ksushi

As it stands right now, the only scenario with Papelbon in the bullpen is if Foulke can't regain his form. They won't have him just be a reliever, he will pitch regularly or he will go to AAA, and he won't go to AAA. Its either closer or starter. The rotation right now is Schilling Beckett Wells Papelbon and Clement with both arroyo and wake in the pen, i think thats how Edes layed it out, and he said he believes clement will be dealt before opening day, or Wells will be dealt.

Just an idea, but could we never call Papelbon 'Paps' again? Everyone is doing it and it makes me think of a papshmear.

Not true at all, hes not actually very fast. People think he is because hes relatively small but Crisp doesn't have above average speed. He has good instincts on the bases, but his speed isn't anything to rave about. Hes a smart player and a hustle player. No sense knocking him just because he isn't on your team.

Not to be Johnny McPessmist here, but isn't that the rap on rotator cuff problems, can't throw the curve... and how many fastballs did he throw? Had to be at least 90% The FO could be telling him 'no funny stuff until the season' or he could be guarding himself against an injury or he could be injured. This guy threw more curveballs than anyone in the national league last year percentage wise, I'm not waving red flags yet, but I'm anxiously awaiting Becketts next start.

Seanez is not the guy they'll cut.

Why in the hell would you want to cut Seanez?

Great Idea. On earth though, that probably won't work out. What you could do is trade a guy like Clement for whatever the going rate is, and send out a rotation of Schilling, Beckett, Wells Wakefield and Papelbon (or clement until hes dealt) and still have a very solid rotation and have back up starters as insurance since we do have a couple of guys who might bite the dust, wells being almost a lock for the 15 day DL at least once.

erm, im in... ? *confused*

Exactly. You're not going to get prospects that will pan out to be anything for a guy like Tony G. Tony is a good player, he hustles and hes a good addition to a team that has something planned for this season, but for a club like the Marlins he doesn't make a lot of sense. I mean, sure, they'd take him if he was on full scholarship courtesy of the Red Sox and all they had to give up was the next Mike Mordecai and maybe the next Ian Bladergroen but you won't get anything back. A team that has some hope and isn't trying to totally bomb might give you a valuable bench player in return.

Its an annoying thing sort of, not much of a big deal.

I pitch and I know how hard it is to harness the breaking ball coming back to pitching. To me, giving up all your runs on solo homers on hanging breakers is a good sign if anything. Not just saying that. I'm sure the heel is probably fine if they let him back out on the mound. No way they would have let him back out if there was any doubt at all, he is the future of the team.

Two questions: Is papelbons foot ok? How did he look? Don't care about his line, but how did he look?

I guess I didn't make this clear but I was talking about in a Sox uni. You think he would get 40 steals as a Sox? Your dreaming if you do.

40/40 is a crappy arguement to throw out there. Red Sox don't steal, and it isn't true. He is a 40 homer threat in a good hitters park but he isn't a 40 homers and 40 steals threat. No sir.

They didn't sign him, but he is under club control for the next four years.

I'd like in.

Why are you assuming that a new team is incapable of forming chemistry? Roster turnover happens. Age and time do take tolls on everyone, including the 2004 red sox. Keeping that team together is a bad move going forwards... and an expensive one. Get over it.

Getting Soriano is a wasteful, Bowden-esque move that does nothing to improve the club. Our 2B situation right now is sturdy at worst, excellent at best. Why fix what isn't broken?

Johnson is sick, his batting average is deceptive because if I am remembering correctly he was on a tear, got hurt a little, came back and slumped alittle and then resumed his previous tear. I dont know, look at his month by month splits im lazy.

Juan Rivera is so underrated.

This is actually the most rational thing anyone has said in this thread thus far, that and when someone said lower level prospects are a better idea than soriano. Given our current situation with Loretta, Graff, Pedroia and Cora penciled in at 2B on the Sox's depth chart right now, acquiring another 2nd basemen for pitching is probably the worst idea anyone could come up with... which is probably why ESPN is reporting the Sox balked at the idea. The sox will trade Wells, or let him retire if they can't but Soriano won't be coming back in a deal no matter who the sox trade. Wells likely will go for lower level prospects, but aside from him, can we afford to lose more pitching? Right now we have Wakefield or Arroyo penciled in as the long man/ spot starter as insurance if either schilling or beckett goes down, god forbid if both do we are lucky to have a couple guys in the minors - lester and dinardo - who could also get the job done in a spot start role should someone bite the dust. We have 7 starters soon to be 6 and thats just enough depth to make you feel warm and fuzzy inside about the staff. No log jams, but enough depth to assure some semblance of smooth sailing. Now, all this wheeling and dealing is unecessary. I would entertain a Wells and prospect for nick johnson though. I love Nick Johnson.

just walk away and whistle MC, you're trying to knock down the berlin wall arguing with this genius.

Who could we get back for Clement though? At least with wells you know what your getting, you'll get a 4.30-4.50 ERA or in the national league around a 3.90-4.10 with some big wins. Clement is all over the place, you might get nothing you might get an ace. That is intruiging for another team but I don't think that bodes well for his value on the trade market. I like Clement a little bit, my patience was a little tried after his terrible post season start, but I still see upside. He does have that filthy slider and a pretty nasty cutter that breaks downward and if he ever commanded the ball for a few starts in a row now and then during the season, for the rest of his starts he could get by on stuff alone and win around 15-18 games. The guy is good and he is someone who i would love to have at the back of my staff if I were a GM... and he is at the back of our staff. His trade value will not be as high as the value of keeping him. On the flipside he could have a five ERA and get run off the mound in the 4th inning of every good offense he faces. He would probably bring back less than wells who is 40 but is dependable still and can give a team one relatively cheap year of decent/good production out of their rotation and there will be teams at least at the deadline looking for a guy like him, probably there are teams now looking for a guy like him.

Yeah, I mean on the assumption he is the opening day starter you could bust out your calendar, but I guarentee it will change between now and then. Rain outs, Injury, guys getting their starts bumped all the time can will definetly change the way the rotation is set.

Power in the lineup has nothing to do with position. That is one of the old school things that I really disagree with. I mean, typically, I go with the old school flow, but not about that. I think there are some positions where you can sacrifice some grace in the field for some pop with the bat, but I don't think there is any proven baseball stategy in having power hitting 1st basemen and right fielders and what have you. 1st base is actually a key defensive position, you've got to have a steady reciever who can mop up throwing errors. Rightfield, especially at fenway, is also key. You need to have a range guy and a guy who can play that wall and corner well. There are positions where defense takes priority, like SS and CF, but I don't think there are positions where offense necessarily does. You've got to have power in the 3-hole and the 4 hole with a competent guy who can slot in fifth and provide protection, what positions they play doesn't matter.