a700hitter

And there is no going back. Bard is a shot pitcher and he will never again be a late inning shut down type pitcher. Aceves will resent going back to being a middle inning relief guy. Trade them both, because they will never again be of any use to the Sox.

Bobby V is just going through the motions at this point. I think they are supporting Cherington, because he is an obedient puppy.

There is no hope that this team will be interesting as a spoiler.

E1, for as long as you have known me, you have always been wrong about me. You still don't get me and you project onto me. I wasn't negative in 2007 or 2008. In 2009, people were worried in August that Texas and Tampa would catch us for the Wild Card. I was confident and told people that Texas and Tampa would fold, and they did. Last year, I was thrilled about our prospects going into the season, and I was completely baffled by their slow start. When late August and early September came I could see things were going badly and that they were headed for a collapse. Was I just being negative and I got lucky that time as well? Negative? No, negative to that. Critical? Yes, but you can't honestly analyze something without being critical. If an analysis points out only strengths and good things, it's not worth anything. People who analyze like that are just pom pom wavers. Is that how I should characterize you, E1-- as a pom pom waver? I have probably logged more hours of watching baseball than many posters have been alive on this forum. When I say someone stinks, they generally stink. If I say that we don't have enough pitching, we probably don't. That's not negative. That's a rationale assessment. What's positive is that no matter how bad the Sox are I always watch them with the hope that they will win. You say that "[t]his year it worked out for {me}". That's a really odd statement. You may enjoy them losing because it will give them a better draft choice. I am not enjoying this one bit. The losing has affected my mood this summer, and last September I had a headache every night starting at 5 pm and it got worse as the night wore on. I can watch and root and hope for my team even when I know rationally that they are not good. That's positive. You say that "it wasn't unreasonable to think this team would be much better than it is." Well, yeah duh. I have repeatedly posted that they are far worse than I had expected them to be. I never expected them to be one of the worst teams in baseball. I never expected the wheels to come off so early, but I did know that they would not be a strong contender and that the division was probably out of reach. The second wild card was a possibility as far as I was concerned, but not the division. We came north with thin starting pitching and a closer that had never closed and no good back of the bullpen options. The injuries did not kill this team. Lousy pitching killed this team. The injury that impacted us most was the injury to bailey, and was anyone really surprised that he got injured? Strong teams are not built like that. People who analyzed the team critically could see what the pom pom wavers like yourself could not see.

Luck is the residue of design. The O's are not luckier than the Red Sox. They are a better team than the Red Sox. Attributing the outcome of a 162 game season to luck makes us look like the whiny wusses that Yankee fans have been mocking for my entire life.

I don't think any of them would have helped us this season. It's a list of players that we traded to s***** teams that are by and large still s***** and they wouldn't have helped the 2012 team much at all. We've only been s***** for a full season and it's panic time in Boston.

That was their nickname and I remember them well--Lynn and Rice. My recollection is that Lynn hit pretty well that September including a few bombs. Rice had been the IL Player of the Year.

And the teams that we traded these guys to still suck with the exception of the A's and the Pirates. We traded Sanchez to the Marlins who still suck. Brandon Moss got traded to the Pirates in 2008 and they sucked until this season. The rest of the teams that we traded with-- the Guardians, Padres and Astros still suck.

Especially at night. The ball carries well there during the day, but it plays very different at night.

Exactly, and people who saw that this team were doomed from the start were accused of being negative an lousy fans etc. We're still here even though losing and being embarrassed sucks.

We haven't played under .500 since 1997. If they lose 90 games, it will be the first time since 1966. Even I don't remember that team. This is not normal. Being out of contention by the middle of August is not normal, and I have been rooting for them for 45 years.

Another new low for the season. Goodness, they are so embarrassing that they should start playing with paper bags on their heads.

SBF was right about Bard. He's shot.

I think Bard needs to figure out what his career will be after baseball.

Two very good bullpen arms that are probably ruined.

If they lose 90 games, it will be something that they have not done since 1966. I didn't start watching the Sox until 1967. This will be a first for me. Last year's collapse was historic too. This ownership has had some very terrible accomplishments to go with the good accomplishments.

We are not even competitive. They are just horrible.

It was pretty obvious that none of the dung that they flung at the wall would stick... and none of it did.

...and none contributed in a positive way as starters. The only depth they provided was with regard to the height of the garbage heap.

Cook sucks so bad. He doesn't belong in the majors. Are they going to subject us to him for the rest of the year? It's not like he is in our future plans.

Realistically, they had to get some talent in return. Otherwise, MLB would have killed the deal. If any of them amount to anything for the Sox at the MLB level, it will be gravy as far as I am concerned. The $11 million is too small to squawk about, and I am not complaining. I am Just saying that ideally for me, the Dodgers would have taken all of the salary instead of giving us prospects, but that could never get the blessing of MLB.

People need to grasp at straws. They want to believe that we got some building blocks in the trade. I was just happy that they off-loaded more than a quarter of a billion in salaries. I don't care if any of those prospects ever play for the Sox. Peronally, I would have been even happier if LA took the remaining 11 million in salary and gave us nothing in return.

I think it is Gary Tuck.

Yes, that's the one.

Melancon is a AAA pitcher. He might be too expensive to be roster filler at Pawtucket.