example1

I just don't care because the Sox would not have had David Ortiz if they had Pujols. Pujols is probably the overall better player, but Ortiz nearly single-handedly saved us a World Series with his performance in the 04 ALCS.

I think it comes with the territory. If you want top notch talent then you will have to pay for it, especially young pitching. Granted, if the Sox don't get him and the Yankees do, I won't mind complaining about the exorbanent sum they paid to get him. But if he ends up being the best pitcher on the market this year and he goes to our biggest rival, I can see another 10 years of looking up at them.

I don't totally agree with this last sentence. I think if the sox want to upgrade their starting staff they are going to need to take a chance. The Sox MUST upgrade their pitching, as they are not going to have an offense that can compete on its own with the Yankees or even the Jays. The rest of it was great though. I can. This guy is the 26 year old best pitcher in Japan. If he was the best pitcher in the dominican and 26, or Cuba or Venezuela then nobody would be willing to say the Sox shouldn't go after him. But because the Japanese haven't produced a truly dominant pitcher people are not willing to say that about Matsuzaka. I would definitely make a solid bid on him, as he pitches differently than most Japanese exports of recent years. He doesn't have a really funky delivery and appears very healthy. As for Schmidt I would go for him too (depending on what happens with Matsuzaka). He's got better stuff than Zito, has generally been pretty healthy, and he has a great arsenal of pitches to work with. He would definitely be a nice addition.

Again, you don't have to waste your time with this, but I understand what his job was I just don't get whether that job is more of a general-manager type job (like what Charrington was doing under Theo last year) or a coaching job (like a pitching coach, conditioning coach, etc.,). It doesn't really matter. I read an article that said Theo and Tito are pretty happy with his abilities and that he definitely is a 'big picture' kind of guy who is likely to be a GM someday. That just seems like a curious potential resume: MLB pitcher, college coach, director of player development, pitching coach, GM.

I just don't see him getting much better. I know he's only 28, but he is striking out fewer and walking more players than he used to. He also doesn't have the electric stuff that other pitchers with high upside have. I know he's very, very good... don't get me wrong. He's just my 3rd most coveted pitcher this offseason. Any of those 3 will be terriffic but all things being equal I'm all for Matsuzaka and then Schmidt.

So, I don't doubt that this guy is plenty qualified... but.... what types of decisions go into choosing a pitching coach? Has this guy been a pitching coach before? Is it attitude? Beliefs? Aspirations? I guess I just get confused as to what decisions go into making (and firing) pitching and hitting coaches.

CF and SS are both great places to start. It's very difficult to project these guys, since it will likely take, what, like 6 years for them to get to the bigs (at least). It really tests the patience even of the most die-hard minor-league fans, given that these guys are pre-minor leagues. That said, I hope that we're all still on this board by the time they finally make the show.

I could just look at soxprospects.com, but who do YOU see as the top prospect of that above group? Given that most have not played pro-ball yet its a hard call, but do you get a sense of who the Sox are really excited about above others?

Didn't Pinella say something like "That's like finding a wallet on the ground" or something, implying that having Spezio actually produce was like finding cash on the ground? It seemed to me like Lyons was subtly making fun of the fact that Pinella would find and KEEP a wallet that he finds, rather than turning it in??...?? It seemed like he was just poking fun at Pinella personally. I wasn't listening that closely at the time. It's kind of too bad because I was actually a little impressed with Lyons during this post-season. He was refreshingly self-depricating, particularly when discussing good hitters (and his inability to hit throughout his career). I have no problem with them letting him go, but its kind of sad to think that he got fired for a comment made in jest. I don't care that much though, if FOX wants to lop off heads for comments like that then that's great. I'm all for more sensitivity in the world. Later Psycho!

:stop: I've been down this road before. Some people just don't get it. I've written until I'm blue in the face and it just doesn't stop. People don't seem to get that Matsuzaka is NOT A FREE-AGENT!! He is NOT A FREE-AGENT! He is NOT A FREE-AGENT! Can people get this through their freaking skulls? I mean, jesus, once again here is how the process goes. 1) All MLB teams have 4 days to make an offer to Bud Selig that will allow them to negotiate with Daisuke Matsuzaka. 2) Selig brings the HIGHEST BID to the Saibu Lions. 3) Saibu either accepts the bid or does not based purely on the monetary value, not the team that makes the bid. 4) The team that placed the highest bid has EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS to Matsuzaka. 5) Matsuzaka has a month to work out a deal with that team (or vice-versa), after which time either a deal is reached or he can return to play in Japan. 6) The initial bid is not refundable (as far as I know). That means that the team that wins has a strong interest in signing Matsuzaka. Please note: there is no place in here that says "Matsuzaka will pick and choose his team" or "the Saibu Lions will decide, in the best interest of Japanese baseball, which team Matsuzaka will play on". I see people skipping page after page after page of this discussion only to make innane and idiotic claims about which team Matsuzaka will likely end up on due to his preferences of the preferences of Japanese TV market. :rant: What you guys are saying over and over again is essentially like saying: "Adrian Peterson, the best player available in next year's NFL draft, will probably end up on the Patriots because the Pats like RBs from Oklahoma who weigh greater than 215". The fact is that if someone is the best player in the draft and they are available, then its the team that has the highest draft pick (i.e., bid) that will get him. If not that team, then the second highest pick will likely get him. the only way Matsuzaka ends up on the Yankees or Mariners is if either of those teams puts up the highest bid for him. Period. If the Sox put up enough money he CAN and WILL be theirs. It's that simple. Please don't make me find the "banging my head against a brick wall" emoticon. Argh!!

What do you know about Schmidt's health right now? Was it a shoulder or elbow issue that he had? I watched his June 6th start against FLA last night. 16 K, 1 ER, CG. Damn impressive and he was throwing very hard.

They have had consistent success. They had 2 bad months, not 6. I agree completely. The FO is sure to be creative in moving some of its loot around to create a deeper, more balanced team.

Okay, I've been one of the biggest Matsuzaka proponents this "offseason" (the offseason really hasn't started yet), but last night I went and watched the June 6th SF vs FLA game pitched by Jason Schmidt. I gotta say that I haven't watched Schmidt too often, other than his start against the sox a few years back and the occasional ESPN games. I heard he was injured and that he had lost some velocity (initially) after the injury. My observations from that game, however, is that this guy is still very, very good. He struck out 16 guys in that game and pitched a CG 2-1 victory. He was regularly hitting 95, up to 94 in the 9th inning... mixing in tremendous offspeed stuff with it. If he stays healthy he would be a tremendous addition. At this point, I think I'm still in favor of Matsuzaka, but my order is: Matsuzaka Schmidt (close second) Zito