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In my mind, Rician, there is no thought process that supports this move. None. If you look at the rest angle, while Lester is at a career high IP right now, the person to give more rest is Beckett due to the injury he's dealing with. If you look at the bullpen angle of it, you want the guy who's more likely to get deep in the game in game 6 so you have a full fresh 'pen in game 7. If you look at the matchup angle of it, their game 7 starter is the one most likely to have an off night which would mitigate Beckett's ineffectiveness if they get into a barn burner. To me, this smells of nothing more than an ego massage. I've supported him in the past, but if Francona makes this move, and if you combine it with his other ponderous moves this series, I'm firmly in the camp that they need a better game manager. Hell, the egos are pretty much gone. No Pedro, no Millar, no Damon, no Curt, no Manny. There's no need for "Vet's" manager who can manage the personalities.

If the issue is the truth, then Rosenthal should have just stopped at the headline. They look white, ie several white players on the roster. He didn't do that. He tried to his hand at guessing the cause. He did a poor job. Read the article. It's some of the worst journalism you'll ever see. At one point he even says the Phillies have similar diversity statistics but their case is OK because their guys play better. Come the f*** on.

Crunch, you still work for Caterpillar? Sales, right?

No, haven't been to Dallas, and from the sound of things, I have no intention to once I move out there. Well, maybe I'll get over there one year for the Texas State Fair which looks like one big party.

True, Beckett will need to win one of those games either way should they be played. I prefer it be game 7 because it gives him one extra day of rest, and it makes no sense to not use your ace when you face elimination and he's on regular rest.

No idea, but I do think I know what a stagina is. Stale va-jay-jay.

I hope this happens. It's not finalized yet, but my company is probably going to move me there for a project that completes in 2011. I'll still be able to see the Sox a couple of times a year if they do.

The Sox, they have the potential for better pitching. Matsuzaka v. Kazmir Lester v. Shields Beckett v. Garza or Billingsley v. Hamels Kuroda v. Myers Lowe (?) v. Moyer / Blanton I like the Dodgers better in their game 7 matchup, but I like the Sox chances to get to a game 7 better.

Gom, that's a load of thoughtless BS. The only game marginal improvement would have helped is game 2. Bay and Youkilis, his positional and lineup spot replacements, hammered the ball in that game and were not the problem. Keep fishing.

I think Matsuzaka v. Shields favors them due to Daisuke's BBs and inconsistency. Despite one game ago, I think Lester v. Shields favors us. I certainly think Matsuzaka v. Kazmir favors us. Battle royal in game 7. Maddon reduces his advantage here, IMO.

Pitching Kazmir over Shields has massive blunder potential written all over it. I'm in favor of this move. Maddon just might manage himself into a punchline.

Theo will do what ownership tells him to do. Theo's responsibility is on the field. There's a whole separate part of the organization focussed on marketing and PR. If the ownership group feels there's risk in this department given Boston's history, they'll direct Theo how to proceed. Again, this isn't about what is correct. This is about perception. Whether or not the Sox have a racist philosophy is irrelevant if the accuser is capable of swaying perception enough to cause them to react. As for this particular article. It's a shot in the dark with a foundation of shoddy logic. It's full of non-sequitors. I question motive any time I see articles like this, because only an agenda gets someone to stick their neck out like this. Maybe the agenda was to stir the pot and nothing more. There's not much incentive there, to me. It may generate a small buzz, but the benefit will be fleeting, IMO. On the other had, if the agenda was "do me this favor and we'll keep you in the loop", there's a lot more to gain.

Conspiracy Theory Alert! Agents and journalists have a history of setting up mutually supportive alliances in recently. Heyman would probably cut off his pinky finger before he ran Scott Boras through the ringer. Why? Access. The journalists get access to the inside information that they are paid to get, and in exchange they become broadcast platforms for the stuff the agents want to get out in the public perception game. I wonder if there is a prominent African American baseball player going into the free agent market this year? I can certainly see motive for CC's agent here. In a way, this could press Boston into becoming more involved in the CC sweepstakes, depending on how sensitive this group is to this type of PR. What agent doesn't want NY, who's undoubtedly in the game, and BOS both in the market for their player? I wonder what kind of treatment agent Scott Parker has received in Rosenthal's archives.

Who said you had to bench him? There are 4 guys hitting the ball with some kind of authority and getting on base regularly. All 4 of them should hit consecutively if you want a big inning, IMO. Some combination of Pedroia, Youk, Bay, and Drew needs to go uninterupted. Papi can stay in the lineup, he just needs to be moved.

You might as well add Pena to that list and make the top 4. And they bat 2-5 for the Rays. It's true, Tito is dealing with an unloaded gun right now. The problem is that he's not making the moves that need to be made to address the problems. Love ya Papi, but I can't have an automatic out in the heart of the order. He doesn't get Casey into a game until the 4th game, 1.5 games after Kotsay started hitting. Maybe Sean makes a difference in game 2 when Kotsay went 0-6. The best hitting catcher available hasn't had an AB yet. Then there's his pitching decisions. Why Paul Byrd, who was effective 1st time through, wasn't used to start the 5th in game 2 is unexplainable. He stayed with Beckett to face guys who were 4/6 with 2 HR and 2 2B off him. Was it any surprise when runs 6-8 crossed the plate? In just about every instance, Tito's move has been a day late and a dollar short.

4/4, Nomar's a hispanic of Mexican heritage.

That's Tampa for you. It's a very myopic town. Their entire fanbase is condensed into 3 area code districts (813, 727, 407). Therefore, they can't conceive of a team having fans from all over, and the whole idea of one team representing a 6 state region would blow their minds more than a full frontal lobotomy.

Otherwise known as "The Trevor Miller Experience". Hey, it worked for you guys.

I didn't mean to imply that I blame Ortiz. I recognize that he's still hurt and dealing with that. Perhaps I should have qualified my post about who has been the biggest disappointment and called it what I was really thinking about, "Whose lack of performance is hurting the team the most"? To me, Ortiz being totally ineffective is the biggest change from both the regular season this year and previous playoff years. Yes, Manny is gone, but for those paying attention, his replacement has picked up Manny's October torch and carried it well. There's no dropoff there. The dropoff, the big one, has been at the DH spot.

98%? I think the number is larger than that. In previous years, you could get seats on the Beach for $5. Five dollar bleacher seats, and they'd still draw 5,000 on a Friday if it wasn't a team with a big following (and even the 5,000 wasn't 100% Rays fans). I don't know about you, but I'd love to be able to go see my team play 81 times a year and be able to grab a couple of beers and still spend less than $30, no matter how good they were. Less than 5,000 people in the Tampa / St. Pete area thought enough of the game or the team prior to this year. The team should be moved, and not to a new stadium. Steve Doumig is the most listened to and respected local sports talk radio guy and for years he's asked why Tampa wouldn't support its team, the fan excuse was they wouldn't support owners who wouldn't field a competitive team. They pretty much wire to wired it this year, and for what, 26th of 30 in MLB attendence. I'm not buying for a second anyone that tells me they've been there since the begining for the Rays. Not the CowbellKid, not anyone. I sat RF bleachers in '05 when Crawford lined the ball off Clement's head. I had RF bleacher tickets in '06 when Kazmir beat Beckett 3-0 on two Ty Wiggington homers, and I was there for BP before heading over to the CF beer garden to watch the game. No cowbell trannies. In my mind, anyone selling "been there since the begining" and being loud about it, is being loud because it's a phony message. That's just my $0.02.

You're the one that has to live with yourself, so if that's OK with you, then so be it. It's just not welcome here.

About not being a douche-nozzle hoping for people to get hurt, sound OK to you?

I agree. The pitching all returns. Every position player worth keeping, read: everyone but the RF, is under control until 2010. They may have overachieved a bit this year. Their late game and one-run game performance cannot be expected to be repeated, but several of their key pieces are young and could be expected to improve. The ALE will be a beast next year. Depending on who the Yankees acquire, your annual 3rd place prediction for the Sox may come true for the first time. But it won't happen without a fight. I expect the Sox to be pretty good next year too, as long at they stay healthy.

There's a reason the GMs call the playoffs a crap shoot. The tough part is getting there, but the team that wins is the one that got hot. Tampa is smokin' right now.

For realz.