seabeachfred

I have two of my four dogs sitting right next to me as I type this.......they know that Linda does not give them goodies. She's strict about that. Me? I spoil the hell out of them. As for the other stuff it is out of our hands and no matter what my point was no matter what the front office does we'll be rooting like hell for the Red Sox come what may. mvp was right on about Drew accepting that QO of 14.1 million. He may have blown it by not taking it. We'll see.

Gammon says!!!!!!! Since when is he any authority on anything anymore. He also said we were going to sign Teixeira in 2008 and resign Bay in 2009 And who really know what to believe anymore? Farrell said back in December that if he got Drew back he would not only play shortstop but would not be platooned. Now we hear Ben saying Drew will be a utility man....a pretty expensive one I might add unless the other offers (if there are any) are so sparse that he would swallow his pride and sign on the dotted line. I'm at the point that I want to throw up my hands and just wait until all this shakes loose. Everyone knows where I stand on this issue and right now it's 50-50 that it will go with my preference. It's a piss poor sad commentary that days from the opening of ST we have these guys still unsigned and some nowhere near inking a contract.

For me it was the sixth game of the 2013 ALCS---seventh inning, bases loaded and the "Flyin Hawaiian" at the plate. I went ape s*** as did 38,000 others in the ballpark when he went deep. I don't think my feet touched the floor from that moment until I woke up the next day. The trip cost some serious bucks but it was worth every dime to have been there.

It is very hard to predict right now SoxSport and that's why I give a lot of credit to those who put their prestige on the line so early. I want to wait until ST is almost over to ascertain what kind of a team we'll be putting on the field. BTW, tonight I watched a tape of one of the games of the 2007 ALCS and I can tell you if Grady Sizemore is anything remotely close to what he was back then Jackie Bradley might wind up back at Pawtucket. I wouldn't particularly like it but it is what it is. Fortunately Grady is a class act who gives 100% all the time out there.

Hey guys, we're talking about baseball again. What a relief!!!!!!!! Enough of this football crap.

Glad you didn't take anything personal Bell because nothing was meant to be personal. I told mvp we go back a ways and always had fun tweaking each other. I'll tell you what I told him. IF we sign Drew I will root as hard for him as I would for any Red Sox player. I just think we have three young players we can get into that lineup this year who could be the vanguard of a group that could eventually dominate the American League. Remember, barring unforeseen circumstances we have Cecchini, Swihart, Betts, Renaudo, Barnes and Owens nearing Big Time status. Hey just thinking long term.

What you're saying Pal is not false at all, but it often depends on the player involved. I can't read our players because I don't know them, but in Middlebrooks and Bradley's case, they are considered players of promise that had some tough stretches last year---Bradley off to a slow start, back in the minors, and so-so when he came back while Middlebrooks just got off to a miserable start and it took a trip to the minors to get him on track....for awhile. OK, let me put this way, and this is just MY opinion. I think the term would be better served in the long run if we could get a couple or three young players into the lineup this year come what may. There are seven more seasons in this decade and, believe it or not, I'm thinking long term. You get Bradley, Middlebrooks and Bogaerts going this season and players like Swihart, Cecchini, Renaudo, Owens and Betts infiltrated into the lineup the next couple of years and we have a helluva nucleus. Anyway, not to take anything away from your pretty accurate statement I'm willing to roll the dice on these kids and I think this is the year to do it, coming off a surprising WS Title with just about every Red Sox fan willing to cut the team some slack this season.

Hey MVP, I'm sitting here LMFAO at that comment of yours. Believe it or not, I'm not pissed off, just enthused and excited and my dogs have me wrapped around their paws. I once said that if the Sox did resign Drew I would fall in line and root like hell for him to succeed, but coming off a WS Title I think you, me, 700, VA, User, iortiz and the whole pack of us would be more patient with what the Red Sox did if they decided to go with the kids. I'm thinking long term. Counting this season there are seven of them remaining in this decade and if our young guys develop and prosper we could be in two or three more WS if all goes well. As for Bellhorn, I like the guy. We insult each other from time to time but nothing personal from my end and none of his. Anway, thanks for the quick retort. We might just hit it off after all.

Whenever I reminisce about 2003 or have nightmares about it, it suddenly dawns on me why so many here remember 1986 for similar reasons and yet some remember the pleasant events that took place during that pennant winning year. I keep coming back to the idea that if Steve Bartman and then the Cubs had not screwed up and Grady Little would have managed like a Big Leaguer instead of a busher we would have had a Cubs-Red Sox World Series....what a hoot that would have been. Then I wonder since the Cubs blew it, what would have happened if we had made it and played the Marlins in the WS. Would we have been able to beat Beckett, Burnett, Penny and Co?

VJ---that assessment of Middlebrooks is fair enough. He should be able to handle those numbers----BUT HE MUST BE GIVEN THE CHANCE TO DO THAT without looking over his shoulder and wonder if he has an 0 for 4 will Farrell's pet Drew be in the lineup the next day. That is why we have to chance it, give WMB the job, allow him to develop, which I think he will do just fine and let Drew go someplace else. This opus just doesn't seem to want to die and I blame the Red Sox front office for that. They could end it simply by saying that we are no longer interested in Drew and are moving on. Where he winds up? I don't give a damn.

******** Bellhorn!!!!! You apparently forgot what Farrell said last December so I will remind your very cloudy memory. To wit---If we get Drew back he will be our shortstop and I have no intention to platoon him at all. That's what he said and that's what I think will happen. Way to go with your crappy memory Bell. And I think that's exactly what will happen and we will lose a good young player because the team got cold feet with WMB just as they might have with Bradley. Stop patching patching and patching.!!!!!!!! Get those kids in there and let them develop. This is the perfect season to do that.

If he comes back Dupree it will not be fine in my opinion. Last December Farrell said that if he got Drew back he would play him at SS and would NOT platoon him. That means every time we face a lefty we have at least one deadbeat in the lineup. And trading him perhaps in mid-season? That only means Middlebrooks' development is hindered and who is to say that his confidence has not evaporated by that time. You don't mess around with your young players like that. I'm becoming more convinced than ever that the Red Sox are getting a bad case of cold feet over their youngsters. You bring in Sizemore and threaten Bradley, you bring back Drew and threaten Will. If you don't have confidence in your young players just go the Yankees way. Stop talking one thing and doing another. For the Red Sox to move on to better days it is a necessity that Bradley and Middlebrooks are in the lineup this season until if and when they can show they cannot do the job. IMHO they can. Let the kids play!!!!!!!

It makes even less sense than no sense Jacko, if that is even possible. You DO ride with the kids or why develop them and boast and brag about how good your farm system is if you're going to bring in the likes of Grady Sizemore and then drag back Stephen Drew into the equation? Middlebrooks's development will take a big hit if he is platooned or used as a situational player. Drew can't hit lefthanders, he strikes out way too often for a guy with only so-so power, he is 31 and maybe heading on the downside of his career while WMB has a very high potential ceiling. He has a tough sophomore season and right away everyone is ready to dump him. For the record Drew is also a strikeout machine, does not have good speed and his power doesn't come close to Middlebrooks. This is going to be a very stupid move on our part if we do this. I hope we don't.

rj---I agree with five of your six division winners. Wonder if you know which one I disagree with. Take a flier on that. As for WS winner I pray that you are right. What a hoot that would be.

I was rooting for Peyton but not my wife. For some unfathomable reason she just dislikes him and his brother Eli. As for the game, give the Seahawks credit. Their defense was other wordly. Bronco runners and receivers were getting hammered on every run and pass play and Manning was forced to rush his passes practically all game. Now like most people here I am ready for some baseball. I'm climbing walls waiting for Truck Day and the morning when pitchers and catchers report to Fort Myers. In fact, I will probably go from my home in California to Arizona to see a few Cactus League games in March---the Cubs, Padres, Guardians and perhaps the Rangers. No Dodgers or Angels though.

Amazing how the wives keep us in line mvp. My Linda is just like your wife; she constantly tells me never ever to say anything negative about Big Papi. You may have had your reasons for getting on him back then but from my vantage point I was very ungrateful and willing to see him cut adrift. I like to think I am a fair person but I slide out of that from time to time and with David I was miserable and nasty. I wish they give him that extra year this Spring and tell him they will have to wait until after the 2015 season when he's ready to turn 40 to see if he has anything left that would warrant a new contract. I really want him to end his career with the Red Sox and have to believe that is the way he feels about it too.

In Ortiz's case I will cut him a little slack Pal. I hate it when players start bellyaching about contracts or being disrespected but Big Papi has become an icon for the Red Sox and I really think he's a big exception to my rule. We have won three World Series with the big guy leading the team and I don't think he has ever been the highest paid player on the team. Let him pop off but don't let him get away. We can give him another year this ST and tell him there will be no further talk of contracts until the 2015 season is over. He most likely will go along with it if presented right. I made the mistake of dissing him badly in 2009 when he couldn't seem to by a hit for two months and personally disrespected what he had done. I can't do that anymore. He has earned my undying affection and respect. Now that I have finished droning on my friend, are you climbing the walls as badly as I am thirsting for some baseball? I've watched the first half of the Super Bowl and all I can think about is the Red Sox. Crazy, isn't it?

That's one of the arguments SoxSport and a reason for letting Drew walk to somewhere else. The Red Sox seem to be getting cold feet about their young players. They are talking them up but hedging their bets like signing Grady Sizemore because there is doubt that Jackie Bradley might not be able to cut it, and still thinking of signing Drew because Middlebrooks had a tough sophomore year after a great rookie season and he might not be able to cut it either. If they are going to think like that they might as well go the Yankee way and start spending big for free agents and avoid the cold feet.......that sure worked for us before, didn't it---NOT!!!!!!! You have good young prospects, you play them and give them a chance to prosper. It worked with Pedroia, Ellsbury, Papelbon and Lester. It will work with these guys if the Red Sox just say to hell with it, we going with our kids.

Then if that's the case, he needs to go elsewhere. Middlebrooks and Bogaerts IMHO need to have the decks cleared for them so they are not looking over their shoulders every time they make an out or make an error. Cherington has trump Farrell on this one if he manager insists Drew on the Red Sox in a regular. As a JOAT I'm on board; if not, nyet, no mas, nein, NO!!!!!

No, not really. If we could sign him to be a jack of all trades I would certainly back down and say go ahead, it's fine. I just don't want to block Bogey and WMB from developing to their very best. If Drew could play multiple positions I'd be fine with that. I would not be fine with him being signed as a regular and keeping one or two of our young players on the pine.

Marrrero didn't hit at Arizona State; he will never hit in the Bigs. Use him as trade bait for some unsuspecting and naïve team looking for an infielder.

And unlike Varitek who the Red Sox rescued from an early forced retirement when they resigned him when no one else wanted him (twice), I hope this time they don't give Drew a parachute and bring him back. I've been pretty strong about that. Only as a reserve infielder would I even consent to bringing him back. You pay him a good salary and you have to play him and that hurts either WMB or Bogey or maybe both. We don't need that.

Maybe this time he will stay healthy and give us another left option arm in the pen, although from the looks of things it's getting a little crowded down there.

Well I wish some team not named the Red Sox would. He's like the 1000 pound gorilla in the room. Come on Mets, you need a SS and so do you Pirates. As for you miserable Dodgers, you all say Alex Guerrero might not be ready and Drew said he can play second base. Somebody, damn it, sign the guy

Haven't seen you much lately Gringo. Good to see you posting again. I coming to the conclusion that there was enough good stuff in 1986 that gave you long time Sox fans much to cheer about. I do, however, understand my pal Ted and his angst over how it all turned out. I feel the same way about 2003. I had one terrific memory of that season, July 4th to be exact, Yankee owner George Steinbrenner's 73rd birthday and the first game of a big four game series between his Yankees and our Red Sox. A New York friend named Bill Gately secured two really good seats for that game and after a nice Italian lunch in the Bronx's Little Italy section of town, we went and I saw the Red Sox hits seven dongs in a 10-3 rout of the Yankees, not a nice birthday present for George. Still the way it all ended with that God damn Grady Little......well, we all know how that came out. It ruined most of the season for me.