a700hitter

The answer is never, but I am not in the mood for arguing with all the Youkilis groupies about trading him. Moving him for an upgrade has ben an obvious move to me for some time. I've posted quite a few times that we should sell high on Youk. Unfortunately, I think the FO is in love with his cheap salary and they view him as a good value. He is a good value, which is why you can get some top talent in return for him.

There aren't many hitters available either. If we know the team needs a pitcher, it's not an excuse for the FO to say that none are available. Everyone is available for the right price. Some will cost money, others prospects. It's up to them to get it done. The Yankees filled two holes last year with Abreu and Lidle and it didn't mortgage their future. Lots of FO apologists bought the cover story planted in the papers about the prohibitive expense of Abreu. That was proved to be hypocritical BS when they signed Drew for megabucks for a long term contract ending after the conclusion of this decade. A slumping Abreu is better than the Drew we are seeing and the Yanks only extended him one year. No excuses for the FO this year. They spent a lot on this team. With the right reinforcing, it could go deep into October. They need to get what is needed. There will be no excuses if they sit on thier hands and bad luck and this team to implode and goes home after September. If that happens, the responsibility lies right at the feet of the FO.

Last year we were lamenting about the #5 hole, so Theo went and got Drew. Where will this additional bat play the field. Everyone here thinks Youk is a god, so that's out of the question. Pedroia's been doing okay with the bat. How much of an offensive upgrade can we expect to get at 3rd this year. Manny is staying. Too much money is invested in Drew to sit him down. That leaves CF and SS. Lugo is finally starting to hit, so we might as well live through his hot streak after suffering through his slump. That leaves CF and a back up catcher, which is difficult because of the knuckleball. I don't see the big openings on this team for a hitter. On the other hand, the 3,4,and 5 holes in the starting rotation are becoming like great gaping chasm where games are sacrificed to the baseball gods. It's the pitching. With the Red Sox it is always the pitching.

On WEEI, they are debating the reasons for Drew's lack of impact. Whatever the reason, he hasn't caused the slightest ripple for this team.

You and I see eye to eye on all of this.

Player AB R H 1B 2B 3B HR RBI BB KO SB CS BA OBP SLG Pedroia 264 39 82 56 21 1 4 28 33 23 2 0 .310 .393 .443 Loretta 260 32 81 61 17 1 2 30 30 23 1 1 .311 .387 .407 An updated snapshot of Pedroia vs. Loretta. The statistical similarities continue to be uncanny.

With regard to Hanley you may be engaging in some 20-20 hindsight. Although his talent level was never in question, he did have an up and down minor league career. Ellsbury has done nothing but tear through ever level of the minors and had some success at the ML for a very short stay.

It seems like a comparable package.

This would be a waste of a move. It would make the Eric Hinske acquisition look like a blockbuster.

Animal Rights lobbyists are very vocal, well-funded and politically influential. That being said, it's not the fault of the animals. This dog-fighting stuff is despicable.

He doesn't come close to throwing the innings that Catfish had under his belt.

All we need now is an injury to Tek and the team will spiral out of control. We added one starter since last year and one reliever and we substituted an overpaid underperforming Drew for an over the hill Nixon.

He had a full 8 ML seasons under his belt and still had 4 more great ones under his belt. If his last 4 were good, he'd never have retired. How many guys retire while they are still really good? Almost none. He'd have had more good years but they threw him 325 innings in 1975.

Junior Griffey continues his resurgence. He stole two bases tonight.

The yankee lineup can make a pitcher s*** himself.

Hunter's k-rate fell precipitiously (more than 25%) after 1972. He had 4 excellent years after that winning 20 games 3 times. Tiant got better after his k-rate dipped from 9 to 5-6. Halladay has remained pretty effective despite a dramatic decline in k's. But it needs to be stressed that there is no pattern of decline for Oswalt. You are basing your conclusion on 1/2 of a year.

We may be lucky that the team is showing its flaws this early. Last year, they were holding things together with bubble gum and duct tape and the FO thought it could whether the storm. They found out otherwise and they were terribly embarrassed. The same signs are there this year. Hopefully, they learned their lesson from last year, and the FO will get some reinforcements.

They aren't. They need help. They need Schilling back and another starter. They also need for Drew to earn his money, because Youkilis is starting his second half swoon.

Last 50 AB s Youklis is hitting .250. In his last 37 ABs he's at .216. Water seeks its own level.