a700hitter

He would not have been a bad 4th OFer. Good speed and a good glove.

A lot of players, even stars, take 3-4 years at the major league level to full establish themselves, especially pitchers. In the meantime, the team suffers through the growing pains. When they become stars, the Yankees will take them. I am sorry, but I don't want the red Sox to become the Yankees player development farm team. If the Sox had been willing to package Ellsbury, Bucholz, and Bowden to get Santana, a third banner would be flying over Fenway this summer. Bulcholz's poor showing may have singlehandedly cost them the division crown this season.

Bucholz's bad 2008 is a primary reason for not winning the East Division. They stayed with him too long and he got worse and worse. He was bad in Spring Training and deteriorated from there. If they are banking on him holding down a rotation spot, they are willing to wager the entire season on a very questionable bet.

I think Wakefield will be with the Sox until he dies from natural causes. I am a fan of Wakefield, the person. He's a stand up guy and very community-minded, but I hate watching him pitch. The game can blow up at any given time. There's no gauging if he has good stuff or bad stuff, because it can drastically change by the next batter. I'll hold my nose if they run him out there as the #5 guy, but as a #4 he is unacceptable. If he is the #4, it will mean that the rotation is sub par.

No news coming out of Yawkey Way. No catcher, no 4th outfielder and most importantly no Starting Pitcher. This is becoming reminiscent of the 2005 off season less the Theo Hissy Fit. They did nothing into January, maybe even February and the Sox had no CFer, no SS and no 4th or 5th starters. Well remember how 2006 turned out.

Losing the likes of Jason Place would be devastating to the future of the franchise.

The problem with a new ballpark is not the financing of the construction. The problem is the layers of bureaucracy of crooked politicians, officials and interest groups that are impossible to navigate.

No harm done. I was just poking some fun back at you. I am not worked up about the situation. I just think the FOE should be judged on the facts, not the spin or excuses, which they plant in the press to cover their asses. With two World Championships under their belts, it's hard to say that they are doing a bad job. Other than Dice K in 2006, I can't think of a free agent signing that they have made In the last 5 years that has worthwhile. Drew is a great ballplayer,when he plays, which is not often. They certainly overpaid for him. Lug was a bust. Their record in the FA market is not good. Their record with trades is not much better. The Schilling Thanksgiving trade was a blockbuster and one-sided for the Sox. I still like the Beckett trade if he bounces back this season, but many others think the Marlins got the better of that trade. The Crisp trade never lived up to expectations. Their moves in the last 4-5 seasons have been not very noteworthy. Once the Yankees backed away from the Santana deal, the Sox also pulled their offer. They had the Twins right where they wanted them. Maybe they could've gotten Santana for the "Ellsbury" package. They would have won back to back titles with Santana last season and they would have been the team to beat for the next couple of years. They backed out because they no longer had to block the Yankees. That was a bad decision. Santana is better than CC or Burnett or just about anyone else. You get a guy like that when you've got the chance, especially for prospects. The FO knows how to make money as well as any other FO, but their player moves have not been that great.

So, I have an inferiority complex with regard to my team causing me to delusionally think that my team has equal financial strength? Interesting and ridiculous. First of all, I never have said that the Red Sox have the same spending capability as the Yankees. I said that the Red Sox have sufficient financial resources to compete with the Yankees for talent. If it comes to a throw down with the Yankees, the Yankees can and will outbid the Red Sox. There isn't too much difference between the top two or three guys at each position. The Yankees will not sign or buy them all. The Sox should be able to stack their team no matter what the Yankees do, because the Yankees will field only 9 players. There's enough other talent to build a really strong team. If the Red Sox FO got duped into thinking the Yanks had no interest in Tex, shame on them. They get paid to figure this stuff out. They left themselves with no apparent contingency plan. This has nothing to do with whether I have an inferiority complex or am delusional. The facts are the Sox FO failed with regard to their #1 off season priority. The reasons why don't matter. This is so frustrating to you that you resort to personal attacks to attempt to counter the established facts. The FO is now left with only 4 major league starters, one being Wakefield. They have no 4th outfielder, no catcher, and a combination of Lugo/Lowrie at SS. They have a lot of work to do, because as presently constituted, they are not in a position to compete with the Yankees. Now, maybe I am being delusional, but that is my opinion.

First you say this: I responded with this: Which is it? Do I have a Yankee inferiority complex or am I delusional in thinking that the Red Sox can compete financially with the Yankees for talent? It is not an effective technique to dismiss opinions that are contrary to yours by using baseless crap like this. The best way to argue an issue is to discuss the facts of the issue rather than taking wild stabs at the motivation of the opposing poster, which weakens and invalidates your argument.

No, you and others are whining that we can't compete with the Yankees financially. You are whining about inferiority. I have always believed that the Sox have the resources to compete with the Yankees for talent.

My sky is falling reputation? I don't know what you are talking about but you can't change the facts. Boiled to the essence they are as follows: The Sox #1 priority this off season was to get Tex. They didn't but the Yankees did. The Sox FO didn't get it done. As for the sky falling, I have felt from the very beginning that the FO should have used their resources to strengthen the pitching staff. The FO went in another direction, and they didn't execute. Also, I think none of the Yankee moves have addressed a weak up-the-middle defense and poor outfield defense is a problem as well. The sky is n't falling for me. What's falling is your lame defense of the FO.

Sorry, but you are whining and making excuses. The Yankee FO gotr it done this off season while our guys ended up with nothing. If anything the Sox got weaker. I'm not interested in their excuses and the obstacles that they have to overcome. They have plenty of resources and they love to project this image that they are such smart businessmen, so I don't care about their reasons for failure.

The Red Sox were a party to the negotiation. They wanted Tex, but they didn't get him. From that you conclude ... success? That's a knucklehead idea.

Speculation and spin. The Yankees got him the Red Sox didn't. The Sox FO tried hard to get him, but couldn't get it done. That's all that matters.

Not only haven't the Red Sox improved this offseason, IMO they have gotten worse. They have no 5th starter, leaving Wakefield as a 4th starter. They lost Crisp for some middle reliever from KC with a high WHIP. The FO has some work to do.