MANNYHOF24

Things are starting to heat up, all of a sudden Ben's master plan is becoming clearer. I think they trade Ellsbury and go hard after Hamilton.

Let's face it, Ellsbury is going to be moved for pitching. I set this thread up so we can discuss what type of deal might be made. I've heard Cliff Lee so far. What about masterson and Cabrera in a deal with the Guardians?

Cliff Lee scares me a bit with his age... Anyone else feel this way?

Trade arguably our best pitcher and best hitter/fielder for a prospect? NO WAY!

The way I see the rest of the offseason playing out... Sign Hamilton 4 years 100 million Sign swisher 3 years 45 million Trade Ellsbury salt, doubront and a good prospect for pitching help Sign McCarthy Sign drew Sign Brian Wilson Victorino CF Pedroia 2B Ortiz Dh Hamilton RF Middlebrooks 3B Napoli/swisher 1B Swisher/ Gomes LF Lavarnway/Ross/Napoli C Stephen Drew SS Rotation 1. return from Ellsbury trade (no ideas yet) 2. Lester 3. Buchholz 4. McCarthy 5. Lackey Bullpen Miller Bard Bailey Aceves Brian Wilson That is a championship contending team, while only sacrificing one high grade prospect.

Bens plan is obviously to deal Ellsbury for pitching and then throw the world at Hamilton and swisher.

It's refreshing to see some optimism in here!

I have a feeling the Yankees are going to snag Josh Hamilton... Would you be surprised?

I think there is a good chance AROD will never really be an impact hitter again. He is 37 years old, and this will be 2 hip surgeries in the last 4 seasons. The Yankees infield is in trouble. The only person you can absolutely rely on is Cano. Tex seems to be in decline, and could fall off the cliff. Who knows how Jeter will come back from the ankle and now AROD. The Yankees have been incredibly lucky to be so successful with an old team. At some point one would think it's going to blow up in their faces. The more I think about, it really could be this season.

I think this would be a mistake. He is still only 28, had a few down years (2011 wasn't bad by any means). The Red Sox will always be able to buy offense, I don't agree with unloading your potential best arm with the team so starved for pitching. I fully expect Lester to work his ass off this winter and have a rebound year.

I feel like salty has weird value to some teams because of the 25 bombs, he might actually be able to get a fairly good return. Any sox fan could tell you that he isn't worth much, but I have a hunch some GM will make a stupid trade. I thought for some reason McCarthy had another year left on his deal.

You will laugh when you see my trade proposal. A depressed sox fan can dream can't he?

CF-Ellsbury 2B-Pedroia DH-Ortiz 1B-Nappoli/Youk/Swisher 3B-Middlebrooks SS-Cabrera RF-Choo LF-Ross C- Ross/Lavs Trade Salty and a few C B prospects for Brandon McCarthy or Gavin Floyd. Trade Doubront, Igelsias, Ranaudo and other lower level prospects for Choo, Masterson and Cabrera. Sign Nappoli, Youk or Swisher to play firstbase and convicnce Ross to come back because he will suck outside of Fenway. This leaves a rotation of Lester Buchholz Floyd/McCarthy Masterson Lackey Still no real number one (unless Lester regains his 08-10 form, or buchholz finally develops some consistency), but a vast improvement over what we saw last year. Do you think it's possible?

What kind of package do you think it would take to get Choo, Masterson and Cabrera?

Jason Bay was just released by the mets today. Maybe we could sign him for small money, stick him in left and sign Torii hunter/Cody Ross to play RF. Sign Youk/Napoli to play first then sign stephen Drew to play SS Ellsbury Pedroia Ortiz Middlebrooks Youk/Napoli Bay Hunter Drew Salty/Lavarnway Bay could have nothing left, but he might be an interesting min. contract option.

I would not make that trade straight up. I honestly think Lackey has more upside then wells for next season. I would try to make the deal, not involving wells if possible. I would definitely consider your alternative deal though.

Why do you keep saying this? Everything you read everywhere says that the Red Sox want Ross and Ross wants the Red Sox. I think you are reading too much into this. Teams know that Cody Ross' swing is made for Fenway park, i really doubt another club is going to give Cody Ross what he is looking for.

1 Jon Lester 2 Clay Buchholz 3 Dan Haren 4 John Lackey 5 Felix Doubront/Francisco Liriano CF Jacoby Ellsbury 2B Dustin Pedroia 3B Will Middlebrooks DH David Ortiz 1B Kevin Youkilis RF Cody Ross LF Delmon Young C Ryan Lavarnway/Salty SS Stephen Drew Playoff team if Lester, Buchholz, Lackey, return to career norms and the lineup stays healthy.

Also, Garnett's rotations on defense were late all night, he got best in every crucial moment.

Rajon's numbers look great, but his head was not in the game most of the night

Just because people don't post on a forum, doesn't mean they have lost their fandom. Jesus

s***, forgot about this thread.

I can't believe it's time to start another NBA season, and I can't believe that this Celtic team has found a way to re-stack itself into what I consider a strong contender for an NBA title this season. Let's take a look. Kevin Garnett- C Kg is coming off his best year since 2007-2008, he is another year older and he is always at risk for another injury. If KG can harness what he did from the all-star break on last year, the Celtics are going to be a force to be reckoned with. Jerod Sullinger/Brandon Bass - PF Sullinger has looked extremely promising for a rookie in preseason games. He has excellent basketball instincts, especially around the basket. Very athletic, gives the celtics some great versatility compared what they had last year. Brandon Bass is back, which I think is a positive thing. I think sometimes he can put his head down to much and be way to shoot happy, but when he is on he is a great force in the lineup. I expect that he and sullinger will make the celtics very solid at the PF spot. Paul Pierce - SF As with KG, another year closer to the end but that doesn't mean he can't still bring it. With Jeff Green coming back, I expect Pierce to play less minutes, and be able to bring it at the same level due to the decreased amount of minutes. Hell, he might even be more effective on the court if they are able to limit him to 27-30 minutes a game. It did wonders for KG last season. Paul has to be a scoring/defensive force for the Celtics to be legit title contenders this season. I expect 17 PPG, 29.5 MPG, 5 RPG. Jeff Green, Courtney Lee, Avery Bradely, Wow, we lost Ray Allen- but honestly who cares? When Bradley comes back in late December doc is going to have a lot of talent at his disposal. I think trading for Courtney Lee was a great move, he adds great intangables, solid deep shooting (40% from 3 last year) and he is only 26. Great move, he is no Ray Allen, but honestly Ray Allen is no Ray Allen anymore. The one thing that is going to be missed about Ray, is that he always made the big shot. Hopefully one of these guys can step into that role. Jeff Green after coming off heart surgery has looked awesome in the preseason. Creating offense, showing great athletic ability, and he is a solid shooter as well. I see him playing 30 minutes a game at the 2 and 3, and being in the game during crunch time. Jeff is only 24, so I believe he will be a great player to build around. If Avery Bradley can come back healthy, we have a defensive stopper. He also showed the ability to score the ball late last season, which allowed him to take over for Ray as the year went along. He is also only 22 years old, expect great improvement from him every game as he continues to develop. Rajon Rondo- PG Rondo has matured and continues to put himself in the conversation for who the best PG in the league is. It also seems like he has taken on a major leadership role with the team, and has put the days where the coaches and FO would get ticked off at him in the past. When Rondo is at the top of his game, the celtics are almost unbeatable. At 26 years old, he is the leader of the celtics present and future. Should be fun to watch as always. Other parts- Jason Terry- provides instant offense off the bench. I think this guy has the ability to make the big shot when called upon. At 34 how much does he have in the tank? Who knows, but he looked pretty good in the preseason. Darko Milicic- This guy defines the word disappointing- however, in the right role motivated by the players around him I think he can be a solid role player. He is big, active and has some nice moves near the basket. Look for Darko to be a positive presence when he enters the game. Overall I think the celtics are an improved squad from a team that went to game 7 of the eastern conference finals. Pierce and Garnett have to stay healthy for us to contend, but if DOC can manage the minutes correctly I think this team is going to be fun to watch and could very well be playing for the title in June. I think the key is going to be how much the influx of youthful back court players will pump energy into this team, energy this team clearly needed after watching them play the last few seasons. I predict a very solid 58-24 record and a 2 seed in the playoffs. It will be another heat/celtics ECF if everyone stays healthy and things go according to plan.

Honestly, the team was about a .500 most of the season. I don't think the 69-93 record truly represents the talent level of the team. Ortiz will be back healthy, Ellsbury will have an off-season to strengthen the shoulder, hopefully Buchholz and Lester will get their heads screwed on straight. Lackey could be a dark horse next season, if he can regain what he was in 2009 the Red Sox could have a very good staff next year. IMO, if the Red Sox Sign a 1B (Youk Perhaps) Sigh an OF (say we get Lind in the trade for Farrell) Re-sign Ortiz and Ross Sign a # 2 starter (for shits and giggles say Jake Peavy) This is what the sox are looking like Ellsbury-CF Pedroia-2B Middlebrooks-3B Ortiz-DH Youk-1B Ross-RF Lind/Swisher-LF C-Lavs/Salty SS-Iggy/Stephen Drew?? That lineup doesn't suck and if it remained healthy probably would be a top offense in the AL. No how about pitching. Let's say that Lester and Buchholz regain form and Lackey is healthy next year and we sign a solid number 2/3 type guy. Buchholz Lester Peavy Lackey Doubront/Morales Honestly, IMO if things swing right we could be a playoff team next year, especially with how brittle the Yankees looked at the end of this season.

What about signing Youkilis to a 2 year 12 million dollar deal to play 1B? I honestly think with Bobby gone he would consider coming back here, and it might not be a bad 2 year investment. I know the guy is on a complete down swing, but at 34 there is still a chance that he could be a really solid player for us, and help fill a hole at first base for a few years while we search for a more long term option.