seabeachfred

Well here's one poster that does 700. Most of the time you are spot on. I would guess, though, that if I were to ask you what we do about our pitching for next season you would give me a smorgasboard of possibilities. I've come up with a number of suggestions and each one of them has a booby trap in it. I remember Joe Morgan on Sunday Night Baseball once said that for championship teams it all begins with starting pitching. Well barring an injury attack we ought to have three pretty good guys if they pitch up to their capabilities. After that, what???? Trade for one and make Aceves the other? Or maybe keep Aceves in the pen and sign one for a reasonable price? Then there is the problem with enough arms in the bullpen, and I haven't forgotten the RH hitting outfielder. The one thing I've determined that has nothing to do with pitching is not to resign David Ortiz because I think our hitting could survive his departure. Then we'd have an additional $12 or $13 million to play with. Even that scenario has booby traps in it as well. Can Lavarnway pick up much of the slack left by Papi and will he be ready defensively to catch a goodly number of games next season. Maybe we'll get some answers this week.

Sounds like it's a pretty slow day guys and ladies. Enjoy some good football or family fun. I doubt if anything's going down today. Maybe this week....or next week or the week after that.

Well just be patient Jung and you'll get that twosome in the rotation by someone. But what are we to do? We're short at least one starter, maybe two. We lost our best reliever and we're left with Ace and Bard and need at least three more guys in the bullpen. What we have after those two guys are....well, just ask yourself this: Would any of the other relievers still on the roster be trusted with a one or two run lead at Yankee Stadium going into the bottom of the ninth inning? Well there you have it. We're right now in a pickle. My good friend Elk has the right solution for the time being.....make it into an Abbott and Costello skit and see what sticks.

Right 700!!!! Some of our friends are not understanding the ripple effects of losing Papelbon and not replacing him with anybody----yet. Can Bard close? No real way of knowing if he has the mental toughness for that. Who finishes the 8th inning, who is our 7th inning man? Our whole bullpen is now in a state of flux, and, please, don't anyone out there try and sell Jenks to me. That was another bum bullpen move by Epstein. Aceves you say? Well then what about the rotation? We become weak there because we are still two short, and, please again, no suggestions about Wakefield. He must become a non-person in this argument. Iortiz says pitching depth and pitching depth and we better be on the beam with that. And this time we have to get it right in the bullpen and in the starting rotation. For the record, I wouldn't have paid Papelbon $50 million for four years, but we still need a closer and some other relievers and we will have to pay for them in either money, players or blood.

Who'se to argue iortiz? As it is I said we need a quality starter, closer and three other relievers. You want more? Fine, let's get all we can, but this time let's make sure we get some quality instead of some of the excess garbage Epstein always seemed to stick us with. Epstein was always weak in this regard and I came to believe that bullpens were either not very important to him or he didn't know how to build them. The one year our bullpen was the best in the American League was 2007. Guess how we did that year?:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

I'll tell you this iortiz, I sometimes think those of us who are inching for some kind of action are just spitting into a fierce headwind. OK, we let Papelbon walk but can you or anyone else tell me that we are not going to be in need of a closer, a RH hitting OF, a quality starter and now probably three relief pitchers who don't start fires but instead putting them out? I just don't know what is going through Cherington's mind or whether he has had a collar put on him, but even this early in the off season something needs to happen soon.

No one is poised to jump off the cliff Ex1 but what if the Red Sox DO resign Ortiz? The means Lavarnway gets blocked to the bench, back to Pawtucket where he shouldn't have to go or put into a platoon situation with Jarrod. Either of the three scenarious, his development is retarded. If they didn't sign Papelbon they shouldn't sign Ortiz either because not only does Lavarnway get blocked but we are hopelessly still a LH hitting team playing in a park tailored made for righthanded hitters. If Papi goes then Lavarnway gets his shot at DH and we can give RF to Kalish full time or into a platoon situation with someone not named Darling Darnell. It would make us a little more RH under those circumstances. No closer by committee, though. We need a closer and will have to pay for one. We need that RH hitting outfielder and not Grady Sizemore, and we now need not two relievers besides a closer, we need AT LEAST TWO OF THEM. Cherington may earn his salary in the next month or two, but he has to start doing something very soon.

You're one sick dude 305. Worse still you are both naive and gullible all to hell. A few assbites from an old Dodger board came here a few years ago and filled your head with a bunch of crap and you swallowed it hook line and sinker. That tells me more about you than the fact that you're nuts. You can keep denying it all you like and keep looking stupid or you can get with the program, and the fact that you keep denying it even in the face of people who know me telling you something totally different means you're even one of the duller tools in the shed. I will tell you this for the last time. Those people who filled your empty and naive head with that trash were a dispirate bunch. Two of them are now good friends of mine, another is an acquaintance. Two more are like you, barren and bizarre. One happens to be a moron who I once flunked in my class back in the 70's because I caught him cheating, the other one was in jail on drug convictions on two occasions. Want to believe them? Go ahead. I also don't have to advertize my fandom with such imbecilic things as you put on the bottom of your thread. I give a person the benefit of the doubt that someone is a fan of a team until he proves otherwise. Now wise up and accept the fact; I would also be willing to wager that I take Red Sox loses harder than you do. Your aim should be from here on in concerning this topic.....to be seen stand up, to be heard speak up, to be appreciated shut up!!!!! Now if you have anything more to say on this send me a private message. I'm here to talk about the Red Sox and you and I shouldn't be wasting every one else's time with this crap.

Of course iortiz, if you could tell me why in hell the Red Sox are contacting Grady Sizemore's agent I would be most appreciative. I cannot understand such a move. The only things he has in common with the Red Sox is that he gets injured a lot and is left handed, the latter of which is exactly why this guy is not for us. It might be somewhat acceptable if he could hit left handed pitching but he is terrible in that regard. If we sign him and Ortiz the rest of the teams will empty their farm system and throw every lefty they have at us. An overwhelming park that favors RH hitters and we overload on lefties. I just hope this talk with Grady'a agent goes nowhere. We need a RH hitter, not another lefty.

Pretty damn impressive 700. I went in 2006 and 2007 and had a blast. The only problem was who I was watching. I could only get tickets for real late in ST and by that time the prospects were back in the minor league camp, the regulars would play only three innings and I'd be seeing guys with names of Baroviak, Masters, Dingley and guys I knew I would never see in Fenway Park. Besides, living in California the trips there were expensive and I didn't need to get warm since I live in a warm climate. I thought if I saved my money I could make an extra trip to Fenway through Red Sox Destinations. Since you live behind enemy lines can I take it that you live around New YorkCity? Are you also going back to Fort Myers next March? Sounds that way.

Example----Your post was partly directed at me and I should have seen it coming. I am not very endowed with knowledge about sabermetrics as you and others are so I should have stuck to my own standbys such as RBI's, hr, hits, total bases, slugging and BA. The main point is JD is gone so there is really no point in dredging up his past. He helped us win a WS in 2007 and if he could have stayed healthy he might have contributed more. The guy had humongous talent and I think he wasted a lot of it, but, again, that is history now. You'll hear no more of JD Drew from me on this thread except for what I just said.

Whether anyone likes what you had to say in your post or not, that is beside the point. You have a point of view and are entitled to it. Kuddos to you. I really think that if we hadn't collapsed in September we would be able to look at next season with a little more optimism. Could it be that I and others have lost confidence in some of our players? Could be. First of all we need good health in 2012, something we didn't have a whole lot of in 2009, and absolutely zilch in that regard the last two seasons. The team's medical staff has to do a better job of diagnosing injuries than they have in the past and the conditioning people must get the backing from on top to demand compliance with training regimens. We also need our top three pitchers to stay on the mound and give us big seasons along with a great comeback from Crawford. Drawing on a good night's sleep I see things a little differently this morning. Yes, we need a RH hitting outfielder (Cuddyer is my choice because he hits lefties well and is very versatile), two good relievers who can get people out on a consistent basis, and a solid No. 3 or 4 starter. As for our free agents I still lean towards resigning Papelbon and letting Ortiz walk if John Henry is not going to expend extra funds this year for the FA market. First and foremost, though, we need some lady luck to keep our players on the field more often next year.

Whether he sees it or not VA doesn't interest me in the least. Telling me I'm not a Red Sox fan is someting far different and much more irritating. Hell, you saw me down at Fort Myers in 2007. Did I look like anything other than a Red Sox fan? One or two guys from a defunct board come on here a few years ago, spout some crap and naive simpletons like User swallow it whole. I found it irritating that he was attacking my friend Elktonnick. They both had their opinions of various and sundry offensive stats but to the other guy only his had any validity. None of us know it all and we shouldn't act like we do. BTW, have you been to Fort Myers since 2007?

Hey guys, does anyone have a clue as to which way the front office is leaning right now? Any of the beat writers coming out with anything in Boston? I'm way out here in California and I haven't a clue. I have an opinion of what they should be thinking but who knows? PITCHING has to be our main concern. We definately need another solid starter, we need at least two good relievers and we most certainly need a closer. I wouldn't want to risk another closer by committee that Epstein tried to fasten onto us back in '03 with disastrous results. We let Papi and Drew walk, do not resign Varitek and Wakefield and with a few others leaving we ought to have enough to get the job done I think. I'll give our front office this. They sure keep their cards close to their collective vests. We still don't know who they're targeting. I hope things heat up soon.

Another puzzle---why Dave Martinez isn't in the mix for Red Sox manager. Is it because he doesn't have the necessary attributes to manage our team? That can't be so. He has been bench coach for Joe Madden for the past half-dozen years and last time I checked the Rays manager is one of the very best in baseball. Martinez knows the Red Sox from the other side of the field, but he also knows the Rays as well, not to mention the Jays, O's and the Yankees. To me he would seem to be the best fit for us, and while that is only my opoinion, it seems to be that there is some element of logic behind that.