seabeachfred

Sox Fan, I agreed with her for crying out loud. I'm not trying to incite anything. I thought her post was pretty good and I said I agreed with a lot of the things she said. I want to drag nothing out. I find it surprising that when I praise her I'm getting accused of raising hell. I also said I thought this topic was discussed before and didn't need to be even brought up. Believe me, I want what went on before to be buried and be done with. There was absolutely no intent on my part to do anything of what you are accusing me of. That is all behind me. Take that to the bank.

Linda, one thing I have over you is that I don't like it when people pile on a certain person because it rustles by sense of fair play. I wouldn't do to you what your friends over there did to James Perez, Irish Fan, FDS, Billaker and myself. You made a good post and I said I agreed with most of what you said. I really don't know why brought it up in the first place since Red Sox fans have put that out of their mind and moved on. Remember, the Sox won a World Series just three seasons back. None of us want to remember Buckner or that Series. Hell, I wasn't even a Red Sox fan then and means nothing to me. Be honest. Did you start that thread to agitate some people?

700, somehow I missed your post. Yes I read it and agree with you. Buckner could have been more contrite about the miss and admit that it WAS a key play in the game. I think that reaction set the fans off against him at the home opener in '87 when he was literally booed off the field. What was amazing, still, was that I actually found something to agree with Linda about. That has never happened before, although I do wonder why she brought that subject up in the first place. After all that was over 20 years ago and we have all moved on.

No one is disagreeing with you on the barfbags we trooped out there on the mound via Theo's waiver wire last summer Crunch, but what's done is done. All we'll get is more pissed off thinking about that debacle. Our pitching looks vastly improved over last season, minus the important item of a good closer. It is still possible that Theo will put either Coco or Wily Mo up for trade if a quality one is still available. Aside from that, we can only hope that if that is not forthcoming, Pena does well enough not to embarass himself and the club gets something of value out of him on our team. Besides, barring injury he will not be a starter so we don't have to keep our fingers tightly crossed that much when a fly ball goes his way in the outfield.

Crunch, good to see some others taking a critical look at Pena besides me. In fact, I think I have been on his case a little too much and am trying to see if there are any positives to having this guy on our club. He does have light-tower power and can actually play a decent CF. It is after this that the wheels come off the truck. I keep hearing his work habits are s*****, that he seems to regress as fast as he improves, that we cannot send him to the minors because he is out of options. What's left? The only thing I can suggest that makes any sense to me is for the guy to TRY and learn some 1B play. That could get him some extra at-bats besides those he gets when he spells the other three guys in the OF. If he can get enough of those and the Red Sox keep working on his mechanics at the plate and his work in the OF, maybe by 2009 when Manny is gone we will have a decent replacement out there in the guy. The only wild idea besides that would be to put him in CF for a year, trade Crisp as part of a trade for a closer, and hope he does the job out there. BTW, I just suggested the latter; I'm not in favor of it.

EX, I still think that team will be us. If we can give him some quality at-bats the next two season and keep working on his mechanics he could be a solid player for us by the age of 27 and still young enough to move into Manny's spot and do the job. I just worry that with his work habits he might not be able to do what's needed. Then, again, this is what I hear from the grapevine like the rest of you; that his work habits are a little lax. Here's one possibility; he learns to play a little first base down the road and for the next two seasons gets some time there and in the three OF positions, enough to get him enough at bats to keep him sharp. The flaw in that, though, is that there are those who believe he needs 500 at-bats a year the next two seasons to really develop and barring injury to one of our starters that won't happen. I guess from your last sentence you are thinking that he will be traded soon? Anyway, all we can do is guess on his improvement and where he will be playing, but I think Theo wants to hold on to him.

I think this is a trade that will help them both. I just had a thought, though. If Gonzales iss going to be their closer, that might make Wickman available. Think that guy could become our closer for a year or two? Just a thought.

Gom, anytime a Yankee fan wants Pena to get 500 at-bats Red Sox fans should run for cover. Perhaps you, like me, saw Wily Mo last September in that Saturday DH when he struck out five times, left 12 runners on base and misplayed three balls in the second game that cost us a DH sweep. Yes, he has tremendous light tower power, but he cannot play RF or LF worth a damn, strikes out way too much, has poor work habits and has a tendency to regress. Aside from that he's terrific. The problem arises when you see him hit a baseball. You lay one in on him and he can hit it as far as anyone. How many pitchers are going to do that, or, for that matter, are doing that in the DWL where he is now 2 for 38 Doesn't get me too excited.

Bo, there are lot of fans who are shaking this Pena slump off as nothing more than that. I think it is symptomatic with his history of improving and then regressing. I have never been a Pena fan but the Red Sox really seem to like him down the road in a couple of years when Manny leaves the team. If they can keep working on his mechanics and his non-existing fielding, he might emerge in 2009 at a solid power hitter for us, though if I could keep my fingers crossed when I type this I would.

TGov, I just read that Nick Cafardo is saying that sources in the Red Sox front office say the deal with Drew will be concluded this weekend, though most of us have heard that song before. As for Pena, he does have light tower power but in RF he is a disaster and you really can't move Coco to RF because his arm is almost as bad as Johnny Damon's. What I'm beginning to believe is that the Sox are going to nurture Pena, play him as a 4th outfielder and hopefully give him enough at bats to keep him semi-sharp by resting the other three from time to time and hopefully he will get the strike zone down pat and in two years will take over in LF when Manny's contract expires. We don't have a whole lot of power in our farm system from what I know and the team is still reluctant to give up on the guy.

Youk would be the wisest choice to hit second for a number of reasons. Strangely, one might be because who follows him. I don't think Francona wants someone running while Papi or Manny are up at the plate and if Coco was in that position you can bet he would be tempted to go. Coco is a pretty damn good base stealer as most of you know. Youk would also be more likely to work the count so Lugo could steal from his leadoff spot, but it makes sense to me not to have runners going when you have the best 3-4 combo in baseball ready to hit. Youk, though, must cut down on his strikeouts, and with a full season under his belt I think he will be a better hitter for us this season.

Until I was reminded of it I had forgotten that this guy played for the Mets. I guess four years is a lifetime in more than politics. I also keep hearing about our top notch farm system, yet we keep signing guys year in and year out to fill our Pawtucket roster. We did this last year as I remember with another Mets reject. What the hell happened to all our young prospects I heard about two years ago?

I hate to see Nixon on that list. I was hoping he would have found a home by now. I wonder if he was holding out hope the Red Sox would give him an offer and bring him back. The guy gave his all when he was able to play, a real dirt dog. Hopefully he gets on a team that gives him a chance to revive what's left of his career.