a700hitter

You need some patsies in the division to pick up ground fast. This year there are too many teams to climb over and none are patsies.

Bazinga

E1, I was with you when you said that the Sox would still be in contention if they were at .500 when the injured players started to return, but then you lost me when you included Dice K and Melancon as being helpful. That is not a reasonable expectation.

Hanging onto .500 until August will have us near the bottom of the division. That won't work. They need to do better than a .500 record at the start of August.

There isn't always a good cheap closer available. You do run the risk of having a disaster at the end of your pen. The thing with a guy like Mo and Paps is that you don't have to worry about that aspect and you can build the rest of your team. The main reason for the Yankees consistent playoff appearances IMO has been Mo. There will be a season when the Rays lose a lot of games late using their philosophy. It could be this year. Rodney is not that good.

He should have left the lineup alone. WMB makes more consistent contact.

Yes, but don't get a big head over it.

Apparently, I am not the only one who sees a trend in the inordinately lengthy recovery times of today's players. Even their employers have noticed.

on his belly.

Sweeney is at best a 4th OFer on a major league team. He is a big slow guy (6'4" 240) with 14 HRs in 1800 PA's. Coco Crisp has more pop than that.

He has no career norms. He is just starting out. E1, for a guy who preaches patience about prospects and letting them develop, I am surprised that you are touting his first 400 plate appearance as indicative of his ceiling and that you are so willing to throw him under the bus on that basis. Most players first 400 PAs are not very good. They are just learning. I am also struck by the inconsistent and contradictory stance taken by many with regard to closers. I am not aiming this at you. I don't recall your stance on this. When the Sox let Papelbon (future Red Sox Hall of Famer) walk for FA money, people said that other than Mo, there are no special closers. Basically, people argued that they were highly fungible. When Cherries got Bailey, they sung his praises despite his injury problems and the fact that he only pitched 1 maybe 2 complete seasons. Cherries was lauded for pulling off such a trade. Now, Reddick is the A's number 3 hitter in the lineup with 13 jacks and Bailey, the injury prone fungible closer is on the DL. Let's call a spade a spade.

That was thrilling. He is hitting some bombs this year. He's hitting longer HRs than anyone else on the team.

Love that Dirty Water!!!

Yes!!!! Yes!!!! SAlty!!!!! Much more than adequate!!! We were due for a walk off. Maybe this will light a fire under this team!!!

Why give up an out when this guy just walked a batter?

Okay that is what Nava does best. WTF Punto?

Nava needs to redeem his bone head play in the OF

Still gagging. I can't control it. It's an emotional thing. He's like a little third grader batting against a moose that throws 98 mph.

Gagging

Gagging

The bottom three coming up for us against Rodney in the 9th.

Idiot is a remark that we should reserve for managers, announcers and umpires, not each other. Idiot umpire on that called third strike.

Peralta is a pig, but he keeps eating our lunch.

Miller has been lights out in this role. SSF, what did you see in him that made you think he had found something?