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I have nothing good to say about this team right now. I wish I could fast forward 2-3 weeks when the team gets back to .500.

The Sox are the equivalent of being 29.6% through the first game of an NFL season, or 1.51 games into an NBA season. Let's not get too worried too quickly here. Anyone who made a bet that the Sox weren't going to get swept at some point this season was going to lose that bed. I think this team is goign to take a bit to come together. Not only did they add two new really important offensive pieces, they also are getting over a number of injuries from last year that kept guys like Ellsbury, Pedroia and Youkilis from ever forming the type of chemistry the otherwise would have. This team will get rolling, and when it happense it should be impressive.

You should be. Although the score was bad, it appeared to me to be another game that hinged on a matter of inches. Ellsbury missed a diving catch pretty early (4th inning?) that led to the Rangers blowing it open. Yesterday it was the chalkdust double. It isn't making excuses, I just hold out a lot of hope for this team. They need better SP though. Without that this team will be cooked.

I agree. I think for the most part ORS is right that Gonzo is the best hitter, but Ellsbury, Crawford and Pedroia are all such good table-setters that it seems having all 3 hit before Gonzo and Youk will give them more RBI opportunities. A good argument could be made for having Ellsbury or Crawford at the bottom of the order, but Ellsbury is playing too well and Crawford isn't being paid to be a #9 hitter. I just don't see them hitting Pedroia 3rd any time soon, however. I'm not sure why, but it wasn't something they messed with in spring training. Why the idea of having Ellsbury and Crawford hit next to each other seems like something they don't want to do is beyond me. Perhaps that's where this is inevitably going and they wanted to stroke Crawford's ego by putting him 3rd. That may be fine against RHP, but against LHP it's a vacuum at the 3 spot, which makes little sense. As for who is better between Youkilis and Gonzo, I lean toward Adrian, but not by much. Youkilis really is an elite hitter. Not just good, elite. I think that's mostly because of his very consistent OBP skills and the fact that he's added power. Over Youk's last 383 games (1644 PA): .308/.404/.560/.964. That's pretty damn impressive in the AL East.

I'm not sure how much I like Crawford in the #3 spot. I didn't love that it was common knowledge that he would hit 3rd. Never made much sense. After he was initially signed I proposed (along with a few others here) the idea of having him hit #2 with Pedroia hitting 3rd, and I think I'm still in favor of that idea: Ellsbury Crawford Pedroia Gonzalez Youkilis Ortiz Drew/Cameron Salty Scutaro It just seems like the #3 hitter's job in this lineup should be to drive the ball and be a really tough out, especially with such tremendous hitters behind him. That's Pedroia, not Crawford. Crawford can give up outs, put pressure on the defense, as a lefty he can move Ellsbury over if he's at 2nd by pulling the ball, rather than hitting it the other way. He won't hit into double plays and he should be able to be aggressive on the basepaths with Pedroia at the plate. Seems like there's a lot of good reasons. To me, Ellsbury seems to be a much better hitter than he was when he first came up. All through ST, in today's game, and even at the end of the 2009 season he was getting beat by fewer fastballs, able to foul pitches off, responding well to offspeed stuff, etc., I think that he and Crawford could more than hold their own against a LHP brought in to face them. What do others think? Pedroia and Crawford are both pretty ideal #2 hitters, but to me Pedroia is the better #3 hitter of the two.

I'm actually heartened by Ellsbury's play today. Ortiz got a bomb. Gonzo looked good and had a few good moments. Crawford should be motivated to do better. There's always tomorrow.

Is there anything worse than watching a game for 3:15, only to have the team blow it in the bottom of the 8th? This sucks.

YES, Wakefield is up in the pen.

f*** me. f*** the chalk. That was weak as hell.

Last season could end up being a blessing for Buchholz. He was clearly working on allowing people to put his pitches in play and the results with that approach can be variable. If he had experienced a 4.20 ERA after pitching as he did (which was at times dominant) it could have been dejecting. Now, I think we're talking about a pitcher who is naturally a strikeout pitcher, who has some of the best stuff in baseball (FB velocity was consistently very high last year) who now has the confidence to pitch to contact, which is something he lacked previously. If he can get his swagger back as a swing and miss pitcher he can be more aggressive early in counts and resort to allowing contact if he falls behind. I hope for good things for Clay in the future.

I see nothing wrong with this discussion, since it discusses who is "on pace" rather than "a sure bet" for the Hall of Fame. Pedroia seems like the most obvious candidate. Two major awards, multi-time all-star, one of the most respected players of his era, great on both sides of the ball, cornerstone of a (potentially) perrennial contending team in a very prominant market. He's got a certain Derek Jeter (intangable) or Yogi Berra (small, funny, outspoken) quality to him. Crawford could be top 5 in SB and have 3000 plus hits when it is all over. His numbers compare to Roberto Clemente's. Or he could totally flame out. Youkilis may have started too late but will have some peak seasons in the HOF caliber. Lester has one of (if not the) best winning % of a player in a long, long time. He's got the frame and stuff to pitch well into his 30s and could have the resume of a HOF player when all is said and done. That's probably it so far. Obviously it is too early to tell on Buchholz, Iglesias, etc., but I wouldn't be shocked if there were more HOF-caliber talent waiting to have an impact. Obviously a number of things have to go right for any of them to make it.

There are reports that Lackey's wife had a miscarriage last year and is fighting breast cancer. I know for myself personally that if those things happened to me I would undoubtedly struggle with a huge transition into a place like Boston. It's not an excuse, but important context and a reason for people to give the guy a second chance, IMO. If the Sox didn't sign Lackey, wouldn't they be desperately searching for a #5 starter this offseason like the Yankees are? It seems like good forethought to me. And if they were searching for that pitcher, and decided to have signed a guy like John Lackey would anyone be upset? What if it took 16m to keep him from NY? I think we'd all be okay with it. Be patient with the guy, he's a good pitcher.

I think there's every reason to think Buchholz will increase his K numbers like Lester did too. His MiLB K numbers were really good, as were his K numbers when he began his career in MLB (if I remember correctly). He moved away from the K when he started throwing more hittable and better pitches. He still has another level to improve and I think he's got the tools and stuff to do so. Sign him now, or half way through the season. The sooner the better, IMO.

The longer you wait the more he costs. I would also argue that Buchholz has had numerous good seasons, just all but one of them have been on the minor league level where he was one of the best in the game. If he's willing to take less than Lester did and stick around for another 6 years I'd say get it done. If he has another season like 2010 then they will have to pay quite a bit more.

As far as I can tell from everything I've read, the guy has never hit a ball hard since coming to the US. I love his tools and his skill set and think that he could be the Jose Iglesias of CF if he can develop even a decent bat. Unfortunately, Jose Iglesias can play at SS but he can't play in CF. He needs to do SOMETHING offensively to be productive. That said, he could be trade bait or a longterm project (which he already is). I'm not ready to give up on him, but I expect absolutely nothing out of him in 2011 or 2012.

1. Pedroia (I think he's a Hall of Famer if he stays healthy. As much as I hate to say it, his intangables are top-notch). 2. Lester (If he stays healthy for 10-12 years, could also be a HOF when he retires) 3. Youkilis (if there's a guy I want at bat to 'not make an out', it's him. Whereas Pedroia has intangables, Youkilis seems to have "tangibles"--you can measure why he's so effective and he's one of the best players in the league. I rank him above Gonzalez because of his defensive versatility and better eye.) 4. Gonzalez (ditto above, except he's 2nd best) 5. Buchholz (could be better than Lester when all is said and done) 6. Crawford (shooting for 3000 hits, comparable to Roberto Clemente, minus the arm, w/ better speed) 7. Bard (stuff speaks for itself) 8. Lackey (I like his consistency more than Beckett's upside, only slightly) 9. Beckett 10. Papelbon 11. Ellsbury (at his best he could surpass Crawford to #6) 12. Drew (tools, yes. Consistency, resilience, not so much) 13. Matsuzaka (could pass both Lackey and Beckett if he puts it all together. I'm still a Dice-K fan) 14. Jenks 15. Kalish (I really like this kid, even at the AAA level to start the year) 16. Lowrie (I like him more than many) 17. Wheeler 18. Salty ... beyond that I get bored trying to pretend I can rank their pieces. It would more-or-less mirror the way others have ranked the Cameron's and Scutaro's, Varitek's and Doubront's of the world.

Hell yeah the Sox would make an aggressive offer at CC if the Yankees let him get on the market again. I don't think it would necessarily be wise to blow the Yankees out of the water, but to make them pay through the nose it would be worth it. CC's a very good pitcher and he's extremely valuable to the Yanks. I hope the Angels would still be interested in him too.

Is this even really a discussion? It's Kalish unless Ellsbury gets moved. Is anyone even certain that Reddick will be the 4th or 5th OF by the end of 2011?

Realistically, it ain't happening of course. The Sox only payroll losses in 2012 will be Ortiz, Papelbon Cameron and Drew, which is a total of $46.5m. That's a lot of money, but when you add in a hefty raise to Carl Crawford (14m--> 19.5), Jacoby Ellsbury (arb), Clay Buchholz (arb) and a few others, PLUS Adrian Gonzalez supposedly resigning, that will likely eat away at a lot of that money. The way I see it, the 2011 Sox are making a big run at a WS the way they did in 2004 and 2007. If they win I expect a reduction in payroll, or at least a reduction in aggressive spending. All that said, the Sox have also given themselves a safety option if the Adrian Gonzalez deal falls through for some reason. I hope it doesn't, as I like his age and love his swing in Fenway, but if it fell through they would have to be considered favorites for a guy like Pujols.

Can Pujols pitch?

Back to Pujols, is there ANY way the Sox could get him? Any at all? If there were, Theo would be the one to figure it out, but what's the play if they want him? I think everyone is right that they won't be making a play for him, but they will certainly explore every way that it could be possible, as will the Yankees undoubtedly. I just don't see too many teams that are going to spend $30m on one player.

John Lackey looks like a genius signing for the Sox. Yes, they paid a boatload for him, but he would have been the 2nd best pitcher on the market (even with his 2010 season behind him) and the Yankees would have swept him up. Instead the Sox were apparently smart enough to look ahead and take him off the market. A big, 200+ IP guy with a career of postseason success? Yeah, the Yankees are trying to convince one of them to come back in Pettitte and are sweeping up old/out of shape ones left and right.