riverside sluggers

People please dont be jotting Lester's name down to be in the opening day rotation or even bullpen for that matter. The kid hasnt pitched since August-- has gone through chemo since then and still needs one more treatment to go. Bring the kid up slowly and dont put too much pressure on him, a start in Triple A wouldnt be the worst thing for him at all. The Sox will probably end up signing some hack like Batista, do a desperation trade, or try a slew of Snyder/Gabbard/Hansack/Pauley.. or give try at Clemens who would be good but gives us three 40-year old starting pitchers Until the deadline, Im remaining in same mode until the clock strikes midnight

The 2003 Sox didnt have a good bullpen until midway through the season, the Cardinals bullpen this past year wasnt all that great after their closer went down.

Yes Ive read the article o mighty pinstriped fan. Again Matsuzaka is in town this week. The article also says the "source" mentioned there is still time for changes to be made. You actually believe the Sox are content to letting Matsuzaka go back without a fight, and have some retard Kyle Snyder or Jason Johnson in the 5th spot?

Ok that was the inital offer reported like around Thanksgiving wknd. Matsuzaka is in town this week, ludicrous to think the Sox wont up the ante. Yea Im sure the Sox will just sit back and dream of what hack-free agent they can sign to be their 5th starter and call 2007 another re-building year

Pure Yankee fan drivel. A sports agent get rid of an international procedure such as the posting system? Besides its not the best thing for Matsuzaka to back for 2 more years. Lets just wait until the deadline comes and goes to speculate what is going to apparent. What is apparent is that Boras is using the "Only I know English" card as he is trying to make Matsuzaka's decisions for him. D-Mat wants to pitch in the Statesnow not 2 more years, where Japan's league has their pitchers throw considerably more. Why did he hold a goodbye celebration with his fans and his teammates. A picture in yahoo sports showed him being tossed up in the air by his teammates as a way to say "good luck in the US". He tipped his f***ing cap farewell to his fans. He went to LA to find a training facility to his liking then will film a commercial for Nike. This week he is bringing his family to Boston with him as the deadline looms. The Boston Herald reported that they will take a tour of the city and possibly a pre-scouting of homes. Matsuzaka made an estimated $3 million. He would be looking greedy to his country & the Seibu Lions if say he regected a 4 or 5 year deal worth $14 per

Something Im keeping myself optimistic is that these "negotiation breakdowns" are between the Sox & Boras, not D-Mat whatsoever. He will be arriving in Boston shortly to officially enter the talks

Jeter, Bernie, Mo

He'll be in LA for just 2 days then fly over with his family to Boston.

As everyone knows on this board, I just dont make up batting stats vs pitchers http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/5331/batvspit;_ylt=Ajwuhfwyk2IdDQuTEEtieIyFCLcF?year=career&type=Pitching Ortiz-- 9 for 22 (.409 avg) 3 Doubles, HR, 3 RBIs, 2 Walks, 6 Ks, SB Ramirez-- 25 for 59 (.424 avg) 7 Doubles, 3 HRs, 18 RBIs, 5 Walks, 4 Ks, SB Drew-- 3 for 8 (.375 avg) Double, 2 HRs, 2 RBIs, Walk, 4 Ks Varitek-- 13 for 36 (.361 avg) Double, Triple, 4 RBIs, 3 Walks, 12 Ks Ok and Drew can't hit lefties? He's not actually a true Trot Nixon comparison. He has a career .264 avg facing southpaws

The 3-4-5-6 of Ortiz, Ramirez, Drew, Tek have some nice stats against Petitte

At least keep him around for another season, besides Adam Dunn (who can play 1st) is a free agent after 2007. Even then the Sox can have a serviceable 3rd baseman defender with good OBP skills in Youkilis, and add a big bopper in Adam Dunn

The boo-birds will definitely be out for Mienky if he wears pinstripes. Look for Callagahn & "the Big O" to repeatedly talk about that whole ball issue leading up to the first Sox/Yanks game at Fenway Park this season if he sign

Scott Eyre is mainly a lefty matchup? Last time I checked him & Bob Howry were the main setup men for Ryan Dempster, he faced his fair share of right-handed batters. If the Sox evnvision Okajima as just a left specialist, they woulve come right out and say so. I can see him getting getting opportunities to come in to do the 7th or 8th innings. He does have the advantage of batters not facing him before and could rack up some K's before the league starts to find him out. EDIT: a Yankee fan's post on a Sox forum like... will undoubtedly bring criticism and induce another useless fight. Oh and remember 2003's Bullpen by committee? That bullpen killed themselves throughout the season but gelled in the playoffs. IM NOT saying that will be the case this year. But yea if it makes Yankee fandom sleep well at night, keep thinking that the entire Sox team including the pitching will be a la Royals

Hard for Pedroia to do that in a grand total of 82 ABs, he could have close to those numbers in a full season which Melky had. Also Melky had the advantage of being in the majors fresh starting a new season. Pedroia had already been through 400+ ABs in the minors and long bus rides, theres a difference

its december, theres still 4 months, nice trollish post effort to induce more sox/yankee fan fights By the way, Okajima looks like a good bet to be one of the setup men, not just a lefty specialist

These are also the same posters who LOL'd us up because the Sox paid $51 million to negotiate with him. He's going to be an injury risk for you guys hahah. Youre spending over $100 million for a pitcher who's never been in the states, your FO sucks But than when a sports beat writer comes up with the scenario that Boras will try buy out out Matsuzaka (and the MLB office would be ok with this because?...)--- Haha our Yankees will get him for $100 million:lol:

Something funny to think about, just who wrote the article of how Boras can simply buy D-Mat out from his team? Well that just so happened to be a beat writer from... drumroll please, New York shocker

Haha um... have Papelbon convert back into a closer during the middle of the season?? Yes FO lets please f*** with his mechanics & development midway through the season, could you?

Yeah its not like Torre has burned his pen by the playoffs before...