a700hitter

Unless he gets extended like Cain did.

There was a pretty deep pool of relievers available in the off season. Cherrington was unaware that the ChiSox were shopping Santos, and he ended up in Toronto. I think if you check the FA tracker and the trades, you will see lots of relievers better than Melancon.

^From TalkSox #1 troll.

It may be a good thing that the staff is experiencing these problems so early on. It would be worse if Bard and Doubront had performed adequately as starters and the pen held together for most of the season, but encountered injuries etc after the All Star Break. Injuries that occur later in the season are harder to address, because several other teams will be trying to fortify themselves at that time. Let's face it, no team escapes injuries. It was unrealistic to think our staff wouldn't experience injuries. It is better that the crisis comes right out of the gate. The FO will have to address this if the pen continues to s*** on itself for another few games.

Before the season started, it was obvious that our pitching was thin and that we had little room for injury under performance. Losing Papelbon and Bard from the pen was going to be a difficult adjustment even with a healthy Bailey. Losing Bailey for an extended period throws the pen into chaos and disarray. I have no idea whether anyone in the current pen can step up and be a reliable closer. It seems that Bobby V is already considering sending Bard to the closers role. If he doesn't have a very strong performance in his first start and the team doesn't win, he could be headed straight back to the pen.

The Sox haven't won a championship without Manny. Whether or not he is a prick doesn't matter to me. Yes, we will agree to disagree.

After Cook's minor league shutout today, I think he should be promoted ASAP.

^ I don't get this. Manny wasn't a good guy, at least that is how the press portrayed him, and I'd take 9 of him in the line up on any given day.

The point is that we don't know who these guys are or their true character. Guys with great public images are often jackasses and guys like Ted Williams who were painted as villains by the press were actually good teammates and loyal friends. I wasn't justifying Beckett's behavior by pointing to Williams behavior with the press. I was making the point that we don't know these guys. If you want to root for athletes based on their public images, feel free to do so. Meeting the "good guys" is usually a disappointment. Most of them are coddle, spoiled jackasses, even the "good guys." I root for guys that a. wear the Sox uni and 2. that give it their all for the team. I do have a problem with Becket, and it has nothing to do with his disdain for the press and dropping the F-bomb etc. I kind of admire that he doesn't whore himself out to the press. The problem that I do have is that he is a bit of a prima dona princess. I don't like that he gets so overly concerned about physical discomforts that are not impediments to performing like he did in 2008. That pissed me off. It took 3 sets of doctors to convince him that there was nothing wrong with him. In the course of this process he shut himself down for 3 weeks and really ruined the Sox season. It pissed me off that he was able to perform and didn't for 3 weeks and he was under contract for 2 more seasons. Up to that time, I had thought he was a bulldog, but he showed himself to be a diva.

My niece has lived in Florida since 2001. She was a season ticket holder of the Marlins for several years, including their 2003 championship season. She was and has remained a big fan of Beckett's. She said that he was very nice to people. My niece also hates *******s, so if she says he was a nice guy, I believe her. Beckett is prick to the press and they hate him for it, but that doesn't mean anything to me. Ted Williams was a gigantic ******* with the writers, much worse than the way Beckett acts with them.

Cook with a complete game victory today. Hmmm?

Kuroda looked pretty bad tonight.

He's a very streaky player. When he is on a hot streak, he plays like an All Star, but more often he plays like this.

Mike Gonzalez would have to be an upgrade over Albers. He has been terrible since the end of July. They should cut him and sign Mike Gonzalez and trade for Uehara. Those would be two quality arms. They would be a big help.

I couldn't be bringing any worse luck. This is brutal.

I wonder if Beckett is going to be complaining about his thumb after the game. Personally, I would prefer that this was just a butt kicking by two heavy hitters and that his thumb feels fine. If his performance was affected by the thumb, we may have some bad performances to watch from Beckett this season.

Dude, it's the first weekend. We had to face the reigning MVP on Thursday, and the Tigers had two of the best sluggers in the game seeing Beckett's gopher balls today. This is what happens when you have too much optimism about everything. When adversity, comes and it always comes, there is a lot of disappointment. It won't all bee this bad.

Fielder and Miggy look like they will be a wrecking crew this season. They might be the most devastating duo since Manny and Papi were doing their thing. I haven't seen Beckett give up this many bombs in a game since 2006. It looks like the 7 run rule has carried over with Bobby V.

VA, you gave me a scare by putting this in the "Crawford Setback" thread.

Do nothing is a choice.

Surprisingly, 65% of the votes in the poll so far are for Cook to be promoted.