a700hitter

Go ahead. Use a very timely 2005 post in your signature if you can find it. I don't think I ever made that suggestion. I did want to get Miggy Cabrera and I would have been willing to sacrifice two prospects for him. A lot has happened since then. Dontrelle has developed a fear of the pitching mound. Lester got cancer and recovered. Like I said, go to town with a 2005 post if you can find one. The hours you will spend looking for one will have this Alpha Dog giggling like crazy. Ruff Ruff. As for my sig, I'll stay with the very current quote from you, or maybe I'll use this current quote for my signature instead or this... Theo must really be an idiot to sign Crawford after you laid out the case against signing him so clearly and logically.

Okay Alpha Dog. You do know that I wanted Matt Holliday more than anyone last year. As for Beltre, the banjo hitter remark was a reactionary game thread remark when the team was going bad. I was one of the few posters that like his acquisition, and before the season started I posted that you might be underestimating his power output with your projections. "Banjo Hitter" was also the perfect trolling remark for you. You still can't get it out of your head. And you say that you troll me. You can't get me out of your head. Meet the bigger badder older Alpha Dog. Ruff Ruff. Follow my lead and you will be the Alpha Dog some day.

I like Crawford better than Werth because he is more talented and he is just entering his prime. He has a lethal offensive weapon (world class speed) that few players have. He will be a tremendous table setter for the big boppers behind him. We've got plenty of guys to knock him in. Crawford fit this team better than Werth for many reasons. The only advantage Werth had was that he is right handed. What makes you think Theo wanted Werth over Crawford? He channels me not you. What do you mean that the signing of Werth opened the door to sign Crawford? After the Werth move is when posted all your insults directed at me. You told me that it was a pipe dream. Crawford didn't fall in our lap. Theo outbid the Angels by about $25 million. I guess Theo and the FO obviously had a hard on for the guy.

Wow, you have to go back to 2005 off season to try to find instances of me being wrong. I don't remember suggesting that trade. I also remember wanting to get Miggy Cabrera along with Dontrelle. Fla was shopping them both. Miggy has been pretty damn good. I only need go back to this month to find an instance where you were very very wrong. Remember Carl Crawford. I think you told me that I was being a whiny baby for hoping for Carl Crawford. I think you told me that the move made no financial sense and you told me that the FO doesn't get players because I had a hard on for them. I don't have to go back beyond 2010 to find another instance where you were very wrong-- April 2010 when they extended Beckett. We are streaking in opposite directions my friend.

I don't speak to Theo on the phone so i often did not agree with specific moves, but I do understand the importance of a deep farm system. Unlike others, I believe that the use of prospects as trading chips is every bit as important as its use as a source for talent for the ML club. However, in this off season, me and Theo have been communicating telepathically. How many of you called me names on a daily basis as I issued my daily reminder to the FO to sign Carl Crawford. Many of you said that it was a flat out impossibility. It was very funny watching so many posters come to grips with that move by struggling to explain why it made sense in the context of what they thought was Theo's philosophy. The truth was they didn't understand Theo's philosophy. The Red Sox are a big market team that will outspend (by a lot) the rest of the competition to build a powerhouse team through the FA market. He's also willing to trade top prospects for expensive star talent. These were not low cost high value moves. The proof is in the pudding. Theo has built a powerhouse using FA talent as the basis. The Bridge Year, while not a complete misspeak, had nothing to do with being a bridge to minor league talent making an impact in the majors. I had often questioned what prospects we had that would make an impact before 2013. The Bridge was to AGon and Crawford. That was his plan all along. It was a good plan-- one that the FO value types never saw coming.

The depth of our minor league system is overrated by some people on this forum. Of course, I would be on board with building a deep minor league system. The premise of your question is erroneous. A team with the resources of the Red Sox does not have to sacrifice one thing (building internally) to win today. They are one of the few franchises that has the resources to do both. Theo is on board with me about this.

It's too bad that they already signed Ortiz. Beltre would have provided more righty/lefty balance, but signing him and AGon would have created another logjam problem for the lineup with three guys wanting to play the same two positions.

Too bad he can't play SS or catcher, because he will probably go for a bargain price.

You trolled me? I think you might have that backwards. You have let my schitck get under your skin for years. I remain almost always entirely right, and... Theo has been on board with my philosophy all along.

The smart money (not Ranger money) is on him sucking.

Sorry about that. If it makes you feel any better, I think I got banned for a week for doing that.

I don't recall participating in this. Am I missing something here?

Team: Theo's Mentor C: Mike Napoli ($3,600,000) 1B:Joey Votto ($525,000) 2B:Robinson Cano ($9,000,000) 3B:Alex Rodriguez ($32,000,000) SS:Stephen Drew ($3,400,000) RF:Corey Hart ($4,800,000) CF:Carlos Beltran ($18,500,000) LF: Cody Ross ($4,450,000) DH:Luke Scott ($4,050,000) Bench: Jonny Gomes ($800,000) Bench: Matt Joyce ($406,000) Bench: Sean Rodriguez ($405,500) Bench: Josh Thole ($400,000) Lineup (vs. Righties) 1. C. Beltran - CF 2. S. Drew -SS 3. J. Votto - 1B 4. ARod - 3B 5. R. Cano - 2B 6. C. Hart - RF 7. L. Scott - DH 8. M. Joyce - LF 9. J. Thole - C Lineup (vs. Lefties) 1. C. Beltran - CF 2. C. Ross - LF 3. Votto - 1B 4. ARod - 3B 5. R. Cano - 2B 6. C. Hart - RF 7. M. Napoli - C 8. J. Gomes - DH 9. S. Drew - SS Rotation 1. Jered Weaver ($4,265,000) 2. Mat Latos ($407,800) 3. Brett Myers $3,100,000 4. Edison Volquez ($445,000) 5. J.A. Happ ($470,000) Bullpen 1. Papelbon-- CL($9,350,000) 2. Neftali Feliz-- CL/Setup ($402,000) 3. Sergio Romo -- Setup ($416,500) 4. Jonny Venters -- Lefty Setup ($400,000) 5. Grant Balfour-- MIR ($2,050,000) 6. Pedro Feliciano -- Lefty Specialist($2,900,000) 7. Sean Marshall -- MIR/LR($950,000) Salary used: $107,492,800

I'm not changing my schitck for anyone. Take it for what it is.

Manny would help the Yanks. I think this doesn't get done, because Manny's ego is such that he still thinks he merits elite $. The Yanks are probably willing to go $5 million. Even though Manny has always wanted to play for the Yanks, I don't see him taking that kind of $.

You just can't stand when anyone else is right about anything. Sometimes you will argue with poster when they agree with you about the main point. I will acknowledge when other posters are correct about something. It doesn't bother me. Usually their being correct coincides with their agreeing with me, but not always. If you are fixated on proving my accuracy percentage, have at it. I really don't care. When I have been wrong about something, I have openly and repeatedly acknowledged it. While you are at it, you might want to devote sometime to disproving my custom user title. Claiming that "Theo Channels Me" is a very bold boast bordering on arrogance. Lighten up Dude. My "I'm always right stuff" is what we call "schtick" No Spud, I'm not Jewish. I don't do this to boast. I engage in this schtick, because it drives overly serious posters nuts. You sir are one of those posters. I apologize, but it does give me a chuckle. I would have though that you would have caught onto this after all this time, especially since we have spoken to each other several times. Oh well.:dunno:

A few things: 1. You are really reaching. I was right about all the big issues in this thread. Being wrong about a minor factual point that is irrelevant to the main point in an argument is.... well, it is irrelevant. Shame on you counselor. 2. I am still not convinced about the big upgrade with Lee over Beckett and it still remains to be seen since we only have 2010 to look at. We'll know in a couple or three years if Lee would have been a big upgrade. Beckett just had his worst year-- due to injuries. 3. I bitch slapped Dutchy/Imperial into a near psychotic break. You should have seen the psychotic vicious pm's that I was getting from him. There was a reason that he was banned multiple times for his psychotic behavior. 4. You really have too much time on your hands with this meticulous researching of old threads. I know you are not used to the cold Michigan weather, but good God get a warm winter coat and get out. Take heed of Spud's advice to all of us: get laid. 5. I said the Fo would sign Beckett and they did, and I said that they should and could sign Carl Crawford, and they did. Which of those were you right about. My accuracy rate is about 99.9888% I thought you are a stats guy?

It has nothing to do with supporting Ortiz. It's just a fact that there are only a small handful of hitters that hit right handed pitching like Ortiz. I'm not advocating that he hit third or fourth in the order either. I'm just saying that against right handed pitching there is little difference between Ortiz and AGon- a nice problem for a manager to have (youk, AGon and Ortiz take your pick for 3,4,5) Let's not forget that AGon is hitting his prime and Ortiz is sliding out of his. Yet, even in his decline, Ortiz is a beast against right handed pitching. People tend to forget how good this guy was. Unless Ellsbury produces by getting on base at a .360 clip or better, I'd drop him to the 9th spot. I'm not a fan of extending a batting order so that it looks stronger and deeper. I come out of the shoot with my top guys one after the other. I don't like starting the game with an out. The top 5 weapons should go at the top of the order-- in no particular order- - Pedroia, Crawford, Youkilis, AGon, and Ortiz.

Salty could be a major bust. We have to acknowledge that there is a good risk of that happening.

I would hit AGon 3rd, but I would not go nuts if Tito batted Ortiz 3rd against righties. It's a nice problem to have when you have 2 guys that can wreck the opposing pitcher.

My original statement was that Ortiz is as good as anyone against righties. That includes his bad starts. When it was brought up that he was good against righties only after his poor starts, I replied that without the bad starts, he has been better than anyone against righties. I wasn't being dishonest about anything.