a700hitter

The season has been over since the first week of August when Youkilis went down. I'm relieve that it's over. We would have been eliminated before next weekend anyway. It was fun to watch the Yankees sweat a little, but there was no chance of us catching them.

Maybe they'll break a leg or two celebrating.

The entire bullpen (except for Bard) should be released.

This is a fitting end.

A Papelblown special to close out the season?

He came here with the reputation as a big game pitcher. Today is put up or shut up time. We're facing a minor leaguer.

This guy is never going to amount to anything at the major league level. He's never going to hit enough to overcome his defensive deficiencies and most teams want backup catchers who can catch. He's a bust.

I think he met her at game 6 of the 1975 World Series. Peter Gammons gave her a pass to the game.

They offered Tony Graffanino arbitration after 2005 hoping he would turn it down and they would get draft picks. No one wanted Graffanino so he accepted arbitration and took up a roster spot. The Sox couldn't trade him either. It didn't work out. If he accepts arbitration, they will not make an offer to Hall, because there will be no spot for him. I'd rather have Hall, because he can play IF and OF, plus he has some HR pop and he's got good speed on the bases.

He wouldn't be the first or the last player to negotiate through the press. Whether and how a player negotiates with the team is irrelevant to me as long as it doesn't affect on field performance. Unlike Manny, who can be a punk, Ortiz has too much character to mail it in. Also, he is smart enough to realize that he would be cutting off his nose to spite his face.

Tampa and the Yanks. If the Yanks and Boston end up in a tie, there would be no tie-breaker, but a 1-game playoff.

The Sox picked up Felipe Lopez. Why?? If they offer him arbitration, he might take it. http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2010/09/lowell_feeling_2.html

That's right. You would play the Twins. If we beat up on you this weekend that should end up being a good thing by lining you up with the Twins. Who wins the tiebreaker?

Concerned about the Division or a playoff spot? I'd be concerned about the Division. That will be tough to win if you get swept this weekend. Playing Texas in a 5 game series with Cliff Lee pitching twice will be tougher than the Twins in a 5 game series. I wouldn't be concerned about the playoff spot. I will be really pissed if the Sox win 5 of 6 or all 6 games from the Yanks and finish a game or two out. The "what if's" will bug me. I mean to lose by 1 or 2 games and to think that the FO made no in season moves to help the team will grind my gears.

But wouldn't the offense be much stronger with both of them in the lineup. It's not like Ortiz will be getting a long term deal. To jettison 30 HRs and 100 RBI doesn't seem to make sense.

Wouldn't that weaken the offense?

You are obsessive about the FO. I didn't say that they weren't doing a good job. In fact, I have said on many occasions that on balance that they are very talented group that is doing a very good job. The key is "on balance". They do make mistakes. Everyone does. Your refusal to acknowledge any mistakes by the FO and your inability to entertain any criticism of the FO is amusing. You've made two posts extolling the virtues of the FO in response to my questioning why you are so concerned about people criticizing the FO. I can't imagine why you are already anticipating criticism of moves that have not yet been made and why the thought of such criticism concerns you. If the FO trades a guy or acquires a guy, some fans will like the move and others will not. The opinions of those who don't like the move are often just as valid as those who like the move. For instance, if the Sox start to build a team around speed, some fans may not like that style of play. Speed teams can win and so can power teams. It's a question of preference. Whether a move improves a team is certainly an issue for debate. The business people that run the FO probably disagree with each other on a regular basis, so I don't think they care if some fans are bashing their moves on a sports forum. The fan and the FO will always have an inherent conflict of interest, because their primary goals are different. The FO is a business that has the goal of maximizing profits. The fans' goal is for the team to win. A smart FO will realize that the best way to be profitable is to win for the fans, because it is the fans' money that makes the profit. To that extent, there is a common interest. Nevertheless, there is an inherent conflict of interest, because it is your dollar that management is looking to get and keep. Why are you so sensitive to even the possibility that the FO might get criticized, Mrs. Epstein? By the way, your son sucks at building a bullpen. It is his weak spot. He does have weak spots. He needs to improve that aspect of his job.

Of course it hits their bottom line. Real cash expenditures always do unless there a dollar for dollar tax credit is available. No such credit is available for this. This payment may not impact payroll for purposes of luxury tax but it does affect profit and loss. Let's be clear that this fee bought nothing other than right to exclusively negotiate with Dice K. It purchased no licenses, patents or copyrighted property for marketing in Japan. Future ballplayers from Japan will either go thru the current blind bid auction system or thru free agency. Under neither system will the Red Sox have any advantage over other teams. Future Japanese players will go to the teams that bid or pay the most. There is no income stream created by this negotiating fee that has been disclosed by the Red Sox to my knowledge. It was a fee for the exclusive right to negotiate and it bought nothing else.