ORS

Recountered. I can't part with Westbrook.

My name is ORS, and I approve of that half inning. Build upon the foundation.

Well done, I say, well done.

Redeem thyself, Mikey.

f*** yeah, Lugo.

Lowell's AB may end up being costly. CC was on the ropes and that weak chopper was exactly what he needed to escape and settle down. Not a heady move going after his pitch at 3-1. Beckett is rolling.

Ahh, come on Lowell. If you are going to swing there, make it your pitch.

That'll do. More.

Good contact by all so far. Put one into the night, Manny.

Let's avoid that spot, Josh. Good work on the first two though.

Good point. How does his ability at short rate? I understand the point that he profiles better at 2B, but would he be adequate at short? I think his bat is going to spark some interesting consideration there. What would you do, Scaff, if he can swing it like he has at the next level? Play him at short? Trade Pedroia? Or see what kind of buzz he creates and move him? At this point, it sounds like his offensive ability will be better than Pedroia's (same hitting ability, minus some contact skill, but with much more power). I like Dustin, but I always like the better player more.

Kind of tough to change mid-season since everyone drafted and has made moves in accordance with the scoring system. I'm not sure if I'm for it or against it. Let me think about it. If we do it, it should be by unanimous decision, IMO.

So I hear there's a baseball game being played at Fenway tonight. Might as well win it.

Why does a SS need more secure hands than a 2B? This is a baseballism that doesn't pass the smell test. They both handle the ball in the middle of the infield, with roughly equivalent frequency and demand for precision. I don't mean to be redundant, but the difference between the two in terms of position is the length of the throw to 1B. They both need to be able to cover ground, they both need to be able to handle the ball well. He's got the stronger arm over Pedroia, and if his bat is worth keeping, he ought to get a look at SS.

What exactly are we talking about that makes Lowrie suitable for 2B but inadequate at SS? The requirements for range are about the same. Good hands are equally valuable. If it's anything other than arm, I'd like to know what it is, and while I've not seen him, most of what I've read suggests his arm is fine for the position. With that in mind, what would the cutoff point be in offensive vs. defensive value? With the way his bat is performing, he'd have to be pretty f***ing s***** in the field to not warrant consideration of keeping him and playing him up the middle with Pedroia.

There are a couple of things here that I think are right on. One, Joe is not a savy manager for the season. Kilo mentioned how he had to manage to win every game this season because of the bad start, but I feel the bad start didn't have a whole lot to do with that. He's always rode "his" guys too hard in the regular season, and managed to win every game. Ironically, this is actually the make-up you want from your postseason manager. Their recent failure in the postseason is not due to the manager. The reason is point number two. They've been bounced early lately because they had weaker pitching in every series (except the '02 series to LAA, who were just hitting the piss out of everything in October). The interesting thing to note about this is the trend with his bullpen overuse. It wasn't an issue when they won 4 in 5 years because he had great starting pitching. He didn't get chance to wear "his" guys out. The starters when deep into games, limiting the exposure of the bullpen. As the rotation became more and more deficient, his bullpen usage became more and more problematic because the guys he trusted logged more and more innings. So, like Crunch said, Torre will be the fall guy for Cashman's ineptitude. It's not surprising. Look a picture of Cash. He reeks of mealy mouthed, spineless, CYA jerkoff.

And it begins. As for the second part, he has every right in the world to do what he's doing. He's stated a condition for employment. Is that any different than Johnny Damon stating a condition for his employment with the Sox was the extra $3M the Yankees offered per year? Sometimes it isn't all about money. Sometimes its about respect.

I agree completely. The workhorse between the 20's gets no love in Yahoo, and the vultures make the game hard to manage. I'm playing ESPN for the first time this year for the heck of it (this is only my second year of fantasy sports) and their default scoring is interesting. They have 10/25 increments for yardage points, and they only award the QB 4 for TD's thrown. That, to me, undervalues the QB performance, so the run on draft day was on RBs and WRs. They also have much lower point values for defensive performance. I think a mix of the two would be ideal. Next year I think I'd like to be the commissioner of the league and customize the scoring to get the best of both worlds.

Yahoo default scoring doesn't let you sleep on getting a good D. And, the offensive scoring is TD dominated with the yardage points coming at 20 yd and 50 yd increments instead of the 10/25 you get on ESPN and other places.

Do the math. You just replaced Cano with a guy who didn't amaze in A+ and an unnamed MiLB pitcher. Do you make that trade?

That was the Expos, owned by MLB and looking to dump salary. Pedro had just won the CYA and was heading to arbitration. Santana is in the last year of a 4 year extension that avoided his arb years at a consistent rate. Apples to oranges.

I think Cano+Hughes+Duncan probably does it. Hughes had a rough start, but you can see the talent is there, and more importantly, he's taken some of his lumps already, so he's MLB ready. Horne is slotted for AAA next year. They could use some serious life out of their DH spot. He won't hit for a high BA, and he'll K a lot, but Duncan does have good power. Would I trade Ellsbury/Buchholz? Sure thing. It would hurt losing an exciting young CF/leadoff type and promising young pitcher, but look at what it would do to the rotation. Santana and Beckett plus good potential for improvement from Dice and Lester, where do I sign up? I don't think an extension would be hard to hammer out for a big club, then he's yours through his prime. Ignoring the Dodgers for a second, who could offer more than the Yankees? Well, if Cano, Hughes, and Joba are off the table, then just about everyone. Those are your three most tradable commodities. Now including the Dodgers, they and the Angels probably have the most spare change to get it done with a gangbusters package.

It begins. Wouldn't trade him for Hughes straight up last year, either.

I think you are missing the point. Sure, they'll trade him, but I think they see what they've got first. With him and Liriano, they are automatic contenders out of the gate. If something happens to make them falter early in the year, they can still trade him before the deadline and get a very good return. The only thing that would shock me is if he's traded before the season starts*. *Caveat: Unless the trade package is too rich to turn down. The Cano+Horne(are you f***ing serious)+Tabata(losing luster) type deal doesn't do it. Not now, hell, maybe not even at the deadline.