ksushi

Guillermo Mota is a Red Sox, and .275 for Loretta is a joke, but otherwise solid predictions.

It won't happen, and I hope it doesn't. If Tek caught every pitcher all season long we'd be screwed in the post season and in september. He would hit a wall.

Yeah, as a platoon guy? I'd take him too

didn't he already sign?

Because you need to give Varitek a day off. You can't have Tek catching every single day, you can't have any catcher catch every single day, a backup catcher is always necessary for any Major League roster. If wakefield wasn't in the rotation, there would still be a back up catcher catching once every five games. It doesn't have to do anything with Varitek not being able to handle wakefield, it has to do with giving varitek a rest so he can stay fresh.

That isn't because Tek cannot catch him, its because Tek hadn't caught him all season, they didn't work together in spring training. Everyone is panicing because they think that a knuckleballer is impossible to catch, not true. It takes getting used to - something Tek never did. If Tek worked with Wake through ST and they got a rythm going and they got on the same page, no problem. I think Wake should get his own personal catcher, and that person will do a fine job who ever that is too. Its added comfort for Wake when Mirabelli catches because he has been catching him for years. It isn't necessary for wake to pitch well though. Find all the stats you want to find, none of them matter, you need to catch a guy more than just once or twice in a season to develop a feel for him, and if you can't develop a feel for how he pitches, you won't catch him effectively. Tek has a way of feeling guys out, and helping guys pitch to their strengths, a good game caller can do that. A catcher though, doesn't determine a pitchers success, the pitcher does. Wake is notorious for going on streaks, if Tek caught him on a bad streak, not much he can do eh?

Why would he be in a yankee's hat? I think its obvious what hat he will wear, he spent 5 years with the Yankees with only one successful season really. His overall statistics in New York were mediocre at best. He will more likely go in as an astro if he doesn't go in as a Sox. He will go in as a Sox, and I don't think Rocket is going to retire, if I had to bet on it, I would bet he would play in Houston again, but if he gets blown away he could play in Boston or Texas.

What the hell does conviably mean? And why would we want to inherit pedro's contract? *pukes*

yeah but he was an out of shape 29 year old (who i happened to think was good despite his crappy crappy year.)

maybe looking at Coco Crisp's home/away average, or his doubles, you know any of that before assuming the guy will post career low's when hes only improved in all categories while playing in a pitchers park for his whole career. Nothing too big. I agree with you... I don't think I said anything about Ortiz going that crazy. If had had to make an offhand prediction for Ortiz I would say he'll post a clutch .285 with 38 HR's and 120-130 RBI I'll give this to you on Trot and Gonzalez, Lowell we can consider a wash because everyone has a different opinion about this guy. The rest you have to convince me on. I don't see .300 as Loretta's cieling, and I definetly don't think .280/20/75/.375 is out of the question for varitek at all. Of course, this is always true with any kind of prediction. The reason we all bother to talk about this at all is because we think we can conjure a guess at what could happen or what we expect, but no one is saying this is written in stone. No one is trying to be nostradamus. I expect that the Sox will hit the ball well, the specifics are up in the air, but this is speculation. What fun would baseball be without speculation?

The reason everyone is coming through is because the FO actually did manage a good offseason. Loretta will be around .300 and if healthy Trot can hit .280, I've got no doubt about that its the health part that gives me doubts. Everyone else is just about right on par.

Ortiz is the only one that is optimistic. I think hes conservative with almost everything else. Why does everyone think Coco won't hit .300? He did nothing at home last year because the Jake is a terrible hitters park and he still hit .300 because of how well he hit on the road, yet everyone thinks he won't be helped out by fenway? Can someone explain that to me? 35 doubles from coco crisp? Really? He hit 45 last year in a pitchers park and he is coming to one of the best doubles parks in the league as a lefty ( fenway favors lefties in the doubles category because of that awful right field wall) Does anyone here do their homework before making predictions?

lol, i think my friend said he took mushrooms once and felt colors sifting in between his toes, you can talk to this guy named carlos and have that happen for like 20 dollars a gram.

Your Coco predictions are way low. This is a guy who was in a real pitchers park last year who is a great doubles hitter. Fenway is a double hitters heaven, you might want to look at that one again. A guy who hits .320 on the road with 2 major league years of experience shouldn't be slated to have his average dip by 15 points the following year after a move to one of the best hitters parks in the league.

I second this. Not a big deal in the slightest. Debates are always welcome, its the personal arguements and mud slinging that turn me off, but clearly no one wants that to keep happening so how about kiss and make up and forget any of it happened? Move on. So, yeah, give a guy a break.

Listen, just to clear the air, I've got no problem with you as a person. This is afterall, the internet. I think you're way too defensive, just relax, shoot the s***, and enjoy some baseball talk. Debates are worth your time, arguements aren't. Keep it baseball, don't get personal. I could have been spared the sob story, but I love a good debate with a Yankees fan so long as it doesn't turn into a mud slinging insultfest. I'm hardly a homer, that one stung. Not gonna lie, I actually am keeping a box of tissues near by because I really am taking that one a bit hard. I'm the biggest jeter fan on this site and 26-6 is my favorite poster besides myself. I do love myself. I'm practically a yankee fan, aside from the whole not being a yankee fan thing.

you posted this in the wrong forum, you're really not helping yourself out

I'm not going to bother to further this past this post, but really calling me a Sox homer of all people is pretty ignorant. I'm sure you've not payed attention to a word I have posted on this site, and I assume my last post was right when I wrote a little blurb about you probably not reading it. I've watched Chacon many times, in Col and in NY, I watch A LOT of baseball, I don't think his curve is very impressive. It's got movement but he doesn't control it well and breaks early out of his hand. Its a tigher break, sure, but he rarely can use it as an outpitch just because he is a little wild with it, always has been. Look, I'm not trying to get into an internet brawl here, put the dictionary down and relax a little. The only 'mental midget' here really seems to be you. Notice how the only one throwing insults like 'kpussy' and referring to people's 'miniature mental capacity' is you. Thats because the rest of us have gone through puberty and have grown up. This is a baseball forum, if people don't agree with you, and laugh at you for practically inducting every one on the Yankee's 40 man roster into the Hall of Fame, deal with it. Don't stoop to throwing insults around because then no one will read your posts. That is when people will see your name and skip over posts. Don't bother to follow this up, there isn't any reason to keep this going. Branding everyone as an 8 year old mental midget and repeating yourself gets old after a couple pages so lets call it a thread and bury this. No more being a jackass and embarrasing yourself.

What the hell are you talking about? I hope you're not trying to sound smart right now because you just sounded like a total jack ass. Listen, sure being a yankee's fan is all good and well, but you're abnoxious about it and you're an embarrassment to yankees fans everywhere. If you were a Red Sox fan, I would be saying the same thing if you talked endlessly about how you expect 50 home runs from alex gonzalez this season and that you were really impressed with Matt Clements playoff attitude. I assume you were talking about Chacon, he was a garbage heap signing and they caught lightning in a bottle. The thing is, usually guys like that come back to reality the next season. Aaron Small is not going to go 10-0 this year, Chacon is going to show why he was on the garbage heap to begin with, and chances are Tanyan Sturtze will show that Tampa Bay touch he has again this year. Granted, I am a biased sox fan, and I don't like you so I will try to disagree with everything you say. Don't get me wrong, I'm not the usual yankee-hating sox fan. I love Derek Jeter and Rivera and whitey ford is one of my favorite all time players. I say when I think the sox are going to bomb, and I admit when the yankees one up the Red Sox, but you annoy me. You pull things out of your ass and bother me. I don't know why I am still ranting, and to be honest, you're probably not even going to read this since I'm pretty sure you're one of those members that avoids reading big posts, but yeah... I'm all done now. Summary: Stop being a jerk, stop ranting about stupid yankee-crap, and stop being a tool. Shawn Chacon is trash, his curve really isn't that good. /babble.

why are you talking about a cat? i thought this was a baseball forum... and people tell me im off topic because i talk about papelbon in a coco crisp thread.

1 year deal, champ. This doesn't in anyway go against the clubs philosophy like people say it does. Age is a problem if you're locked in, like the yankees, but the sox aren't giving the guy a two year deal, or a yankee-esque five year deal or something. It isn't a big deal. We've got 4 or 5 pitchers at or under the age of 25 within our farm system, signing a quality pitcher who happens to be older isn't a big deal if its for a year. We're not locked into this guy. (if we do sign him)

Jorge Sosa is so good. Sorry felt like chiming that in.

I do, no offense or anything but I agree with you otherwise. Don't let Rivertool speak for Yankees fans, most aren't *******s and most of my yanks friends and i can have a solid debate and enjoy it rather than get pissed off and just claim that every member of the yankees is going to hit 330 and knock 40 homers. Cano will be real good. His defense will suck, and he isn't the next Soriano or anything but he will be very good. I agree with you though, Rivernator

Don't the Sox have a 'no negotiations during the season' policy? I could have sworn they did. If i were them, I would ink him right now and get it done. Letting guys go to free agency is a huge gamble, especially a pitcher.

Its overrated because in any given game I'll take a good pitcher who can get guys out over any left or right handed splits you've got on paper.