example1

I'm keeping Bowden, then Buchholz then Bard. With the distance between Buchholz and Bard considerably bigger than that between Bowden and Buchholz. Of course, Bard hasn't thrown a public game yet in the pros, so I am open to change that view. I think Bowden is the best pitcher of the three, as far as repetoir, strength, and composure go. He is already this developed and 2 years younger than Buchholz.

Which is exactly why I value Bard below both Buchholz and Bowden, and why many people in the know put Bowden ahead of Buchholz. It is also why people put so much potential on Jon Lester, who has consistently thrown harder throughout the years, while also having decent control of 3-4 very solid pitches. That's a high upside. I'd be willing to bet that Bowden is ahead of where Lester was at this stage of his career, despite his weird motion/delivery. Bowden has multiple very good pitches and already throws as hard as (if not harder than) Lester does. Buchholz only started pitching like 4 years ago or something. He was also an OF. Given that, his stuff has come along very quickly and his lack of having spent time refining it means that that trajectory will probably continue going up with his extreme athleticism (he runs a 4.2-4.3 40, or so I've read).

The question will be whether or not this guy has the mental makeup to be a #1 starter. He certainly has the stuff (secondary stuff mitigated by the overpowering nature of his Verlander-esque FB ) but I worry about injuries (obviously) and mental make-up. From what I saw at UNC (only in the CWS) he looked pretty cocky but not very refined. If he can calm down and ground himself, perhaps take 1-2mph off his FB in the name of control, then he could be very good. The thing is that very few of us have any clue what he'll look like since he hasn't thrown a regular season pitch for the Sox franchise yet. I suspect he'll be a 3-4 ERA guy every season, but he will progress quickly through the system and be a 3-4 ERA guy in the majors once he gets comfortable as well. In other words, he won't have absolutely dominant MiLB seasons, but will be pretty darn good and look like he could handle the next level. My guess is that, for the most part, he'll be dominant but will make some really bad and hitable pitches no matter what level he is at. No matter how dominant he can be at times, professional hitters of all levels will mash a bad or hittable pitch. He's got to have one of the best arms in any system though, so that's a great place to start.

Jesus guys. Seriously. We don't want bonds. Do you guys care about winning more than having dignity and being able to look yourselves in the mirror? Rooting for Bonds is slightly like rooting for Mike Tyson was 5 years ago. He's a loser. He's a liar. He is one of the most egotistical narcissistic players in all of sports. I like winning but I like likeing the Red Sox more.

I think erstad would be a solid addition. He's a good veteran presence and has won in the past, he'd be good for some of the younger guys.

Are you guys talking about the guy who hit .301 last year with a respectable .349 OBP and .838 OPS? At the age of 24? I think if you give the kid 500 ABs your going to get .350 OBP, .500 SLG with 25 HR. For a guy (the third on the team) who can realistically play any of the three outfield. Who cares about his performance in the DWL. It's spring-training-training. It doesn't mean jack. If the guy shows up in the spring and bites until a few weeks into the season then we can reevaluate, but until then give the guy some props for playing over his 'time off' and hope that he's working on some particular things. Everyone admits that he hits HR better than average, yet they'll complain about his strikeouts without discussing his .300+ avg or decent OBP for such a hacker. This guy is a major league hitter, no doubt. He could possibly use some time in the minors, but some team is going to be happy to have him in the next couple of years.

I'm convinced that Youkilis will have a tremendous year. I'm predicting .292, 16 HR, 84 RBI. EDIT: Didn't see the prediction above me, sorry. I predict more RBI.

Sounds about right.

What the hell does it matter that his father is a doctor? What makes me think that Giambi is on roids is: a) He admitted that he only used roids, initially, to give himself power way back in the minors. Giambi had significant power when he was admittedly on the roids, and felt that he needed roids to have power or else he wouldn't have used them. c) Giambi's numbers last year were as good as they were in 1999, when he admittedly used (Same OPS as in 1999, .975, in 2005. .971 in 2006). How come every other player has some form of a power lapse when they supposedly stop steroids? Is Giambi some sort of freak of nature, where he's as good, if not BETTER without steroids? Is this guy really just Babe Ruth, and without the steroids we would be talking hall of fame? I don't think so. I'm not willing to give the guy chance after chance after chance. He used, he quite, he sucked, then he suddenly got good again. Does he look smaller to you? Does he look like many of the notable players who appeared to come off of steroids? I don't think so. I think he looks like the exact same beefcake that he was in 1999 or 2002. He looks like Mark MacGwire, with the buldging neck and veins. Why do you guys insist on sweeping this s*** under the rug? Why do you pretend to take the moral high road by not guessing, when, in fact, the person we're talking about is a KNOWN steroid user for his ENTIRE career? Do you think the writers who didn't talk about steroids in the 90's were taking the moral high ground, or were they shirking their intellectual/professional responsibility? I think they were conveniently overlooking something that would have been a tarnish on the game, and I think you're overlooking something that would be a tarnish on your team (jacksonian) or on the game itself (Crunchy).

Not all performance enhancing drugs are undetectable. Steroids, in particular, are not. The high tech combinations of HGH and stimulent and supplements have very solid masking properties if you follow a rigorous schedule (which most athletes with personal trainers are able to do). Palmeiro just failed a drug test.

The whole point of the most current 'steroid' (actually PEDs or hormones) controversy is that all of the drugs were absolutely undectable. They took drugs to regulate the indicators of positive drug use. Giambi was at the center of it and had access to the exact same stuff that Bonds did, which was provided to track and field stars and other baseball players and football players. Undetectable. Still undectable. Again, I have no doubt that Giambi still uses whatsoever. I believe Bonds still uses. Clearly he still uses amphetamines, as he tested positive last year. I think your argument is weak and that you really ought to assume that Giambi, a guy who only MADE it to the MLB because of steroids, is still juicing and is, therefore (according to your theory) the biggest f***ing idiot on the planet (except for those who still root for Giambi and his ilk). Sosa included.

Hypocrites? Are you kidding me Mr. Cruchy? What in god's name makes you think Giambi is clean? Giambi has used steroids the ENTIRE time he's been in the majors. I remember it was in "Game of Shadows" that he began using in the minors to give him the extra "edge" and his testimony is also cited (partially, at least) here: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=1936592 "Both Giambis said they had used steroids even earlier in their baseball careers [i.e., pre-BALCO]. They were granted immunity from prosecution if they told the truth to the grand jury but faced perjury charges if they did not." Giambi uses steroids. I have no doubt in my mind. He stopped when he got the "parasite", sucked for awhile, then started again. If he was involved in BALCO then he can get the s*** you can't catch. He's still putting up average-guy takes steroids numbers, at the very least. To me, JD Drew seems to put up numbers that LEGITIMATE, NO ROIDED OFs should put up. He's also injured a lot, which could go either way. I thought Drew could have used roids earlier in his career but I see little reason to think he does now. 20HR, 90 RBI, .400 OBP with + defense are excellent numbers in the pre-steroid era 70's or 80's. Those are SOLID numbers for an OF. He has most of the numbers of a guy like Abreu, with a little less speed, more 'natural' power (less roid power), tremendous OBP, solid defense. People get on Drew because he gets injured randomly (like a normal person) and puts up numbers like a non-roided player always did. If MLB is really moving toward banning people for roids and developing tests for HGH etc., and IF Drew is clean, then I think its a move of tremendous foresight to secure a player like that for the long term. Why would you want guys who's only good seasons happened with roids and amphetmines and hormones when there are players who don't need that and put up good numbers. Giambi's admission? When under threat of perjury under a Federal Grand Jury trial? Having it 'leaked' to the public and then giving a half-assed apology. Yeah, he's a moral champion. Here's what he did: he cheated in the minors by taking steroids and becoming a hulking power hitter with a well-above average eye. He used and used in Oakland, brought the team to the playoffs (almost beating your team once, right?) and then YOUR team purchased him, 7 years for 120 million dollars. Then, to make matters worse, he continues using and develops some weird parasite and is essentially useless for a season. he gets threatened to go to the minors and, despite the steroid scandal, LOW AND BEHOLD, Giambi starts hitting again! vapid eyes, greasy hair, intensity beyond belief, 10+ season roid user. 20 bombs in a month and a half or something absurd. He's a hero Jacksonian. What a joke.

Wow, f***ing profound jacksonian. Your statistics are impecable and your delivery is lawyerly. In fact I see lots of reason to believe that Crisp is the better hitter. They have almost the exact same career OPS, but Crisp is 4 years younger and should develop into a better hitter. They have similar speed, although Lugo might be slightly higher there. Where I think the real difference lies is in Crisp being a switchhitter. Francona loves having that versatility near the top of the order for late in games. Another possibility, if Pedroia can play respectably, is to put the speed at the bottom of the order so the team can take more chances running when Youkilis or Pedroia are up rather than Ortiz and Manny. Crisp and Lugo could run the bases all day long from the bottom of the order, as if they were on the Dodgers or some other team that runs alot. I think there are a lot of places this team/lineup can go and the only thing we're certain of is Ortiz/Manny at 3 and 4, and probably Drew at 5 if he's hired.

I would start out this year by saying that I expect every player to have a little more positional flexibility than they have in recent years. For instance, I would expcet WMP to work on 1B during batting practice in a low-pressure sort of way. I would expect Ortiz to play 1B every 10 games or so, and expect WMP, Coco and Drew to be able to play any of the three outfield positions. If these things could happen (with WMP playing 1B being low priority) then they would have a lot of lineup flexibility. Here's my ideal offensive minded (i.e., playoff) lineup: Youkilis-3B, Crisp- CF, Ortiz- 1B, Ramirez- DH, Drew- RF, Pena- LF, Varitek- C Pedroia- 2B Lugo- SS A solid defensive lineup: Youkilis- 1B Crisp- CF Ortiz- DH Ramirez- LF Drew- RF Varitek- C Lowell- 3B Pedroia- 2B Lugo- SS I think if Manny can take breaks at DH, not only would Ortiz be fine at 1B, but he would win an MVP, Manny would stay healthier, Drew would stay healthier, WMP would stay healthier. BTW, Pedroia is an ideal #2 hitter eventually. He's a great contact hitter. He has never struck out more than 42 times in a season (I think its 42), at ANY level, full season, half season, whatever. That can be invaluable in moving over runners, getting sacrifices and making the pitchers work. He's also one of the top 2-3 2B prospects (probably the top in many lists) in all of baseball. I think the only competition he has there at this point is Howie Kendrick (who I'm a BIG fan of), but I think it says a lot. Pedroia has so many tools that a lot of people here love to downplay.

Thanks guys, but I'm at peace with the situation. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. This shouldn't become about me and my family though. Again, thanks.