a700hitter

Do you have there times to first base, and don't forget Drew is coming out of the lefthanded box.

There's no way any of those guys got down the line faster than Bay.

It's a big issue now, despite the fact that he was the second fastest guy on last year's team and didn't miss any time due to knee issues. He's a ticking time bomb. The FO wants us to know that by time he is 60 he'll need a double knee replacement. Better to cut ties with him now.

Two girls talking dirty baseball statistics. Yazman, get out of the way so we can watch.

You'll know they are throwing him under the bus when "the money-grubbing selfish a--hole" articles start to appear.

We will know that the Sox are cutting ties if we start to see the "Papelbon is a Money-Grubbing A-Hole" articles.

I disagree with Jackson about 90% of the time, but he is right in substance here. He's putting it in a way to get under the skin of Sox fans, but it happens every time a popular player walks. It doesn't matter that the information was valid. I would assume that it is always valid. I wouldn't expect them to feed lies to the press, although some teams like the Mets are shameless liars. If his MRI in July made the Sox pull back, ask yourself why is this information being widely disseminated now and not in July? IMO they wanted to re-sign him, but it didn't work out, so they need to explain why they let last years biggest run producer walk. The story is out there so if Bay does well this year they can say that he will not hold up for 4 or 5 years. If you don't believe Jackson, wait till the next popular superstar walks. The stories will come. We could start to see "Papelbon is a money-grubbing scumbag" stories in a year or so.

The FO doesn't bad mouth players to run them out of town. They were going to part ways with those guys any way. Also, no one is arguing that those were not sound business decisions. However, they and every other team uses the press as a tool. Whenever they move a popular player during the season, the negative stories start to appear before the deal. When the moves are made after the season, the stories often wait until the guy is gone. It's a way of getting the fans behind the moves. If there are no physical issues to discuss, there are articles about the guy being a scumbag. Before 2008, we knew that Manny was a flake etc., but do we really believe that he just became a scumbag in 2008. What about all the "Nomar was a Scumbag" stories. Is it a coincidence that these were 2 of the most popular Red Sox players in team history? I don't think so. They used the press to get the fans behind the moves. Is it a conspiracy? That's a silly way of characterizing it. It's called public relations. They are using the Press to sell the FO move. Are the stories planted? They are probably not for the most part. I think the press knows a lot about this stuff, but they refrain from printing it while the player is on the team, because they don't want to get on the wrong side of the press or the FO. After the player is gone, they print the stuff, because they don't need the player anymore, and they know the FO will not be opposed. Some of the stuff is planted. The Manny and the Traveling Secretary story was planted IMO. I also think that a lot of medical info (like Bay's Knees) is planted. This is not about running a player out of town or a conspiracy. It's about Public Relations for the team.

Every team uses the press as a tool to further its agenda and help it with fan relations, etc. That's part of the game. If they didn't think the press was necessary to their business, they wouldn't let them in the clubhouse, hold press conferences etc.

...and how dd the story about the Traveling Secretary get in the paper. Manny didn't run to the paper, nor did the Traveling Secetary.

Welcome to TalkSox.

Welcome. Please limit your ass comments to the "Ass Discussion" thread. There are usually a number of members there gushing over Theo's ass. Now get your mind off baseball and asses, and go do your homework. Welcome.

He's flaky. Ricky Henderson didn't even know the names of his team mates. He could play on my team any day, and so can Papelbon. They don't need to go to Tupperware parties together. We need guys that play hard and who have a burning desire to win. That's Papelbon.

I disagree. The thread of consistency that the yankees have had throughout the last 14 years has been largely attributable to Mo being in their pen. If you put an average closer out there, they would have missed the playoffs more than just one time since 1995. Papelbon has the same kind of impact. he deserves the going rate for shut down closers. If he goes somewhere else, we would regret it for years.

If he offers him a market value long term deal, I think he'd be hard-pressed to turn it down.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/articles/2010/01/18/offerman_banned_for_life_from_domrep_league/ He doesn't have many prospects left in baseball.