seabeachfred

700, we both said two things. Earlier before ST we both said out loud that Cook was a broken down old mule, but we changed our tune when we saw him in ST. He both surprised and pleased us and I insisted he should be kept on the Red Sox roster. Today should have clinched it. He looks like he is back and we need to get this guy up as soon as we can. Remember, if we do not bring him up by May 1, he will opt out of his contract and start winning for some other organization that doesn't have a bunch of dumpkopfs running their front office.

My first full year as a RedSox fan MVP---and it was a long summer and a rotten September. The only consolation for me came when the Sox came to Anaheim and won a game with a big 8th inning rally. Aside from that the team sucked and the managers, Jimy and Joey, sucked bigger than the players did.

And that could prove to be another achilles heel for the RedSox Sox Sport. If we get off to another lousy start (and we are well on our way to do just that), it may be time to shitcan the "we like veterans" crap and bring up some of our young prospects like Lavarnway and Middlebrooks and put them in the lineup. We haven't reached that point obviously but did you see Youkilis today? He looks like he is declining right before our eyes. Keep in mind that we could have upwards of 28 million dollars next winter for needed pitching if we can finally say adois to Ortiz and not pick up Kevin's option. We need to get younger sooner or later and this year might be just the time to do it if we look headed into the toilet by the end of June.

Because Cook is healthy this year and he wasn't much of last year. Secondly, he pitched exceptionally well down in Florida while Bard and others didn't. To me things are so unsettled with our bullpen that while I don't "pine" for him, he would seem to be an improvement to our pitching staff---and that means Bard needs to go to the bullpen whether you want that to happen or Cherington in the GM's office. In my opinion Bard is not going to be the successful as a starter and will be returned to the bullpen anyway so why not put him there now where we need some good arms in the worst way. We've already seen that in Game No. 1.

EX1, my post said "whether or not Ex1 is straining himself". I take that to mean you might be doing it or you might not be doing it. Either way, only you knew and you just told me and a700 that you are not straining. You might also feel better than the best closer in baseball history just blew a save and a game for his team. You might also read my post again and only this time a little more carefully. I think I remarked that it won't be known until the end of the month if our bullpen is as s***** as I think it is. The hidden meaning was I could be wrong. Right now we don't have a credible closer, and we don't have a decent bullpen. If we see replays of this going on to the end of this month, I am going to expect y ou and others who think our bullpen woes are that much of a problem to get with the program and believe that it is a very serious problem. Let me also say that the Sox WILL have to take action about our bullpen, like maybe bringing up Cook to start and sending Bard to the pen where I always thought he belonged even though I wonder if he is mentally equipped to close. He certainly has proven he can be a good set-up 8th inning man. Glad we got this thing cleared up EX.

Back to Beckett for a moment a700....If we can go out and get him five runs we will win the game Saturday. However, no Melancon this time around

Oh boy Jung, one more thing to worry about. Let's pray that Josh has his head cleared because we are going to need a lot from this guy, not to mention Jon and Clay. In fact, we are going to need the whole kitchen sink to make a real run for it this season.

Maybe if Ross and Melancon and later Cook work out well Ben will win some points in these quarters. It is what it is User and we have to go into the season tomorrow with what we have. It would be very nice if the players rose to the occasion and over-achieved in the early going. It might breed confidence and give them the spark that could carry them on. I wonder if Henry and Lucchino might open their wallets a little near the trading deadline if we need a pitcher or two for the stretch run? Of course we have to be in the running for that to happen, wouldn't we?

Swab Ben's deck is just another way of saying of covering for the guy--a little more wordy but nothing meant to be personal. Let's see how this opening series with the Tigers work out. It would be nice if we could take two of three in Motown.

How about we go back to the issue at hand which I think is Bard as a starter. I hope it works out; I'm not saying it will though. I have grave misgivings about Bard in the rotation. My take is that someone in the front office did not think he was cut out to be a closer because it seemed like he was never considered for it. This is one move that has to work or the ripple effect will be seen throughout the pitching staff as well as in the rotation. I will say this, though. If he and Doubrant become our version of Colon and Garcia it will not only signal that some luck is finally coming our way again, it will signal that we go from a mediocre rotation to possibly a very good one.

I'm not sure either kapsis. I know Aceves is a competitive fireball and mean as hell when he's on the mound, but his multiple innings will be missed. It would be nice if sometimes during the season if Melancon suddenly saves a few games when Ace is not pitching and we make the switch. I think Alfredo will be needed for more than one inning because with guys like Albers, Morales and Bowden down there my stomach will be churning every time we take a lead into the seventh and eighth. Our starters are going to have to go deeper into games this year, that's all.

Read the post you reacted to. I laid out a small laundry list of mistakes the guy has made. OK, you take your time to assess Ben as a GM; I have already pretty much made up my mind. If Ross and Melancon work out well for us the assesment could change but right now I am not impressed at all in what I've seen from Cherington. We'll just have to agree to disagree.....again. Just don't take it personally.

If things don't pick in a hurry you aren't going to enjoy the ride for very long. Perhaps you prefer to gloss over the inequities of our team but some of us don't. I still think we could make something of this season but with players starting to drop like raindrops the margin for error has reached critical mass. Personnel mistakes were made this past off season like resigning Ortiz when he needed pitching, letting Epstein go to Chicago and then bungling the compensation issue, trading for a closer who is little more than paper mache and gets on the DL every time he burps, not to mention trading Scutaro and getting nothing in return for him and not using the six million we saved from that trade to get a much needed picture. Learn something from the get-go Peddy; I live and die with the Red Sox and it infuritates me when I see things happening to them that never should. I can only hope that tomorrow when the team takes the field they will prove themselves better than the clowns in the front office who supposedly leads them. That will make all of us smile.

That's your "assesment" User and how you can defend Cherington when no one in the Boston media or press is just boggles the mind. He has been a disaster from Day One, first getting shined on by the Cubs over the compensation for Epstein, then compounding it with that trade for the tin man who gets injured every time he blinks. The guy is risk adverse, has trouble making a decision, and is nothing more than a replacement clone for the departing GM, the one, who BTW, was appointed over bungling Ben back in 2003. Keep swabbing Ben's deck if you like UN but I will go by what I'm seeing. We not only need a closer, we need a GM who knows what the hell he's doing and doesn't lean on Carmine the Computer like a crutch. Why don't you tune in Felzer and Mazz and see what they have to say. I'm afraid you are in a shrinking minority of Ben's Boosters.

How about Morales? Absolutely no Ex1. Colorado pitching coach Bob Apodaca is an old friend of mine, used to play ball for me in my early coaching days. He says plainly that while Morales does possess good stuff, he is woefully inconsistent and does not handle pressure very well---and this from a guy who worked with him for four seasons. Sorry that dog will not hunt. I agree that a good starter is more valuable than a good reliever but not necessarily better than a closer. Remember 2003?????? Closer by committee for three months? Cost us the division, most likely cost us the pennant as well since we lost home field advantage. In my opinion Bard should have been annointed closer as soon as Papelbon signed with the Phillies. I have some doubts about how tough Dan is but I know he has the stuff to be a successful one if he has the heart, guts and balls to rise above his doubts.

Ted, there are some of us here who see clearly what a farce this GM is and how much damage he has done with some of the most ridiculous signings imaginable, but we have some friends here who want to believe in the worst way that the GM has done a good job and want to see him succeed in the worst way. Even worse, we get criticized when we try to show that the guy has been about as bad as a GM could be. He has company too. Why in God's name did he bring in a new manager, a totally different cat from Francona but kept a leftover from the old regime? It didn't make much sense then and it makes even less now. You almost think that the front office is going what they can to sabotage the team. I just hope the team rises above all this crap and decides to go out there and make amends for last year and forget for awhile what a bunch of yo yos are paying their salaries.

Pretty sad if you ask me and even if you don't ask me.....and I think a lot of this comes back to the ineptness of Cherington. I've said for months that the team should have brought in a more experienced man to be GM, one who knew baseball and didn't depend on Carmine the Computer. Cherington has proven to be a second rate patsy and I'm sorry for those of you who still defend him. Bringing in a new manager and then recycling a new GM from the previous failed regime is a experiment in failure. Someone said when Cook is ready. He looks to be a helluva lot more ready than some of the stiffs I've seen of late.

I thought we ended the jinxes in 2004 SCM. Seems to me that we've been subjected to more than our share of these tragic events since we won our second title in 2007. I mean, does this s*** ever end? I hope Bobby has a plan to work out of this because it is going to take all the managerial acumen the guy possesses. What about Cook? Think he may have earned a shot in the rotation? The guy has pitched well all Spring; maybe he will be one of our new acquisitions who will not come up a turkey. I'd be willing to give him a shot.

It does seem like a sad situation RSNC and that's because it is. We are entering the season woefully shorthanded and are expecting that Aceves can magically emerge as a closer. I have a lot of confidence in Alfredo and consider him a warrior but isn't that a lot to expect from him since he has never closed before? As for Bailey, you wonder if he's put together with spit and bailing wire. Keep your fingers crossed that the news we get on Beckett tomorrow is a helluva lot better than what we got on Bailey today. For the record, on another board I predicted that Bailey would be out awhile---a long while. It didn't take brains to figure it out; just his history. Didn't pop off about it here because we really need some upbeat feeling at this time. Here's one. Cook threw well today, has thrown well all Spring. You think we might actually have g otten lucky here? We could sure use some of that right now.

Oh boy!!!!! My colleagues, I think there is a blizzard coming on. I can vouch for 700 and a couple of others who warned that Bailey was a tin man when we got him. Well, you injure yourself on the first day of ST and then mysteriously hurt your thumb and don't even know how you did it? You know guys, Cook pitched pretty well today. You suppose in light of what's been going down we face reality, put him in the rotation and pray that he holds up---and send Bard to the bullpen, at least until Beckett gets back? Remember, we don't need a fifth starter until the 11th game. What could be wrong with that?

Please guys, don't get into a tizzy fit among yourselves because of me. I do rant and easily get pissed off but being in my early 70's people like me were that way way way way back and I appreciate SCM and MVP 78 asking me to try and calm myself. They're good guys as far as I'm concerned. 700 is close to being my best friend on this board so I really wish you guys would stop arguing among yourselves. 700, since you seem to understand me the best it must be because you have old Brooklyn blood in you. As your Dad could attest old Dodger fans were rabid, diehard, ardent, passionate and a little crazed. When I lived in Queens, whenever Brooklyn lost I would be the one who my friends ribbed and kidded the most. It took me almost five decades to find another team so to me the Red Sox are still a novelty and it really kills me when things go wrong. I promise all of you this. I will do my damndest to cool my rhetoric this coming season, but to you SCM I tried to change my avatar but can't seem to find the means to do it. I'll keep t rying. I don't like that picture either.