a700hitter

Once they start playing sheduled games, fans can't get into watch workouts on non-game days. I would love to get into watch the workouts. One of the things that I liked about City of Palms Park was that the batting cages and extra pitching mounds were in leftfield and you could see them do their work.

It's just the first week of camp. The regulars will start going 3 or 4 innings next week.

I saw him last spring, followed him during the season in the minors and watched him in his short stint for the Sox. He is not progressing at all. He is far removed from his surgery so he should have regained command, but he has not. I am not sticking a fork in the kid, but he appears to me to be on the road to palooka-ville or oblivion. They will give him every opportunity, but I doubt that he can be more than a bullpen guy someday.

Rubby looked awful today. Terrible command and when he did throw strikes they hit him very hard. He's on his way to palooka-ville.

They did draft him, but it was in a late round and they offered very little money. He decided to go to Vanderbilt and the O's drafted him out of Vanderbilt. The kid is small, but very fast. He has good range in the OF and an adequate arm. I saw the kid take BP,and I did see similarities to his old grand dad.

My first game this Spring was Sunday against the O's. Here are some impressions: Doubront threw nice and free with good velocity and movement. He looks to be in good shape and he went through his innings without breaking a sweat. I think he will be our Andy Pettitte for years to come if we keep him in the organization. Pedey is swinging the bat like he did before his injury. He's cutting loose. Ortiz looks like he packed on a few lbs, but he still crushes the ball. Napoli hit a bomb and looked good in the field too making a leaping catch. As for the new guys, I have no conclusions, based on such limited observatin, but here are a few impressions: Bogaerts will put up some power numbers if makes consistent contact. The ball jumps off his bat. Brentz is a big boy, broad in the shoulders and very strong. Cecchini had a terrible AB late in the game. I saw Yaz's grandson. I recognized him during BP. He has some mannerisms of his granddad, and the swing was recognizeable. When he left the cage, i was able to confirm his identity afterseeing his nose. There is a resemblance.

I left him off my list because I saw a lot of him last Spring. I like his patience at the plate and he has an aggressive swing. Good arm.

Boras is now putting out the word that Drew will consider sliding over to second base for a multiple year contract. This could be an attempt to get the Yankees interested.

Boy, the Yankees have not finished with their Dumpster diving. They are desperately throwing it against the wall and hoping that some of it sticks.

That is one of my favorite Branch Rickey sayings. If O'Malley hadn't pushed Rickey out of Brooklyn, the Dodgers would still be there, and so would I.

I will try to give you a ring next week.

Spring Training is under way. We have a championship banner that will be raised on Opening Day. Optimism is understandable.

There is nothing like a "gotcha" debate with two year old posts being brought up. Riveting. It's like the message board version of a dirty tricks political campaign.

This is surprising in light of the big contract for Ellsbury.

Also, don't forget that Mike Napoli was diagnosed with a degenerative hip condition in both hips but he played a full productive season. and light hitting rookie SS Jose Iglesias put up a .330 BA and .785 OPS in over 200 plate appearances for Boston. It was questionable whether he could stick at the MLB level, and Jon Lester righted his sinking ship from 2012.

Because I rarely predict standings and I had never predicted the Sox for 4th place until last year. They won the Championship. I am superstitious so I am picking them 4th again. What are you not getting about this?

I am putting you on advance notice that if we win the championship in 2014, I will again pick them for 4th place in 2015.

This is Kool aid drinking season.

I was just trying to cling to hope in the Spring.

The biggest challeng to the Yankees will be building a bull pen. With Mo at the end of their pen for 2 decades, they only had to build a middle pen. Now, they have to build an entire pen. As for all of their other question marks, there is no denying those, but remember that we had a ton going into last season.

I am glad to get rid of that useless fat turd.

Did you see my explanation?

LOL!! Pal, let me explain. I almost never will make a prediction against my team for superstitious reasons. Usually, I refrain against predictions regarding standings. However, last off season I was so down about their chances that I predicted a 4th place finish. I really can't argue with how that turned out. Being superstitious... Well, you get it now... right?

I need to see more of the teams from the NL and othe AL divisions before making projections, but here is my projection for the ALE. 1. Yankees (and it will not be close if Jeter and Tex can put up representative numbers.) 2. Orioles (Tons of offense and although the starting pitching is mediocre, it is deep plus they have some live young guns) 3. Rays (Tons of live arms -- enough to stock the rotation and the pen. If they get any offense, they will catch the O's0 4. Red Sox -- it's very difficult to repeat and even harder to stay away from major injuries 2 years in a row. 5. Blue Jays -- They have done nothing to inject life into their team.

I know that this thread is about which prospects that we want to see with the big club in 2014. My answer is that beyond Bogaerts, Middlebrooks (no longer a prospect, he's a young major leaguer) and Workman, I don't want to see to many at Fenway except at the Futures games. The reason why is if we start seeing lot of these guys it would mean that we are suffering injuries and under performance. Here's who I look forward to seeing when I am in Ft. Myers in order of preference: Bogaerts will be there (I missed him last year) Owens Cecchini Betts Swihart Barnes Renaudo Ball Marrero Vasquez isn't on the list because I saw him last year. He is fun t watch. Behind the plate, he is like a cat. He reminds me of a young Pudge Rodriguez.