ksushi

I hate it when people say Papelbon only has a good FB. Its not true.

I agree completely, but having him in the minors is a luxury. If we can afford that luxury, awesome, if not though it is more important to win at the major league level and I think it would be hard to dispute that Hansen can definetly help us there. If we need him, we need him. If not, then thats really a lucky break for the sox.

I think if Wells can't pull his weight, Hansen will definetly be up. Papelbon will slide into the rotation and if foulke can close, great, if he stills sucks, then Timlin can slide into that role and let Hansen take over in the 8th. Voula, thats a good team.

That spring really shouldn't leave a bad taste in your mouth. Hes young. He had stuff, his pitches looked good, but where he got hammered, he got hammered because of a lack of seasoning. I think Lester is a year away still. I think he will be better than Papelbon, and that isn't to say I don't think Papelbon is a monster, I do. Lester throws about 5 mph slower out of the stretch. He didn't know how to establish his fastball and he was just up there throwing the ball. He will learn how to establish his fastball in a major league game, and he'll learn how to throw out of the stretch. These are things that AAA will teach him. He isn't going to just roll over and die. Worst case scenario, he turns into a very servicable major leaguer instead of a stellar one.

Why can't our starters be like this all the time? I think what you see is what you get from Schilling, Beckett and Clement right now, and I think Wakefield will be same ol' Wakefield. Not blowing anyone away, but keeping us in it most every time out. Its the 5 spot im worried about. I have zero confidence in Wells. I think Papelbon will be in the rotation, or Dinardo. Probably Dinardo for awhile to give Hansen sometime in AAA, but in the event that Wells can't pitch, Hansen will be a major leaguer. Our middle relief is ok. Nothing to write home about, but nothing bad either. Dinardo is more than solid, and I've got faith in Riske to be a good pitcher. Our bullpen is really good right now, and Taveras isn't done with his suspension yet. Anything we get from Foulke is bonus. The pen is great. What you see is what you get. When everyone was talking about the Sox in third place, and I laughed at them, this is why I was laughing along with most people who looked at the rosters carefully.

Erm, I definetly think they acquired Pena with 07 on their mind. I think they knew this would happen and that he would be stuck fighting for his AB's this year. Next year he will have an everyday job in Boston and this is what Theo was thinking when he made the move. I can't wait to see him play everyday.

The ball jumps because of the backward spin but it jumps forward, not up. It looks likes it jumps up.

I thought he usually owned baltimore. I think I was at that game you are talking about too. I know I was at a slaughter fest last july against the rays, might have been the game.

You know what makes me more irate than stupid callers? Stupid hosts. Mikey on planet mikey is a funny guy, but he is not an intelligent baseball fan. He is calling for player's heads right along with some of the callers after just one bad game. He annoys me.

Eh, not panic mode, its just that a slow bat is only one reason a guy might not be hitting. Saying a guy has a slow bat sounds like you might be preparing the mannyramirez life boat to jump ship. His bat speed is there. Manny is gonna get out, everytime he gets out, it doesn't always have to do with bat speed, ya know? Wily Mo is the man.

Perfectly calm, thanks for the pointer. How exactly can you tell his bat looks slow? Got HD? Is it really that good? Chances are he's just having a bad couple games. His bat speed Im sure is where it should be.

What are you talking about? Manny is in the best shape of his life. Why is it now the trendy thing for Sox fans to say 'his bat looks slow' like your an expert scout every time a guy has a couple of bad AB's. It is April 4th. His bat is fine. *pulls out hair*

Yes, and occasionally I come in second place.

erm... that was a joke. that message thing i made? I didnt even ever propose an official trade. How dare ye slander my reputation. I am the billy beane of fantasy.

Huh>?

I can sneeze at 65 wins. When you lose 100 games, that means you've won 62... 3 game improvement? I'd sneeze at that. Some might even consider it luck of the draw its so few games.

The wild card probably will come out of the east, but the Guardians scare me. I'm conceding the central to the white sox but the Guardians are capable of 90+ The A's definetly could surprise people. They've got one of the deeper rotations in baseball.

I just realized that my team is ridiculous. ... That is all. Sorry.

K's are absolutely relevant in ST. It bothers the hell out of me that Papelbon hasn't got his strike outs this year. Even in his good outings he is striking out 1 or 2. When a guy gives up four runs, that at times will mean that its because he is sticking with a pitch or a location, or worse, a pitch in a specific location through out the game to try and get a feel for things. So, for example, schill was throwing mostly fastballs inside early on to get comfortable and he plunked some guyss ( duffy ) he isn't going to plunk that many guys in the season. When you get K's its because your outpitches are getting you outs, when you give up runs, yeah sometimes you make mistakes, but sometimes its because you have to work on an aspect of your game that isn't neccesarily good for in game situations.

THIS is an amazing point. I hadn't even thought of that. Keeping him down, and bringing him up for the playoffs (k-rod in 02 style) does give the Sox an edge going into september and october. I am of the opinion that the sox are a playoff team, and i definetly think this club is built specifically for october with the defense and the pitching they are putting out there (exception: fat boy. I hate david wells, sorry off topic) Having Hansen come up gives the sox a secret weapon of sorts which i think is so valuable.

and struck out 11 i believe. I wouldn't put too much stock in ST ERA's and stuff.

Hansen has always thrown a good sinking two seam. He isn't fastball slider only. His sinker has always been a nasty pitch. Peter Gammons raved about his sinker when he was drafted, saying that will be the pitch that will make him a great 2 inning closer. Its good, hansen is a machine. I agree its hard to send a guy down when he is this good, but take Wily Mo for example. Wily Mo's options were used up when he was 20 and he could use some minor league seasoning. The more a guy can learn, the better they can get. The Sox know it, so I understand why these kids get sent down. Obviously Papelbon doesn't need the seasoning at this point, but guys like Lester, Hansen and DelCarmen could use the AAA experience. If they keep Hansen down until the All-Star break no matter what, I'll be fine with that. My problem will come if our bullpen is coughing up leads in august and still no call up. That said, I think our bullpen is deep enough to afford the luxury of keeping a young machine like Hansen down for one more season or half of a season. We've got him for five more years after this one, no rush.

Hansen was absolutely sick today. That slider to Burrell was quite manly. I don't know, I might be lobbying for a call up very soon.

His velocity was way down this spring, I think that if its true the Sox want to keep only one of Riske or Seanez like reported, then you keep riske. He hasn't had a good spring either, but some guys just don't play well in the spring, but you don't lose ten mph off your fastball on just a bad day. Thats scary.

Jay Payton actually was pretty good. Pena is no Payton though, Pena is a 24 year old machine.