ksushi

Doug is a fat guy that probably shouldn't be on a baseball team. Lugo however has no excuse. Worst professional baseball player I have ever seen. I liked him at first, but then it was like "Hah, just kidding, I'm actually a mendoza line hitter that can't catch anything hit remotely hard." TRADE FOR A SHORTSTOP OR PLAY CORA.

no hitter no hitter no hitter no hitter. there we are guarenteed a hit next inning.

i hope shorty hasn't become his usual nickname. that would be a terrible nickname.

I'm favor of Cora taking over for the time being, eat that awful nine mil. for Lugo, and wait until you have that sure thing option that comes around every now and then that can hold the fort down for four or five years. We blew it when we let OCab go.

Lugo for broadcaster, anybody with me?

agreed, total waste of a roster spot.

Wanna take it easy on the language, chief?

The 88=90 mph fastballs are actually bad splitters. My friend has a sweet HD TV and Tivo so we've rewound and froze it at his grip and theyre almost always bad splitters that don't bite. Still though, its a change of speeds because he throws so hard and he doesn't pay for it because everything he throws has lateral movement.

Before this season Coco was getting the pass because of the finger injury and was expected to hit. He was well known as a guy who could hit around .300 and be a good baserunner. His D, going all the way back to cleveland was terrible in CF and passable in left. He took awful routes, got bad jumps, and had a horrible arm. Until now he has been a liability in the outfield. I don't know where the turn around came from, maybe he took that highlight reel time he got last season and built some confidence out of that and began working on his routes, but he is a totally different player in the outfield this year than he was last year.

Range at third is different from range at short because at short there is time to react to the ball, while at third it really gets on you fast. I went from centerfield to third base and I felt like I had cement blocks on my feet playing third because really you can't take steps to the ball a lot of time, you just dive either way. When you see a guy like Lugo at short, diving after taking 2 or 1 or no steps that might be an indication that the guy has no range, but at third its really just the position. No one knows how well he will play at short until he works out there again.

Its not like you have a lot of bullpen options outside of Mo and Bruney. Pettitte is the ace right now and they want the ace to get it done... or they're done. I highly doubt Joe gets in trouble for that move. Either way, back to ten back, the magic number for you guys is five going into the all-star break. If its bigger than that, big advantage sox. If its bigger than ten, its over.

I think I'd rather them not ruin our best prospect since Nomar by rushing him up to the bigs in a season where we are the best team in baseball and don't have an absolute pressing need right now.

that might have been the most incoherent post I've ever read. and this might be the most counter productive post you've ever read.

I don't think its too early at all. Last year his AAA numbers were good when we brought him up, but he didn't have time to settle in there and learn how to get deep into games etc. There are some intricacies to being a major league pitcher and Lester missed out on those being called up so early last year. I think there was a lot of learning on the job last year for Lester when he was called up and his AAA numbers so far have been great. He is past the point of needing to be on a short leash and I think he is back around full strength. He is ready and I think we might need him.

I think we have a bona fide leadoff guy in Youkilis. I'm of the school that batting order should be determined by descending order of on-base percentage. We also have our center fielder. I trust 100% of everything peter gammons says, and he says Crisp never fully healed after last years finger injury until the off-season, so I'm willing to give him a pass. But, this year so far has been tough, but he has shown signs of coming around. Especially lately, now he has the nation behind him, my best case scenario is probably using Ellsbury's trade value when Crisp shows he can be our CF of the future.

Agreed, Buch/Lester/Anderson especially can't be moved for a one year guy and probably not for anything out there even if they are under contract through '08 and beyond. Especially not Bucholz. If Buch gets traded I'll eat my dog on youtube, it won't happen. I would trade Ellsbury for Buehrle though. Buehrle is a very solid pitcher, he can give you a good amount of innings and it will be quality too. Ellsbury represents an unknown, an unknown that could very good, but also is an easily acquired commodity and this would be the right time to deal him with Jones,Suzuki, Rowand and Hunter hitting free agency assuming Coco really is what he has been so far this year, and doesn't improve because with the defense he plays he might be the best case scenario if he finds his way at the plate.

Actually, if you've been watching, his change has been a good pitch for him. His fastball is what is getting rocked. He definitely ironed out the kinks with his change because i was advocating that he just ditch that pitch back in april when it was getting hammered and since then he has shut me up. He is using it well, locating it well, and getting outs with it. The problem is his fastball, which worries me as far as this whole MRI thing is concerned. Schilling is the only pitcher of note to ever come back from a labrum tear. I'm thinking he isn't going to be your Clemens or Wells who pitches deep into old age and hey, if this MRI comes back bad, he could be done. I think his labrum might be fraying or worse... I'd be surprised if the MRI comes back clean, it might but I don't know. That would explain the sluggishness, because that brings with it a great deal of pain. I don't know, but I'm worried. Good thing we have Lester, thats all I have to say. Our rotation is a position of strengh for us and I'm confident Lester could fill in for just about anyone outside of Beckett/ maybe Dice-K.

Its getting to the point with Lugo where he is pretty hard to watch. He's hitting less than .220, his OBP is well under .300. He is pathetic at the plate, I don't know how else you can spin it. Tonight against the Rockies he has looked like he's got cinder blocks on for shoes. He deserves an error for that diving play, because there was no dive needed. So many balls are hit hard to him that most short stops handle, even sometimes right at him, and he throws the play away, boots the ball or just out right doesn't get to it. His play is atrocious. The Yankees, to make matters worse, are heating up. Albeit, heating up the bats, not so much the arms, they're still closing ground while we're kind of cooling down a little bit. Lugo looks like our most glaring hole. We might need another set-up arm, you could argue that Crisp is bringing nothing to the plate but his D is winning us games and Crisp, I feel like, has more of a chance to find his pulse at the plate. That's a gut instinct thing, nothing really to back that up numbers wise. Ok, to get to the point, should we pursue a trade? Eat the nine million, maybe move him to a utility role or deal him for grounds crew help. Its possible Furcal could be available. Felipe Lopez on the Nats could be available if they ever have that inevitable fire sale they should have had when they still had Soriano. Caesar Izturis would be available, but I don't know how much of an upgrade that would be. Maybe the best defensive SS in the league, (vizquel and adam everett might disagree). Eckstein would be an easy swap, in the national league he has been hitting around .290-.300 and the cardinals suck. I'm wary about expecting immediate impact from guys coming over from the national league because it is a different game and I think that is a lot of what we're seeing from Drew, there is kind of a lull in production before they really get going, sometimes... look back at OC, he came over and hit .290 with the sox for the rest of the year and caught lightning in a bottle. My take is that Cora is a better alternative than Izturis, Lopez, and Eckstein (maybe, maybe not). Eckstein might be better, it depends what we're looking for. Cora would be better defensively, Eckstein is a more reliable hitter. I think, even if he isn't getting shopped, the Dodgers have a young core brewing, and aren't out of it at all, but maybe possibly we could force a trade for Furcal, but would most likely be overpaying. Eckstein is by far the most likely to become available. I think Lugo needs to be out, I'd be very ok with replacing him with Cora and maybe exploring a trade for a center fielder.

Its about as simple as I said it. If the Yanks find a way into the playoffs (its a legitmate if, because they're s*** isn't together right now) but if they do, and we face them in the ALCS, if things are as they are now, the Sox will lose that series. Beckett had a tough luck outing and little can be pegged on him... but Schilling can't beat the Yankees. Watching Wakefield go against the Yankees is like watching Mr.T have sex with your girlfriend. Not fun to watch. Dice-K has been tagged by the Yankees both times he faced them. Its not pretty right now. Do I think things will still be like this? No, I have some hope. I think that Dice will come into his own. I think the knuckleball could dance a little better for wake and I expect Beckett to step up. Schill looks plain bad, but hes a vet and a solid pitcher. Right now though, we can't beat them in a 7 game series. They can't catch us in the division, in all likelihood, but the playoffs are all that matters. We need to man up if that happens.

If he is capapble of hot streaks like this in the majors, he will stick and he will contribute. Even if he cools down, its hard to imagine him being as cold as he was at the start of the season now that he has established himself in the majors. He has hit at .300 or above at every level he has played in, why not the majors? I don't know about .340 or whatever he is at, but hes got talent.

Mariano isn't the best closer in baseball. There is a guy in Anaheim right now who wants to slap you. Especially when Mariano is topping at 92. Tough loss. Kind of a major choke job. As things are right now, if we play the Yankees in the playoffs, we lose.

Who is penciling in Bucholz to replace Beckett? I'm sorry I stopped reading your post right there because it seems like you don't read mine... that wasn't at all what I'm saying. As a matter of fact, Beckett has been my favorite player since mid-2003 when I first saw him pitch and I hope he finishes his career with the Sox... Gah... Its not that you fail to agree... if everyone agreed this would be a boring place, but mostly because it seems you fail to read mine or anyone elses posts and acknowledge anything anyone says contrary to your belief that everyone without 5 years major league service time could have potential. Don't back peddle on what you said about Pedroia either, I remember very bold statements about his defense and his bat from you. There is always a risk with minor leaguers. Always. They might flop, but scouts aren't blind. When guys feature good stuff like Buch whose curve has been rated a perfect 80 by some scouts on the 20-80 scale and whose fastball was sitting at 97 late last year those are skills that indicate the kid will be a good major leaguer. Should he come up right now and replace Schilling? No, absolutely not, Schilling has had some very good starts, more good ones than otherwise at this point and no one is taking his place in our rotation because he is pulling his weight. Should Buch weigh in the FO's descision of whether or not they shell out major cash to bring Schill back next year? Yeah, he really should.

Bill Mueller... wasn't that question asked before?