a700hitter

I am not quite sure that I see the distinction you are making. It is okay to point out the problem, but not propose a solution? Taking food off the umps' tables? Do we really care about that? Throughout history technology has eliminated far more than 60 umpire jobs. If they are no longer necessary, good riddance. As far as Bobby being on the panel to discuss the solution, maybe he doesn't want to be part of that and the recent remarks were just meant to be a distraction. I'm not sure that your distinction is important. Also, I am not worried about an umpire - player brawl. Youk is all bark and no bite.

Yep, no arguments here. When Cherries starts addressing some of these issues, he'll get the well-deserved credit. I'm not ready to throw rose petals in his path based on his current record.

What have the GM's of the Yankees, Tampa, Texas, Detroit and Los Angeles added, because all that matters is what he did to keep pace with the competition. These numbers mean nothing in a vacuum. If you insist on playing War, so far Papelbon has accounted for 0.7, Reddick 2.5, and Lowrie 2.1. That's a total of 5.3. Add to that the 1.1. that Bard gave us last season a reliever and the - 0.3 that he has produced as a starter and we're at 6.6 WAR lost. Then there is the 2.6 War that Aceves had in his swingman role last year and he is currently at -0.3 as a closer. Total WAR lost by Cherries is 9.5 War gained according to your post 7.0. He's down 2.5 WAR. As I said, he hasn't achieved anything yet, as born out by the way the team has been playing. It looks like your opinion has been refuted.:harhar:

If the Sox go 8-7 over the next 15 games, they'd be 37-39 to faxe the Yankees in a 4 game series. From that point on, they'd have to play .616 ball the rest of the way to win 90 games. They need to start making a run now. They can't wait until Ellsbury, Crawford and Bailey are all back at the end of July to make a move. It will be too late. They would have to play .660 ball for the last 2 months to get to 90 wins if they are at .500 at the end of July. They can't wait.

That's your opinion. The fact is that Cherries has brought almost no helpful talent to the organization in his tenure. You insist on giving him credit for bringing in Bailey who has yet to throw a pitch in exchange for a guy who in 2 months has equaled Sweeney's career HR total. I think we need to see some results before judgment is passed in favor of Cherries on this one. Right now the results are not good. Expectations at the time of the trade don't make your opinion informed. You had better believe that there is a lot of back patting in the Front Offices in Oakland and Houston. Giving Cherries credit for identifying players that were on his own roster is reminiscent of the "jobs created or saved" explanation of the Obama administration. It's bogus. Doubront was already in the organization and he beat out a bunch of retreads and misfits for a rotation spot. Big whoop! Getting rid of Scutaro was supposed to free up payroll, which ended up being used for nothing. It was a salary dump. Aviles was not identified as a stroke of genius as the full time SS. Scutaro was sent away as a salary dump. Oh, what genius, especially since his replacement is the useless Punto. I don't like or dislike Cherries as a person or GM, but he gets little to no credit from me, because that is what he has accomplished IMO. Please stop with the constant use of the term strawman. It is reminiscent of some very unpleasant passed posters.

I disagree. Shining a bright light on the umps will not hurt his team. Billy Martin always had the umps on their toes, because he was always in their face and criticizing him. I don't think criticizing the umps will hurt or help their performance. It's no big deal if the umps don't like Bobby V. A manager doesn't need to be friends of the umps. Also, he is deflecting the attention of the press onto himself when his team is playing really s*****. That's a good thing. Finally, not only is he showing his players that he is with them on this issue, but he is showing them that he has the balls to make an issue of it. I think what he is doing is good for the team building aspect. Players galvanize around certain issues. If the umps are the issue that brrng them together so be it. All this talk about Bobby acting like a fool is foolish. If his players are with him on this, that's all that matters.

In evaluating a trade, the expectations before the trade don't matter. What matters is the performance after the trade. The expectations before the trade are meaningless except to excuse a trade that turns out poorly. I'll agree that we won't know whether it is a good trade until the end of the season, but you are jumping to a conclusion that is opposite of the returns thus far. The fact is that you don't know what their production will look like at the end of the year. If the results favor the Red Sox, Cherries gets credit, but right now the results are, at best, inconclusive, so we don't know if it is a good trade. In your opinion, it is a good trade. I am not so certain.

7 games behind the Rays and Yankees in the loss column and 6 games behind the O's in the loss column. That is starting to get substantial. It's not as early as some think.

Eck just said what no one else has said thus far. Our offense is mediocre. It's getting exposed.

This has been a very depressing season so far. It really feels like a continuation of last September in many ways.

They are spiraling again-- lost 7 of 8.

We are still alive. Heath Bell has been awful so far this season.

A ridiculous decision.

Pods with 3 hits tonight out of 5 for the team, but everyone is quick to DFA him when our OFers return.

Yanks up 3-0 over the Braves in the 7th inning.

What excuses are people going to make tonight? The Marlins have been even colder than the Red Sox going into tonight's game. It looks like our boys are hell bent on reviving the Marlins.

Papelbon pitched a full season every season. He was very reliable, and often outstanding. While saves is not the best way to evaluate a pitcher, Papelbon did reach 200 career saves faster than any pitcher in history. He'd been through the pressure cooker of Boston and triumphed. Before we crown Bailey to be as good as or a tick below, let him prove it on the field. As of now, he hasn't thrown a single pitch for the Sox. Like him? I don't even know him. I don't like or dislike FO guys. I look at their record. This guy has done little to nothing so far in his tenure. You haven't proved otherwise. Even if I conceded all of your points, which I do not, he still has a completely undistinguished record.

A closer as good as Papelbon? Don't you have to atleast pitch to be better than Papelbon. Bailey hasn't pitched a full season in the last 3 years. Also, he pitched in a ballpark with a football field's worth of foul territory in a low pressure environment. It's a ridiculous statemt. Sweeney? The 6'4" 240 lb guy with 2 HRs in 732 PAs and 14 career HRs. Reddick ha4 14 HRs in a third of a season. He correctly identified Doubront as the 4th best starter? This is no great feat if you are only looking at the Sox organization. Who was his competition? Bard? Padilla? Aviles wasn't such a great call, because we could have had Aviles and Scutaro. The guy performing would have played and the other one would have been a much better utility option than Punto. The choice wasn't between Aviles and Scoots. We had them both. The mistake was Punto. Cherries has done next to nothing and that's how much credit he should get.

I knew they had good pitching coming into the series, and I didn't like the matchups. I thought Lester would win his game and they would score some runs off Zimmerman. I just don't see any justification for thinking the Sox are the better team at this juncture.

I have a very low opinion of most major league managers, so Bobby V doesn't phase me. I don't really care anything about what any of them has to say.

Scioscia is a huge whiner and so was La Russa. Bobby V isn't such a big whiner on this.