seabeachfred

Laser, I should have addressed my post to all of you instead just to my friend Ted. To me the rumor of our trade for Floyd for one of our catchers means we don't spend a lot of money in such a deal which enables us to have enough cash to make a big signing. Napoli's inking of the three year deal gives us the extra RH hitter we need so we could afford to add another lefty, one with great power as well and still leave us with enough left over cash to sign a pitcher like Haren. It might be another pitcher but for some reason I think the Sox are going to go after Josh Hamilton this time.

Ted---I could be way off the mark but I think I finally have zeroed in on what the Red Sox are going to do. With Napoli's signing (1B--reserve catcher, etc), they are going hard after Hamilton for the outfield, will make that trade with the White Sox for Floyd, and then use some moderate cash to sign Dan Haren. That would conclude their major winter shopping and with only some work on the edges from now until ST. Is it possible I might be on the right track? It sure looks that way to me right now.

Not today they're not.....and what is your take on this deal? A good one or what? And what do we do next?

Not from me you won't. Ben did a helluva job with this signing. Kuddos to him.

We're on the same page with this Forsyth....I'm pumped by this deal too. I think it is a helluva good one and it gives us something we need badly, a good RH power hitter who is versatile---Catcher, lB, DH. Ben did a helluva job on this and made me get egg over my face. So what!!!!!! Glad to have been wrong. It is only a start but a great start. We got Mike for three years and while I'm not sure about the 40 homers, in the 30's is a distinct possibility and it offers avenues into other trades since we're up to our sweetbreads in catching. I do hope, though, that we don't lose Lavarnway. I still see him as a good power hitting catcher with a big upside. Right now, though, I want to celebrate. Now how about Marcum and or Haren, Swisher? Maybe this will be a WM to remember.

And I'll say it again UN----it's a hell of a deal and hooray for Ben. Cherington came through this time arou nd. It's only a start but a good one and I actually think he might have crossed his Rubicon with this deal and I expect him now to do even a better job. Nice to have been wrong. I was afraid we might come home empty. Again, kuddos to Ben.

And we got him and I have egg on my face and it will be a pleasure wiping it off. This is great news, a terrific signing and I go on record now that if Napoli craps out of the Red Sox I will not g et on Ben for it. Frankly, I think this will be a very good move by our team. It gives us depth and flexibility at a key spot, a RH power bat that does well at Fenway, and opens up avenues for more deals. It may only be a beginning but it is a good start-----good work Cherington. A couple more signings like this and I will have to zip it tight. Good day's work Ben.:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Sometimes Forsyth the truth really hurts, but even if you didn't like what I wrote, please me one thing in my post that was incorrect. There wasn't anything. You just didn't like hearing it. Think about Lester this past season and tell me three things you liked about his performance. You would be very hard pressed to.

I would like an extra starting pitcher to go along with Haren and a first baseman, RF and SS would make most of us happy here, but I don't think it's going to go that way. After hearing some of the s*** Cherington mouthed t he past 24 hours I really think he is coming home from the WM empty handed. The guy is a total weenie and would rather do nothing than take a chance and make a move. Pathetic is too kind a word for that useless bum.

The only lock Lester is sure of is that he will once again get off to a crappy start, just as he has done every year for us, even in his good years. Besides that, he was absolute s*** last year on the mound, especially at home. His attitude was pathetic, always arguing calls with umpires and then crmbling apart. We finished last with him so we can do without him. A trade for Will Myers would be a good one for us since it is doubtful Lester will get his infintile s*** together. I wish it weren't so because I was one of his biggest fans a couple of years ago, but for his sake and especially for the team we need to get rid of this crud. He has become part and parcel of what was described this season as a very unlikeable team.

Jung, I can't agree with you on Swisher but I do know how you feel. It is exactly the same way I would feel if Cherington crapped out on getting a first baseman and resigned James baLoney to another contract. I despise that guy like maybe only you can imagine. He simply sucks and brings zilch to the clubhouse.

You don't have to guess what I think he is Ted besides being a pathetic excuse for a GM. He is a tentative, risk averse, gutless bum who when he is finally fired it will come out from others and maybe even from him that his fear of making a mistake and pulling the trigger to get the team up to speed was his undoing, and undoing is right because he won't get near another GM job.

You don't have to guess what I think he is Ted besides being a pathetic excuse for a GM. He is a tentative, risk averse, gutless bum who when he is finally fired it will come out from others and maybe even from him that his fear of making a mistake and pulling the trigger to get the team up to speed was his undoing, and undoing is right because he won't get near another GM job.

To lefthanded Jung and therefore IMO doomed to defeat. We need RH power, not an overabundance of lefthanded hitters. Too damn many good southpaw pitchers in our division. Again my opinion.

Each Red Sox fan must take stock of such a situation and make the tough choices and for me it has become very easy. I will NOT go on a Red Sox Destination Travel Junket next season. It costs me between $2,300-2,700 for every trip, taking in hotel, games, spending money, air fare, and Red Sox gear. If enough people take the same tack in their own set of circumstances, either the owner will wake up or sell the team. When I think about it, for the first time I definitely don't give a rat's ass whether I see Fenway next year or not. I'll watch them on my computer and on ESPN when they are on there. It is one thing to root hard for the team and feel like crap when they lose but to lose a wad of money while seeing them do it isn't worth the pain. I had flown in for five Opening Home Series, ending in 2011, but like others want to get their money's worth. Seeing the pig of the team we had this past season it just wasn't worth the anguish---and Henry better start seeing that like yesterday or sell out and get the hell out of town.

True Jung, but from what I've been seeing of late I get the impression that ownership and their front office people either 1, don't know what to do; 2, don't give a s*** what happens anymore; or 3, are preparing to throw in the towel and put the team up for sale if the fans are going to accept the crappy teams they are now putting on the field. Some may keep stubbornly disagreeing but if something is done or accomplished at the Winter Meeting and all we hear is the same old laying the ground work s***, those still giving Henry and Co. their full support should start reading the tea leaves.

Hey my friend, I don't know what you're seeing from your eye living in Oregon but I find it strange we're not seeing the same thing with me in California. I don't give a s*** where you live because in my opinion if you got the MLB package and can see the Red Sox on TV every game, or watch them on ESPN when they are on there, well, speaking only for myself and a few of my fellow Red Sox friends in my neighborhood---BROTHER WE ARE INVESTED IN THE TEAM EVERY FRIGGIN GAME. I don't have to live in Boston to walk the floors at night after our team suffers another loss. OK, maybe you've rooted for the team for so long that you are imune to the trials and travails of the team; I don't know how old you are so this is just a guess. There are some of us who just literally get sick when the team loses. Let's see what happens at the winter meetings EX1. Maybe some good news for a change will buoy all of us up a little.

IMO, I have become convinced that the reason for all this ******** and no action whatsoever is that messrs Henry and Lucchino simply do not know what they really want to do, and their inertia has resulted in kicking tires, feigning interest, talking to this guy and that and not doing a frigging thing to get a name on a contract. I could have added "Bunglin' Ben to the group but I'm more convinced than ever that he is nothing more than a non-entity---a penguin in the garden, a polar bear in the park, or a shark in the tree. If you've been reading the running commentary from my pal 700 and friend EX 1 you see that there is some disagreement among them and to me that stems from the fact that they do not know what the tea m is up to any more than you or I or Henry or Larry do. The team is in a state of total confusion with inept and indecisive leadership and that may be why we get battered from foul pole to foul pole next season unless the front office gets their collective heads out of their asses and decides on a course of action----like stopping all the BS and start getting some names on contracts. Another day shot and nothing to show for it while other teams continue to make moves.

Jung---I think in this case you might be underestimating the Red Sox fandom. I would bet they ALL could tell you that in 2007 the Red Sox won the World Series, and that 95% of them can tell you that the team led the American League in pitching. The problem from where I sit is that there aren't that many game changing pitchers out there in FA. The Phillies and Giants made sure their top potential FA pitchers were extended, and you know that the team is not going to get into a bidding war for either Greinke or Sanchez. I'll take a page out of EX1's book and say that the front office is counting heavily on Lester and Buchholz coming back strong (and healthy) and that Doubrant and Lackey surprise all of us while we focus on a couple of inning eaters, No. 3 and 4 types in FA or in trades. I think we all know you win first of all with solid starting pitching. We just have to hope somehow we can get that again.

Yet when the Red Sox had their talk with Napoli earlier this week they did NOT offer him a contract, not even a hint of one. Once again LL is playing games and risking something else blowing up in his miserable face. I haven't liked the way things have been going since then. LL and Henry have the ability to screw things up in ways hard to describe. Notice I haven't mentioned Cherington. After Larry's bloviating with the press and media the past few days it has dawned on me that Ben is nothing more than Fredo, an empty suit.

Totally in sinc with that BSN. I already told RS84 that LaRoche with us and not Napoli would make us too lefthanded. Mike could play first, catch and occasionally DH while Swisher could play the OF and occasionally lB. More RH hitting for our ballpark and more of a challenge to all the LH pitchers in the AL East. I just don't like Gomez in any part of our team. Terrible defensively, not the sharpest mental tool in the shed and a career minor leaguer. Sands? A possibiity in the OF or first.

RS84--- it might happen that way but IMO this would not be good for us. It would make us too left handed playing our home games in a park that's tailor made for RH batters. That, plus with all the good LH pitchers in the AL East we would be more vulnerable than ever. We need RH hitters.

Don't go there Forsythe. Never ever underestimate the Yankees. We've been bloodied by them before, thinking we had first dibs on a player only to have that team swoop down and take Damon and Teixeira away from us. If they know we want a player and it is one they could use too, all they have to do is wait until Lucchino and Henry try to get too clever, split hairs and nitpick their way away from that player. If the Red Sox want Napoli they had better sign him soon......like tomorrow, or the Yankees will get in the game.

Makes sense to me Forsythe. One more year and keep from losing a draft choice, which are becoming like gold with each passing year. Besides, Napoli has versatility. He can catch, play first, DH (which he could slide into after Ortiz finally leaves after the 2014 season. I just hope they enter the Winter Meetings with a solid plan and an alternate one and come home with some concrete signings. Coming home without having made a couple of signings is not a sign of patience and careful deliberation in my opinion but inertia and an incapabiity of getting the job done. If they can't pull a trigger or two here can we really expect them to do it the rest of the month while, most likely, the few attractive FA disappear from the screen. I hope this time they strike paydirt because it is now high time for them to do something.

BSN, it seems like Napoli, Laroche, Swisher and all the choice cuts out there all want at least three years. If we hold tight to two year contracts it most likely means we could end up with bumpkiss, pretty much like last year. That can only mean three things. One, they really believe Travis Shaw is a future comer even though last time I checked he wasn't listed in our top 20 prospects, let along o ur top ten. Secondly, Henry is going to hold on to his filthy money and use the dumpster again to fill in holes. Tickets bu yers get ready to boycott the games. Or three, they actually would consider bringing back the miserable James Loney to platoon with Moron Gomez for another year or two. A total recipe for disaster.