seabeachfred

That's the Catch 22 right there User. If we don't have the type of player that some other team covets we may be crap out of luck. We could rent a player or two and take over his salary for the remainder of the year, or we could hope some team would be interested in a long term investment in one of our younger players who might be two or three years away, or maybe he had better stay healthy and hope that we can get the job done with the forces we have already at our disposal. If the law of averages means anything this should be our year where some other teams gets the injuries and we stay in one piece for a change.

I'm rooting or the medical staff and our conditioning crew to keep our guys healthy so this year we can go through the season fully armed and ready instead of seeing a third of our team on the casualty list. Less than a week before the first Grapefruit League game and I think this year Valentine will try to win a good share of the gams so we go into the regular season on a high instead of the way we entered it last season. Thank goodness it's a new season.

I've been critical of Cherington myself and have been most of the off season. Who do we believe though? Lucchino and Henry say they are under no financial restraints and Ben acts like he is. Something is amiss here s somewhere. ST is now underway and for better or worse this is the team we are taking into the regular season unless Cherington springs surprise. We'll all be looking at how the players are performing but, truth be told, I'm keeping my eyes on the injury list. For the last three seasons we have been it with a miserable string of injuries, the last two seasons especially hard. I would really like to see how we'd perform if we could keep our guys on the field for almost the whole season. I'd like to say the WHOLE SEASON, but who am I kidding? We never seem to get that kind of a break.

You know User, I've been reading these farm system ratings and haven't commented on them. You know why? I don't take any of them seriiously. They're all over the place anyway. What I do know is that we have some pretty g ood young players down on the farm in "A" Ball who are about ready to make their move. We also have some good ones like Middlebrooks, Lavarnway and Kalish (if he can get healthy) ready to make some kind of a move maybe this season. We did denude our system somewhat with those trades we made for Martinez and Gonzales and these have to be replaced, and they will in a year or two----Vitek, Renaudo, Brentz, Jacobs, to name a few. There are even a couple of young pitching prospects, Barnes and someone else who are projected to maybe make the grade. Right now what I think we should look at is our regular lineup, players who are now mostly in their prime or getting into it like Pedroia, Gonzales, Crawford, Ellsbury, Satalamacchia, Bard, Lester and Aceves. These are the guys we're going to have to depend on and something tells me next year if we need some reinforcements Henry will be more willing to open the wallet. Right now, though, it is THIS season we should all be concerned with.

Iglesias is NOT ready for the Red Sox on just his hitting alone. He couldn't hit a lick in AAA last year and he needs to work on his batting. We all know by now that is a sensational fielder but to be overmatched and force fed at the plate could work to evaporate his confidence. I think the Sox should err on the side of caution and let the kid develop his stroke at Pawtucket and see if he can use his speed to learn to become a base stealer. Sure, you can carry a solid glove in a powerful lineup but all it takes is two or three regulars to have off seasons (read Crawford, Youk and Drew 2011) and you get a big black hole in your lineup. If the kid is that good he will eventially pay dividends. He is not ready to do that yet in my opinion.

Because I enjoy life and being who I am. I also needed to tell Emmz that I am no male chauvinist. Ju st clearing the air young man. Now back to baseball. You tell me young sir---how do you see this season shaping up?

A really good post Palodios and it is hard to find much fault with it. I was a big Jed Lowrie fan and if he can healthy he is going to put up some good numbers with the Astros this season. I wish we would have kept him. The guy is damn good clutch hitter.

I'd like to know who think this dork is. Let me know on the other board we post on.

Since I came on the board this afternoon I have been "treated" to one half-ass insult after another that you have hurled at various other posters. What I have not heard is one scintilla of insight about the team or about any of it players or what might be needed for the team to prosper this year. If this is the best you can do why not just read the posts and refrain from answering until you come up with some information or ideas that will contribute to the discussion. Right now all you are in a bore, and a boring one at that.:thumbdown:thumbdown:thumbdown:thumbdown:thumbdown

Muggah, some of us, and maybe you were one of them, said from the get-go that the RedSox should have brought in a fresh face from outside with full powers as the new GM----someone not connected with the previous failed regime of Blunder and Coma. Instead they put in a recycle job of a mediocrity that was originally passed over in late 2002 for Epstein. Fair enough to say he was chosen because he was safe, pliable and a good runner for coffee and donuts. They can and do control him and that is why we may be in the toilet this season, though I hope not Ask yourself this question.....If Prune Face suddenly decided to sell the team do you think the new owners would keep Cherries ass the GM? The locks to his office would be changed quickly and his ass would be out on Yawkey Way so fast that his feet would never hit the ground.

And just for the record Lyn Nay, I knew it was her and not you and I explained to her the reason why. But go ahead and give him an "A" too if you wish. I love to read why you did so.

Well if you did I got one half of it right, and will see if the other person who gave Cherington an "A" will come out of the fog and fess up. I do question your reason for doing so because I cannot believe you believe he really deserved an "A". Then I can't get inside your head Emmz. Kuddos for coming out and admitting it though.

First of all Elk, those two jokers who gave Cherington an "A" grade for his off season accomplishments will not come out of the fog and admit who they are for the simple reason they would be embarrassed all to hell to admit it. They will either say they didn't vote or they gave Cherries a higher grade. I gave a D+ and only because of the two relievers he got us. The guy is tentative in every thing he does and I see him as a weak-kneed second rater as a GM. His arbitration offering to Ortiz was the height of lunacy since no other team would have come even close to giving him the $14+ million he got from us. To be perfectly honest I don't feel I have to give Cherington any more time to form my opinion of him. He's a second stringer all the way, four bags of turd in a one pound package.

As of this moment it looks like this whole argument is superfluous at best. It doesn't look like Cherington is planning on swinging any big trades---and I just wonder what so-called top notch pitchers are available anyway? I don't see Cole Hamels or Matt Cain suddenly appearing on the trading block and doubt they will be FA for very long before their current teams resign them---if they're smart. I also would like to hold onto some of our better prospects if we can. This ought to be Ortiz' last year with the Red Sox and might be Youkilis' as well. If one or both of them are jettisoned it would be a good idea to have Will Middlebrooks and Ryan Lavarnway around to step in and take over. We're not getting any younger as some of y ou might notice. If we are in the race come the trading deadline we might be able to make a trade f or a pitcher heading to FA---and that wouldn't cost us nearly as much as it would if we were to make a trade now.

Say no more---you ARE a pollyanna and it was kind of namby-pamby vote, but you were right that he wasn't given much financial room to play with. OTOH, maybe if he had been given that he might have pulled even a bigger boner than he did when he offered Papi arbitration. Assuming Ortiz wanted to stay in Boston and that his market was very low we could have probably gotten him for much cheeper that the $14 million Plus that we shelled out for him. I gave him a generous D+. To me the guy is risk averse, and a procrastinator who has trouble making decisions. He is shaping up in my opinion of becoming a penguin in the garden.

I do know this 700. When the Red Sox finally won their first game last season Fenway Park went ape s***. I could hardly hear a thing the noise was so shreaking and I was right in there myself going nuts. I sure as hell would have hated to have flown to Boston for that series and see the Red Sox go down in flames again. As it was we only won two of three and felt I was cheated that we didn't sweep the damn Yankees.

You missed one point Pumpsie....maybe Oswalt himself doesn't know what he will do now that his options have been slammed shut. Maybe he will pick something out of a hat and be done with it. Despite what Cherington said, I just wonder if there is still some offer on the table at this time that maybe no one has heard about.

It's nice Ted to come on board in the morning and hear some real good news because it kind of helps set the day for us. I don't think Carl will be ready for Opening Day but the fact that he is taking swings is very encouraging, and, what's more, his EST could be moved up a week or two. I sure would like to see the Crawford pre-2011 perform for us this season, and as for Bard we should all wish him nothing but the best. He seems to be taking his spot in the rotation as both an opportunity and a challenge. It would be a real shot in the arm for us if he can move into that spot and perform big time for us He does have the stuff. Fundamentals, Fundamentals and Fundamentals (in caps) should be the order of this ST. Needless to say this was not our strong point the past few seasons and concentration on that could bring some good tidings in some of the close games we'll be in this season. Now I hope there is more good news coming the next few days.