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Schilling needs to put these stupid rumors of him "losing it" like Randy Johnson to bed. He needs to make a statement against the lowly Orioles tonight. I bet he goes 7 strong and leaves with the lead.

Actually...I never have suggested anything negetive towards any of those other players. In fact, I have been one of the few who is pulling for Rudy Seanez, and I pulled for WMP during his early struggles. They (Nixon and WMP) are both good players. Never said Nixon was not a good player. I never said he sucked, I said he is an average baseball player....I think that WMP is the better of the two, thats all. I said he had a poor season last year, and in the first post of this thread I said that Nixon was having a good season. I never said anything about Coco, David Wells, Manny Ramirez, Big Papi, Loretta or Gonzo.

So was Albert "Joey" Belle. Bobby Bo was drafted as a 3B Tim Wakefield as a 1B Sheffield as a SS Hillenbrand as a C Troy Glaus as a SS McGwire as a 3B Millar as a 3B Offerman as a SS Knoblauch as a SS Ron Gant as a 2B Chipper Jones as a SS Troy Percival as a C Renterria as a SS.....I know, its unbelievable that guy once played SS and committed 30 errors....wait, he still plays SS....nevermind. Its crazy when you think of positions players played in college.

CF is not the easiest OF position to play. You can get a better read on the ball yes, but you still need the speed and ability to play CF. If CF is the easiest position to play, then why are most bad OF's playing LF? Example...Rondell White, Manny Ramirez, Canseco when he played...Why did Biggio go from CF to LF? Why was Knoblauch a LF and not a CF? Then let me ask you this....why are the BEST OF's in the game playing CF? Torrii Hunter, Andruw Jones, Bernie for so many years, Griffey when he was right. Darren Lewis (most consecutive games played without an error). Johnny Damon, Jim Edmonds. Why was Coco Crisp a LF in Cleveland? Because he struggled in CF. LF is the easiest position to play, especially in Fenway. Manny Ramirez has limited ability going back on a ball, which is why he plays the monster rather than RF like he did for so many years in Cleveland. I played all three and I felt that RF was the hardest, then CF....and LF was by far the easiest. In LF most batters are RH so they hit alot of balls that dont move. In RF most hitters are RH and the ball is always slicing away or hooking. CF gets a little bit of both but allows you to get good jumps. At Fenway, RF is the hardest....with the corner, the large amount of area to cover and the Sun and shadow in day games. You need to be athletic to play CF, and there are not many good CF's in the game. If this is true, then how is it the easiest? EDIT: CF may have been the easiest in highschool, or DIV 3 College baseball...but I think its unfair to say what is or isnt the easiest to play at the major league level. The game moves alot faster, and the players are alot better. But I do know this. In Little league, HS and College...my team always has the BEST Outfielder playing CF, and the worst playing LF. Just my experiences though.

Its not a mirage. Bob Zupzic was a mirage, Phil Plantier was a mirage, Izzy Alcantara was a mirage, Michael Coleman, Rudy Pemberton were mirages. WMP has a track record in the big leagues, he just needed somebody to harness the talent he had. Instead of hacking, like he has done his whole big league career, he is now going the other way, looking for his pitches and taking pitches that are intended to get him out. A mirage would be someone we think will be good based on minor league numbers. WMP has already dispalyed impressive big league power numbers, now he is refining his other hitting abilities.

Lets be realistic. We have been let down by Trot Nixon for years. He gets a free pass because he plays hard. He has never lived up to his expectations, and he is an injury waiting to happen. Last season he was every bit as bad as Millar and did anyone say anything about his poor season? No. Look at his season last year, it was pretty sad. Besides the year he had in 2003, he has been a disappointment. He is a average major league OF, thats all. Here in Sox Nation I think we think of him as being a little better than he truly is because he has that "dirt Dog" persona. WMP has more upside, more talent, and will be the RF of the future. What Nixon can do, is give us what we dont have right now.....a VERY good LH pinch hitting option off the bench. He may not start in RF everyday, but I can picture him hitting for Gonzo at least once in every single game for the rest of the season in the late innings. I am not saying he is not valuable, just that I think he gets a free pass, and we in Sox nation think of him as being a little better than he truly is. Nixon : 13 HR 67 RBI .275 BA .357 OB% .446 SLG Millar : 9 HR 50 RBI .272 BA .355 OB% .399 SLG

Well, the ERA is good....besides that, not incredibly impressive for someone who some people thought should be in the bullpen opening day. I never suggested you said they should bring him up, I was just saying he isnt ready....I dont think he will be ready this year cept for a sept. callup.

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/external/brandedstats/t998.html?cid=533&lid=117&t=t_ibp&sid=milb These are the numbers I found on Hansen. Your set is better than mine, according to mine, he has some ways to go.

The BB/K ratio isnt very good, neither is the BB/IP. Also, 10 hits in 12 IP isnt so hot. He needs time. He isnt ready.

What I saw, was a guy with huge HR ability, and a ton of raw ability, much like David Ortiz. Check back at my postings, I have been saying it since day one. I have kept saying that Manny, Papi, and Papa Jack are going to influence him, and teach him how to become a big league hitter and harness his power. And say what you want about him last year, people were oogly eyed about the talent he had as a big league hitter. I also followed him a little last year an years before. He is a kid, and has monster HR power and superstar talent. Look at my previous postings if you dont believe me...

I thought this thread was funny. Clement went straight in the TANK.

The older Manny gets, the less likely a team is going to take his salary. Manny Ramirez is not going anywhere. If a team were going to take him, they already would have. Remember, two years ago any team in baseball had their chance, and nobody put in a claim. I know his salary was the issue, but he is turing 34 in 15 days, and will play most of next year being 35 years old. I dont think anyone will pay him that money, especially when they had a chance when he was in his prime.

I wouldnt say the best AB's anymore. Why live with his mistakes next year, when he can learn from them now? Nixon is going to be hurt by the club sometime, whether its the offseason or this season, and to be honest, I would rather see how good he can be now, instead of taking his AB's away. EDIT: If you take away WMP's numbers from the first couple weeks of the season, his OPS would be higher than Nixons today, he really struggled early on with bad AB's, but it has been pretty clear that WMP is the better offensive player. Nixon is a better OB% type guy, but WMP is the more complete hitter as of right now.

This is true, but since day one...he has imporved with playing time. I imagine he is still taking balls in RF in BP, and the only way to learn is with experience. Let him play, let him make mistakes in RF, and let him make up for it with his bat. It is the only way he will learn.

Well, you and monsterman can aplogize lol. I always said that from day one till now he is a completely different hitter and takes a completely different approach. A RH with that power hitting the ball opposite field for power and average reminds me of a young Manny Ramirez.

I think there is no way Nixon is back, they should just play the kid. I love Nixon, but I think WMP is more valuable and can hit both lefty and righty, and tonight was another great example of him as a growing superstar. Takes two pretty good pitches on the outer half and hits them to RF for basehits. A month ago he takes an ugly hack at the deuce and heads back to the dugout with a K.

I really dont think there will be a new ballpark built in the next 25 years. That beaing said, there is a reason why they continue to revamp Fenway. They plan on staying in Fenway, and I think a new stadium would not give us fans the same special feeling when we walk out of the tunnel and look at the beautiful old ballpark. Fenway is a special place, I do not want a roof coveing it.

Granted, he is having a good season, but when Crisp gets healty...I think Nixons playing time should decrease with the emergence of WMP. Nixons power numbers are down, and it is clear that WMP can produce more than Trot Nixon does, and with the fact that WMP is the RF next year and Trot probably wont return unless he signs a deal which he undersatnds his playing time will be cut, he wont be back. With both players hitting the ball well, who should get the majority of the playing time? It sucks that Nixon is a lefty, because the current platoon will give Nixon at least 2/3 of the playing time, and it is clear WMP is ready to play everyday, and he continues to get better and better with the coaching and playing time.

Why not? He is always among the league leaders in pitches thrown and innings pitched. He is a horse who prides himself on pitching as many innings as possible rather than personal accomplishments such as wins. He has stated this many times. He gets paid to pitch innings, not get wins. The wins come because he pitches far into games and keeps his team in the game. His last couple of starts havent been so hot, but he is clearly throwing the ball better than last year. I am confident he will get a win every time he goes out, and Im confident he will pitch at least 7 innings every time he takes the mound. He is fine.

I have been saying it since day one. We are watching the transformation from a beast with power in to a premier major league hitter. We saw it once with David Ortiz, and I think this is very similar. The last few games teams were pitching him away and he was hitting soft shots to right field with no power, tonight he takes an outside pitch and drives into the seats in right field. You have to think that Manny, Papi, and Papa Jack were working with him to notice that teams were looking to work him away. Tonight he looked away, and drove the ball outta the yard. Lets not forget how atrocious he was in the OF either, he is looking better and starting to get more comfortable. The guy is turning into a star, watch todays game, and the past few weeks games....and compare his approach at the plate compared to earlier this season. He is a completely different hitter taking much better SWINGS instead of HACKS.

Agree here. Ginter is a career minor leaguer, and Ive never understood the hype of Abe Alvarez, I thought he woulda been traded by now. Alvarez doesnt have much stuff, doesnt throw hard, and gives up a ton of flyballs, thats a recipe for disaster at the Fen.

Agreed, you wouldnt call him crap so far this season, but they were disappointed in him last season, and him and Clement had similar seasons.

Nobody will give us prospects for him....We have to trade crap for crap....the thing is, the crap we got in return (Lowe) COULD possibly benefit us more than the crap we are giving up (Clement). I know it probably wouldnt happen, but technically, the trade could very well work for both sides. The money is pretty equal. Similar ages, similar seasons last year. Clement seems to do well when he has a change of scenery, its just that the effect of the change of scenery runs out at about the ASB every seasson. This year he has been flat out awful, and he seems pretty hopeless. People arent gunna swing at the garbage hes throwing, and when he has to throw a strike, he cant. He cant even throw a straight two seam fastball, and while for some pitchers thats great, its not so great for Clement because everyhing he throws moves.......way outta the strike zone.

It's obvious he is not the same guy who was lights out before the ASB last season. It is painful to watch him walk the world and miss Teks traget by 3 feet. I would rather watch David Wells get bombed all over the park than watch Matt Clement fall behind every single f***in batter he faces. I am so tired of his fragile phsyche. So what can we do? Well, we can trade him. Well how can we trade him, who the hell wants our garbage? Ill tell you, we have to take someone elses garbage to get rid of him. My friend made a suggestion the other day which made a lot of sense. Ready for this? Derek Lowe. Why not bring the guy back? He was so awful a few years back because he had one of the worst fielding infields in all of baseball. This year, we have solid defense all the way around the diamond. Why not bring him in here and watch him roll up 20 groundballs a game. He is a proven big game winner, he has pitched here, and while he was perceived as weak, he beat the Yankees in the biggest comeback in sports history. He also has the ability to be a top of the line type pitcher as he has shown that iin the past whether it was racking up 42 saves or winning 21 games and tossing a no-no. Why not? What has Clement done in the past year to merit a free pass in the rotation? I think LA would like to unload Lowe just as much as we would be willing to unload Clement. Thoughts or opinions?

Because not everybody is Derek Jeter or Robinson Cano. There is a very small percentage of youngsters who join the big club and do well. Not saying that they cant, but there is definately more probability that they will fail than succeed.