ORS

Cock and balls, just what Jacko craves. Carry on.

He's also struck out 142 times in 3/4 of a season and only has an OBP of .316. The power is nice, but it's the only thing going for him. He hasn't proven to be a middle of the order bat. He needs to make better contact, he needs to get on base at a better clip. Then he's middle of the order. Right now, he's a guy you put at the back of the lineup and hope someone is on when the he's goes pop. Buchholz is flawed in that he's had success but been inconsistent (stating he has only struggled is a lie). Davis is flawed in that he's shown he can hit the ball out of the park, but he's got a lot of work before he's an elite hitter. In terms of ceiling, both of these guys could be perrenial all-stars. Stating that the Sox would need to offer more in this deal is nothing more than you devaluing without cause. It's your emotional reaction. Get some tissues ready and consider this, what if the offer was Davis for the Phranchise? Now, now, don't cry at the thought of trading away the Phuture, but is that equal value? Before he came up and dropped his suck-bomb, I would have said yes.

Average is an improvement, you know that, right?

No, you can't cut the grass in the rain, but you can sell the hell out of some Slurpees.

I'll say what Crespo has been saying. If Jon Lester needs a break from the mental strain of the results on the field (which I don't think is the case for a cancer survivor), then they should trade him right now. Period. It's baseball game. He didn't lose a 2 y/o patient on the operating table.

They showed a stat on TBS during the game, Gardenhire was 3-21 in NY coming into today.

You woefully still don't get it, and to be honest, your "one guy = failure anyway" point actually makes the relief-ace case stronger. If there's only one good option, I absolutely want him facing their best chance to score late in a game. If there is more than one, then there is something to consider. I can see you've just about dislocated your shoulder patting yourself on the back for pointing out what you believe to be the true answer to this question, having a deep bullpen. However, the question isn't bullpen composition, but usage.

In FL and in 2007 he threw his changeup 10% or more of the time. In 2006, 2008, and this year, it's been less, with this year being an all-time low at 5.8%. The fact that he hasn't mastered this pitch and is able to throw it consistently year in and year out is pretty telling to me in regards to his offseason work ethic. If he had Schilling's approach to pitching, he'd have multiple Cy Youngs, IMO.

Not when they swing, not lately. Lugo looks like he intends to earn his contract this year.

No. Out. Pitch. Let this f***er walk. Do not pick up the option.

I'm not defending him, per se. I don't care if it turns out he did it because I came to the conclusion that nobody would surprise me if revealed a long time ago. I just think assertions, and that's what it is from Gom at this point, we've passed the accusations and he speaks of it in terms of matter of fact, require more than what has been applied in this case.

You are missing the point. While it is ideal to have multiple options, the question is how do you use your best option. I think the proposed idea is the best answer. In a tight game, I want my best BP pitcher facing their best chance to tie the game. Having a chucker face a 3/4/5 combo in the 8th hoping he can hold the lead for the closer is stupid. It's conventional, but stupid. When one of them sends a ball into the seats, my reaction is, "Well, no s***!" If the same said chucker is facing 6/7/8 and the same result happens, I don't have the same reaction, in fact it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for my reaction to be, "I can't believe [insert scrub here] ran into one!"

Gom, you've been beating this drum since well before the decline or comment. It was already sealed. As for what I believe, I believe there's a possibility he was using, and it's for one simple reason, because he was playing major league baseball. It's also possible that switching to team that preached a different approach to hitting allowed him to realize his full potential. Speaking of which, that full potential came between the ages of 27-31, which is the typical peak in a career curve. Furthermore, the potential existed. He was not a talentless scrub as you describe him. The fact that he was release says nothing. Manny Ramirez was put on irrevocable waivers. Johan Santana was picked up in the Rule V draft, so was Josh Hamilton. Teams f*** up all the time in their evaluations. Here's what Ortiz has done in terms of ABs and HR in his career. [table]Year|Age|AB|HR|AB/HR 1998|22|278|9|30.9 1999|23|25|0|inf 2000|24|415|10|41.5 2001|25|303|18|16.8 2002|26|412|20|20.6 2003|27|448|31|14.5 2004|28|582|41|14.2 2005|29|601|47|12.8 2006|30|558|54|10.3 2007|31|549|35|15.7 2008|32|416|23|18.1[/table] I think you are guilty of looking only at the HR column and totally ignore the AB column. This improvement is not drastic, and while it's possible the difference is PEDs, it's just as possible he was given different instruction and direction from the organization. Especially when you look at this MiLB performance. He hit 31 HR at 2 levels as a 21 y/o. Predicted Response: The MiLB was because of PEDs from the DR, and he quit doing them because he didn't want the Twin Cities to think poorly of him for doing something that wouldn't have been discovered because it wasn't against the rules at the time.

Please, that is so weak, especially in light of what you are saying. Per your assumption, he's no good without them, and if that is the case, everyone will assume he was using, like you are, when his performance slipped. So, fear of getting caught makes him do something that makes everyone think he was anyway. How the f*** does that work? Do you ever think about the implications of what you say?

Lars had a rough 3 weeks, but maybe he's pulling out of the funk. Two HRs today. Kalish 1-3 with a 3B and a BB in his 2nd game. This is now the team to watch for position players. EDIT: Oh, and they'll be playing again tonight as the day game was the first half of DH in which they were making up a postponed game.

Paul Molitor had the fastest bat I've ever seen. He was lightning through the strikezone. He was not the biggest, strongest player, by far, of his era. Power and bat speed are two different things.

There is absolutely no way you can convince me steroids speed up your bat. You are talking about grown men swinging something that weighs less that 3 pounds. What strength gained through steroids would provide is more power when you load up on the back foot. It would aid in HR totals by allowing the player to hit more out that weren't on the sweet spot, ie to "muscle one out". This is another example of the basis for your assumptions failing to match reality. Here's a question, his best year was in 2006, which was the year in which the current testing standard was initiated. If he's cheating then, and he got away with it, why would he stop? He'd still be getting away with it, and if that is the case he's already a cheat so I don't think conscience stops him. I get what you are trying to do by saying that "if there's smoke, there's fire", but it would help if you weren't pointing at clouds in the sky calling them smoke.

You obviously aren't that familiar with Jacko's winning streak predictor (for the Yankees only). If any of the following things happen, it will spark a winning streak of epic proportions. 1. Win with a late inning comeback 2. Lose, but be "tuff" doing so 3. Win or Lose Great success!

Love this matchup. BBrdsma is all FB, Bay is a FB hitter.

Are they under the impression the game is only 3 innings long on the west coast? This is two games in a row where they got off to good start and packed it in early.

You guys really think Lester has been awful? He's striking out over 10 per 9. He's walking less than 3. The bloops and bleeders are effing killing him. In that past inning, there was one well hit ball, the HR, but he induced 4 weak contact balls in play that only resulted in 2 outs (yes, part of that was a poor fielding decision), before the Gutierez routine single. His line is good for a .500 BABIP, and on the season coming into the game he was at .393. He's likely now over .400. That's not going to last, unless it's some fault of advance scouting and they are just horribly positioned defensively. Granted, he's giving up the long ball, but I can count more than a couple that were the result of the inning being extended by balls in play that had eyeballs. I'm much more concerned about Beckett who doesn't seem to have an out pitch.

It is high, it is phar, it is gone. Morneau loves him some phuture.

Erik Bedard, SP

FWIW, Texas leads their division at the 1/5th mark. This could be a GFIN year for them, and pitching is what they need. If the expected performers in the staff step up and, well, do what's expected of them, Penny would be expendable and attractive to a team with a need for pitching.