a700hitter

Velocity way down in 2011.

Please stop with Ayala. The guy is terrible. If he is our 7th inning guy, our starters had better always go 7. As for the rest of your proposal, you are basically saying be patient. It will fall into place. Maybe it will and maybe it will not. We have nothing to discuss at this point other than the possible scenarios. One thing is for certain. There are fewer available options today than there were on Monday.

More from Ben:

More incoherence from Babbling Ben

From Benny Boy: Translation: We have no plan, but we will probably go dumpster diving. Jamie Moyer wants to make a comeback.

Does Benny Boy deserve to be mocked at this juncture? Well, it hard to find anything positive to point to. The manager search was a fiasco. Papelbon walked on his watch. He made a very ill-considered arbitration offer to Ortiz-- a major blunder in judgment. We are waiting to see something positive from this guy. Until then, I will crack jokes, but I am hopeful he will do something positive. Edit: He was also asleep at the switch not realizing that Santos was available.

I was psyched about our Rule 5 selection from the Cubs. I was looking forward to Doji's report about him, but I read that we will be trading him for an Espresso machine for the EMC Club.

But he doesn't have a lot of innings on his arm. He has low mileage for a 31 year old.

Benny Boy is still in meeting after meeting gathering information. Good for him. He'll have a nice binder of papers and no player contracts when he returns from these meetings. Earth to Ben, gather your information before the meetings the next time and come prepared to wheel and deal. Even the Mets are actively dealing. Edit: He did make a Rule 5 selection today. I am told that the entire ownership had to meet to okay the move.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/12/angels-to-sign-cj-wilson.html

So what? Hyperbole, in the moment after winning a Championship. Anyone who takes a statement like that seriously is a dupe.

What did he say?

It's always about the money. I don't blame him or think he is a hypocrite. It's a business. It's his living, and he should maximize his earning potential. It doesn't mean that he doesn't love St.Louis or the Cardinals and their fans. If they had paid him what he was worth, he'd still be a Cardinal.

Wow!!!

I as lucky enough to get selected for the Christmas at Fenway event for this Saturday. I am in the first group so I will get first crack at the tickets. This will be the second time for me. They do a really great job. They keep things moving. They have grab bags, tours, Q&A sessions, etc. WEEI will be broadcasting from the EMC Club that day. Here's the itinerary from the email: * At 9:30 a.m., Red Sox President & CEO Larry Lucchino will welcome everyone... and he won't come empty handed. He will be giving away prizes to 10 lucky members of the crowd, so be sure to get their early to save your seat! * A randomly selected member of the 10 a.m. group will win a viewing of batting practice from the field before a game in 2012! We will call this winner at approximately 10:30 a.m. * At 11 a.m., WEEI will broadcast from the EMC stage a roundtable with Red Sox executives Larry Lucchino, Sam Kennedy, and Ben Cherington. * Fans throughout the day will have the opportunity to take some swings in the visitors batting cages after you purchase your tickets! * Check out some of Fenway Park's oldest artifacts in the historical artifact display set up in the State Street Pavilion Club. * Visit the Great Fenway Park Yard Sale! * We will even have free coffee for you. I will probably buy the maximum amount of tickets that they allow, which is usually 2 Game PAX (4 games) 4 tickets each and 16 single game tickets, but only for certain selected games-- usually April, early May and September. They also make available certain seats that are not available to the general public, i.e. the EMC Pavilion Club seats. They are awesome seats, but they were $165 each a couple of years ago. You get access to the restaurant and the bars with those tickets. I am reluctant to purchase them, because they are expensive and I don't know my schedule that far in advance. If i can't use them they are hard to sell. I wouldn't look to make a profit on them- just get the face value. If anyone thinks they might be willing to take some of them off my hands during the season, I might be more apt to purchase some of those seats. Post in this thread if you think you would have any interest.

Valentine saying he hates the Yankees will not be the most controversial thing he will say as Sox manager.

I don't see the Sox going down this road after getting burned with Japan's National Treasure, although if anyone knows if Yu is the real deal it would be Bobby V. He had evaluated Dice K as a back end rotation guy.

I agree that they are going to try to get back to the playoffs in 2012. It would make no sense to sit out 2012 with the core roster that they have. In a couple of years they will be grappling with keeping Lester, Buchholz, Ells and Youk, so the issues will be the same a couple of years down the road. I would not be shocked if they go over the cap this season. I expect some significant move-- not major stars, but significant, but it will be frustrating because BC said they will probably make their moves later in the off season. I hope that they don't wait so long that they can't execute their plan,

Demarlo Hale is out.

Tonight on the Sox Hot Stove Report Benny summed up the Sox activities as "conversation after conversation after conversation". He said that they have been gathering information and that their moves will happen later in the off season. I hope there are some good players left when he is ready to pull the trigger. Edit: They are asking both Aceves and Bard to prepare for the season as starters.