ksushi

Well, I threw a splitter when I pitched, and it didn't ever seem like a big deal to me. Then again, Josh Beckett has my grandmothers hands so it might be an issue.

But is Puljols unhappy with his team? Puljols is kind of like Ortiz in that I don't think he could ever be unhappy. Miguel Cabrera?

Yeah, Theo hates young pitchers. He would way rather have Schmidt who may or may not be healthy for his entire contract. I think this offseason money will be no object for the FO. The sox are not going to just sit around and watch the Yankees build a great young rotation. Theo always says that they don't make moves with the Yankees in mind, but thats a load of caca, you always watch what all of your division opponents are doing and make your moves accordingly. The sox will certainly be in on Matsuzaka. I would give a 26 year old ace all the money in the world and I can't believe that Theo would let an oppurtunity like that pass. I'm sure the Yankees will have money to spend. I'm not saying George is going to be wandering the bronx rattling a cup full of change or anything. They always have cash. I think the sox will have more cash flexibility this offseason. I mean, I'm not expert on the Yankees contract situations, I'm sure that most yankees fans know way better than I do. But, Yankees or not, no cash flow is infinite. Its gotta slow down eventually, and I don't think Mussina is coming off the books. Like someone pointed out, he has the upperhand and I don't think the Yankees wanna let go of him. I would love them to let him go, so I'm sure they wont.

I love what Theo is doing, teams able to bring in pitching from within the organization save a ton of money and can spend more on the FA market. Its just a new way of going about things. I'm not convinced the Sox are going to sit tight this offseason. The way things seem to be lining up, an impact pitcher will be coming here this offseason. They've shed some payroll, they've got a great closer, they have one spot in the rotation and 3 or 4 impact guys looking for contracts this winter. btw, I have no idea who you're talking about ORS. Guessing games are fun. NL or AL?

I've only seen him use his tailing fastball to righties. He gets them to look at it because they give up on it. Its a nice pitch.

Beckett needs to play with his fastball more. He has that running fastball that he doesnt use enough that can be very nice to lefties. He needs to cut his fastball a little bit to righties. I think he does need one more pitch though, I dont know what a splitter would do for his blisters. Maybe a slider who knows. Beckett has a ton of upside. I'm not eager to dump him just yet. I think by the end of his contract, he'll have lived up to his expectations.

Yeah, Oswalt and Peavy aren't gonna come to Boston. I think the Sox will land a top teir starter. My last post was a little jumbled, but the Yankees are gonna be top competition to land that Japanese guy. Letting him go to the Yankees would be bad. I think after taking on Bobby Abreu that getting Sheffields contract off the books is cancelled out. So they still have a sizeable payroll and I just don't see them adding another 11-15 million on to it. The sox have lost a lot of payroll in the last two seasons, they can easily add that kind of a contract and you better hope they do. Someone the other day was talking about how we all better get used not competing because the Sox are in this for the future and we won't compete for another five years or so. I think if we are big players in this offseason for some of the better pitchers that we can have a great chance to go deep in the post season next year. Zito, Japanese guy, and Schmidt are gonna be a big deal this offseason. The sox will be in on them. Acquiring a pitcher like that means Papelbon can stay in the pen. I think until Schill retires, he should. Papelbon is a freak. Its not really even fair how good he is.

Yes, i have gagne's urine sample here on my desk now. Of course I don;t have proof but it adds up very nicely. Go connect the dots. Steroids helps the resiliency of your arm a ton, it keeps you sharp day to day, it helps your velocity. Gagne had that amazing streak, its just as tained as the HR record to me. He comes back with a bunch of injuries and low velocity. He is missing his edge. He was a steroid user im pretty sure. When all these supposed big names come out of who used from this whole grimsely case, probably a few years down the road, Gagne will be one of those names.

Gagne is awful. I wouldn't touch him. The guy was a steroids user and now hes crumbling.

The answer is yes. We let damon go and have salary space because of it, same with pedro and I believe E-rent is totally off the books next year, Nixon is going to walk, Loretta is going to walk. With all this salary space and with players coming in behind the guys walking at the end of this season (pedroia and wily mo) those holes are taken care of automatically at a low cost. That leaves a lot of money left unspent. Schilling Beckett Lester and Wakefield will be in the rotation next season. Clement, in my mind, figures to be out of the picture if the FO wants to compete again next season. With no legit closers hitting the market, or at least none with more value than the top three starters out there, and bobby abreu clogging up the yankees payroll next season the sox figure to be in on a starting pitcher. They better be. That means Papelbon stays a closer. The Sox can easily dish out a 5 year 55mil contract this offseason and its going to be for a starter. Theyll get max value, theyll leave Papelbon alone. If they don't ill be very mad.

Yeah, I mean if Crisp hits .270 from now until then, and we have the budget to fit him in without passing on a pitcher, jump at it. If Crisp gets back to hitting .300 and keeps running when he gets on, his defense isn't as good as wells, but I would stick with Crisp.

Yeah, I prefer Kason Gabbard. Jason Johnson gives us no chance to win at all. He better not face the yankees this year. Those games are far to important to have someone up there to just throw the game away.

Won't happen. I don't see any reason to shake up the roster like that. Offense isn't our problem.

Depending on what the holes on the Sox at that time are... You can't acquire an outfielder when you already have four solid ones like we do now.

I think Thome or Schilling wins it. Schilling deserves it as much as Thome does.

When is Daniel Bard going to sign?

iBrator? Thats amazing. I went to this shop the other day and they had glass bongs that doubled as vibrators.... and when I say I went... I meant me and ORS, he made me do it. I didn't wanna go. ORS has a problem.

Maddux would not have OKed a deal to the AL, let alone the AL east.

I did not know that. Probably a PR move. BK Kim was a disaster but not really a mistake. I would like our FO to trade for young pitchers more often, its just a hard thing to do.

Yeah, the contract extension was a hurting, but I don't think he ever stood up and acknowledge it was a mistake. Yeah, it didn't work out. But saying it was a mistake to sign a 22 or 23 year old ace reliever is crazy. He was nasty before he came unraveled here. Thats like saying you wouldn't trade for K-rod and sign him to an extension. I like what Theo has done overall. There are minor things I don't like. I would have loved to have acquired Hernandez and Perez from the Pirates. I would have given up crisp for the two of them without thinking twice. Move pena into center as a stop gap, bring up murphy. It would have been a gum and glue outfield but who knows it might even work. Those are the little moves I would have made at the deadline, but I'm hoping he can make it up this offseason.

I'm not looking for Theo's head here. IF this offseason goes by without a big signing and notable smaller signings, I'll be upset. I think Loretta can walk, Nixon can walk, but a pitcher a utility player and a reliever need to come in. And when I say a pitcher, I mean a Schmidt or a Zito. I want the Sox to get it done on a big signing. Theo still has some wiggle room with me. Not to talk offseason too early though, I still think the sox have a great chance at being in the post season.

Ortiz is the MVP handsdown at this point. He has to win it. I don't care about him being the DH, he is so good and he has helped our team so much he needs to win it.

I wasn't dissappointed with the big moves they didn't make, but with the small moves that other teams made that I wanted the Sox to be in on. To me, the future for the sox is bright and Lester, Delcarmen, Papelbon and Hansen should be untouchable. They'll provide some great pitching help and payroll flexibility for a long time. What dissappointed me was the small moves out there. Oliver Perez cost the mets nothing. Although he hasn't been good in 2 years, he is still just 24 and has a great arm, he cost nothing basically. Craig Wilson is a great bat to have for the Yankees, also cost them NOTHING, now the Sox have Lopez, which I think is an equal move but I would have liked to see the sox come out of the deadline with some bench depth. I think that a couple of small deals is all we needed.

Depends what we get in return. Abreu and Lidle aren't exactly the best the NL has to offer. What does Abreu have like 8 home runs right now? Wonderful.

Francona said that Loretta is out just to give him a rest and that Coco is not going to be moved either, but he kinda has to say that. Something may be up.