seabeachfred

Mo, I haven't heard much about Lester the last ten days or so and I also wonder how he is coming along. I have some deep misgivings about how much he is going to help us in the rotation because he hasn't looked all the sharp so far. Besides, when Lester is ready and fully healthy I believe he must be put on the starting staff. Maybe today if we get a lead into the ninth inning Francona will use one of our closer prospects (suspects) and we can see if that particular candidate has the stuff to do the job.

Oh, you're panicking Crunch. OK, that was me about a week ago and I caught hell for pushing the "P" button, but I think this week most everyone with any sense has to agree with you starting with me. You know, Sunday would have been a great time to test these defined roles. We had a 2-1 lead over the Orioles going into the bottom of the ninth and it would have been nirvana for all of us had we used one of our closer candidates. So who comes in? A guy named Burns. Oh yes, he did great, one, two, three, but tell me, is HE going to be with us as a possible closer? Thank you!! I sometimes think that Francona acts like he's bloated or something and seemingly thinking he has all the time in the world to make a decision. Starting today against the Twins would be a good time to start putting the pieces together so our bullpen has some idea what their roles are. Tito, time is awasting.

I give a flying f*** Jackson. When he managed he was "on the field", in uniform representing his team and baseball. To me anyway, the two roles of player and manager are all part of one game. Look, I was once a big booster of Pete Rose; I used to tell the players on the teams I coached to look to him as an inspiration. There is nothing personal here. I violated the rules of baseball, but I still give a little wiggle room. If, however, there ever becomes proof positive that be bet AGAINST his own team, my position holds that he should never see the inside of the HOF except as a tourist. One other thing bothered me no end about the guy. When he finally came clean and admitted his guilt he showed absolutely no remorse for what he had done to himself and baseball. He was arrogant as hell. He didn't win any fans that day either.

No thanks with an exclamation point Nate. If talks are going to take place between the Astros and Red Sox, as soon as the name Jacoby Ellsbury is mentioned talks stop. Any talk of trading Ellsbury is a non-starter as far as I'm concerned. Now if they mention either Coco Crisp, David Murphy or WMP, then I would be willing to listen. I am not all that high on Hansen right now; he seems to have regressed but I would rather trade him that allow us to lose Bucholz, Bowden, Cox or Bard. But that's just my take.

Thank you yeszir. I thought those people were gone before. They have come on two other boards, one a Red Sox and one a Yankee and got thrown off there as well. They seem to pop up a lot of places. I hear they even have gone on Phillies and Cubs boards. If they talked baseball it would be fine but that's not their intent, sorry to say. Now, what do we do for a closer?? And who do we trade to get some bullpen help? :D :D

And here I thought Theo was determined to go with what we have. I can see Linebrink and Lidge, but Turnbow has been mostly a chronic underachiever except for one good year of pitching. The Angels gave up on the guy because he was their version of our Manny Delcarmen. Still it's good news to know that we are looking at some help in the bullpen.

Before my Red Sox time Crunch, and thank God for that. I saw Veras on TV and he looked worse that WMP does on the breaking pitch. Sadler was a helluva good fielder, somewhat akin to our Pokey a few years ago but he couldn't hit much either. Vaughn ate himself out of baseball but he was a force for a number of years. Nomar destroyed himself with his shitpile attitude in 2004 but seems to have revived himself with the Dodgers. Hopefully, we will never have to go through that with our infield again.

Pineiro is Theo's choice for closer so it might be good to keep hoping that he keeps doing his job the next two weeks. After a shaky start he seems to have gotten a little more heat on his fastball and is retiring batters. I'm now convinced that Epstein is going into the season with what we have in our bullpen, perhaps buoyed by the fact that they have performed well the last couple of weeks. Keep those fingers crossed.

You like it? Be a good boy and I'll send Zit's girlfriend over with the secret. Anything for a colleague.

No SuperZIT I haven't. I'll keep my sweet tooth as long as your girlfriend keeps doing odd-jobs for me around my house. Thanks for sharing her.

Great job Riverside; we sure can get a quick glimpse of how the pitchers are faring so far, but I kind of noticed that some of the guys we're depending on seem to be on the south end of the leader board. Well I will be down there next week to see for myself and maybe some of those ERA's will improve, but it does look like some of our pitchers are doing a good job in the Flodida sun. Thanks for the info.

Either way 700, I'm not going to touch it with a poker. I got burned once with the Hansen thing. This time I will sit it out.

Mosox, what was great about today's game is that the Orioles had their big guns in the lineup and our pitchers handled them all day. Nothing to complain about at all, but I just wonder with a one run lead going into the bottom of the ninth, it seemed like a perfect place to insert one of the guys who is vieing for closer on our team. Instead we get Burns who won't even be on the team getting the chance. He did great, one, two, three, but does this guy even now rate a chance to change some minds. Frankly, it would have been nice to see Pineiro or Hansen or someone who we think might close for us in that situation. Is this just a mirage or is our bullpen finally coming around? They sure looked great today.

700, what ORS said has to probably be the right answer; the announcer screwed up. Remember last week when Hansen was supposed to have pitched and gave up three runs and some of us were rolling our eyes? Well it wasn't him but a guy named Burns, but I got VA Sox pissed off at me because I kept insisting it was Hansen because the announcer said it was. If you want real confirmation look at the box score of that game if you can get it and if there even is one considering it ended in the top of the third.

Well we're pretty much both on key with those two, but I wonder if you were aware that after Moss' great 2004 season in high "A" Ball they were talking about him being Trot Nixon's successor in right field, but he regressed badly in 2005 and when the Red Sox traded for Wily Mo Pena that set him back even further. Now with the team having signed Drew to a five year contract Moss' future with the team is really in doubt because he is behind Drew, Pena, Ellsbury, Crisp and Murphy. His best bet would be for the Sox to include him in a trade for a good reliever and or closer the team may need, though I would think the best idea would be to convert him to first base and if he has a big year at Pawtucket might find him getting a quicker and better chance to stick in the Bigs. I think he has a good future as a hitter. As for Murphy, unless they trade either Crisp or Pena, which now seems unlikely, or they carry a fifth outfielder, David is headed back to the minors and probably the end of his career as a Red Sox. Moss and Murphy are lefthanded hitters, and the Sox already have Drew, Crisp (switch), and the future CF Ellsbury who hit from that side.

From what I've observed this ST so far, Moss and Murphy have contrasting images. Moss looks like he could be a pretty good hitter with some real sock and still young enough to make it in the Bigs, but he doesn't look like a very polished outfielder. He seems to have trouble moving on balls hit to either side of him. Murphy, on the other hand, looks like a helluva fielder but after a quick start has tailed off, and his uppercut swing looks very disjointed. At this juncture I would think Murphy can make it to the Bigs as a 4th outfielder or platoon player while Moss could emerge as a pretty damn good everyday player. I love the way he hangs in there against lefty throwers. :D :D :D

That's about as good a trio as I could come up with Riverside, and if you heard Theo's interview with Remy he doesn't sound like he is too concerned about the bullpen. Any time anyone of us gets too overly concerned about the pen we're told to take a chill pill, it's early, and stop panicking. If we can't do that, maybe a prayer or two and some positive vibes might help. Right now I see it the same way you do.

Kilo, did you catch Theo's interview with Remy on the telecast this afternoon? From everything he said he is very satisfied with the bullpen right now and I guess that answers your question. I still think that's the big concern but there seems to be more and more posters who think the way he does. Of course, Theo plays things close to his vest and is very secretive so maybe he is sandbagging us and is on the prowl for bullpen help

What worries me about Timlin is that after two or so weeks of ST pitchers usually go through that dead arm stage, and I just hope Mike is ready to take his spot in the Red Sox bullpen. The pen did a pretty good job again, and in an interview with Jerry Remy on the MLB telecast Theo said he thinks the bullpen will be fine and the hitting and fielding will come around fine. Of course, Theo plays things close to his vest and it is possible he is scouting for a possible trade for bullpen help. That to me is still the big worry.

Look ORS, I don't have trouble on the other Red Sox boards I post on and I don't want to have any trouble here. When someone starts questioning my loyalty to the Red Sox that's when I start getting defensive and feel I have to react. If people drop that refrain I would love nothing better. I can work on my rants but I want this bandwagon s*** to stop once and for all. Just because I have rooted for this team less years than the rest of you does not mean that I am not any more loyal. Enough of that. Let's just all move on. RSR has been on my case since I came on here and I will have nothing more to do with him. I hope you and I will have many more exchanges and can enjoy a great season by OUR team.