seabeachfred

A lot will depend on what happens with Trot Nixon the rest of the season. If he continues to perform well and is willing to give the Red Sox a decent discount and the Red Sox are willing to be fair with him he could be back for two or three more seasons. I sure as hell do not want to see him going to the Yankees. Of course, it also depends on how much progress David Murphy makes in AAA ball this season. If they deem him ready he could be with the Red Sox next season as a 4th outfielder or a platoon partner with Pena. I still am not convinced Pena is the real thing, though. He was starting to revert to his Cincy ways when he came up lame. So all this outfield drama is still very much up in the air. All I know is that I want to see Kapler kept on the team.

I think you've come up with an idea that might have merit but not right now. If it ain't broke don't fix it. We are doing fine with the lineup the way we have it now. Besides, Loretta is an excellent no. 2 hitter for us; he is hitting over 300 and collects a lot of hits. I wish he would walk more but they bear down on him because they don't want him or Youk on base if they can help it because they know what two guys follow them in the lineup. Besides, Coco wasn't nearly as disciplined at Youk has been at leadoff.:thumbsup: :dunno:

You can say that again. Look at the serious injury Gabe suffered last summer. Many said he would never really come back to form. Oh really? Who hit that three run bomb into the Green Monster seats in the ninth, or was it a mirage. Gabe is very valuable to the Red Sox and he is producing to boot. Of course, we keep Pena and send Harris on his way back on a night train to Georgia. He never should have been put on the team in the first place. The guy can't do anything but run.

Schill, then we are thinking along the same lines. Answer me this question, though. Why are so many people on this board so anxious to dump Trot Nixon? I think such a thought is absolutely insane. The guy is doing a bang-up job for us, hitting, fielding and attitude and competitiveness. What is not to like about the guy. Pena? I'm telling you, this guy is still a big questionmark and for some reason he cannot play right field at Fenway. I would be worrying more about what the hell is the matter with Coco Crisp. He is pulling a Matt Clement in CF. He had better wake up fast.

Kilo my friend, please don't get over excited about Wily Mo Pena. Yes, Papa Jack did some great things with him but if you remember just before he got hurt he was regressing back to his old habits. I have seen this before----a young slugger who will suddenly get it all together and you know what? It seldom happens. I remember Dave Nicholson in the 50's, Willie Kirkland in the 60's, John Shelby in the 70's, Franklin Stubbs in the 80's and Jeromy Burnitz in the 90's, and they all went bust with the exception of JB who could hit homers but still hit in the very low 200's. No, Rodney would be a great pickup and I give you full credit for that suggestion. It would really set us up---but not for Nixon. Besides, where did you hear that he was available? Is he really on the trading block?

Here we go again trying to unload Nixon. Trot is NOT the reason the team is in a little funk right now. He is hitting over 300, driving in runs and playing well in the outfield. He gives 100% every time out. Get off this kick, will you? Trot is a solid player and I don't like any idea of that trade for Rodney. First of all Detroit will NOT trade him. If they do we give them a prospect in return. Nixon stays and hopefully the Red Sox will not make the same mistake they made with Damon, Mueller and Petey and get rid of them before their time.

Jsing, Craig it is. I just had a senior moment. I believe I know a couple of Eric Hansens and just didn't concentrate on the business at hand. Thanks.

Jsing, correctamundo! It is not easy to build a strong bullpen but we have to do better than we have. Closer? We seem to be very strong there unless we suddenly decide to put Papelbon in the rotation, which now I think is a bad move. Set-up man? Mike Timlin holds the fort there as well and Eric Hansen is on his way up. The problem is in some middle relief. Seanez, Taverez and Lopez????? Well the first two have been chronic disappointments and I am not holding out a lot of hope for Lopez. I hope I am wrong. Delcarmen has the stuff but he must show himself to be more consistent; otherwise Francona will go with his "experience nonsense" with detrimental results.

mosox, what choice do we have but to give Lopez a chance to show his stuff. We cannot write him off after one or two batters. My worry is that Theo has not been very good in building a solid bullpen the past season and a half. We can only hope he gets back on a hot streak in the player personnel department.

700, it looks like we might have gotten a rhinestone in Coco Crisp. He really looks crappy up there at the plate and maybe he has not played his way into shape from that injury back in April. He looks lost at the plate. Maybe we will be missing Damon more than we care to admit when all is said and done.

Doesn't sound like someone who is going to be a big help no matter what the hell his name is.

Isn't this the guy who couldn't finish off the Red Sox last October in the Divisional Series? You think this guy is going to be an improvement?

Beck, Yezsir, and mosox, I think it is now pretty evident in Red Sox Nation that neither Taverez or Seanez, the EZ Brothers as they are known on Uponthemonster, can't do it and should be replaced as key relievers. The problem is Taverez (freddy krueger) has a two year contract and is owed 6.7 million and I just don't think the Red Sox will eat that contract no matter how much we fans howl. I really think Theo is willing to take us and the team down with him as he and Francona try to prove a point that these two guys are going to be all right in the end. They will not. As for you mosox, you are right on both counts---we need a lefty reliever, and DiNardo is most definately NOT the answer.

Well guys, did you see what Taverez did tonight? Hit a batter, gave up a double and a grand slam homer and turned a 2-1 lead into a 5-2 loss. I do not want to hear of anyone of you trying to defend this useless bastard. He has to go and go fast. He must not be around any longer. He and Seanez and albatrosses around our necks and unless Theo gets rid of these two bums you can bet that Francona will continue to use them over and over again. He is just too wedded to "experience" even if those pitchers can't do the job. Time to give those young arms a break.

SCM, thanks for the heads-up on Hansen. I didn't realize he was having so much trouble with his control at Pawtucket. What causes these things? In college he had lights out control of his pitches and now what? Has he gotten into the habit as so many young pitchers do and started nibbling? That's a sure sign of going backwards. We have pitching coaches; they ought to be able to detect any flaw in his mechanics if there are any. If not, he ought to go with his strength and challenge the hitters.

Yankees Suck, if Taverez can pitch the way you say he can it would be wise to the Red Sox to know this, too, but apparently they don't, or they're too stubborn about it. First of all, I have no defense for Seanez. He has failed twice in Boston and he has to go. Julian could emerge as a good reliever if he is used as you suggest. I'm reminded by your post that you have a very accurate reading on when he has performed well. Now if we could only get a reliever who can come in the game with inherited runners and get them out

Jsing, the Red Sox had not start worrying more about money than trying to win. The fact is a mistake was made signing Taverez to a two year contract and if he cannot be traded the team should cut its loses and let the guy go. Maybe some team needs him worse than we do and we can trade him and pick up a little of his salary. It is inevitable that a team that holds onto a poor performing player in order not to eat a contract usually regrets that decision and in the meantime it takes down the team and its fans with them.

Rudy is from California so he has something going for him. Great state, s***** baseball fans.

Francona did this earlier in the season against Seattle with Bard instead of Mirabelli in the lineup. You can qualify it all you want but Francona has done this too many times in the past and it could really come back to hurt us this season. Reason? I do not think the Wild Card is coming from the AL East this year, not with the AL Central and Al West having a few easy marks in the division. There really aren't any in ours and if we don finally win the AL East this season we will be watching the playoffs on television with some foreign teams playing.:thumbdown :dunno:

The Pauley experiment was a noble one but the fact is he was not ready despite his stellar performance against the Yankees. He got really shelled in his other two starts and I think it is only fair to the young pitcher to be send down to work on his pitches and improve on his game. Maybe in a year he will be ready. On the other hand, I have heard enough of Lester's potential and it is time to keep him up and see what he can do. I think he will do a lot better than Clement or our other No. 5 starters have done. And the same goes for Hansen. He is certainly better than Seanez or Taverez and should be given his shot.

MTB, male Red Sox fans must have wives who are very very understanding because we are not anything like other fans, no way, no how. Our intensity and rabid devotion to our team borders on the insane and we need wonderful ladies who can put up with us. My wife Linda is a polished 14-karat gem even though she is an Angels and Dodgers fan. She gives me plenty of room to rant and rave, but when it is time to behave she knows when to let me have it and get back to reality. A Red Sox fan's wife earns everything she gets.

Beck, Schmidt and Capuano si si; the rest NYET!!!!!!!!! However, in the NL West the Giants are making one last stand with their aging team and unless they fall apart I don't think they are going to move Jason. As for Capuano, the Brewers are playing fairly well even though they don't stand much of a chance of making the playoffs the way it looks now. Maybe they would like to add another young player or two for the future and would be willing to make a trade. Of course, it would be great for David Pauley to keep pitching the way he did last night and the rest of the crew to stand up big along with the hitters who fell asleep last night.

Crunch, glad to know you were over exaggerating on the spouse front but I certainly have known of cases where baseball has caused problems in marriages. Hell, my wife will NOT go to any game with me where the Red Sox are playing. Absolutely no way. Well, she learned quickly how rabid and out of kilter we can become. Yes, me, too. I'm singing the blues this morning. How the hell couldn't be back up David with more offensive support than we did. We laid down like dogs last night and if we have any pride at all we will come back smoking the next two games. I don't remember Juan Pena. Fact is, I didn't become a Red Sox fan until 2001. In August of 2000 on a baseball tour through Sports Travel we went to Fenway Park on the last leg of the journey. I got hooked right there, completely and utterly and have wondered since why I didn't see the Red Sox as my team all those years before. Trying to catch up for lost time is hard but I am doing my damndest to breach all those lost years. BTW, when the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004 it was on October 27th, my birthday. Think I ever got a better present than that? Have a great day my friend.

Crunch, sorry to hear you are so down and I hope your wife and kids haven't left you for good; that would really be a bummer. I will keep the good thoughts coming on your behalf. Yes, you cleared up the Arroyo vs Yankees thing for me. He did have no decisions against them even though he pitched those two real good games as you mentioned. Look you are not alone; I was really down last night and I'm a little apprehensive about the future right this moment, but you know how it is with the Red Sox. They drive you from the penthouse to the outhouse in one swoop and you have to hold on tight or you get thrown off the ride flat on your ass. We have to weather the storm. Remember the last two series against the Yankees saw us hammer the hell out of them only to see them come back the next game and beat us. We have to show we can do the same thing.