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I disagree. Where would an in-his-prime Lester or Bowden fit on the Nationals, Cardinals, D-Rays, Royals, Rangers, etc.,? My guess is they could be aces or at least a solid #2. It is one thing to talk about an 'ace' on a perennial contender that has talent like Beckett or Matsuzaka, vs. one that has talent like Gil Meche. It is all relative.

I didn't see one, not sure if this is the right spot, but anyway... The trade deadling is approaching. I get the sense from many on this board that they see this team as pretty flawed underneith the glossy exterior. There are injury concerns (guys like Schilling and Crisp) and performance concerns (Lugo, Drew and a little less with Crisp). There are more subtle performance concerns about Ortiz and Manny, and underlying injury concerns/fears about guys like Beckett and Lowell. Anyway, where should this team look to improve? What can they use to do that? Things to consider: --Compared to nearly every other year previously, it makes a lot of sense for Theo to explore trading Manny. His production is down, to the point where I can conceive of a reasonable exchange; when he hits like Willie Mays that isn't possible. What they really need is someone to add to manny, but there are other options as well. --The sox have 3 legitimate near-ace potential SP prospects in Lester, Buchholz and Bowden. In the past the Sox have said they would not trade Lester, but I think Buchholz has secured that spot now. I'm starting to wonder if Lester will be able to come up at all this season--as many have said previously, it is natural to expect him to need a year to get fully healthy so he can compete for 162 games. Other teams would know this, so his value would be reduced if that is the case. That leaves Bowden as the top level pitching prospect, but he's still 2-3 years away and would need to be the 2nd biggest part of a serious move. --Reasonable trading chips: Lowell, Crisp, WMP, Hansen, Delcarmen, Hinske, Tavarez, Ellsbury This team still wants to upgrade offensively in at least one position.

I guess. I think there are some teams in baseball who do not suck, and none of them have a better record than the Sox. So the Sox may suck, but then so does everyone else. They will be at a completely different place 3 months from now, whether for better or worse.

It is time for Papi to come through. s***. There were better pitches to hit earlier in the count.

C'mon Jacoby, rip one here. EDIT: First "leadoff" opportunity for Ellsbury in a Sox uniform. Hopefully not the last.

Time to get the offense going here.

He has clearly lost some bat speed. There are times when a fastball is definitely coming and he can't catch up to it. It has looked pretty clear for awhile. He is still a very effective hitter, but he appears to be trying to spray hits to RF more often.

Any way the Sox can convince Texas to resign Teixira and then deal for Michael Young instead? Trade Lugo, + money for lugo, + pitching prospect (lester or Bowden)? Is that too much to give up for Young? He seems like he would be a great fit for the Sox. Usually I'm in the "keep lugo" crowd, but with Young playing against the Sox recently it is hard not to at least think about it when we know Texas needs pitching.

This performance by the Yankees makes last season's sox collapse seem like a 2 day losing streak. 3 games under .500 with a 200+ payroll is completely unacceptable. (for yankee fans)

Is Wade Miller a good comparison for Bowden? They both had strong fastballs (before Miller got hurt) and an unorthodox delivery. They are both big, strong righties with some nice secondary stuff. Do people think that Bowden can be a healthy version of Wade Miller?

Oh the Joy! Today's game has gone from a must-see Beckett start to an absolute must-see Ellsbury debut. ORS I agree, at least to the degree that he will assuredly be up when the roster goes to 40 man. If nothing else he will get a look. If he tears it up there is no doubt he can spark this lineup.

http://www.projo.com/redsox/content/sp_bb_pawsoxjo29_06-29-07_Q066QQS.3557202.html It looks like Hansen may have found his slider for a few games The Sox have replenished their bullpen which allows them to treat Hansen and Delcarmen more gingerly. Anyone who has watched Delcarmen over the past 2 weeks can see why the Sox were excited about him. I don't think we have ever seen Hansen put it all together for more than an inning at a time. Both can hit the high 90s and have nasty secondary stuff. The problem has been with command. If Hansen and Delcarmen can command 2 pitches they could be highly effective relievers. Also, Hansen may want to develop a splitter/forkball.

I can guarantee you that the front office is happy with him. He is largely a puppet of their philosophy, so it comes down to whether you agree with the philosophy.

tito fan here.

It wasn't the right play at the time, but he gets those sometimes. If he makes that catch it's an amazing play. I agree that it was the wrong move, but not a boneheaded play by any stretch. He dove for it and didn't get it with two outs and nobody on... it--like having hard hit balls that don't fall in--happens. :dunno: I actually think that because this team isn't in dire need of a victory the biggest deal about today's game is Daisuke Matsuzaka's continued strong performance. He looks like all of us hoped he would. He is hitting spots down down down, and mixing his pitches very well. He has balanced out at around 92-93 in warm weather, and was letting it fly in Arizona (I believe) and hitting 95 occasionally. His other stuff has been filthy and he is really staying around the plate and not being hit hard at all. He has given up 6 runs in his last 5 starts (34 IP), striking out 42. This guy's WHIP should be sitting around 1.00, if not for his extraordinary amount of walks in bad innings, which he should come around to control very soon. I'm very pleased by his performance of late.

Every team looks flawed. Most of them lok much more flawed than the Red Sox. I understanding getting frustrated with the offense's performance. So we wrapped up a road trip where we went 4-5, winning two series and losing one. This offense absolutely revolves around Ortiz and Manny, and they are both under producing. They are doing some good things, in terms of getting on base, but they need to be driving the ball. Manny simply hasn't been driving the ball. He is ineffective against good fastballs, which is not a great place to be in for this team. So what does this team do? Move Lowell and minor leaguers for an offensive upgrade at 1B or 3B? Move Crisp or WMP for offensive help? Move prospects (top level: Lester, Ellsbury) for offensive help (Teixeira, A. Jones)? Or is all this over-reaction?

They come out every half inning, to play the field. Otherwise, there are problems here Remedy #1: Switch Manny and Papi. Manny has no pop but is getting on. Papi has pop but is in a funk. I say f*** that funk up and switch them around.

Manny has lost a step on his batspeed. It is becoming pretty obvious. In the past there was only a handful of fastballs that could get by him, and many that would sail over the fence. Nowadays he can still hit decent fastballs (92-93) but he seems to be fouling off much more than that, and simply not catching up to the harder stuff. Not that its easy, because it's not. I think it is a big reason why our offense has been less than spectacular over the past month+.

Another weird thing is that dave neihaus starts the game announcing, and then disappears for small periods alltogether. Does he go get nachos or a beer, or is he just very 'regular' and uses this time to be in the toilet? I just don't get it.

Is it gay because it has so much flare?

Oh, does everyone get to watch the Mariners broadcast today? I hate it when the Sox play the M's. For one, they haven't done too well the last few years; the M's and their fans love to beat the Sox almost as much as the Yankees, and their broadcasters are boring and pretty uninformed. They are likeable and all, but they consistently treat the M's victories against the Sox as some sort of vindication.