seabeachfred

Pumpsie and Elk are two of my closest friends on this board as well as the other one we post on, but we depart by miles in evaluating the team next season. I'm with you on this. We need a solid starter, three relievers, a RH hitting outfielder and a closer, and from there we can make a run for it. The fact that we are not going to give up between 10-12 games next year as we always seemed to do with the imbecile who used to manage the team means we can be in the money. Also, unlike most of the people on the various boards, I think Beckett will be just fine. He got away with some s*** because he could. Good players want discipline and direction. When it's not there they revert to being grown-up juveniles. The one place I depart with you is over Ortiz. I do not think we should resign him. We have an upcoming star in Ryan Lavarnway and he needs no more damn seasoning so he can be blocked buy Papi or, God forbid, by the over the hill and useless Varitek. We will be fine if Cherry starts moving a little faster than he has and shows he has the brains and moxie to go out there and start acting like a GM instead of Chicken Little.

Wyo, as Pumpsie said, I live in the general area and have attended a lot of games there since my wife is a rabid Angels fan and we used to get a small packet of games until two years ago when Linda said NYET!!!!! It is a good place to take in a ballgame and don't let what our friend said deter you. Yes it WAS rat infested a few years ago only because the Angels brass was dumb enough to not sweep and hose out the stadium right after the game but waited until the morning to do so. That, indeed, was idiotic and the rats had a field day. They don't do that anymore and the place has been fumigated enough times to allow the rats to scurry up the freeway to Dodger Stadium which really is a pile of s***, owned by a ********, and run by a pack of incompetents and a bunch of moronic fans. You will like Angels Stadium now. Besides, if there is a rat here or there you won't see him during the game.

People who are pushing Bard to be the closer ought to get a sniff of reality. This past season he was called on to protect either a lead or a tie a number of times, the amount I'm not sure of, but I do know that nine times he failed miserably in that role. Nine losses as a set-up man is an abomination, so how the hell can we expect him to close if he had trouble handling the set-up role that he had so much trouble with in April when we needed to get off to a good start, and in September when we needed him to pitch effectively to keep our slim hopes alive. He came up boxcars both those months. Let's get a closer who knows how to close and keep Bard where he is. I also wouldn't mind seeing Aceves in the bullpen either. We are going to need at least five effective men down there as well as at least one good starting pitcher. BTW, does anyone have any idea what has been budgeted money wise for this winter? Unless there is an adequate supply of money allocated we are just wasting out typing figures even talking about it.

Damn it User, another senior moment by your friend here. Correctamundo!!!!! Girardi told his players to wear out Broxton. Just wait......you will get these moments when you get to be near my age.

Whoa MVP 78!!!!! Do you live in the Los Angeles area too? Where exactly? If you're not too far away I will invite you over and show you my Red Sox baseball room. Guaranteed to knock you senseless.:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Bingo User!!!!!! That was the game. Torre told his players, it was later learned, to make the guy work, run up his pitch count. It was the Sunday Night Baseball Game on June 27 I believe and the Yankees kept fouling off pitches and by the end of the ninth inning Broxton was spent. He wasn't worth s*** ever again. Strange since I despise the Dodgers and hate the Yankees, I wanted both teams to go to hell that night but it was enjoyable watching both teams sweat it out for what turned out to be an extra inning Yankee win.

Let's face it, some of us weren't sure where this would end up and I guess you might have been one of them as I was. I gave kuddos to SCM because he apparently had it pegged all along but I still don't know how he knew since the scenes seemed to change almost hourly. You say BC has some power, SCM says he has none. I think the middle ground is that he is limited in what he can do and that makes him at least a semi-sap in my book. Now on to more important things like getting our team settled for next season.

I don't mean to be sarcastic about this because I am not, but I would like to know how you were so sure we were going to get Valentine as the manager of the Red Sox? With all the ******** going down the past two months it seemed like one day it was Bobby, the next it was Lamont, and Lovullo might still be in it, and then maybe some phantom guy none of knew who. I had actually predicted Lamont would get the job because I was still convinced that both Lucchino and Cherington wanted a skipper they would have some control of as Epstein did with Francona. I think we all agree that we need to get moving now to sign a few decent relievers, get a RH hitting outfielder and a decent starting pitcher or two. As for Cherington I think that was clear from the beginning. He is nothing more than a straw man, but how will it play with other GM's in trade talks or with agents of FA? If they think of the guy as we do will that impede our chances of making the trades and signings we need? Or will Lucchino and Valentine be in on the ground floor in those talks?

BigPapiEnFuego----We all are Red Sox fans and some of us sometimes wear that loyalty a little more fervently on our sleeves than we should, but we are all in this together. If we would agree to disagree when we have different opinions on something and just accept what the other guy says without demanding that we all fall into line, then we would all get along better. I personally think the Valentine hiring was just what the team needed; others don't feel that way while some others do. We should just discuss the pros and cons of it and accept that we may not agree on him or some other issue.

Come on VA, I thought you were my friend after the way we hit it off as rabid fans back in 2007 Spring Training. I still have that picture we took together in my 2007 Red Sox scrapbook. I don't like getting into it with a lady, especially a classy one like you. Can't we just agree to disagree on this one---and I then will promise I will not use the word FrancoMa on this board anymore---only on the other two or three I post on. OK????

Glad I could deliver VA. I also don't know why you still carry that flaming torch for FrancoMa? He was a miserable field manager and I didn't use FrancoMa for comedy effect. I used to show his ineptness as a manager and the fact that he was little more than a errand boy for Blunder. If you needed proof on that you only had to see how the Cardinals shined your Tito on when they rejected him out of hand for manager and chose instead a person who never managed ANYWHERE before. As for Valentine, it might stick in your craw but you will see a different Red Sox team out there next season, and there will be no beer guzzling in the clubhouse during games, nor any sending out for fried chicken. He also will be in charge of making out the lineups and using our offensive weapons to the fullest because he is a terrific game manager.

On another board someone mentioned that with the Astros' President and GM fired, babbling Brad Mills might be next, and that could mean something I predicted two years ago. That he would fail miserably in Houston, get fired, and find his sorry ass back in Boston. EnFuego, I don't mean to alarm you but if there is anything to this rumor that would be the worst of all worlds. This guy was Francona"s right hand man, a clone to a tee, and a miserable bench coach to boot just as he was a miserable manager in Houston. This is a rumor that I hope has very short legs because it would be a tragedy to the Red Sox if this is indeed that phantom other candidate that some people here are saying is out there.

700 Hitter----Trying to start s*** is very tempting right about now. How the hell can we now be one day short of two months since FrancoMa was shown the door and still the inept front office can't fart and chew gum at the same time. I was impatient from the get-go, but I can't see how everyone around here can be patient anymore. This has become a comic opera and the front office is seemingly more dysfunctional by the day. Do they expect someone on a white horse to suddenly appear out of nowhere and take their chestnuts out of the fire? This is ridiculous pure and simple. We need to add key players to our team and right now all we're talking about is this ridiculous non-managerial situation. Cherington has been exposed as nothing more than a sap but we do know at least what he wants. He wants to cease being a sap and hire some guy like Lamont who he can dominate the way Epstein ran FrancoMa around on a string. I'm surprised at Lucchino, though. I had the impression he was a tough no nonsense guy and right now he looks more and more like a clown.

I live in California as well and am an ardent and passionate Red Sox fan, and a convert to boot----11 years, three months and nine days. I would be more than happy to help you in any way I can since I was a teacher for 35 years and a baseball coach for 30. Send me a personal message and I will tell you how to get ahold of me.:D:D:D:D:D:D

I would think those of you out there who kept preaching patience on this matter would most likely have altered your thoughts by now. I hope so too because right now the Red Sox leadership is making our team look like a comic opera. How the hell can a team go two days short of two months and not be able to name a new manager? Do they think someone on a white horse is suddenly going to ride in and save the day? If you guys read Dan Shaunessy today you would see what he and most writers think of Lucchino------in other words, he is looking more and more like a clown and a dysfunctional one at that. Larry didn't like Dan saying words to that effect but that is what he is going to hear from a lot of writers because he has shown himself to little more than a clown in all this---and this is coming from someone who has always admired the guy. What a disappointment.

It could be Lamont my friend, and it wouldn't just be a letdown, it would be a clarion call that nothing has changed and it as if we didn't just go three miserable years without a Playoff win with a bumpkiss manager who was one of the very worst dugout skippers I have ever seen. Lamont would be FrancoMa II and that would mean we were right back where we started in late Sepetember---a full collapse and now without Papelbon. I don't put it past our miserable front office to screw things up again. On a lighter note Billy, I like your handle. I became a Red Sox fan in late 2000 and of all the players on the team I rooted for Bill Mueller is my favorite Red Sox of them all. I loved the guy, thought he was a real Dirt Dog, an over-achiever and a clutch ballplayer who made the plays and got the hits when we needed them. I still miss him.

A yeat ago I would have Ex1 and it has nothing to do with Kalish's injuries. It has everything to do with the composition of our lineup. We simply cannot be as left handed as we are, especially when you consider where we play half our games and also consider the plethora of southpaw pitchers in our league. Ortiz won't dare reject arbitration because he knows no team in the league will give a 36 year old DH a multi-year contract and so we're stuck with him for at least another year. That makes getting another RH bat in the lineup critical. By resigning Ortiz there is a complete ripple effect to the future of our team. It means Lavarnway can't become the DH and Kalish can be only a reserve at best unless the Red Sox want to face every left handed pitcher in Christendom. Epstein really left us a lineup mess with some of his stupid moves.

Certainly not for Middlebrook or Lavarnway or Renaudo. Street doesn't exactly get by blood stirring but if he would come at a reasonable price I might be interested. Of course, once again we will be replacing a very good player with a lesser one. You know the drill......lose Damon, replace him with Crisp; lose Bay, replace him with Cameron, and maybe now this. Of course, we could keep going back in time.....Lose Vaughn, replace him with Offerman. It gets old after awhile. I'm sure many of you can add more people that fall into this category.

There might be some very tough decisions the Red Sox may have to make but from where I sit I would be adamantly against tradint Will Middlbrook or Ryan Lavarnway. They are two players who may turn out to be vital offensive stalwarts for us at a time when some of our better prospects are still down in the lower minors. We cannot afford to trade prospects like that away UNLESS we get a top notch pitcher in exchange and by that I mean a number 1 or 2 man----and if that pitcher has proven he can win the AL East. John Henry is still swimming in money and he could afford to go the FA route if he is of a mind to spend the money. Of course, a big contract to a pitcher is a very big risk but so is a trade for a pitcher who is suspect of being able to compete in Boston. In the meantime how about we finally name a manager and get that RH hitting outfielder since with Ortiz almost a cinch to return we cannot afford to be as left handed as we were this year.