a700hitter

At least, the Yankees can't get them if they sign extensions.

Jenks is looking like a total zero again in 2012. Thanks Theo. Ben has one more BP slot to fill.

I have no desire at this point to see Farrell as a future Red Sox manager. I thought he was over rated as a pitching coach. As a manager, he manages his own team's running game in a reckless, borderline irrational manner. I didn't view his approach to his team's running game as merely aggressive or even innovative. It just made no sense at times.

The top tier FA pitchers are gone, except for Madson, and he's a reliever. We missed out on Gio Gonzalez. The Cubs want too much for Garza. It's being reported that Oswalt, Kuroda and Jackson are out of our price range. Where does this leave us? Where is this patient wait and see approach going to take us? At this point, I am really hoping that Benny has a rabbit in his hat that we don't know about, because none of the other publicly reported options, e.g Saunders are very encouraging.

E1, when a scout follows a team for a week maybe two and he puts together a scouting report that says you can run on these guys, their pitchers are slow to the plate don't use a slide step etc., do you think that scout's management asks if he has any documentation of that philosophy? I don't think so. That manager comes to Fenway and runs on the Sox like crazy based on the scouting report. I watch almost every game and I attend about 6 to 10 games every year. In Farrell's entire tenure, I cannot remember even one time a Sox pitcher using a slide step. That shows me that not only wasn't it taught or encouraged, but it was probably discouraged. In 4 years you think someone would have used it just out of pure frustration of our inability to keep runners out of scoring position. In addition to my own observations regarding this issue, I have heard the announcers discuss several times that the Sox did not use the slide step because it changed the pitchers delivery and they would tend to leave their pitches up in the zone out of the slide step delivery. Beyond my observation of more 500 games and my recollection of what the announcers said on several occasions, I have no documentary proof of this philosophy. However, if I were a scout, I would be quite comfortable in telling my team that they wouldn't have to worry about the slide step. I'd also be very comfortable as a scout telling my team that Dice K likes to nibble at the corners and he doesn't attack the zone. I have no documentation of that. I'd also have no problem telling my team that Beckett is completely gassed after 100 pitches and he hangs his curve ball. I don't need documentation for any of this.

I think they are trying very hard not to bust the cap, and frankly if another pitcher or 2 come off the board, it wouldn't be worth busting the cap for the likes of Joe Saunders.

That is a legitimate fear. We still don't know what caused the stress fractures, so how can we be confident that they will not recur? I am not very confident about getting a full strong season from him.

We may have to live with Harden, because the news about Oswalt and Garza and Kuroda is not encouraging. Personally, I think Harden will hit the DL before the finish of April. Plus, I don't think he will come so cheap.

The Sox were only 2 years behind the Yankees.

I don't think the FO wanted him back either, but they miscalculated.

Millwood's release was a mistake. He should have been taking the ball in September.

If a slug like Saunders lands a 3 year deal, the Sox had better forget about the cap and abandon the wait and see approach and move on Garza, Oswalt or Kuroda. Otherwise, we will end up trying to put Carlos Silva in the rotation and they'll essentially be flushing their season in the toilet.

The Orioles are rumored to be interested in Saunders. Although he stinks, the Red Sox have some sort of weird kryptonite thing when it comes to soft throwing lefties. If the O's sin him, we will be pulling our hair out at least a few times in 2012.

I would not give him a 3 year deal.

No one liked Bret Myers. What about Wandy Rodriguez?

Aren't Carlos Silva and Boof Bonser the same person?