a700hitter

I'm not seeing that. Texas infield is stacked.

Desmond for Salty would be a steal. I don't think they'll go for it.

I don't remember anyone complaining about the offense, just the pitching.

Arguably, Bard has been the team's best starter to this point. I don't know what kind of bullpen guy we could get from the Nats. They have injuries in their pen. Their closer Storen is out. The Nats have really been hit by the injury bug. In addition to Ramos and Storen, Werth and Morse are also on the DL. Unlike the Red Sox, they are not wallowing in last place and they are looking to make moves to address their needs. Proof that injuries are not an excuse.

I am hoping that Bobby V and his coaches are giving him a crash course in playing the OF so we can continue to see him in the lineup when Youks comes back. They can move hi$m back to 3rd if Youk continues to crap out or get injured.

Have we met? I don't know whether people should thank me, but I am trying to prepare people for the disappointment when Youks is back. SFF is very enthusiastic about this, and he is right about the issue. However, we are all about to find out that the FO isnot packed full of smart people. Money will not be an excuse this time. They have to pay Youk one way or another, unless some team takes part of his salary. The FO isn't very smart and they are gutless too-- about the same as most sports franchises.

Yes, Middlebrooks has been red hot in his 10 games, but it is only 10 games. This blurb puts it in perspective: Davis had a nice career, but these guys were not super stars. It's 10 games. It means nothing.

It's only 10 games and Cherries doesn't have the guts to bench or release an $11 million player. It's as simple as that. You guys are going to go crazy when this goes down. Expect nothing from the FO, and you will never be disappointed. Look, it was as clear as the nose on your face that this team need to acquire some pitching in the off season. They didn't. People made excuses about how our pitching would be fine because we no longer had Lackey and Wakefield. Up to this juncture, our team pitching is worse than last year. I'm not interested in any excuses. The FO very often doesn't do what is clearly needed, so don't expect them to do the right thing in the WMB situation.

I don't know what happened to Lester. Game after game he cannot seem to work the strike zone. What concerns me is that after one of the games where he had a very high pitch count, he said that he thought he was throwing all strikes.

I think this is the course they will take. They will let Youkilis play himself out of the lineup or get injured again.

As of Thursday, Palodios will be eliminated. Next up is Divinty.

Why are you arguing with me. I'm not the one giving Youk back his job. That's just the way it is going to be unless he hits a snag in his rehab. Barring an additional physical setback or punching someone in the clubhouse, Youk gets his job back. I am already on the line to buy you beer if Dice K is back in the rotation. How about you buy me a beer if Youk's doesn't get back his starting job barring an additional physical setback or punching someone in the face?

Teams cannot be run on sentiment. Nava is a sentimental favorite, but he falls way short of what is required to be a major league OFer. He has had a couple of cups of coffee in the majors and one incredible memory.

Rolen goes on the DL every year. They haven't traded for a 3B those prior times. Why would this time be different? Is he out for the year?

A plug nickel

^ And that makes more of a statement about the rest of the rotation than it does about Bard.

That's precisely how it is working out. Bard and Doubront have held their own, but only because the other 3 starters have s*** the bed so badly. We have 5 starters that almost never pitch 7 innings, never mind 8 innings, putting a tremendous strain on an under-manned bull pen spelling disaster for our pitching performance. What has occurred has happened far more rapidly than anybody has anticipated. Speaking for myself, I thought they would hold things together until after the All Star break and then without reinforcements they would implode like last year. I still think they can recover from this start and hold things together until the second half.

I don't think we will see DMac back at Fenway this season if ever, but he can do one thing that Nava cannot. He can occasionally pop the ball out of the park. The lillipution Nava is devoid of Home Run power. Nava is not a late bloomer. He is a career bush leaguer. The fact that he is in the Red Sox starting lineup is a sad statement on the state of the 2012 team. Let's hope he stays hot for a few weeks and buys us some time before he goes back to palooka ville.

Johan for Youkilis is not a possibility, because Cherries isn't going to take on the huge financial commitment to a post op Pitcher and the Mets are committed to both Wright and Davis at the corners. If either flops, they have a very good cheap young hitter waiting ion the wings in Murphy.

People are all caught up in the emotion of the new toy. Teams do not give away the starting jobs of their cleanup hitter based on a couple of good weeks from a guy while the cleanup hitter/All Star is on a 15 day DL. Second, Youk's trade value right now is well below his true worth. Cherrington has no balls to pull a trade where he essentially gives away an All Star and eats his contract. He hasn't made a single bold move yet. I don't see him starting off with Youk, unless Youk is having fist fights in the club house. 3. When Youk comes back, the Sox will do one of the following with WMB: Option him to AAA, Put him on the bench, or try him in the OF where we have openings. He will not start at 3B before Youk gets the opportunity to prove that he can still play or he punches someone in the face. As for Nava, he is not a major league player. He lacks size and skill. He's hot right now, and they brought him up at the right time, but he will fade. I have said it before. He is comparable to Morgan Burkhart but with a lot less power. His career will follow a similar path. He'll never see the majors after this season. The fact that he is here is not cause for excitement. It is cause for concern, because it is an indication of the severe deficiencies in our OF. BTW: All those years ago I got all excited about Morgan Burkhart. I have learned not to get excited about career bush leaguers.