a700hitter

The difference is that Ortiz really improved over the second half of 2009 and was producing big power numbers. He had the most home runs in the league from June 1st to the end of the year. He had a brutal April and May. He was coming off an injury and he demonstrated big progress after May. If you remember that there were plenty of people that thought he was cooked. I remember seeing him play that season at Fenway right before he came out of his funk, and I remember reporting here that he still seemed to have a very quick bat. Maybe the Sox saw the same thing and that is why they stuck with him. Kudos to them for getting it right. They need to get it right with Pedroia. He is not have a Pedrioa like season. They need to figure out if this downturn was solely attributable to the injuries or a decline in skill. It's not an easy call, but they are supposed to be the experts.

I think you may be one step ahead of Cherries just by having a plan. I agree with you that this team can't be fixed by nibbling around the edges. It has so many problems that it is hard to figure out what should be addressed first. The starting pitching is the biggest and most obvious problem. It was obvious last off season, and he failed to address it in any meaningful way. If he was relying on there being a treasure trove of FA pitchers this off season, he was brutally mistaken. They all re-signed and extended with their current teams. I had predicted that would happen. Teams don't let young stud starters walk away if they have a profitable fanbase. Now, with only Greinke available, he'll have to get creative, and I have no confidence that he is capable of that. People are going to criticize you for suggesting trading of Pedroia or Ellsbury. The decisions ahead for Cherries are not going to be easy. He may have to make a move like that to get top pitching in return. I never believe in trading an every day star for pitcher, but the question to be answered is whether Pedroia is truly still a star performer. When healthy and performing, he drives this team without a doubt. His heart is as big as they come, but are his skills slipping. This is what the FO gets paid to figure out. If Pedroia shits the bed next season hitting .250, people will moan about how unexpected it was for him to drop off like that. ********, they get paid to be experts at this stuff. They have all sorts of coaches and scouts. When a guy is starting to decline, they need to know it before the rest of the world. If they think he is still a star performer, keep him. If he is starting to slip, move him while he has value. As for Ells, I'd keep him for another season to figure out what he is.

Top pitchers change uniforms every off season. It happened last off season. Cherries missed the boat big time on Gio Gonzalez. I don't want to hear that it would have cost us WMB. The Nats didn't give up anyone of that caliber. It's Cherries job to get these deals done. I am sick of people making excuses for him. The Nats already had Strasburg (we don't have anyone close to that) and they added and built one of the strongest staffs in baseball getting Gio and Jackson. I guarantee you that top pitchers will swap laundry this off season through free agency and trades. It's Benny's job to get one of them.

He has not looked like the same player that he was in 2011. I would keep him for 1 more year of arbitration to get a better gauge on the real Ellsbury.

Ranaudo has been shut down for the season with a dead arm. He is probably just another busted prospect. To paraphrase Bob Gibson's remark to Tim McCarver when he visited the mound, the only thing Theo knows about pitching is that he can't hit it. Two years ago people were talking about him as being an untouchable. Most guys, even highly sought after draftees, end up on the scrap heap.

I think you are right. Unfortunately, the FO is in denial. They still think they are in a race. They are right in a way. The race is to the bottom.

I am not seeing any bold moves or changes here. Expecting good health and performing to career norms is not going to be enough. That was the approach taken in 2012. It didn't work this year, and it will not work next year. If Lester stays, he needs to be slotted in the 5th spot unless he re-establishes himself before the end of 2012. If he doe not re-assert himself by the end of the season, he cannot be trusted at the top of the rotation. Job #1 in the off season will be getting an ace.

They probably don't want to play Ross against tough righties.

Several times recently I have posted that this team has ruined my Summer. Today, I found out that the 7 year old daughter of a woman at work is near death from leukemia that was very recently just diagnosed. That put things into perspective for me. If this team is the worst thing in my life, I should be very thankful.

Kalish is not ready for prime time.

It's been a long time since we were this bad.

I can be wrong occasionally about individual players, but when it comes to the big picture I can usually tell early on if the team is good or not. If it makes you feel better E1, I was actually wrong about this team. I knew we could fall out of the race if things didn't work out perfectly with health and performance, but I didn't expect things to start crumbling on opening day. I was more right last year when I called the collapse in pretty much in the first week of September. If I tell you that the Sox are going down the drain, it ain't cause I'm a pessimist. The Sox losing is hugely painful to me as it is to the rest of you. If you don't want to take my evaluations and predictions to the bank and make some money on it that's fine, but maybe people will finally realize that I am not a crazy old cranky guy. Old and cranky.. yes, but not crazy.

1997 I think. If not, it was 1993.

I hope so. Our AAA roster is terrible.

Again, we can't win a game where we score less than 5 runs. That's the story of the season.

They should play music that is insulting to all of our players. They deserve to be insulted.

If we lose this series to the horse s*** Tribe, this will officially be rock bottom, and we can finally give up our last shred of hope.

Bring him up to AAA. I just checked the Pawtucket roster. It's devoid of any prospects. It's mostly has been career bush leaguers like Spears and major league wash outs and retreads like Mark Prior and Andy LaRoche.