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Let's put it this way: could you imagine an NFL quarterback doing this and getting away with it for half a second? I can't. I'm not a reactionary guy, but with the team s***ing the bed, Beckett being the "experienced" Ace, September, etc., he shouldn't do anything to risk perception of his effort or dedication. It would be one thing if he was making his starts, but skipping a start should come with ZERO drama related to anything else.

f***ing christ. What the hell is wrong with these people? It would be great if MLB could have non-guaranteed contracts and have the ability to cut guys for being douchy and disloyal to the team.

I was the only one who voted very satisfied. I probably should have voted "somewhat" but I'm not disappointed by him. Yes, slow start this year, but he had a huge season last year and I think he'll be fine in the long run. He's the least of my concerns about this team. That said, I had to go live my life after the 14th inning today and missed whatever people seem pissed off about, so I may be missing something. He's largely passionless and doesn't seem to have many ups or downs. Not much of a leader... I didn't really expect that he would be. He does play GG defense at 1B and finishes near the top in MVP voting and is a dangerous hitter. I can't complain about that.

I have a hard time knowing where Salty is bad behind the plate. I'm not a catching instructor, and just don't know. All I know is that pitchers seem to lack confidence and they get shelled when he's out there. In that regard, I doubt Lavarnway could be worse. Also, Lavarnway is as good a hitter as a guy like Middlebrooks, who appears capable of stinging the ball pretty consistently. Let's get them both in the lineup everyday and see what happens.

Does anyone else hope that they just move Middlebrooks up to the 2nd or 3rd spot in the order? How about getting sub.300 OBP Aviles out of the leadoff spot? How about never letting Darnel McDonald bat again?

Can't say I disagree about cERA or Salty. Not much to add there. I wish he were better with pitchers, but the pitchers aren't good when he's in there and his offense is nowhere near good enough to warrant him sticking around. Not sure Lavarnway would be a better option behind the plate, but his offense would certainly be an upgrade.

This post was not to dispute your opinion about Buchholz. Clearly something is f***ed up with him right now. We can disagree about the reason behind that (you may say he just sucks, I may say there's something that is wrong with him). My post was more about your comment re: fans "being led to believe" certain things. You insinuate all the time that people here are just being dragged around in their beliefs like cattle with rings through their noses. It's demeaning and makes it hard to care about anything else you say. ... I would say that the team is better than they have shown so far. One could use statistics to show that Albert Pujols is a s***** hitter, but we know he's not based on past performance. Similarly, this group of players should be better than a majority of other American League clubs. They just aren't right now. I also think you may be confusing "wait and see" with "not that bad". I'm always going to say that we should wait past the beginning of May to write the book on any club. You clearly are ready to make your judgment already. We can differ there. Given that we know there will be a very big sample-size, it makes sense to wait for more data before drawing conclusions. You may disagree.

It's hard to claim that you're the one who is thinking when you misspell the player's name over and over. It just makes you look bad and completely invalidates all of your other claims to being thorough or intelligent. Other people were spelling it right in posts that you were supposedly reading but it didn't change your approach. I have wide tolerance for various spellings and misspellings, but when someone is as condescending as you it makes for the easiest critique possible and one that is pretty much indefensible. It's just embarrassing for you. I'm not interested in getting into a discussion about Buchholz with you. I use stats all the time, anyone who knows me here is well aware of that, which is why lame critiques like yours above aren't leveled at me very often and don't bother me in the slightest. It's not worth it.

I agree with everything you are saying here. Let's just remember how the "bridge year" comment was received: people freaked out, the media freaked out, and the Sox responded by moving significant players and money to get Crawford and Gonzalez. It served the purpose of making all those who complained about the 'bridge year' comment be quiet for a year or two, but it didn't accomplish the goal of actually bridging anything. It was ownership and LL who walked back the bridge year comments, even though a bridge year could have been exactly what the team needed to be in the best shape longterm. They could have waited a year, signed Adrian Gonzalez, and kept Kelly, Rizzo and Fuentes. That would have given them trade chips if needed or a legitimate 1B backup to Adrian Gonzalez (Rizzo has continued his 2011 AAA success after moving to the Chicago system: .371/.421/.629/1.050 in 27 games after .331/.404/.652/1.056 in 93 games last year) and another arm to look forward to for 2013 and beyond (Kelly has started off nicely in AAA at the age of 22 and was a top 100 prospect this year). Fans should just understand that bridge years are sometimes necessary and allow the FO to do what is needed, rather than acting all entitled. It's the sports equivalent of a forest fire. It replenishes and is a part of a natural cycle. The reality is that this year might be a bridge year, but the FO would never say anything about it because the media will freak out. For what it's worth, bridge year doesn't necessarily mean they give up on the season. It just means they are not going to do things that hinder the longterm success of the club for short term gain. If that's the case, then they will probably wait for injuries to recover and not be eager to package guys like Middlebrooks, Lavarnway, Barnes, Xander, etc., for anyone.

Advertising is dishonest all the time. Sports is full of dishonesty. Teams, players and managers hyping themselves when they know they have nothing left, teams downplay injuries to keep other teams from knowing. Teams either create their own definition of sellout (which is allowed, I believe) or find creative ways of getting sellouts. The problem is when half of a stadium is empty and teams call it a sellout, which is why the Rays and Royals don't even pretend. It is telling that you are choosing to rip on the club for the way they spin the sellout streak rather than noting that it is pretty goddamn impressive to have sold out the 2nd most games in the history of American professional sports. You really critique on the margins (or molehills).

Guys like Konerko, Berkman and Helton all had periods where they looked pretty bad and turned it around. If I were another club Youk could be a valuable 1b option.

Yeah, I gave an audible "holy s***" when I saw that 12 k performance. Glad to see you had updated talksox already Station. Barnes is probably the Sox best pitching prospect since Buchholz, in a limited sample.

For the record, getting Felix would cost this team players in the list of being called up. Possibly Iggy, Lavs AND WMB, and it still might be worth it. I actually think the Sox could match up decently with Seattle if they really wanted to. Seattle would be hard pressed to turn down Bard + Middlebrooks + Boegarts + Ranaudo (Barnes when he's able to be traded) for Felix, IMO. That's a huge package. That said, other than choosing to rebuild I don't see why they would move Felix at all.

Hamels has one year left until he will be a max-price FA. Buchholz has a team friendly deal and as much as you think he sucks, he's a valuable young pitcher who was an all-star in 2010 and who has a 3.31 ERA and 131 ERA+ in his last 285 IP. He's not a slouch. Chances are the Sox would not make that move, because Hamels would be gone after this season and the plus-1 would have to be someone really valuable.

FWIW, at this point last year nobody would have said the Cardinals were a World Series caliber team. The Sox have more talent on their team than most teams, the collection of players just struggles to put it together (plus two of their better offensive weapons and 2 of their 5 supposed SPs are injured). Even if you hate Lackey and Matsuzaka, having those two guys pitching to the middle of their career averages would really bolster this team. Bard and Doubront would be back in the pen, money that now needs to be spent elsewhere is at least producing SOMETHING on the field, etc., The ripple effect is significant, even if we've forgotten that the splash happened in the first place.

Get off the ledge folks. Its the first week of May. Plenty of issues with the team, plenty of issues with lots of teams. Everyone was convinced that the Angels would be the Sox main competition for the 5th playoff spot. They have flaws too. Let's see how the season plays itself out. Perhaps the Sox will be very aggressive and make some moves.

Yeah I didn't want to be too obvious about it but the sox have had s*** for luck the past few years with injuries.

The O's have shown about 6 pitchers tonight who are better than anyone I've seen from the Sox in recent weeks. Aceves looked good tonight but aside from that, nada.

Darnell McDonald shouldn't be hitting in a situation like this. No chance.