a700hitter

I don't understand giving Gomes a two year deal when they gave Ross a one year deal. I am just not seeing the reasoning behind that. Has Gomes ever had more than a 1 year contract? Were people lining up to sign this guy?

Stop being a dick. I was joking around. Didn't the give it away, douche.:thumbdown

He's a horrible fielder, but he has had seasons where he has had some good LHP splits. Other years, I think he was a complete dud.

Other than Lester, we don't have anyone who can be relied upon to go 200 innings, never mind 4 pitchers who can do that. Buchholz still has not topped the 200 inning mark in a season, but I think he is capable of doing it. Are you counting in a post-op Lackey for 200 innings 30 starts and a reasonable ERA. It could happen, but I am not banking on it. Even if he does, that's 3 out of 5. Did you see how Doubront collapsed in August and September? He was horrible. He became terrible after about 110 innings-- much too early to blame fatigue. Maybe the hitters figured out that he can't throw more than 50% of his pitches for strikes. I think we need a couple of solid reliable pitchers. I don't think we can count on more than 2 guys on our roster to fill that bill. Lackey and Doubs can fight it out for the 5th spot. It's hard to attribute intent on the internet because people read stuff and process it through their own filters which are usually off by a mile.

If you think a salary dump without more proves his worth, you have low standards, especially since it propelled us into last place. J.D.'s blast propelled the team into the World Series. I don't see how you can equate the two. Besides, most people credit JH as being the moving force behind that salary dump, not Cherington.

3 good above average pitchers have already been traded or signed. There are always options, but not if you let everyone beat you to the punch. More pitchers will be signed and/or traded before the off season is concluded. I disagree that we need a top flight pitcher. It would be great to have, but we need guys to eat innings make 30 starts and pitch to a reasonable ERA. We need two reliable, not spectacular, starters. That would stabilize the staff. There is not an unlimited supply of those guys and none will be cheap, but they will not break our bank either. I am not sold on either Lohse or Haren because of health questions, so don't put words in my mouth. As for harping on BC, please stop with that s***. Do you read my posts? I am saying that I am in waiting mode. Nothing has happened yet, so there is nothing to criticize or praise. I am on record several times posting that I think there will be major moves by December 1st. If it is a slow day, I will note that it is a slow day. Is that a terrible slam on someone? Thin skinned people are generally annoying, but people who are thin skinned on the behalf of other people that they don't even know are just ridiculous. Please stop being ridiculous. When and if I decide to slam this GM, it will be more than joking about inactivity.

I am waiting breathlessly for the announcement of their new minor league batting instructor.

Climbing back to respectability may take paying a premium to get some big talent back at Fenway. No one wants to go play for a loser in a bad circus atmosphere. You are not going to get back to respectability, nevermind dominance, just by building from within. They f***ed up their franchise in the last 2-3 years and last year they took a sledgehammer to it. They no longer have the reputation of a professionally run organization that knows how to succeed. They have earned themselves a reputation of bumbling idiots. Not good for attracting talent.

Another slow day on Cherington Lane.

That's right. And I am waiting for Cherington to have his J.D. Drew Grand Slam moment.

Wow!! This is wheeling and dealing.

If he doesn't make any moves to improve the pitching, they will be a last place, 90+ loss team again, and it will be another season of zero meaningful games after August 1st. The Sox had their worst season in 46 years. They need to be aggressive this season just to get back to respectable. They can be aggressive and improve the team without breaking the bank. They need a couple of 30 start 200 inning starters. They don't have to get King Felix. A solid staff that can go deep into games would get this team back to respectability. The staff doesn't need to be spectacular. If Lester and Buchholz improve over last year and the back end of the rotation is also solid, they would be a respectable team that could chase a wild card spot. If he plays this waiting game and doesn't build the pitching, they will finish last. Finishing last two years in a row can really damage the value of the franchise. Look back when they had back to back 90+ loss years. People were not going to games. In tough financial times, people will find other things to spend money on instead of paying the exorbitant price to go to Fenway to see a last place team full of no-names. I am still confident that we will see some major moves befor December 1st when tickets go on sale.

The Sox were rumored to have made inquiries about Gio, but you are probably right. Cherries is the J.D. Drew of GMs. He watches a lot of called strike threes right down the middle of the plate.

My recollection was faulty on this. The Jays manager who got in trouble for lying about serving in Vietnam was Tim Johnson.

A great team is a while off. Ross would not be an unreasonable move, IMO.

I think what got Epstein in trouble was $104 million for Dice k, $80 million for Lackey, $142 million for Crawford. Those were huge busts. Ross is looking for something like 3 years/$24 million. If he got hit by a truck the day after signing, his contract would not come close to being that type of bust.

I disagree. A couple of starters who eat 200 innings and pitch to a 4 ERA would help enormously.

Yep. People who think there are cheap value pitching options are just kidding themselves. The best pitching value in baseball is Gio Gonzalez who extended with the Nats for 5 years for about $40 million. That was a huge swing and a miss by Cherries.

So far we have seen Buehlre, Josh Johnson, Guthrie and Kuroda get traded or signed. If we don't get a pitcher at the end, I am sure that we will hear excuses like none were available or they were too pricey and so on and so on.

Good move by the Yankees.

I think you are making some good points. There may not be many if any value options left at the end. If there are some, but they are not pitchers, that will not help this team.

86 and 03 were crushing emotionally because hope got so high and we came so close to the Holy Grail. N evertheless, those seasons had a lot of good baseball and excitement. Last year was just a huge downer from beginning to end, and it had zero good baseball. While I would not use the term "scarred", it was the worst season I had seen in 46 years, and it resulted in something that I did not think I would experience. It ruined my enjoyment of baseball for an entire summer. The season was that horrible.

Our late inning and close bullpen was at the bottom of the league.

Isn't Gibbons the guy who used to tell combat stories about his time and Vietnam, and then it was uncovered that he never served in Vietnam?

Unnecessary.