seabeachfred

Well we had to roll the dice Spudboy. I knew we were not going to pay the type of money that it would take to sign the former Phillie. I think Reddick was expendable because of his lack of discipline at the plate that has never improved, and Alcantara is a suspect prospect at best right now. I don't know much about Head except to say that he had people in front of him both at third and at first. Certainly we have to hope that Bailey stays healthy because if he is in top shape physically we have ourselves a good closer for less than half the price it would have cost to keep Papelbon. If his elbow flares up it is then that we may have to scramble with Aceves and or Bard and put one or both of them in the bullpen, or we may have to go with Melanson in that role. We have bought ourselves a little bit of depth in the bullpen, so things look a helluva lot better than they did a few weeks ago.

Well this thread covered nicely for a very quiet day in Red Sox Nation. I wonder, though, Elk, if what MVP said came to pass. Would WEEI make a federal case out of it? It would certainly liven things up and maybe a few here would weight in. Not us, though. Right?? Walter Matthau? I kind of like Peter Falk. Didn't they act together in a couple of flicks some years back? You know they both started out as heavies.

Apparently Pumpsie, the Red Sox front office is still enamored with their two sacred cows. Notice that no team has offered a contract to Wakefield? Yet the Red Sox are still holding out the possibility of welcoming back this slug with open arms. The guy can't pitch anymore. It took, what, ten starts before he got his 200th win? We could have used some of those games for wins which might have helped us more and Wakefield less. As for that other slug, Varitek, the Orioles and Mets both toyed with the idea of maybe offering him a contract and then said no. I mean, Lucchino and Cherington should know by now that enough is enough and finally and utterly cut loose of these two bums. They did their job but for the last four seasons Varitek has been a disaster after June and Wakefield hasn't been worth a damn since the middle of the 2009 season. Unlike you, though, I would take a flier on Joe Saunders. For you to say that he is no better than Wakefield is very hard to imagine. Of course, the word is that he wants a three year, $27 million dollar contract and that means he won't be pitching in Boston. Doubrant? is another Bowden, Anderson, and Pimental----supposed prospects that have crapped out. I have no confidence in Doubrant whatsoever and that goes double for Tazawa.

Believe it or not Station 13, these injuries could be coming from NOT THROWING ENOUGH. Once at a clinic former Major Leaguer Claude Osteen said that since the pitching motion is an unnatural one the best way to counteract that is to throw more and develop stronger arm and wrist control, and if you looked back then there were a helluva lot more hard throwers than you might imagine. Ever heard of Bob Gibson of the Cardinals, Dick Ellsworth of the Cubs, Jim Maloney of the Reds, Juan Marichal and Gaylor Perry of the Giants, Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale of the Dodgers Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman of the Mets, Nolan Ryan of many teams, and so on. I think today pitchers try to be too careful and might injure themselves from a lack of consistent throwing as well as bad mechanics.

You have to admit that MVP had a pretty funny and sarcastic post. OK, you don't have to admit it, but I liked it and thought it was pretty damn funny. I just hope I wasn't in his mind as one of the curmudgeons who would raise hell over not giving BV a beverage because I'm still LMFAO over it.

Hey guys, it's already been said by the lot of you. If Crawford doesn't get his head screwed on straight and do it fast he will be in deep do-do by the time the season starts. He seems to be an emotional basket case right now and that could portend another long and dreary season. The press and media is all over his ass right now and he should be smart enough to read the tea leaves and get this matter settled. We need Carl to make a strong comeback this coming season because a solid year from him would immeasurably help the team, but if this pissing contest continues and he stays in his shell he might just have an even worse season in 2012. If that happens he is through in Boston whether he stays with the team or not. He will become a human pinata.

Congratulaltions Spudboy; that was a helluva accomplishment and you have my deep admiration. It has to be tough putting yourself through such a regimen. Your girl had better appreciate what she's got. As far as my paeans to Fenway Park, glad you saw it was on an emotional level and I see you get the same high as I do when I see the ballpark. Eventually the Red Sox will move into a new state-of-the-art ballpark, but I just love to see neighborhood ballparks still in existence as Fenway and Wrigley. Being an old war horse, they do bring back some pleasant memories of my childhood in Queens before the family moved West.

Did Cherington take a stupid pill after making that good trade for Bailey? He must have if he really believes that Sweeney or McDonald is the answer in RF. Sweeney can't run, has no power, cannot hit lefties and is a player that should have a problem even making the team, and did I say he bats lefthanded? As for McDonald, is Cheerries kidding? The guy can't hit, can't field and is one of the dumbest base runners around. Both should be sent packing. If Kalish goes, something I think would be a bad mistake, we would need to sign Cody Ross or someone of that ilk.

Bingo Bango Bingo EX1---seems the posters here are really on the stick today. Just got through reading Sox Sport snd iortiz and now you and I'm shaking my head saying that I could have said exactly what you three guys said. WE DO NOT TRADE MIDDLEBROOKS, KALISH OR LAVARNWAY. They are keys to our future. As for Doubrant, I'm still not sure of him and I don't know much about Wilson, but obviously you know more about them than I do so I will concede you that on those two. I would also like to keep Renaudo unless we eventually go FA to pick up a couple of horses in a year or two. Cecchini is a lefty and we already have too many of them and we have a young 3Bman almost ready unless Will pulls a Lars Anderson or Josh Reddick and craps out at Pawtucket this coming season. Cecchini is, however, a very good young hitter, Coyle is a Pedroia type but not nearly the talent and Jacobs could be a good all around ball player for a building team. I guess it all comes down to what Epstein wants for Garza, assuming he is really interested in trading him. However, it would be just like him being the sneak he is to trade him to the Yankees instead. Cherington had better keep both his eyes on Theo and his hands on his wallet.

EX1--It's a lot of fun trying to pinpoint which prospects are going to make it and which ones won't. Sometimes it's something large like a hole in a person's swing or inability to hit a certain pitch. Actually it can be most anything and it can be a hit or miss proposition. Back in the day I posted on Dirt Dogs you wouldn't believe the number of people on there who kept saying to go after Ronnie Belliard because Pedroia just wouldn't cut it in the Bigs. Fortunately I had some comrade support to keep battling those doomsayers and we all know what happened to Pedroia after that slow start in 2007. Maybe some people give size an overrated check on their boards. As for Ells, man I knew him to be the real thing. His talent just jumped out at me. I kept saying 300 hitter and 60 stolen bases in the bag. His power numbers? Fooled the hell out of me. Still, I'm disappointed I was wrong on Lowrie. I could have sworn he would turn out to be a helluva player.

Watch the Angels on this Elk. Moreno has been throwing around money like candy this off season and they really need a kick-ass closer. The question is whether Moreno's deep and intense dislike for Boras will let that opportunity go by him. I would like nothing better than for Boras to take one on the cheek this time around. I've never gotten over how he played the Red Sox like a fiddle in the fall of 2008 with Mark Teixeira, then went to the Yankees one time and asked them to better it. Hey Arte, as a fellow Southern Californian, tell Boras to shove it up his ass.

SoxSport, you are right on about Bobby running like hell next season. There will be no dull station-to-station dullness and a plethora of double plays we endured with FrancoMa running things the past few years. One word of caution---Crawford hates to bat leadoff; he has said so and his performance there this past season was even more dismal that his overall campaign. If that is where he is going to bat, he either needs a real attitude adjustment or Bobby has to be his Svengali and convince him he is made for that spot. I just don't know about that one, though.