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Would you rather wish Beckett made the start and pitched 3 innings and also risk injury/blisters, or throw 1 inning. I think Beckett not starting is a blessing. Its an honor to go I am sure, but this may be a blessing in disguise.

Nobody said he wasnt talented. If he keeps hitting like this nobody could argue against keeping him up and playing a significant role. I just dont want the kid to get shellshocked thats all. I never said he wasnt talented enough. I dont want him to walk back to the dugout with his head down either thinking to himself, "holy s*** this is tough, maybe I am not ready". Believe me, I want him to do well just as much as you do.

I looked at him, I think he fell below the rest on the list.

In reality in terms of a players progression you are right. In this circumstance however, thats wrong. He was not brought up early if you listen to what we were told when we drafted him at the time. He was supposed to be ready. Thats all we were fed. Thats why we drafted him. We were having serious bullpen issues at the time, and they thought he could immediately help them until he ran into arm trouble. Like I said before, he was supposed to be ready, and instead we are still waiting two years later while other players from that draft have moved up ahead of him in our system including guys who just learned how to pitch 3 or 4 years ago like Edgar Martinez. Nobody could wait until he stepped on the mound for the first time. Thats why I think he was just never all that good to begin with. College pitcher with blazing fastball, no secondary pitch and complete lack of control = big league meat.

HOF without a doubt. Maybe not first ballot, but since when did someone get 3000 hits and not make the hall? (minus Pete Rose and Palmeiro for obvious reasons). He has a gold glove caliber defensive player, had 3000 hits, had suirprising pop for a second baseman, stole over 400 bases and got on base at a .365 clip. In fact, there is nobody on the all time hit list with 2873 or more hits who is NOT in the HOF. He has 1 less hit than our very own Wade Boggs, and was much faster, had more pop and played better defense. Another reason Biggio should be, Phil Rizzuto is in the HOF. He was a .273 career hitter, zero power numbers, hit .273 over his career, and never won a gold glove. He was selected to 5 AS games compared with Biggios 7. How is Bill Mazeroski a HOF, but Biggio not? He hit .260 over his career and had a total of 2016 career hits. OBP of .299...ouch. What about Joe Morgan? Why him and not Biggio? They had VERY similar careers, althought I really believe Biggios was a little better. Why is Ryne Sandberg in the HOF and not Biggio? Biggio has had a better career than him as well......believe it or not Biggio has actually outhomered him. They are (were) both gold glovers. Hit right around the same average. Biggio drove in more runs, stole more bases and got on base more often. Biggio also hit almost 200 more doubles than RYNO and had almost 700 more base hits. Biggio is right on par, or better than these guys......who are already in the HOF. Why is Biggio not deserving again?

I was actually thinking the same thing today. Many people were projecting a ceiling of 13 wins with a 4 something ERA. I think the most popular was 13-14 wins and 8-9 losses. Hes been much better, and he could be even better with some more run support.

I kinda agree to a certain extent. Batting stances I would say a mix between Beltran and Damon. When its all said and done I think he will be between mid teens to low 20's power wise with MAYBE an outbreak of 25 jacks. I think that could be stretching it very much though. I think he will be very similar to Damons power numbers. The only major difference between comparing the two is that Damons power came earlier. He hit 16 HR's and hit .343 at the age of 21 in AA while Ellsbury was hitting .308 and on pace to hit maybe 7-8 HR's at the age of 22. I also dont understand the Gabe Kapler comparison. When talking about hitting mechanics, Kapler was flat out ugly. He was late on everything, slashed and poked the ball the other way and had absolutely zero pop in his bat. It looked like he was swinging at a hardball with a wiffleball bat, which is embarrassing considering he could bench press cement trucks. Ellsbury has a smooth fluid stroke, but he is just a little overmatched which makes it look a little worse than it actually is. It will develop along with all the other aspects of his game.

thanks

All of which you said is great Crespo....but the fact is, he was not ready, and is still not after 2+ seasons. In fact it appears hes taken steps backwards. You can defend it all you want but until he is on the big team producing I think its a bust when you compare it to what we were told we were drafting. In the long term view will it be seen as a bust? Maybe not man.....but right now, how could you argue against it based on the information we got regarding him?

Ive been voting for him for the past 20 minutes. Lets get him in the game. f*** Neshek BTW.

Example1.... I dont think we necessarily disagree on any front, because what I was getting at is that all of what you mentioned will solve itself once he gets adaquete time at all levels before coming to the show. I think he needs a little more time to polish himself off at AAA, but besides that Ive been pleased with what I have seen.

I agree, but I also think that Lugo will be bumped back down once the lineup is right. Its not like he had a bad game either from the leadoff spot. He walked twice and moved 2 runners into scoring position with a nice SAC bunt...all of which you expect from a leadoff hitter.

No need to be smirk. Just adding my opinion of him after we ate up what we were fed at the dinner table my friend. Was he not drafted because he was thought to be "the closest prospect in the draft ready for major league competition"? All I am saying is that he is a bust using that perspective. Nobody thought we would be here three years later wondering when he will turn the corner in AAA with an ERA around 5 and continuing to struggle with his control. Could he turn out to be a very good MR pitcher? Yes, but he did not come as advertised....and I am sure many people would rather have taken other people in that draft who were available to them with their second pick.

Last few ABs starting to hit the ball better. Again, his versatility is really nice and adds an element to the bench they have been lacking over the past two seasons.

Nice inning tonight (7/2)

Didnt have much of a choice. You see how valuable Youk is. When he is not in the lineup it really screws things up. I like Drew in the leadoff spot, but to do that you need Youk in the 5 spot and Lowell at 6. When Lowell hits 5 it makes the rest of our lineup pretty weak.

I think he is a bust for what was advertised.. I would rather have them went out and drafted someone else and developed him rather than taking the guy who was "closest to the big leagues". This guy was supposed to be ready to play pro ball the same year he was drafted. Three years later and we are still waiting. Had they drafted another player we would be in the same exact position. Thinking back at it, I wish we didnt take a middle reliever with a 5 ERA in AAA with the number one pick.

No Youk is embarrassing. I dont care what other 1B's numbers are compared to his, he should go.

According to EEI around 1000 this morning was seen working out in the bullpen of fenway park.