seabeachfred

You won't finish in last place no matter what some Red Sox fans would love to see. The Yankee front office will not allow that.....nor will they allow the team to wallow, long contracts or not. They are going after Scherzer with a full court press, and I'd be both surprised and shocked if they didn't and went at it the way you suggested.

Hanley can hit---of that there is no question. He cannot field effectively any more, not at SS and it is ridiculous to think he could move to 1B and be effective there any more than it is believed he will be effective in LF. For Ramirez to be a positive pickup for us he must rake and rake and rake........30 homers, a 300 batting average and close to 100 RBI's, otherwise I have some misgivings about this signing. Today on Sports Talk Radio LA570 they interviewed Brandon McCarthy and the host hoped he would be a positive influence in the clubhouse because the Dodgers had problems there this season and last. The only people he could have been talking about were Matt Kemp and Ramirez. To me that is red flag right there because Hanley has been a royal pain in the ass everywhere he has played and we don't need a virus in our clubhouse. I hope Papi, Nap and Pedey sit on this guy and keep him on the straight and narrow. We saw what a fractured clubhouse could result in during that 2011 folderoo.

Those posters like User who insist that these shifts can mask defensive deficiencies will hold a lot of water and be fairly accurate as long as hitters try and hit through the shift. It was fine for Ted Williams because he was arguably the greatest hitter who ever lived if you take average, home runs, RBI's, OBP and other things into consideration. However, for others it could add up to decreased production and effectiveness as a hitter. As one who coached for over 30 years I was able to help most of my players learn to hit to the opposite field. It really wasn't all that difficult for the most part, and I was dealing with amateur players and a few who barely got a couple of years in the low minors. If they could do it these Major League hitters with five to ten times the talent should be able to learn those basics from the time they sign until they reach the Bigs. Major League batting coaches are pretty talented and smart teachers and it hard to believe they couldn't teach players to use the whole field unless the players are stubborn and simply don't want to learn those skills.

Good point Wyo about never knowing. You can't really know how the Red Sox are going to do if you take the last decade into account. There have been pleasant surprises and angering disappointments flying at us from left and right and no one can really say how the 2015 team will fare taking the past into consideration. They could finish between first and fifth as they've done the past three seasons. The AL East is supposed to be down next season. Is it? That's what it looks on paper, but then again, a surprise or two could emerge. Right now I think we are a solid starting pitcher short of being the favorites for the division title. I would hope we could sign either Shields or Scherzer within the next month or so. I still would like to trade for Hamels but if Betts or Swihart are going to be in the trade, forget it.

Au contraire mvp...two posters here have already changed their mind and have come out solidly behind what the front office has done with the starting rotation. Yes, most of us think we are still very short at least one good starter, and in some cases, two. The only way we win the AL East next season is if the division is about as weak as it has been in the last 25 years. Anyway, let me end this post and this day with good cheer. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukuh or whatever you choose to celebrate. Have a great day tomorrow.

CP---You are right on tune. Our offense is being talked about as being a Murderer's Row and that's a pile of crap. There is reason to believe that Vasquez will not hit, that Bogaerts might crater again, especially when he faces pitchers with runners on. How will Ramirez and Sandoval structure themselves in a tougher league, can Pedroia and Napoli come back strong, and is Betts and Castillo the real deal or Bradley and Middlebrooks in different clothing? When you try to weave through those answers and realize we have pretty much a potential horse s*** starting rotation, it surprises me that many are drinking the Kool Aid that Cherington and Farrell are pouring. You can't expect to win a pennant on the back of a bunch of 7-5 and 8-6 games, and unless our staff suddenly has a real epiphany that is what you can expect from candy ass Buchholz, the battered Masterson, and the inconsistent Miley. We have no ace, we don't even have a solid No. 2 man save for possibly Porcello and Kelly---and I don't want to bet the house on those two becoming our bell cows. CP---I knew this might happen. We have a couple of posters here who keep saying they're of an independent mind and will castigate the front office when they screw up, as two people said, if they don't get us that ace we need. Well that's BS too because they are once again bootlicking the front office and acting like they can do no wrong. Keep to your guns. If the division is as bad as some say we might be able to pull it off, but if the Yankee and Rays pitching and Baltimore and Toronto's offense are jelling the Kool Aid drinkers will throw in the towel and be gone from the board by July.

Bingo Spud-----Tina Cervasio was my favorite too. She brought a lot of genuine likeability as well as some real talent in those interviews. Besides, her last year with the Red Sox was 2007, my favorite Red Sox year by a mile.

Please Ted, not Heidi. She was a walking hex. In four years with us we went into the tank, blowing the pennant in 2008 and ending up with that collapse in 2011 before he got her ass out of Boston. What made it worse, she came to LA and almost immediately the Lakers fell into a hole they may not get out of for the next half dozen years. Give Heidi Deidi a one was ticket to Zanzibar. Good looks or not, I wouldn't want that Jonah within a thousand yards of me.

But you and I know better, don't we GB? As Dojii said some time back---EXPECT NOTHING FROM BUCHHOLZ....NOTHING!!!!!! In other words we don't have enough starting pitching and I'm hoping no one on this board is drinking Cherington's Kool Aid believing we do. We need that No. 1 guy and could use a good No. 2 man as well.

Prune Face is going to have to understand that if Porcello is having a solid year he is going to cost money to sign, not what Henry thinks he should get or even the witless and hateful Lucchino, but what the market says he's worth. Remember, we don't have that great a record resigning our free agents, and our rotation is pretty rotten right now as it is. Masterson? Is someone pulling our legs? The guy sucked in both leagues this season and can anyone really count on Buchholz not scraping his pinky and being on the shelf for three months as is his habit? And maybe we can hire a couple of good minor league pitching coaches so we can finally develop some home grown pitching stalwarts instead of the duds we've since Lester.

I totally agree with you on that Station. The front office screwed that one up royally and fans, the press and media must not allow them to forget it for one minute, especially if the team craters again with their C-, D+ starting rotation this coming season. The key was when the offer was made and refused the die had been cast because Lester never allowed them to negotiate with him again. Lucchino and Prune Face bear the responsibility for this debacle.

He wasn't signed as a catcher but was converted there and has taken to it like a duck to water. Right now everyone is talking about Vazquez who is a terrific defensive catcher, but if some people like Castillo and Bogaerts don't hit, and Napoli and Ramirez are in and out with injuries, we will need every bat we can get into that lineup. People are talking like we can carry Vaz easily but forget what kind of starting rotation we have right now......C minus at best.

Just read that Shields is asking for a five year $110 million contract----or his agent is. I think I would pass on this guy now. He is 33 and that contract might start to look like an albatross in two or three years. Sounds to me that if his demands aren't coming down he will pitch elsewhere next season. But we still need a No. 1 ace and to me that is set in cement. We don't win next season without one unless the whole AL East is having a bad case of the runs.

MJ---We need a top ace and I think Hamels (one M) might be the guy......or Zimmerman or if we want to be extravagant Scherzer. What you said could happen.....Hamels could s*** the bed and Bogaerts could emerge as a standout. However, it could work the other way, and we've already gotten burned by Middlebrooks and Bradley. It will be tried your way next season because I think the Red Sox think as you and others do that X is NOT a Bradley or Middlebrooks......and for the record, if Xander is still with us I will root like hell for him to succeed. I'm just a tad worried about him.

Wow!!!!! Just read that James Shields want a five year $110 million dollar contract to sign. Looks like he isn't coming to Boston and for that kind of bread for a 33 year old I will back up our front office on this one. Unless his demands come down let the Giants have him........or our friends from that slum in Northern New York City.

Since Bogaerts isn't one of my "binkies", so the "expert" goes, I guess that also holds true for my take on the Drew signing last year and my call of Bradley as soon as ST was over. I remember "binky" didn't agree with me on those two either, nor did he on my call that the team was NOT ready for the season due to a miserable ST month. I think I called those ones well, but couldn't say so to the Bink because by July he had fled the board again for the second time in three seasons when his take on things sank like s*** in a pool. For the record, my feeling on Bogaerts was positive entering the season but I saw with my own eyes that first Home Opening Series when he looked like two different hitters when facing a pitcher with no one on and when coming to the plate with RISP. In that now very forgettable three game series he must have left a dozen runners on base. Yes, he got hits but never with a runner on. I came back from Boston and said this guy could be a choker and caught hell from Binky and his lady friend. And just for the record, some say how well he was doing the first two months with something like a 290 average. The fact was that he was hitting about 100 points below the Mendoza line and the team had to take him out the sixth spot and put him at the second so to mitigate the weakness he had with RISP. By late may he had only 6 RBI's. SIX!!!!! Could he overcome that with experience? Yes he could, but it could also be a sign of some deep problems when things are on the line, and what I was suggesting that if he is asked for in a trade for, say a Hamels or Zimmerman I would think that might be a good idea. We saw how WMB's value plummeted and right now we couldn't get a bottle of vinegar for Bradley. Perhaps we have the third of that trio who disappointed the hell out of the team this season. If I'm wrong let me have it and I will issue a solid mea culpa, but just be aware of this takes place again next year because I might just remind you of what I possibly warned about. Now we can end this topic because we all know where we stand on it.

That slider low and away could also be Bogaerts' ticket to oblivion. I still have very deep reservations about that guy.

The Dodgers have Adrian Gonzales at first so they don't need Howard......Just watch that Ben doesn't get s*** for brains and in his haste to get Hamels he takes Howard along with him and we lose Napoli and get an almost totally useless player at first base. I don't say Cherington will do that but I still wouldn't put it past him. Our ownership and front office have made too many personnel mistakes the past year for me to have the confidence in them that you do. If Hamels is offered to us and Howard is offered along with him, Ben runs as fast as his legs will take him just as he would if Betts and Swihart's name are mentioned in such talks. Besides, this is most likely the last year Amaro jr. will he a GM anywhere. The guy is a total waste of ectoplasm.

That may be so BEL but the fact remains we need a No. 1 ace and we should not be swayed by any BS coming from the FO that we are now set with a decent starting rotation. The fact is Masterson sucked to high heaven this past season with the Guardians and they couldn't get rid of him fast enough. Then he imploded so badly with the Cardinals that they dropped him from both the rotation and post-season roster. Buchholz? Do we really want to count on him next season? Oh yes, he has great stuff and at times he can be a top notch pitcher but that is too few and far between for a team challenging for an AL East Title next season, and besides, a little scab on his rear end and he is out for two months. The others do not match up as aces but rather maybe one No. 2 and a bunch of threes. I would much rather have Shields than some of the stiffs we're counting on to help us win next season.

If some guys we're counting on in 2015 pull a Bogaerts, Middlebrooks or, God forbid, a Bradley, and Vasquez proves to be the poor hitter that he is, Blake could find himself behind the plate buy the middle of 2015. Ideally, it would be great to see him get a full season at Pawtucket, hit well there and crack the lineup in 2016. He and Betts are two prospects we must keep at all costs.

Kelly needs to be in the rotation Pal. Good God, he is a helluva better pitcher than Masterson is........hell, that guy can't get lefties out to save his soul. He needs to be in the pen and used mainly against righties in the lineup. As for Buchholz, yes, he could have a very good season for us but right now I have almost zero confidence that his head is in it and that he finally at long last is going to stay in one piece for a season. AND WE NEED THAT ACE!!!!!!

It just shows me the great turnover in baseball these days. I knew Ross was very weak hitter when I saw him on TV when he played for the Bums. Still, we did get some key hits from him and I think he handled the pitchers very well, especially Jon. He was a spiritual leader on our 2013 Title team and after suffering as all of us did this season I might suggest thinking of the good things we got from Ross instead of that lousy batting average this season.

Honest answer? YES!!!!!! The Yankees would spend themselves into a stupor to win another World Series and don't believe one damn word that comes out of their addled mouths. They'd be willing to go well over the luxury tax if it meant they had a chance at a WS Title. They are NOT out of the Scherzer derby in my opinion.......not by a long shot.

And that has been both surprising and a little bizarre Bellhorn. I know Scherzer's asking price is ridiculous but then again hasn't some of the money expended for FA the past few years been in that ballpark? I haven't heard anything out here regarding Scherzer but don't count the Angels out. They had the best record in baseball this season and they were outed quickly in the playoffs, and I do know that owner Arte Moreno likes to make that big splash, and he is drooling for a WS Title. He could bite. And I never trust to Yankees in anything they say. It's like an itch for them to throw a ton of money for a FA and pay no heed to the problems that will come from it three or four years down the road. We have the money to sign Scherzer. Why not go for it since we are farther away from getting Hamels now that we were two weeks ago. As long as Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. is insisting on Betts and or Swihart in such a deal we should simply walk away from it until he lowers his demands.