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I don't think you can blame them.

Their assessment of him at 14m per season was just about right, as was his agents assessment that he was worth that much. That's the top of what he should be paid, ever, in my opinion. Yes, in good seasons when he plays consistently he might be worth more, but this isn't a guy who comes to work each and every day and punches his time card and stays late finishing his paperwork. He just isn't. I'm not slamming him as broken or weak, because he isn't, he's just not the Type A personality who has to be the best at everything he does. He got his money through FA and I don't begrudge him for it. He might even be a person who has a life that he enjoys outside of baseball (gasp) and likes doing other things and sees baseball as a job. That's how I see my professional life too, so I don't blame him for it at all. When all is said and done he will have had a solid MLB career, which is saying a lot. I think Bobby Abreu is actually a solid comparison in terms of the type of player/career he has had.

I like it. One more year and that's it. No negotiations, no having to worry about it all offseason. The big bats (Gonzalez, Fielder, Pujols maybe) become available after next year. He will probably cost more than he's worth and perhaps be a bit pissed off, but he signed the contract with the option in it and they included it for a reason--namely so they would have this flexability when it matters.

Uhh, you're miserable already Clint. jk. Go ahead and make your bets though, I'm pulling for you.

Another question: who does Crawford actually replace on this team? I think that Kalish is going to make it very difficult to keep him in th eminors or on the bench anymore. Drew won't be sitting down (though he could be a competent DH if Ortiz is released) and Ellsbury certainly has to play if healthy, both because they need to give him a chance to show what he can do and because his trade value will plummet if the Sox say he's not good enough to start for them. IMO, if Crawford is going to be part of this team then Ellsbury would have to go. Given that he's entering arbitration (I believe), determined to get to FA (Boras) and simply not as consistent a leadoff hitter as they need, that seems like a very reasonable option. The other question is whether he would leave TB for Boston. My initial thoughts are that he wouldn't, given that he would immediately become the Johnny Damon of the Rays. At the same time, the Rays don't have any actual fans, so the chances of him regretting that move for the rest of his life are pretty minimal. I think he'd be a good fit for the Sox, but am not sure he would want to come to Boston. If he DID want to come to Boston, and they wanted him, that would really open the door for a lot of shifting that would probably benefit the Sox longterm. They could put Kalish in CF for a year until Drew leaves and then fill the CF hole later, or at least have a hole for Kalish in the roster. They could use Ellsbury + + for another big bat and either sign Beltre or not (personally, I think Beltre might like Boston). If they don't get Crawford then I have a hard time seeing where this team moves forward for 2011. Werth is a good player but he wouldn't fill the void at leadoff that they have and becomes another aging middle-late order bat: a reincarnation of Drew basically. I'm starting to wonder if Crawford could become 2010-2011's version of Mark Teixeira; a player the Sox covet who doesn't covet them. I have no confirmation that Theo is interested or that Crawford isn't, but given his drafts recently this is the type of player they have been picking up, speedy with some pop and OF versatility. He also hurts their closest competetor while helping the Sox. It will be an interesting off season and I believe the Sox are at a real cross-roads in terms of their fans and the club overall. This ownership group has put a good team on the field and won two championships. They have been able to coast a few seasons on that success, but projecting forward it is clear that this team won't get there on its own as currently constructed. They need to make some moves aggressively or they will continue with the 2nd-3rd place finishes and 1st-2nd round exits in the playoffs. It will be crunch time Theo; get'er done.

spoken like a real man. Kudos.

Personally I'm waiting to delve into this thread for the offseason and 2011. 2010 is dead to me on many levels.

Let's delve into this a bit more... what happened last offseason that made you pissed off? The only logical answer would be the signing of John Lackey, but the only better move than that (that I can see) would have been NOT SPENDING ANY MONEY, and saving it for this year. But that move would play pretty well into the narrative you are spinning about them not fielding a competitive team. During the offseason the main discussion was not whether they should or shouldn't sign Mike Cameron (an admittedly neutral and small-time move no matter how it played out); nor was the discussion about how Beltre would be an MVP candidate (everyone's pontificating powers disappeared on that one, except Theo and Co., who get very little credit for that move). No, the discussion here last year was clamoring for the signing of Jason Bay. This board seems to be full of "grass is greener" types who seem to think there are a plethora of great options out there at every turn. I don't see it. This team is only as good as the options they have and those options aren't always very good. I'm willing to bet this team will be back in the playoffs consistently either next year or the year after and have another 5-6 year run of highly competitive teams. That's more than most teams can say, but it isn't enough for many of you.

FWIW, ORS hasn't laid into me yet. (holds breath) He's actually right though. It is easy to rip on the sox for not going after the big fish when they don't go after the fish that you want. It is much more difficult when you step back and realize that they have both landed big fish (Drew, Lackey, Dice-K, Renteria, etc.,) and big fish draft picks. They have also made at least one public run at a big fish (Teixeira) that didn't end well but which was still significant in that they tried (compared to, say, Matt Holliday who they inquired about but didn't pursue). The difference is that the go after the fish who they think will fill their need and not after ones they don't like as much. The more fruitful discussion, in my opinion, is always about the philosophy that leads them to prefer one fish over another. I imagine we will be seeing a signficant change in the roster for this team over the next two years and I'm expecting some good players will be coming our way. Otherwise they can expect ratings and ticket sales to drop continually.

I don't like it. For a team that sits down top prospects early because of IP limits, lets players rehab for weeks instead of having them come to the big club, and loses top FAs over clauses related to potential injuries this move does not seem to make sense. There must be something else going on. Are they doing this to save someone else's arm? why not start Doubront?

Delcarmen deserves a fond farewell. Yeah, he was annoying this year and clearly has lost some of his explosiveness. However, he was with the Sox franchise since 2000 when he was drafted (a decade) and with the 'big club for 5 years. In 44 games in 2007 he had a 2.05 ERA and helped this team to a World Series. Local kid, home grown, overall a productive player who has drawn lots of interest from other teams over the years. Thanks Manny!!

This season has been a bit of a slow death. Are we ready to reexamine the possibilities of the 2011 season again? I wouldn't be shocked if a few of the Sox FAs prefered to stay in Boston with a shot to win a championship. If Ortiz, Martinez and/or Beltre wanted to finish the prime of their careers as an important part of a championship team, they may prefer to give it another shot with the Red Sox. I don't expect those guys to take "hometown discounts" (certainly Boras will have something to say about that) but if I were a veteran like Martinez or Beltre I would want to play on a championship team. Both are very good players, some of the best at their position for a 5-6 year period, but neither has a ring to put them in the history books. It's probably just the historical side of me that thinks they might actually care about that. This roster had the potential to win a World Series, especially with its mix of pitching and offense, veteran leadership and young talent. They didn't get the breaks they needed and consistently hasn't been able to make up the ground. I would not blame the Sox if they tried to sign all 3 of those guys back one way or another. Beltre is simply the best 3B option, and it doesn't seem close. They don't have anything internally (Lowrie?) and there aren't any great 3B FAs (certainly none with a better track record than Beltre). V-Mart fits in the same category. Best offensive catcher, versatile to play multiple positions and switch-hit. One of the league's best hitters when he's dialed in. He has said he likes Boston. Of course, in traditionial fashion, it sounds like there haven't really been discussions yet. This is the annual routine of the Sox refusing to negotiate with some of their best players, waiting until the off-season, not overpaying, watching their talent go elsewhere for too much money. If other teams are intersted they will be able to buy 2010's version of Jason Bay. Ortiz probably has the most to lose by leaving. Like it or not, he's a bit of a cult hero to Bostonians after all this time. He wouldn't bring the same aura for most other teams. Also, Fenway suits him, as does the DH position. The Sox have an option for Ortiz, and could just assure themselves of having him with an agreement to pick it up. If they're going to sign him to an extension it really can't be longer than two years. Preferably one. The Sox can't really afford to have David Ortiz as the offensive Tim Wakefield with a rolling reasonable contract. I think there's too few roster spots and this FO really wants to be able to be versatile on the field. Ortiz is a drag on their roster if he's not a remarkably good offensive player.

Weak thread. Like others have said: 1) Scutaro is the least of this teams problems 2) Scutaro is mostly an average SS (The theoretical 'average' is a full-time, moderately productive roster spot. This year that's exactly what Scutaro has done. He isn't the best ever, but he has played He should get some credit for that from Sox fans. 3) Who cares about errors? He makes some weak throws with a bad shoulder, he doesn't have the range of the best SS in baseball, but he makes most of the plays and is capable in the field. 4) He's done all this on a new team, in a new city and unexpectedly hitting leadoff for much of the season. 5) As others have said, this is all just a prelude to Lowrie or Iglesias so it is kind of moot. I agree with Dojij. Lowrie should be given a shot as a regular. Scutaro would be as valuable as Lowrie has been as a utility infielder--he can backup at 2B, SS or 3B but isn't a switch hitter. At his price he can definitely be a MLB backup on a good team.

Harsh. They've been in the market for a catcher for the past 2 years, but have they REALLY been in the market for a catcher? I mean, they did get Victor Martinez at the trade deadline last year and he's been starting nearly every day that he's available. This team has an established DH, 1B and 3B so the chances of sliding Martinez over for this other starting catcher wouldn't make a lot of sense, no matter how good that catcher's defense is. There was a time there when their injuries combined with their slow start and the running of TB to have many (myself included) really worried about the defense behind the plate. Well, as worried as we were the situation still didn't lend itself to trading away a bunch of talent to get a Miguel Montero or Chris Snyder type. Hell, they even DID make a deal for Saltalamacchia, while also spending a lot of draft picks on catchers the past 3-4 years. This season simply consisted of too many moving parts to guide the ship all the way to a championship. Simple as that. Just when one player got healthy/hot another player got injured/cold. Just when the offense is clicking the pitching collapses. That's just how baseball goes. It would be easy to blame the FO for every season this club doesn't win it all, but sometimes there are just better and luckier teams.

That's unheard of!

I love the idea of them getting Napoli as well. If they were willing to spend the money and roster space on Damon then I see Napoli as a much more useful longterm player. It is probably safe to assume it wasn't the Red Sox who claimed him, but my fingers are crossed that it was them. I think this team would be a lot stronger going into 2011 with Napoli and Salty as catching options, which would allow them to not get hung up on whether VMart resigned and if he did it would give them 3 C/1B options, thus increasing versatility longterm too.

This would have been a very good team if not for the injuries. So many around here were accusing the FO of not having made enough offensive moves during the offseason when they let Bay go and picked up guys like Scutaro and Beltre. Yet this team has endured to have one of the best records in baseball without 3 of the top 4 in their lineup, and battling injuries and ineffectiveness in the rotation. I wanted them to add pieces at the deadline too. I always want something new and shiny, but none of us know the asking price for the players they tried to get. I would assume that if the deal was a good one, or a break-even one they would pull the trigger. They aren't going to trade away more talent than they are getting back, even if that talent might not show up for 3 years. Overall it seems like a useless discussion. The team was crushed with injuries, simple as that. If they hadn't and had been sitting in 1st place at the deadline with a full team I would have expected a big move. That wasn't the case though and they decided to hold their cards for another year. No biggie.

I think there is probably a best answer here in terms of leverage, but on the field the play has to be made in the moment, when chasing a ball into foul territory, onto a mound in the opposing bullpen. There are a small group of outcomes that would have led this play to be a win. Namely, Drew lets the ball fall and it turns into a non-productive out like a K or a infield fly ball. If Joyce gets on base via a walk or base hit, double, HBP, etc., then he's the leading run AND there is one fewer out. All in all, in the opinion of this lifelong baseball fan, Drew would have been taking a big gamble to NOT make that play and he did the right thing making the catch. He might have made the wrong choice (i.e., he was too far from home to make a difference, Buchholz was pitching exceptionally well and had a good chance to get out of the inning, etc.,) but as a rule of thumb making the catch is a safe play.

Mark Prior redux, minus the actual MLB experience and impact? This is unfortunate, though there's part of me that felt like he was too good to be true. TJ surgery can have big impact in terms of making him healthier for the longterm, but I have a hard time believing he will be sitting at 98-100 when he returns. He might "only" throw as hard as Justin Verlander now.

A lot of heated back and forth on this board among those who are still blowing on the glowing ember of the cowpie that was the 2010 season (a la Bear Grylls) and those who are ready to write it off due to the athletic and mathmatical improbability of the Sox coming back. I was making fiery and combative posts in May saying that they didn't look sufficiently competitive. Even with a sweep of Tampa this team won't be in line for the WC. None of this is particularly "bad news" as the Sox likely would lose in the playoffs anyway. However, they have something like the 5th best record in baseball and are comparable to previous seasons. There have been a lot of bright spots this year and a lot of unanswered questions due to injuries. 2011 and 2012 could be very good seasons.