seabeachfred

Way too lefthanded Ex---and that would make us very vulnerable to all the good pitchers in the AL East. In my opinion, one of the OF's we get must be a RH hitter with power.

I'm not so sure MVP. I have been one of Ben's biggest critics and I would love to be able to say....HOT DAMN, WHAT A GREAT MOVE BY BEN; DIDN'T THINK HE HAD IT IN HIM BUT BY GOD HE DOES. I also guarantee you if I can say it anyone on this board can. BTW, have you heard the rumor we're about ready to sign Johnny Gomes? I got a message from a friend to that piece of news.

So who would you suggest Spit Ball? Shane Victorino? Johnny Gomes? Ross is better than those two and I don't know what other reasonably priced OF's are left. I do agree with you that we shouldn't overspend on him but here is a guy who hits well in Fenway, hits LHpitchers well and wants to play for the Red Sox. I think what is important is that if Cherington blow the Ross signing we replace him with a better player, not a worse one.

I'm afraid you're not all wet Jung because Cherington is a risk averse and gutless bum who simply cannot make a decision because of his timidness. This looks like a replay of last off season and we seem to have a number of apologists for the man who apparently forgot of the miserable job he did last off season. I mean why hasn't Cody Ross been signed? He should have been already. We know what he can do and all liked the way he performed this year. We have the money, we need to start doing something NOW!!!!!!! Keep in mind, we are not coming off a drumfire season; we are coming of an unmitigated disaster of one and a sense of urgency is needed very badly and it doesn't seem to be happening. So much for Bunglin' Benny's hit the ground running. The guy is a sad joke. :thumbdown:thumbdown:thumbdown:thumbdown:thumbdown:thumbdown:thumbdown

If telling it like it is is being an ass then I plead guilty. Coming from you is a little surprising UN because last off season and into the beginning of the regular campaign you were saying things were going to be ok and pretty much taking the party line. I also heard that when things didn't improve and blew the team out of the water y ou disappeared from the board----so I was told. Whether thats true or not, I don't enjoy posting things like I did that you found so offensive. I was personally scarred by what went down last season as were so many Red Sox fans. We cannot afford another miserable off season and regular year as we had this year.

Only so because it doesn't conform to your surprisingly rose colored picture of Cherington. Just take a good look at some of the stiffs he stuck us with last season and that should speak for itself. If you can't remember the names I can help you---Melancon, Bailey, Padilla, Carpenter, Stewart, Lillibridge, Repko, Valencia, Beato, Ohlendorf, Silva, Thomas. Add them up and you come up with one word----CRAP!!!!!!! Now I'm supposed to have confidence in a guy like that? Sorry. Can't be done. The test will be up to you and ot her Cherington supporters and acolytes when this off season is done. I know I will stand done if he pleasantly surprises me, but I'm also convinced that some of "Benny's Babes" will be still waxing poetic about the guy. I would hope you're not one of them SCM.

For what it's worth, I have had doubts about that patsy since he became GM. If you notice almost every time he is in a picture there is Lucchino sitting right next to him. The guy is not only a procrastinator, he is totally risk averse, afraid to make a move, and always late in making one. He appears to have absolutely no confidence in himself. Now let me say right off that I HOPE I AM VERY WRONG AND CATCH HELL FOR IT IF THAT IS PROVEN BY SOME GREAT MOVES SOON, but I'm guessing that when all is said and done our colleagues on this board will be agreeing with us that Cherington as GM is a total disaster. I think the guy is worthless.

Wow MVP, talk about putting things in perspective-----right on my friend, and damn good on your part to remind me of that. I live in the LA area and I can tell you McCourt was a sleaze bag of the first order, a top rated liar and phony who kept talking about how he was going to make his team great but nearly killed the franchise. There would have been no titles in 2004 and 2007 if he has gotten the team. I remember some guy at a local eatery tell me his good fortune was our bad fortune until I took off my windbreaker and showed him my Red Sox shirt. Appaently you Bostinians had this guy pegged right from the start.

Yes sir Bub, I'll get right on it. You know, though, this is as far fetched as some may think it is. Francona is new to Cleveland and we would like to avoid the abuse he got in Philly (totally deserved) and what he had to endure in Boston (deserved only the last three years). I really think Cleveland is desirous of rebuilding its franchise and this way it would give Terry and GM Antonetti a few years of cover to retool their team. Cabrera would net them two or three good young prospects and he is sure a hell of a lot better than what we can put out at SS next season. I think I would like such a deal just fine. However, keep in mind that we will cost us a blue chip prospect and a gold one as well.

Well MVP, I concede to you on that with no hesitation whatsoever. I'm out here in So.Cal and we rarely get any stories coming out of Boston. We have to hear the same old worn out propaganda pieces on the damn Dodgers and their kinky neighbors to the South. What I do find interested is that you give the impression that you believe that Henry is getting ready to sell the team while our friend Ex thinks it's all a smoke screen. So how the hell am I going to be able to separate fact from fiction. If the Red Sox are not going to be sold (via Ex) I would think that money will be spent to upgrade the team. If you are right we could be in for a real skinflint and cheapskate winter. What a disappointing year.....The Lakers sucked, the Red Sox sucked worse, the Raiders and Dolphins are pathetic and even my party came a cropper this election. I can use some good news for a change.

Fair enough Ex but there has been no report or rumor that Henry is looking for a buyer for his team but is rather going to play an more important role in the team since he has given up his b usiness. Of course, he isn't a whiz himself when it comes to baseball knowledge and could wind up meddling too much and make things worse. Still it would mean he has the money and is willing to spend it. However, if Feb. comes and we the likes of types like Cook, Germano, Silv, Repko, Padilla, Lillibrige, Thomas, Gathright, Hermida, the types we've gotten stuck with these past five or so years, I think there should a lot of alarm bells going off on this board and no more defending this poor excuse for a GM

Fair enough Ex but there has been no report or rumor that Henry is looking for a buyer for his team but is rather going to play an more important role in the team since he has given up his b usiness. Of course, he isn't a whiz himself when it comes to baseball knowledge and could wind up meddling too much and make things worse. Still it would mean he has the money and is willing to spend it. However, if Feb. comes and we the likes of types like Cook, Germano, Silv, Repko, Padilla, Lillibrige, Thomas, Gathright, Hermida, the types we've gotten stuck with these past five or so years, I think there should a lot of alarm bells going off on this board and more defending this poor excuse for a GM

He doesn't since I have already accepted that the guy is a total d ud and unfit for his job. To me he is a patsy and nothing more, but it might help you a tad if he showed some ability I and others don't think he has. If we have a replica of the off season we had last winter it is going to be very difficult for you at best to maintain the facade of a Cherington fan when evidence to the contrary will be so overwhelming. OTOH, I can concede being wrong if proven wrong, but I saw it last winter. No matter how miserable he does he's still going to have his little helpers shuking his corn some next Spring

Ben is slower than dirt, is risk averse and takes eons to make a decision, BUT HE COULD ALWAYS TALK-----and really that's all we've gotten out of him so far. Some like SCM say he might be biding his time. OK on that, but I saw what went down last year. He was awful....and it's not like we're coming off a drumfire season. Hell, we were 69-93 this past season, dead last in the division and with another disastrous September. I suggested we could find out if Cherington really has the balls to act like a credible GM and actually say he is going after this or that guy. There's no secret because every other GM knows what we need---but by dithering and crawling at a snail's pace will not get the job done and I would like what kind of Benny defense is going down if people like Swisher, Napoli, Ross and Kuroda come and go and we're left holding the bag on the stiffs that are left over. Because of our miserable 2012 season, our choke collapse of 2011 and the fact that for the last five seasons we haven't won dung, I think a little sense of urgency might be a good idea.

We could get a better handle on this and all patsy Ben needs to do is to announce that he going after this and that guy to sign contracts with the Red Sox and make them a monetary offer that isn't a cheap joke. If he goes through with it and we get one or two or three of the said players we would be assurred that t he guy is in charge and pulling the trigger. If those offers are s uddenly contradicted or pulled back even the pollyannas on all the boards would be able to see that the guy is nothing more than a flnky and that Lucchino still has his rotten palsied hands on the Red Sox ship of state and is on co urse to run the team into the ground as he did with the Orioles and Padres before both teams got new ownership and ran the bum out of town. We need answers very quickly as to whether there is someone in charge or if we as dysfntional as we've been the past few years. For my part I have absolutely no confidence in Cherington and believe he is four packs of turd in a one pound package.:thumbdown:thumbdown:thumbdown:thumbdown:thumbdown

It would be nice to take SCM's advice and give the guy a chance to redeem himself but his own words betray him....to wit....WHEN THIS SEASON IS OVER I EXPECT TO HIT THE GROUND RUNNING. Those were Benny's own words and so far he has made glacial seem like Speedy Gonzales. The guy operates at two levels---slower and slowest and seems to have a great deal of trouble pulling the trigger or even making a decision. How all this inactivity and the paltry move of getting a second string catcher adds up to hitting the ground running is beyond me. If the guy is a stooge as I personally suspect we have total dysfunction in the front office. The last four years have been a disaster and all the good will that Prune Face Henry had garnered in his first half-dozen years as majority owner has been wiped away like piss down the porcelan. Now players like Hunter and Cabrera have signed nice contracts the prices for people like LaRoche and Napoli will only go higher. Cherington no doubt will also fail to resign Cody Ross and most likely we will get a lesser player like the fast fading Shane Victorino who has less power and run producing ability than Ross has. Sorry guys, I think I have Cherington pegged and have since he became a GM. He is stooge and, worse, is unfit for the job.

Masterson's delivery makes him a sitting duck to lefthanded hitters. When he was with the Red Sox they ate him alive. It's the same with Choo as a LH hitter. He is woefully pathetic against LH pitching. If we are going to sign-trade for these type of players we should know about their weaknesses as well as their strengths. Now if we are talking about Adsubral Cabrera, that's a horse of a different color. He'd be worth the gamble along with their closer Perez. Francona is just getting his feet wet in Cleveland and one way to give himself some breathing room is for his team to undergo a complete rebuilding job. It would guarantee the guy him at least two or three years of freedom before the wolves descend upon him.

I'll tell you what I think Doj----we had better stop looking backward and start looking to the future. Jerry Sands is a terrific young prospect who only needs a chance to show what he has. He's young (25), can play both first and outfield and we need help there badly, and please get this through your mind---unless we seriously upgrade our pitching we are going nowhere next season for the simple reason t hat Lester and Buchholz are totally unequipped to handle the Nos 1 and 2 spots in the rotation because of a lack of mental toughness and perhaps even God given ability. Youk is not coming back to Boston and he shouldn't. I loved the guy but he's yesterday's news and we have finally stop looking and reliving the past and look ahead. We need to retool.

SoxSport, I just got it from another board that it was Lucchino who made the final decision on Ortiz and not Cherington. I think it has become pretty obvious that Benny is little more than an errand boy for the powers-that-be and we have have in the guy perhaps the most inept GM in all of baseball. Balls and Brains with that person is an oxymoron and he is very slow to act because he totally risk averse. Great if he could wake up and smell the coffee but most likely he would be out getting it for Henry and Lucchino first.

Red3---Rumors are rife out here in So. Cal that the Dodgers have made Ethier available for a trade, the hint being that they may be in the running for Hamilton or Grienke and that Andre's trade would free up some serious cash. Keep in mind though that while Ethier has a lot of talent, he is woefully weak against lefthanded pitching and he hasn't been getting better at it the past few years. He could actually wind up as a platoon OF and with an $85 million four year contract that's a lot of cabbage for a platoon player. I think Sands is a real good bet for us. The problem is if Lucchino forces the issue and says the Red Sox are going for the gold next season, well you can bet your last dime that Sands will not be given the opportunity to develop. That's bogus too because if we do not improve our pitching the hope of a pennant is a pipe dream.

Sands has a lot of upside but the Red So cannot jerk him around as the Dodgers did, sending up and down time and again. The guy has power, can play either left field or first base and has a good solid bat......if they give him a full chance. One thing is certain....I don't want that useless dud Loney back. That guy reall sucks and Cherington should never have alllowed the Dodgers to hand him to us.

Well it seems obvious that Cherington is not a "speedy gonzales" when it comes to moving in for signing players, but you're right. We most likely wouldn't have gotten Papi for one year because I read that at least two teams were interested in him and most likely would have been willing to ante up---the Rangers and another team I can't recall. As for Haren, as I've mentioned before my wife is a big Angels fan and I indulge here with a mini-ticket plan for Angels homes games since she lets me travel all over the place to see the Red Sox. I have to say I was not impressed with the three times I saw Haren pitch this season. Was he having an off year? Was he starting to show wear and tear? Was he losing his top notch stuff of previous seasons? I don't know for sure but after seeing how Lester and Buchholz pitched this season my inclinations would have been to take a chance on this guy. I wonder what Ben is thinking along those lines right now.

I didn't come back here to get pissed off and get some of my colleages angry but I can't help being a little ticked off that once again Cherington showed his ineptness by being slow on the draw and risk averse in the extreme. The guy belong in Chicago being a gofer for his former master Epstink instead of running our team into the ground by his ineptness. The guy just doesn't seem to be able to act proactively. We need starting pitching, we all know that. We also know that we cannot depend on Lester and Buchholz to be our No. 1 and 2 starters because they have proven unable to rise to the occasion in those positions. I also don't hold out much hope they will rebound enough to fill those two roles this season ever. Come on Cherington, show us you're not as pathetic as some of us think you are.

I just came on board and heard this news. You guys are ahead of the curve on this. Now if I had any confidence in the bungling Cherington I would believe he would now swoop down (as one of you said) and get Haren for our team. I mean we can do better than Marmol, can't we? Of course, we can do better t han Cherington too, but we're stuck with him and can only hope that this time around he starts getting things right. I like the Papi signing because we can use the power and I would like him to finish his career in Boston because I think I'm becoming a softy. Still, I think it would have been better to have signed him for one year with a team option. Keep in mind he can't play much defense, has proven to be injury prone and had been injured on many parts of his body the past four or five seasons. Plus he turns 37 this month.

Youk's not my first choice iortiz but I would take him in a second over James Loney. Good God, I hope we don't ask that bum back. He is close to worthless. But do you think Kevin would really want back in Boston?