a700hitter

Otherwise, all we know is their opinions and attitudes about the Red Sox. Give me a call if you want.

I hope that XB was doing a lot of work on his defensive footwork.

That is a very impressive record. You could do it as a profession. I know a guy who made a fortune as a life insurance salesman, but before he went into that field he was a professional gambler. The horses were his expertise. He used to list Gambler as his profession on his tax return.

Are you done? I think we all have a pretty good idea of what you are all about too, and you shouldn't feel too good about it.

I received my Spring Training tickets yesterday. It made it seem like the weather was warnmer already.

I wonder what the present value is for this stream of payments.

I got what you were saying. Unfortunately, the big contracts are a reality for pitchers. Luckily, we have team that can compete in that environment. I don't undersatnd their thinking this year to run with 4 very uncertain commodities in the rotation-- Buch, Masterson, Miley and Kelly. When 80% of your rotation is a question mark, you need to get very lucky.

Stop trying to read others minds from message board posts. It's not a good indication of who people are. I have encouraged you before and so has Fred to pick up the phone and talk to Fred about the RedSox. You might find out what kind of person he really is if you realy care to find out. If you want to tell someone to be the bigger person, take the step. Make the call. Otherwise, leave him alone and stop telling us who you think he is. Or you can continue to be a heckler from the crowd.

I think you have summed up the place pretty well-- not bad for someone still carrying a "Rookie" designation on this site, although you are surely no rookie when it comes to your knowledge of the Red Sox and baseball. Fred is a really good guy. He is an emotional fan, and he comes here to emote. He will go after players and the FO with strong and colorful opinions. I don't understand the mindset of the few who see red at the sight of his name and avatar. I have talked baseball several times with him on the phone. The conversations have always been pleasant even though we don't always agree on the issues. One thing is for sure-- the guy knows a lot about the game. Those who denigrate his opinion are underestimating the source. He's not right about everything, but he is right more than he is wrong. I hope that he is wrong about Bogaerts being a choker, although XB has done nothing to disprove the notion. On the other side of the TalkSox ledger is Pete (SpudBoy). He's the polar opposite of Fred tempermentally, but he is also a great guy and his baseball knowledge shouldn't be underestimated. He isn't overbearing in his opinions, but he has a great base of Red Sox knowldge. We have lots of smart interesting posters. Example has been back more often recently. To say that we used to push each others buttons would be an understatement, but he is one of the more knowledgeable posters who packs a lot of information into every one of his posts. Gladly, we have come to the point where we appreciate each other's point of view and don't see red when we see each others names. Pal is a great and devoted fan. He has a ton of knowledge about baseball and his enthusiasm and positive attitude grows as each season approaches. I still push his buttons, but that is his issue. Guys like Pal take it the hardest when the team goes down the toilet, because they have convinced themselves of the team's competiveness and the good work of the FO. When it goes bad, it is hard for him to come to grips with the reasons as he doesn't like to assign blame. Pal may be a cockeyed optimist, but he isn't a FO ballwasher and sticks around to commiserate with the rest of us when things turn bad. All in all, this is a great place to discuss the Red Sox. It has a good balance. Any omissions were unintentional when mentioning great posters. Bells, iortiz, Elk and many others add to my enjoyment at TS. And I miss Pumpsie, who was unjustly banned IMO.

Yep, we are just a bunch of fans with opinions. The quest to prove whether those opinions are wrong or right is a pointless and ultimately fruitless endeavor. I only know of one poster that puts his opinions and research truly on the line -- the betting line. When you bet there are definitive results. Everything else is really BS. My buddy iortiz has put a lot of thought into his wagering systems, and it is my understanding that he is fairly successful at it.

Oye.

If the Nat's can afford it, the Red Sox can too. The Nats after winning their division were outdrawn by the last place Red Sox by about 400,000 in attendance.

And as you do, others should let it just be a thought and address the remark with a civil response or not at all.

And you don't strike me as someone who would begin a call out post by saying "that may be the dumbest thing you have ever posted," so I have no worries.

I thought that he was very anti-mongoloid.

If Masterson or Buch fails, they could be okay if Miley or Kelly steps up his game to the next level. If they don't, and only Porcello and one of Buch or Masterson performs, there will be bumps along the way. I am not saying that we need both Buch and Masterson to succeed. If both perform, they will surely be successful. If only one does the job, it will be a bumpy ride.

The success of the rotation will depend on Buch and Masterson staying healthy, taking all of their starts and hopefully performing as they did when they had good seasons. That is a crap shoot. If one of them falters, the team will be in trouble. If both repeat last year's performance, the season will be a bust. If they stay healthy and perform well, the team will be competitive.

No one expects them to have a crystal ball and no one expects them to be perfect, but that doesn't mean that the mistakes get wiped off the ledger. We are just a bunch of fans without inside knowledge, expertise or a professional coaching staff. All of us drink the FO Kool Aid to a degree, because we rely on what they say about a player as they are the professionals, the experts, the scouts. Most of the time we base our opinions on what the professionals say about a player. When they are wrong, they are responsible, not the fans. They are trained to know better than us. If you want to give them a pass, that is fine, but we all have right to give our opinion of their moves, and that correctness or accuracy of that opinion rests on the track record of the players and the team. It has nothing to do with prior opinions. Edit: I could somewhat see your point, if the poster didn't also acknowledge that he/she was wrong too, but whether or not the poster acknowledges the mistaken opinion, it doesn't change whether the move was good or bad. The results speak for themselves and the FO makes the big bucks to be responsible for the moves.

Keep saying your Novenas for Strasburg. We might get him someday at the same stage of his career as when we got Mark Prior.

My recollection is that Odorizzi was a pretty highly touted prospect, certainly more highly regarded than Renaudo in the last 3 years.

The Fister trade was surprising. At that time, he had a lot more dephis rotation. If Porcello pitches like Fister, I will be ecstatic and Tiger fans will want Dombrowki's head on a platter.

Israel, a pair of 4's and a pair of 5's and a 3 is not a good hand for a pitching rotation. I like Porcello, but he is not a #1 ace. If he were, Dombrowski certainly would have kept him and extended him knowing that he would lose Scherzer.

Kimmi and some of the newcomers need to understand how things work around here. If you ever question an acquisition or express doubt about a player's ability, some people here don't think that you should be allowed to change your mind about the player based on his performance. The same thing goes for players who you think are good but who disappoint in their performance. You can't point out that they are mistakes by the FO. Ya see if we have the same wrong evaluation of a player that the FO has, it can't possibly be considered to be a bad move by the FO. I guess that it is based on the 2 wrongs make a right theory. When the FO cuts those guys or trades them for a bag of balls they are acknowledging their own mistakes, but we are forbidden to post anything about it. Childish? Yes, but there is that element on this board. Don't let it deter to you.

I am sure that you were concerned about his injury history as was I. Anyone who says he wasn't concerned about his injury history when we signed him was either lying or just plain stupid. The injury concerns were well-founded, but when the guy is healthy, he is a catalyst. Hopefully, he will play 130 + games in 2015.

Kimmi is a good addition demonstrating that you can disagree without being disagreeable or snarky.