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Woooooooooo HOoooooooooooooooooo!!!! Thank you god, thank you GOD! Baseball's back.

I think there is every reason to believe that the sox aren't LYING about why they intend to move Papelbon. I don't care what kind of medical background you have, or whether your brother is currently studying to become a surgeon, I don't buy ANY diagnosis or blanket prognosis from this far away. I saw Bill Frist try that with Schiavo and I don't buy it. Eckersley started 361 games in his career. All of them between the ages of 20 and 32. THEN he became a closer, when he was old, his arm had already thrown 2,000 IP and when it did make sense to let him focus to 10-15 pitch outings. Hyperbole. There IS a comparison and I think the Yankees have a slight advantage. You're giving Manny the treatment that, although he largely deserves, he has put aside the last few years. The guy occasionally makes tremendous plays and he plays adequate D in Fenway. He has a bad rep but he's better than advertized (leading the league in assists two seasons ago, for instance). In fact, I've seen Matsui make a number of horrible plays in his day and wouldn't go about bragging about his defense either. The point is that if you put Rivera on the Sox I'd take their bullpen, and the only reason I take the Yanks is Rivera. Farnsworth and Proctor are nothing to write home about IMO.

I don't think they're the second best team by a comfortable margin. I don't think the Yankees are the best team by a comfortble margin. I think the top 5 teams or so always belong in the best team discussion until the end of the season. The Yankees rotation is decent. It has a lot of question marks though. Pavano is a HUGE chump. He is easily the lamest of the 10 starters between the Sox and Yankees, as long as Matt Clement is still injured. Both have been disappointing. I don't think you know what you're talking about. Yes, Papelbon was great in the pen but if he can be a good starter then he's more valuable there. The Sox have said they're open to him going back there if absolutely necessary or if starting doesn't work out. If Timlin has a Timlinish year then he'll be more than adequate in MR, and I expect Hansen and Manny D to have good years too. Who cares about these rankings anyway? They change weekly once the season starts, so it looks ROUGHLY like one would expect it to look like. The better teams are in the top half, the worse teams in the bottom.

This is what I see the Sox saying here: I don't see them bitching. A) Its illegal to have a ball player drink beer in commercials, B ) They didn't know about the commercials C) he's wearing their uniform. D) THey said they will probably be more careful in the FUTURE. No big deal.

I'm just psyched that he is taking this so seriously. I like this line: "I wanted to make sure that wouldn't happen (again), so I killed myself. I'm 100-percent healthy now and I can't wait for the opportunity." It doesn't surprise me at all that Youkilis and Pedroia were there working their asses off together. Both of them are on the cusp of being tremendous MLB ball players, with their bodies being one of the main things holding them back. I think we'll see a lot out of them both this season and nobody will want to move Youkilis by the end of the season (with Lowell leaving).

I think his defense is where he can shine the most, and his ability to get to balls is huge in that regard. Sox fans love good defense, look at Pokey Reese and O-Cab and Gonzo; none of these guys were great offensively but they played steller D. He is likely confident that he can get on at a .350 clip, add to that great D and he can earn himself the starting job for a long, long time.

Someone may have linked this elsewhere, but here's a good article on Pedroia: http://www.eagletribune.com/pusports/local_story_039120300?keyword=secondarystory+page=1 Apparently he's lost 23 lbs from this time last year and is training at API with guys like Youkilis, Carl Craword, and Brandon Wood.

Pedro won't get it. At this rate Manny probably won't get his retired, and Ortiz would need to sign for at least one year past his current contract (including options) to get retired. I can't imagine Ortiz and Manny not having their numbers retired... depending on how long it takes the sox to move Manny. However, Cleveland has every right to retire his number too, as he was in their organization for 10 seasons, making appearances with the big club 8 of those years. It is possible that neither will have their numbers hanging in fenway... that would be a shame. I think those three are worth reevaluating the criteria for. Manny is certainly deserving but he may choose/prefer Cleveland, but Ortiz is Boston's boy, and Pedro was the greatest while in boston.

I don't know... its been all about money for a long, long time. When Ted Williams played it wasn't like they were all just out there to have fun. Baseball at low levels is about having fun (little league, HS). Once you're a professional its about being the best, which leads to more money. roids help with that, and with the amount of money promised at a big payday its no wonder they're all using. from everything I've ever heard or read Ted Williams was a cocky, arrogant SOB who also happened to be a beloved Red Sox (yes!!!) and one of the top three hitters to ever play the game... if not the best ever.

I cringe every time I read that word. It's just so damn degrading.

Wake me up in 4 years when he matters. Actually, he looks like he has the frame and the franchise to find success in the league.

The 'novelty' is often all that some pitchers from Japan seem to have in the MLB, as I think you were trying to say above. However, the most common thing that people talk about when watching Matsuzaka is how hard he throws. Nomo threw hard too, but Matsuzaka pitches like an American power pitcher. I think he might pitch like David Cone in his prime: tons of different good pitches, all of them thrown at multiple speeds and all of them complimented by a very good fastball that kept hitters too honest for their own good. He compliments that arsenal with that 'scarry wildness' that the best pitchers have. They can be deadly accurate 85% of pitches, but on ANY pitch he might uncork one up and in. Then he uses that to his advantage by setting guys up for his slider, curve, change or forkball. He doesn't rely on any one pitch, which means that if he loses feeling for any pitch he's not screwed entirely. I've seen various reports saying that his best pitch is either his two-seamer or his forkball but from my casual observation (of every game available online) it seems his best skill is his relentless attacking of the strikezone with multiple good pitches, forcing teams to swing and thus getting himself very short innings. He finished more than 50% of his starts last year, which is NOT a common thing in Japan but is due to his low pitch counts and ability to be efficient.

Yes, it was also in a country that MLB doesn't usually play in. I think that's such a BS excuse. As for the WBC Japanese and American baseball really are only 2 weeks apart from one another (or so). It was off season for everyone. If Americans are so much better than the rest of the world then one would expect an off-season Jake Peavy or Dontrelle Willis to be considerably better than some no-name pitcher (also in his offseason) from Japan. If the Yankees had this guy I guarantee that you would be talking about him as next years #2 or #3 starter and about him battling Hughes for the #1 spot in a few years. Since he's not on the Yankees he could be MLB average, or he could be bad, but anyone who is optimistic needs to be argued with.

Very uncharacteristic walk totals at the higher levels. If that becomes a 3/1 K/BB then he'll be very tough. His AAA WHIP has everything to do with walks and little to do with being hit hard. Despite having "early season struggles" he still managed to have a 2.70 ERA in AAA, VERY good for a 22 year old. I think the sox are right to have a lot of confidence that, once he's matured Lester can be a pitcher who keeps other teams off the board effectively a la pettitte in his prime.

Damn Jacksonian, a dude gets cancer and you question whether it was the cancer or not that made him mediocre last season? Harsh. As for Bowden and Buchholz, we're going to learn pretty quickly to stop referring to them as the same pitcher. Buchholz may start in AA Portland, whereas Bowden is most likely at A+. Buchholz has two years on Bowden, so whereas Buchholz might be up by 08 I wouldn't expect to see Bowden till 09.

Yup. Lots of expectations on the best pitcher in Japan who has dominated at every level and whom the Sox just spent 50m + 50m on. He's 26, he'll need to produce like he's in his prime, not like he's a rookie. Again, that's why they went after him.

I agree. I don't see why he wouldn't be willing to deal with them half-way through the season, but if its that big a deal to him then offer him an incentive laden contract that is simple to achieve (i.e., 150+ IP and you get 13 m), to get some protection against injury, but get it done.

Daisuke will win 18 games. He will be the first or second to 10 wins in the AL. He will be one of three Sox pitchers who make a strong case for an All-Star Appearance, but Schilling will be the only one to get the nod. The bullpen won't be as much of an issue as jacksonian says they will. There are plenty of average bullpens in baseball and it is admittedly the Sox' Grossman-area. I think he'll have a very nice 'rookie' season: 18-9, 3.10, 212 IP, 189K All of you talking about wins need to remember how fickle wins are as a statistic. Its just not that hard to get wins as a SP if you're on a team with above average defense and well above average offense. It didn't shock me that Beckett won 16 games last year and I think this year's team is considerably better prepared for the season. We have our SS, we have our RF, we already had a monster 3-4 spot; add to that veterans like Lowell and Varitek, and some solid young(er)sters in Youkilis, Pedroia and Crisp and I think they are in good shape. Lots of wins, I admit, but this is a 90+ win team as currently constituted.

Hey man, if the kid is 28 or 22 if he has the stuff he might be needed. 22 is not 18.

Yes, I would like to guarantee that he plays the next 2 yrs for the sox despite those numbers. If he puts up another year like last year, having a good half and a bad half, the sox will STILL be better off having him than they would be with some other replacement jerk. It is obvious that he's on the downturn of his career, he SHOULD be. That doesn't mean he'll be bad, he just won't be an ace. Fortunately they have Matsuzaka, Beckett and Papelbon to pick up some of the slack, making Schilling just the piece they may need to have a solid shot at a WS.