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Am I the only one who hasn't seen a regular season game yet this year? Jesus, Judging Melancon after a few bad spring outings? Bard gives up 3 in 5 IP and he's not good enough to start? This is craziness.

Is Bard not motivated already?

I find it ironic that the statistical criticism of Bard's spring training (and his ability to perform as a starter) came as he appeared IN RELIEF in spring training. Two scoreless starts and a s***** relief performance. Lou Merloni (WEEI) was flipping out over Valentine's decision to pitch Bard out of the pen in the most recent game, and I agree. The one thing Bard said he was struggling with was developing a routine for starting--specifically how much time to allow to warm up, how to prepare mentally, etc., as those are significantly different than waiting in the pen all game for a pre-determined time to pitch in the 7th or 8th. Then Valentine takes one of the valuable opportunities for him to practice this and gives the start to Aceves. Apparently he was going to do the same thing the previous game but Bard talked him out of it. Perhaps Valentine is trying to teach Bard that none of that preparation s*** should matter?? I don't know. In any case, it is still funny that his "bad" statistics come entirely from a non-starting appearance.

I went to spring training the other day. Got a chance to watch Lin and Hassan take BP on a back field prior to the game. Ive always liked Lins promise athletically but was pretty underwhelmed with that very short BP session. Grain of salt, but if he were a reasonable prospect to earn significant time the sox would be regularly starting him in ST. They aren't.

I suspect there is a positive correlation between being picked higher and having MLB success. It isn't a 100% correlation but higher picks get more money for a reason.

Bard definitely has a changeup. It's in development, but he has one.

This board specializes in blaming people for situations that occur with regularity in all sports. It's something we do very well.

Wishful thinking my friend. This hurts the Pirates.

I liked having Pedroia hitting 3rd last year and I like it this year too. If Crawford can become a dangerous hitter again this would be a fine lineup as far as I'm concerned.

I have been neglectful in actually mentioning anything in this thread. Jason Varitek deserves a ton of credit. He represented the Sox teams from 2003-2011 and that has been a tremendous time to be a Sox fan. His balls in that fight with A-Rod epitomized Boston and the Sox-Yankees rivalry. He's a legend.

Why would Martin's worth go through the roof? He's not that good...

Quite a discussion about Crawford's place in the order. It's a complete cop out, but I'm glad I don't have to make that decision. Batting 2nd is probably where he's most comfortable, but the arguments about his OBP etc., make a lot of sense and are really all that should matter. If Valentine is going to be using a lot more bunting and hitting and running than Francona did, then Crawford might be suitable for the "wasted out" position in the 2nd spot with Pedroia, Gonzalez and Youkilis aptly driving in that run after him. The cop out is that I want Crawford to hit wherever he's going to do his best. I'm not his manager, have never met him, and don't know where that is.

No, best not to erase the thread. It, like all the other threads in this website, will disappear into the history pages soon enough. Just like the 2006-2007 offseason page.

Read my lips, no new captain.

I'm very capable of determining that I do simultaneously like the internet and dislike this thread. For every nugget of good information/discussion there were twelve posts of s***. Over thousands of posts that's some good information, but also tons of s***. We can do better.

This thread is like 'hitting bottom'. It's like the dirty, ugly girl (or dude, ladies) you wake up next to after months of whoring yourself in the name of fun, or the headache, failed tests, or ruined family/friendship you have after too much coke and not enough attention to the things that matter. We will all regret this at some point. Again, it is Fonz jumping the shark in short-shorts. Completely unnecessary and unfortuante.

The need for Lucchino and Henry to defend themselves against accusations that they are tightening the purse-strings reminds me of discussions I have with my almost 3 year old daughter, when she tantrumms about not being able to have a lollipop. Any amount of explaining I do about the lollipop she had earlier in the day, or the one she will undoubtedly have tomorrow, or the cupcake she just ate, or the waffles and syrup she had in the morning falls on deaf ears. It simply doesn't matter. She's reacting emotionally, not logically. Similarily, fans/media who can possibly ask why the Red Sox didn't spend more this offseason are simply responding emotionally, not logically. Henry and LL are right. They have an enormous payroll and have increased it continuously. Year after year they have spent more money than virtually any other team, yet questions are coming that indicate that certain people don't appreciate those previous expenditures... It reminds me that plenty of people--including those here--don't appreciate the fact that the Sox have won the 2nd most regular season games and the most WS since Henry and crew took over. It's all about 'what have you done for me lately'. I would say it is that blinding immediacy of some posters (and media members) views that causes me the most frustration. What have they done for us lately? Put a competitive and interesting team on the field year after year... make huge FA acquisitions, sign highly priced college players, etc., This team has the potential to be the best team in baseball next year, but some people are saying they will be lucky if they beat out Toronto. Makes me want to pull my hair out.

It seems weird to me that there aren't more videos available of Iglesias fielding. The few that I have seen certainly put him in another class, but for a guy who has had so many people observe his tremendous fielding, I would expect there to be numerous clips--especially on places like NESN and CSSNE etc., but there aren't any.

He's admitted plenty of fault with the team. However, he doesn't say that they are a worthless lot witout much talent, and he doesn't look at everything in the most negative light possible. That's all.

Anyone who watched Beckett pitch last year and didn't see a very different pitcher wasn't watching very closely. He was more effective than he has been before, showed better command, mixed pitches better, etc., I think it is more than just blind optimism to believe he actually turned a corner. As for Buchholz... It doesn't take a big stretch to conclude that his injury last year derailed what was developing to be a nice season for Buchholz. On the tail of his 2010 that would have put him among the better pitchers in baseball, IMO. I seemed to remember that he was pitching very well prior to that injury, and the numbers backed that up: During the 9 starts prior to his injury he was 5-0 with a 2.59 ERA and a .574 OPS against. In 2010 his line was 17-7 with a 2.33 ERA and a 1.203 WHIP. This really is an issue of glass half-full vs. glass half-empty. Injury history definitely lends some weight to the half-empty folks, but if he's healthy we should expect 170+ IP and an ERA under 4 as the floor for Buchholz's season. It really doesn't take an unrealistic dose of optimism to see Beckett, Lester and Buchholz as being capable of each putting up 200 innings. Of course, if you're by nature a pessimist, you likely see any optimism as an unrealistic amount and those being optimistic as basing their views on nothing substantive at all...