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Not in mine, I started following them in 1991, and not that I knew about all the advanced stats that are out there today.....but I always hated Luis Rivera. 1991: .258AV .318OB .384SLG 8HR 40RBI 4SB 24Errors 1992: .215AV .287OB .260SLG 0HR 29RBI 4SB 14Errors 1993-1996 was Valentin, pretty solid. 1997-2004 was Nomar, very good if not spectacular. Mid 2004, Cabrera, very good. 2005 Rent a wreck.......I really dont think it was as bad as some people thought, especially compared to the almost equally priced Lugo.....his defense was probably a fluke, he was pretty good offensively (although not exactly what other people expected). 2006 Agon....I thought he had a very good season. Spectacular glove, and many believed if he hit .240 along with the glove, it would be a plus, he hit .255 and walked very little but did hit 9 homers and drove in 50. He also had a spectacular 2007 season offensively (by his standards) hitting around .270 with 16 HR and 55 RBI to go with a .325 OB(not very good, but for him, not bad)....hasnt played a game yet in 2008. 2007: Julio Lugo .237AV .294OB .349SLG 8HR 73RBI 33SB 19Errors.....pretty bad, but not Rivera-esque 1992. 2008: Julio Lugo .264 .349 .327SLG 1HR 19RBI 11SB 16Errors....in 80 games.....pretty terrible defensively.......obviously he has no power, but is hitting for an average to below average clip, does get on base, and can run. I hate Julio Lugo....but Luis Rivera was worse.

Ok, well its clear the only opinion that matters is your own. Renteria and Clement stand up an say helloooo. Money really doesnt matter to them, to say it does is ridiculous, remember....the Sox have the two highest paid world series winning teams to ever play the game. The Sox throw plenty of money around and get the results that they may not have expected. I think you were a little harsh in response to my points. I highlighted the fact it is a business. It was already stated that he would be lost for the year anyways, however with surgery, they said there was a chance he could return, as opposed to no chance by rehabbing. You say Bull f***in s*** to the point I made about the different ways the two sides approached the situation, then basically said the same exact thing I did using different terms. They in fact DID tell him not to have the surgery, because he was their property and they felt that he may be able to rehab it. They couldnt void the contract, welll....bc MLB contracts are guarenteed. Schilling wanted the surgery, and they told him no, they may not have held a gun to his head as you say, but it was fairly obvious they were against it, and he had to follow suit as an employee of the Redsox. You oppose my post so aggressively, but in reality, we dont differ too much in our opinions, bottom line, its a business, Schill is an employee of the Redsox, and they were seeking the best way possible to get a return in their investment, and in the end it didnt work out.

I think it goes both ways. They originally said there was a small chance he could return this year if he had surgery. I understand this is a business and you want results for the price, but......would they have gotten more for the dollar by letting him have surgery, or rehabbing? Its hindsight now, but I think you would agree...having the surgery may have been a more probable choice of him throwing a pitch this year rather than rehabbing it after Dr. Morgan went public saying theres not a snowballs chance in hell. Either way, thank you Curt for what you have done, and I hope this experience this season does not sour you to the Sox organization....they approached this situation selfishly, but you cannot blame them....in the end, it is a business. EDIT: Either way there was a small chance for him to return this year, once it was acknowledged that he was hurt, the writing was kind of on the wall that the season was over for him.....Curt looked at the situation from his standpoint, and being able to resume his career to pile on stats for a one day HOF induction, and the Sox looked at it from their standpoint that they were not going to waste the money in a lost season due to surgery. In the end, the employer won out.......and we are where we are now.

So then, I guess a suggestion you are making is that he should attack earlier in the count, and with results that will allow him to be more patient. The O swing suggests that they are challenging him early, and making him chase "pitchers" pitches later in the count.

The reason nobody should give up on him, is because look at what he did last year. Went from hitting .165 to finishing the season above .300. Its not like hes striking out and swinging at awful pitches, they just arent falling in. Crunchy, I echo one of your statements....most specifically the fact that he threw 23 pitches to him over 2 ab's. Its not like hes an easy out.....they are just not falling in for him. The law of averages will turn around in his favor soon enough. As long as hes seeing the ball well, and putting it in play, he will be ok. Pedroia is a much better player than Loretta, I liked Loretta as well....but Pedroia is much better Crunchy. He swings from his heels becuase thats just the way he plays....he did it all last year...through the good and bad, and I will assume that he has had the same approach all the way through the minor league levels, and its not going to change now. I dont think he should change his approach at all....go with got you there......go with turned around your slump last year...be the same player you are today, and the law of averages will turn everything around.

I heard that Youk told Manny to get a damn haircut and that Youk thought his haircut was superior to Manny's.

ORS I agree with you. This is also a gripe with me. He doesnt do it only with AAA players though. If you remember a few years back (2005) Millar was struggling horribly. The Sox went out and got Petagine. Most people are here wanted Tito to give him a shot vs righties, but instead he turned into a valueless PH. Petagine may not have produced more than Millar, but we will never know as he never got the chance. That very same season we had Olerud, and Olerud was also used sparingly. I love Tito, but I hate how he stays loyal to a point where it could hurt the team, and he really doesnt positional give guys who are brought up mid season a chance to shine except for Jacoby, and even last year we would have liked to see him take away more of Crisps ab's.

ORS...something else I was thinking about.... Carter or Moss could also be a better option than Bonds. What kind of shape is Barry in (im sure tremendous)? What has he been doing in baseball related activities? When was the last time he faced live pitching? Moss and Carter both have been playing all year. By the time Bonds is ready to go.....Ortiz may be ready to start playing again. Hitters take a while to get their hand eye coordination back, and I am sure Bonds has not been facing MLB quality pitching since last year.

Through 149 big league games: AVG .309 OBP .375 SLG. .588 HR 36 RBI 114 Hits 167 2B 33 3B 5 BB 54 OPS .959

Not suggesting anything here, but in addition to Bonds....Sosa is still available, I know he recently said he would not return to MLB and only will return for the WBC.....but throw some money in front of that self promoting prick, and Im sure hed take it. Then we could have a platoon of Carter/Sosa (if roster room allows it). In either situation......Bonds, Carter, Sosa....anyone else, it is a drop off. Papi has been heating up.

After winning 3 straight on the road, including two good offensive outputs......is probably not a fair time to answer the question. I dont see what is wrong.....Lugo sucks, but besides that, everyone else is fine, or at least heading in the right direction.

Timlin slowly carving his ERA down to size. In May: 10 appearances 3 ER 1-1-1 W-L-S ERA has gone from 12.79 to 6.48.

If you throw his salary out the window (which we should, they have the money, and its not our money, so who cares) then what you are left with is a solid RF. Im happy with that. He is not a weakness, if he were a weakness there would be a concern....his numbers may be pedestrian compared to what we envision, however they are still solid. There are other glaring weaknesses to this club besides JD Drew.

My concern is still the pen. We have enough arms in the rotation, but the pen has sucked ass. The lineup is going through a funk, they will pull out of it.....the pen however, just has too many question marks besides the 8th and 9th innings.

A little harsh for someone who bailed us out big time last year. The final stats may not have been allstar worthy, but he was an unsung hero last year nonetheless. He was pretty good for an extended period of time when we had injury issues in the starting rotation. He was bad this year, but also wasnt given much of a shot. I think he did pretty good here and deserves to go out better than "he f***ing sucks". I am glad that he is no longer an option in the pen, but lets not forget what he did do for us last year in a pinch.

I thought it was classy (and surprising for him to accept it) and I dont hate him for balking out of it. Goodluck wherever yoyo.

Agree. David Wells threw a perfect game in the bag/hungover. Who cares if they drink....I do, and I do my job everyday, and yes I do miss Derek Lowe and his off the field stories.

Just play D the way you do at home....come out with the same fire and intensity and they will win. Just play some D.

Double edged sword, how can you blame them if they were not getting the minutes to begin with (and I know that was the plan, but thats my point). If you were a wrestler, youd know that a match goes 6 minutes....2 minute periods, and everyone was gassed after every match....and they are some of the best conditioned athletes in the world. I am sure you played basketball, or hockey, or some sport that required cardiovascular movements....in the 4th quarter.....and youve already played the 32 whatever type minutes you are accustomed to.....then yes....4 minutes is a very long time. I cant argues there, except for the fact that they really havent been given much of a chance either.

A 60 day DL stint sits well with me.

Doc gets the heat bc he controls the game plan, and he controls who is in during any given situation......you are right, the players must execute, but when you have nothing left in the tank I think it is asking too much. The Celts are were not losing those games early in the game.....it was the 4th quarter, and I think it was because the guys were given too many minutes. The plan all season long was to cut the big threes minutes, but now I wonder if that only hurt them more.....because they are being asked to do more than they have all year, and do not seem to be conditioned to handle it. If Doc stuck with what got him there, this wouldnt be a question. They won 60+ games with the regular season rotation. They were the best road team in the NBA with their regular rotation. I understand that this is the playoffs and you want your best team on the floor at all times.....but the Celts beat these teams all year long giving the big three more than enough time to rest up.