a700hitter

From everything I've heard and read, his return is a real long shot.

That was about $17-18 million for 2010. Where did the other $140+ million go, and why isn't this team better after spending that kind of $?

I want ARod.

Someone posted the other day that they don't expect Tampa to continue playing .750 ball, and neither do I. However, a red hot start like Tampa's can be very difficult to overcome, especially if you are also off to a slow start. If they play .750 ball in their first 24 games (18-6) which is pretty close to their current record and they cool down a bit and play .550 for the next 40 games (22-18), their combined record would be 40-24. That's still .625 ball. If they cool off even more and merely play .500 for the next 36 games (18-18), their combined record would be 58-42 for the first 100 games for a .580 winning percentage. That's a damn good winning percentage and that would be after playing 75 games at a very mediocre clip. Hot starts are hard to overcome. They should not be disregarded because it's just April. When overcoming a hot start, you have to play excellent ball for a prolonged portion of the season and you have to hope for the team you are chasing to go cold. Unless Tampa gets bit by the injury bug, I don't foresee them having prolonged losing stretches. They are a very solid, well-balanced team. If the Sox are going to catch them, they are going to have to beat them in the head to head meetings.

I'm not with you you on this either. If his performance falls off that much, he'll be deemed a big time bust.

Roids are no longer in vogue.

I'm not with you on this. At age 37, his productivity and health will fall off.

$18 million is a shitload to pay for a guy that is a really good team mate. That's about all they will get from Cameron for 2 years.

$18 million is a shitload to pay for a guy that is a really good team mate.

Cameron is going to be a complete wast of $- worse than Lugo. At least Lugo played an entire year at SS on a championship team.

I don't see them releasing him and eating his salary. He can't go to the NL cause he has no position. If they cut him and an AL team picked him up for free, you know that he would kill us in a crucial series.

I agree.

I got criticized for suggesting that they take on $2 million on Nady to fill an empty slot in the OF. How much does Dunn make $8-10 million. We are already paying $25 million for Lowell and Ortiz to DH. I don't think they will pay $35 million to man the DH spot this season. Maybe they get Dunn next year, but not this year.

The loss column is all that counts, and we are 6 in back of the Rays and 4 in back of the Yankees. Plus, we have not yet shown an ability to beat those teams head to head. We have to beat them head to head to make up the ground.

I guess if he didn't take PEDs that he be a career A-baller at most.

Both are pipe dreams for this season.

I am a very optimistic person. I have more fun than any 10 guys my age or younger. Trust me on that one. Next week, I 'll be at the Atlantis for 5 days with some family, where i have reservations at The Mesa Grille and Carmines. At the end of the month I'll be spending 5 days on Reddington Beach in Florida with friends, where I will log 10 hours a day at the Tiki Bar, except for the two days planned for fishing. I too have seen the Sox lean years, and I know how easy it would be to return to a string of years with no playoff baseball if the Yanks stay strong and Tampa blossoms. I've seen seasons go sour very fast for many good Sox teams in the past as well. I see signs here that concern me. I sounded the alarms and declared the team dead in 2006 while we were still in first place, because I could see the direction that the season was heading. I took major abuse about that, but I was right. When we started Jason Johnson in the opening game of a double header to kick off a 5 game series with the Yankees, it was officially over as far as I was concerned. Prior to that, I had been warning that a collapse was on its way for weeks. This team is nothing like the 2006 team, because of the strong starting pitching, but the Yankees and Tampa are much stronger than any of our 2006 competitors. My life will be fine if the Sox go into the toilet this season, although many of my family members and friends would be obnoxious about it. Thanks for the offer of prozac, but I don't need any. My views on this team are the result of my rational analysis. The pitching needs to be great for the next month. VMart, Drew and Lowell and Ortiz all need to start hitting immediately to stay close until the team is at full strength. Can the team do these things? I certainly hope so, but if they don't, they will get buried. I don't think that is doom and gloom. It's just an honest assessment. BTW I watch them and go to their games whether they stink or they are in first place, and I enjoy it either way, because I am a baseball fan.

This is a pipe dream.

I like the optimism. I hope we are still in the mix at the trading deadline.

They are playing tomorrow