ksushi

I can, because he isn't really sliding. Talk about his lack of power, but he never had any. The guy is swinging the bat fine. I've watched nearly every game and I've gotta say I haven't noticed he hasn't been hitting the ball well. Baseball is a game of percentages and sometimes those percentages just don't go your way. I know you'd love to think his career is over but I don't think it is. You should hope he is ok too because dustin pedroia will take his place if he isn't and that might be worse for you. Does anyone know how old matt ginter is?

I just want you to know I totally agree with him. You take way too much crap just for being a yankee fan and I've sent some PM's along recently because of it so I hope it kind of stops. You're a good poster. I hope my opinion isn't too homer-esque. I try even if it doesn't show.

Well, I was at my own baseball game. To be honest, I'm never impressed with these stats. Honestly. I never use them in my favor, I never pay any credit to them when they go against me. I believe that the Red Sox offense has been lagging. I do not believe this will become a trend. I believe the Red Sox pitching has been good, and I think that for Curt Schilling Beckett and Papelbon this is a trend. Wakefield will be streaky, Clement will at times be shaky and who knows what Foulke will do down the road. I do know that if our bullpen falters we have the chance to pick it up via the farm system. I think if our rotation falters, we are quite screwed. I don't think that will happen though. I think the Red Sox are very good this year, but they are a different team than the Red Sox teams of the past 5 years. Their transitioning into a team that puts their foot on the throats of opponents in a different way. They get the 2 run lead and instead of widening the gap into a huge 8 run blow out, they are becoming the team that makes 2 runs seem like 8 with the kind of pitching they will have in the pen. Its just a change in baseball philosophy. I think the Yankees are very good. I think they've got more problems than the Sox right now. Age being one. But the fact that they are the Yankees means that more likely than not it won't be a factor. I'm bored of this bagging on our offense though. I am. I've got nothing left to say, honestly. Coco will come back and it will change the way both ends of our lineup approach the plate. Thats all I got. If Damon were out, sure the Yankees would still have incredible power, but they would lose their table setter as well which would definetly hurt. It hurts not having Coco just the same. I don't see things getting worse. With our 1-3 in schill beckett and wake, I think we've got a chance to be very solid, Clement I still believe will have a good season, and we'll see what happens with our five starter. Be it Clemens or Papelbon, by june there will be someone dependable there. Saying Coco is only part of the puzzle is another one of those ways you say "Yeah... but" and avoid something. Coco is a huge reason why our offense hasn't looked so hot and since thats pretty much the biggest short coming for the sox right now with Rudy Seanez being a close second, I think that its right now just one of those things that isn't worth crying about yet.

Yeah, don't make excuses for stupid claims. If you make a claim don't make excuses to narrow down what youre talking about to one or two starts that were, in fact bad, to make it seem like there is some sort of trend there. You do that a lot. Beckett is a good pitcher, give a Red Sox player credit for once in your life. Admit that maybe the Sox are a good team. They've got flaws but who doesn't? Texas is a good offense, first game of the season nothing, they're good and that was in a bam box of a ball park. The start against the blue jays was quality too and they've got some pop in their order. Develop actual points rather than making something out of nothing. Develop an arguement for something that is legitimate. Tell me that Francona plays with our offense too much to let them get in a groove, tell me that Rudy Seanez is hurting our bullpen and that Lenny DiNardo has no business as a starter and we can talk. Lenny does have no business as a starter btw, I like him much more out of the pen. This is a great and underrated point. Coco is a great table setter who makes things happen, but Youk has been too thus far. So why hasn't our offense been as good? Stability. We don't have that presence in the 8th spot that we did. Thats really underrated. I really believe that when Coco comes back we only have one 'hole' in our lineup and that is Alex Gonzalez. Everyone else, 1-8 is a solid hitter. Loretta is not going to hit .240 all season long and neither is Tek. Its not going to happen. Besides that, the book on AGon says that he goes through cold streaks. Horrible terrible cold streaks, and then he gets hot as hell for a couple of weeks tearing the cover off the ball. Wait until he goes nuts. Then there will be more patience during these cold streaks. He will hit the ball eventually, and yeah, hes not a great hitter, I'm not even sure that his hot streaks have ever even made him a remotely good hitter at any point in his career, but the hot streaks can remind you how he is worth it. His defense is where his worth is. Any offense he provides is a bonus. The reason we have left so many runners on base is because of a presence missing out of the back of our lineup. We have been depending on A-gon with the bases loaded and 2 outs. If youkilis is in the 8 spot, he'll hit in those spots and it might be men on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out or bases still loaded 1 out etc. and if Agon gets out, its Coco with 2 outs. Having Coco back will drastically improve the offense. I might have articulated that poorly, but basically. Cheer the hell up. Beckett is still a good pitcher, still an ace. One bad outing can't take that away from him. Schilling is still on the Red Sox and so is wake papelbon etc. We'll live.

Ummm good offenses like Texas? I'm sorry I have no time to debate but the statement that Josh Beckett has struggled with good offenses is retarded. Stop being so bias, look at things slightly more objectively for a change. Hes fine. Our rotation is top heavy? I've never heard that term before referring to a rotation. We don't have a 5 starter, no kidding. we have 3 solid, one iffy and one non-exsistent, but that will change one way or the other.

All the yankees fans come out of the wood work and all the fickle sox fans jump ship after one game. I'm so surprised. Listening to mike adams right now makes me wanna puke. Trade gonzo, trade MDC, Beckett is not an ace. Christ. One game.

hahaha creepy. Invitations to the bronx are usually not friendly.

BTW, I also was doing Edgars wife. This is a thing that ahhcon and I both knew, I had to get out of the apartment early so Manny wouldn't find out. *masculine laugh*

please, come on. some sox fans go to great lengths to keep me frustrated. just because a guy is bad for a time doesn't mean there is something wrong with him. look up some of the stuff he has done in the past, the book on beckett is that sometimes he has control problems early and gets lit up early. oomgomgomgo he might not be healthy. give it a rest. i dont mean to go house on just you, but come on man.

He might not ever spend a whole year in the minors, but I'd like him to.

I doubt Hansen will be promoted in 10 days. I give it till after the all-star break. Hopefully not though, i like Hansen in the minors for a year.

If anyone can show me where i can find this scouting video on bowden i would really appreciate it.

Sizemore just gave the red sox a gift by swinging at that pitch. Timlin is struggling bad with location.

You've gotta be kidding me.

Agreed, Francona can't manage a bullpen. It seems to me like this is a definate closer situation.

Excellent.

He never was a power hitter, he will hit fine.

who in our typical 9, coco in the line-up not harris, is a bad hitter?

The team will hit. Loretta, Tek, Manny, and Coco are all in slumps... Well coco is out but I don't wanna go back and delete his name cause I already typed it. But yeah. It will lessen up. Gonzo is in a slump too but he doesnt exactly tear the cover off the ball anyways.

If you mean has a shot to be very good you are wrong. Beckett has a shot to be special, as does Papelbon. If you're talking entire system, I believe Craig Hansen and Lester will also be special. Martinez and MDC will be good pitchers in their own right I believe.

Harris is a fill in for Coco, so thats definetly not worth replacing via trade. Snow is a defensive replacement. Bard I'm not thrilled about. He's been ok, if he can catch wake, I'll take that hole in the line up if we can catch the ball better than the opposing team, and most times, we will. DiNardo isn't a puss throwing junker. One bad start and everyone wants to hang him. He is a valuable pitcher and a good player. As for Gonzo, I love Gonzo. He gives us great defense in the infield and I think he is invaluable to our defense. I really believe that. Point is, he is a better hitter than what Cabrera would be, and he will get his average significantly above .200. I expect him to be at about .260. With his defense that is worth it. On days when wakefield isn't pitching we have a very good 1-8 with Coco Loretta Ortiz Ramirez Nixon Lowell Varitek and Youk. I think that is more than a good enough lineup when you consider how much better we are at the top of the rotation and in the bullpen this year. About the Clemens v. Wills thing - Straight up I would rather have Willis, but when you consider what you give up to get Willis (Probably a package of Lester Pedroia and a Bowden or Martinez) I would rather keep the prospects and pay for Clemens because the value of having those three players so cheap for six ML years would make it worth dropping all that money for Clemens to make this, an inbetween year, successful while we wait for some of our prospects to come up and help us out down the road.

Yeah, me and river are gonna publish.

I vote to unlock. Second chances never hurt anyone. I don't think he'll do it again honestly... that is if i have a vote. Again, I don't know what is going on.

I made my point for me. My point is that there are smarter moves to make, more far sighted moves than those, but really Damon and Wagner are good players, I'm not knocking them. Those signings were good signings, but signings not with the future in mind. A club like the sox that has the future in mind takes a different route. The best move is not the move with the name all the time. My point, not yours. Thanks for the little jab there pal. A sub four ERA can be found for a lesser cost. Desparate for some sort of point to make? Mm? I didn't compare Johnson and Radke against each other. Don't twist what I say around. I said that given the cost, in Johnson case players and some serious dough, I would have gone for Radke. I think the smart money is on Radke in that kind of situation. Keep the players, spend less cash. At the time much better move considering the kind of year he was coming off of. This is looking at the situation without looking at their '05 out put and I'm not saying Radke is the better pitcher. He is a bullpen pitcher hes not gonna get a huge money deal. What you're leaving out is all the money we keep from letting Damon go, which could go towards Roger. Can't really dispute that either way. You're paying a big bill for what could be an ugly deal down the road while we get a very good centerfielder, free cash, a good reliever and a back up catcher. We dump a SS who wasn't working out, Mota with health problems - although I did like mota - and shoppach who likely we never would have taken advantage of, a total wash. The E-Rent signing put us on bad footing but I don't think that if given a second chance the Sox would do anything differently. What the hell does that mean, relative obscurity? Put the dictionary down, champ. You might hurt yourself. That doesn't mean anything. I don't speak idiot, but I think you're trying to say he isn't going to react well to being called names? Alright... I really think all that crap about the media probing into peoples lives in boston is bull. This isn't the paparazzi here, they're not breaking into his house or anything. No one is popping out from under his bed with a camera. Is there pressure? Sure. You can say that about anyone, you can ask that question about any guy. Its a boring point and you're reaching. I was talking about the end of Damons deal, i got on a roll and just kinda left a few details out but not like you would have considered them anyways. And Damon will break down. He will produce, yeah, but he will lose a step. He is older. Crisp has more value. Thats my story and I'm stickin' to it. Younger is better. You'll never admit when your team has a flaw of any sort and you will cling on to those precious division titles and blah blah. You won't talk about baseball now, you'll talk about baseball back in 2000 and 99 and 98. Great. As much as wonderboy wants to make it sound like it isnt, picking players off the trash heap is hit or miss, for every Ortiz there is a Jer. Giambi. No, by my logic, Coco will lose a step and an edge when he is around 33, 34. No question about it. Coco is 26. 26. Damon and Coco are comporable players and Coco is 7 years younger. I will make a bet with you that he will not have a year this year better than lasts. You make it sound like he is coming off a collapsed lung that he got when he gasped at all the fans jeering at him and calling him bad names in his first time at Fenway. He broke a finger, you're making it sound like that is something for him to be ashamed of. Come on. He is a major leaguer and a good one. I am telling you he will continue to be just that. Yeah, can't top you there. I didn't like the price tag on Crisp and still don't but I think its worth it if we use that $$ we saved to sign Roger, which we will. I wouldn't quite say loaded. I know what you're saying though and in the lower levels the Yanks have some promise but they don't have anything to write home about just yet. New s*** has come to light. I did not know that. Still I don't think they had any interest in throwing any serious change at him. 5 years 40 is big, but not compared to what he got.

But he got the record? No reason to rush him. They have him there so that he can hone that change which will give him another dimension to his game. We already know he can handle AAA and pretty much the majors. Its not a question of seeing where he can pitch, we saw him dominate the majors, we saw him dominate ST, now its a matter of bolstering his arsenal a little bit. Patience.