could be a huge difference maker for the Sox if he pitches like he did in AZ. M

Hrmph. None of you guys are even thinking about the man from Japan. I predict Byung-Hole... er, I mean Byung-Hyun Kim is going to have a breakout year. He's a former all-star who is capable of dominating hitters. Word is he's got his health back and is on the road to regaining his skills from when he was with the Diamondbacks (and let's remember, that was 2 years ago). Mixed in with the rest he's received while recouperating and I think we will see a lot more of him then we expected this year. Domi arigato. M