a700hitter

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.

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view/20100118money_matters_for_papelbon_sox/ I think they should attempt to sign him for a long term deal before the hearing. 3 years/$27-30 million. Maybe go to 4 years/ $36 million.

I still think the Yanks will sign Damon. They are looking to get him on the cheap, and they might get him at a very reasonable rate.

Much moreso than the 1976 version. I really wish they would bring back the big dimensions in CF and LCF. However, they pay ARod alot of $ to hit HRs. Maybe this stadium will be the House that ARod Built

I still don't understand what is sad about knocking down a relatively new stadium (33 years old) that was so poorly constructed that it started falling apart. It's not the original stadium. It didn't even closely resemble the House that Ruth Built.

The Yankees will need to get a Hyperbaric chamber in the clubhouse to help him recover after he plays his 1 game a week.

They took a step back in offense, and although Varitek is not a starter, we are not rid of him. He will play about 50 or so games, forcing Beltre, VMart, Youk or Ortiz to the bench those games. If the pitching stays healthy, they will be better than last season. If one of the starters has injury problems, I think we could be wore than last year. Overall, I think the team is marginally better off than last year. If they had gotten Holliday, the improvement would havve been significant. We improved two aspects (pitching and defense) but we slid back on offense. Of course Beltre could play his ass off to get a big contract and Dice K could finally become the Dice K we thought we were getting and everything will be beautiful in the Nation. That's the best case scenario. More realistically, they will be marginally better-- 1 or 2 wins.

They are marginally better than last year, but that will not be enough unless the Yankees get some injuries and perform below expectations.