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It is pretty disheartening to hear that the Sox would need to move payroll to have Oswalt join the team. Of course, it is only disheartening if they are also going over the cap. If they are trying to stay under the cap and think they can do it then I'm all for it. But if they are already over the cap and unwilling to spend the 8m/1 year to get a guy like Oswalt then that's pretty bad news. What's amazing to me is that there are very few actual credible sources for cap space. People know what type of chicken they like to eat in the clubhouse, but their actual payroll--which apparently is the one determining factor in the rest of their moves this offseason--remains a complete mystery. Are they over the LT or not? If not, by how much? If so, by how much? Again, if this is all a power move to avoid the LT for this year I'm with Pumpsie, because it will allow them to be more aggressive next year, PLUS I think they are good enough to win this year. Hopefully that's what they are working on, rather than a sudden interest in pinching pennies from JH and the ownership crew.

The post after that said that whenever he put something in green it would mean sarcasm. Apparently other boards do it. :dunno:

If the Sox can get a solid season from Stolmey Pimentel and Zach Britton then their pitching will look much better next year at this time.

They may be the front runners because they have the money and need for a pitcher. As he says, if the Darvish talks fail then Tex would have money and need. That's not to say its likely. I hope I'm wrong but I get the feeling we are all going to be disappointed and Oswalt will sign elsewhere for a sum we don't see as prohibitive. Just a hunch... Preparing for disappointment. I think Oswalt would be the perfect mentor for this group and would replace some of the veteran presence lost by Tek and Wake being let go.

Right. They aren't under contract. I'm hopeful the Sox will release Oil Can Boyd and Mike Timlin too. They should unconditionally release them, with a press conference and everything.

Jackson has a live arm and came to the bigs early. That means hes a relatively young FA. Boras is hoping teams will jump on his improving numbers and lock him up thru his mid 30s. I hadnt thought too much about it but he really could be a great one year candidate. Coming off one solid season, still young enough to be an enticing option longterm if he proves his improvements are legit. What better stage to show that than Boston? Just ask Adrian Beltre. I might like that better than Oswalt because Jackson is healthier.

So Bard will be an improvement for the club, right? I know you can't know any of this, but you seemed pretty certain when you made the above post. Are you still pretty certain?

If you are in favor of Bard as a starter, then why doesn't he make the list of "reasons the pitching could be improved in 2012" that you were demanding so clearly the past week or so? It's obvious to me that someone with his arm pitching twice the innings and taking starts that were previously taken by Wakefield is a likely improvement, even if he's a bit rusty or unpolished. Where was that with all of the demands for clearly articulated arguments by others? And please don't say "because they also lost Papelbon and Bard from the pen". They have added two solid bullpen pieces and a SP is worth more than a RP 9 times out of 10. If Bard is as good as, say, Buchholz, then it will be a net positive without even accounting for Melancon and Bailey.

You have blinders on. You don't see what others are writing as insulting or vitriolic because it isn't written at you. The same is probably true of what I or UN? or ORS are writing and my perspective.

I was talking about "all they needed" to achieve what a700 said would have been a baseline level of success, which would have kept the majority of "realists" here from their daily/hourly crusade. You are reading out of context (usually you don't do that)..

Bard to the rotation is a fine idea. Arms like his don't grow on trees. He's young, has a great pitchers frame and developed as a SP through college. He has 3 pitches which can be labeled "plus" or "near plus" largely because his FB is so freaking good. Also, if he looks promising the Sox can be aggressive and try to lock him up longterm. This would be both ill-advised and uncharacteristic if he were a reliever. That would make him either suitable for the longterm for the Sox, or possible trade bait if they saw a piece they really, really liked. There will be growing pains, but it is absolutely worth taking a shot.

Great post. Except that I think Beckett pitched like a #1. He piched very well against the best/most important teams he faced: NYY: 5 GS, 1.85 ERA, 34 IP, 38K .941 WHIP TBR: 3 GS, 0.78 ERA, 23 IP, 19K, .435 WHIP TOR: 2 GS, 0.84 ERA, 10.2 IP, 15K, .844 WHIP Against teams with a .500+ W%: 16 GS, 104.0 IP, 1.82 ERA, 93K, .856 WHIP I would say those are ace numbers, particularly when the total numbers were: 193 IP, 2.89 ERA, 175 K, 1.026 WHIP I think any team would be pretty happy to get that performance from their #1 pitcher.

No excuses User Name.

I feel like one of you is posting with loads of sarcasm and irony and the other continues to play with all seriousness.

Me neither. This board is suddenly filled with Donald Trumps and every post is a cliche filled elimination-round board room scene.

I just think people need to be specific about the times they use injuries as the reason for underachievement. It's never an excuse. Excuses imply something that isn't valid but is thrown out there anyway. It is a valid reason sometimes, but excuses in general shouldn't be used. I think 2010 is a season where injuries were the reason for significant underachievement. It's a perfectly valid reason. Likewise, if the 2012 team has a pitching staff that stays healthy and leads the league in ERA and runs against, but they lose 5 starters on offense, then offensive injuries could be the reason they don't achieve as much as we would like.

The problem is it isn't CONSTANT. It is intermittent. That makes it worse! Just when I think we'll have an offseason without much noise from them, I get a text from a friend saying they made a big move and signed a FA. FUUUCK!!! The thing to remember here: the Red Sox will make moves too. Last year at this time the Sox had added Crawford and Gonzalez and Yankees fans were pissed off, hoping for Garcia and Colon to pan out. This s*** ebbs and flows. I think the Sox have moves in them too, they will just wait for the right time.