jsinger121

on the griffey matter he is under contract to the reds until 2009 at big money. that makes it even more of a risk. 4 more years for an injury prone player is too much of a gamble.

what the red sox are doing is retooling and rebuilding at the same time. they are bringing in new players through trade or free agency and also incorporating their own minor league talent. there is nothing wrong with that and frankly it is the right way to go instead of signing the pedros and the damons of the world to ridiculous contracts when they are in their 30's no matter how much of a star player they are.

I may be younger than you but I also have a brain. The core of the 2004 was constructed with alot of guys in their 30's with pedro, damon, mueller, millar, manny, varitek, schilling, timlin, embree, and others. It was not a team on the upswing like the Yankees were after they won a title in 1996. What the Yankees had was youth on their side with young players like Jeter, Bernie, Rivera, Pettite, and Posada once he came up in 1996. That was young core they had that could contend for alot of years and is still contending today minus some players. The Red Sox on the other hand were constructed for a 3 year period in which to win a title. They won a title. You should be thankful you saw one. There was no way they could keep the 2004 team together without overspending which would have hurt the team in the longrun. Had they signed everyone they would have gotten old before your eyes. I will always love the 2004 team but I knew their window to win a title was short with all the free agents they were going to have. Pedro was a great pitcher but is he worth the amount of years and money he received from the mets. same thing with damon. the red sox are not only thinking about tomorrow they are thinking 3-5 years down the road and they did not want to be saddled with contracts that could potentially look bad in the coming years. The Red Sox will be setup to have longterm success by not overpaying for guys in their mid 30's. they don't want to be tied up to these players for big money and for big years so they take the draft picks and restock the farm system. i have the faith that we will reep the benefits of our farm system soon because we have had very solid drafts the past 3 seasons which will go a long way to building our team for the future.

i am not upset that the red sox didn't give damon the 52 million because frankly he is not a 13 million dollar player. he went for the money. the red sox would never have matched that. he was a great player here and its very possible that we got the 4 best years of damons career. im not saying he is done but he is not a 13 million dollar player. he is more of a 10-11 million dollar player at best. alot of things have to go right for the red sox to be a championship team. lowell needs to return to form, nixon needs to stay healthy, they need to have someone to cover ground in center, they need the bullpen to be better than last year, they need beckett and schilling to stay healthy for the year. those are alot of ifs and its very possible alot of those ifs will not turn out good for the sox.

I want someone in center who can cover ground. the red sox have enough offense right now. with the red sox outfield defense already shaky they need someone who can get to balls and griffey just can't do that anymore. 2005 Zone Rating .907 for Reed .805 for Griffey I'm afraid Griffey has lost a step and in fenway park you need to cover alot of ground especially with both manny and nixon playing the outfield. and that zone rating for griffey is not going to get better as he gets older. its just going to get worse like bernie williams worse.

i won't give it up because i am not high on griffey anymore. i don't think he has the speed or the range to play in the outfield anymore and with the red sox outfield already below average having him there would not be a good thing especially for our pitching staff. the red sox are not a championship caliber club right now and getting griffey would not make them one. reed can cover alot more ground than griffey right now. for griffey to continue in his career it would be best for him to be a DH and nothing else. griffey was a great talent but he is aging and injury prone and for 12 million a year i would go with potential instead. The red sox need to play for the future. they can't be tied up to bad contracts anymore and griffey is one of them.

griffey can hardly play centerfield and you think he could play right field in fenway park. he has limited range now and putting him in right at fenway if trot left would be a disaster.

i think it will cost some prospects for griffey. the reds are not just going to give him away. they have a bad farm system to begin with. they need young pitching. they don't want clement and his 9 million dollar a year contract. they would want the likes of either a papelbon or a lester for griffey. teams will ask for them when they call the sox. the sox will not move any of those guys. reeds value has dipped a bit where you might be able to get him for lesser prospects. he has good upside better than darren lewis. a few years ago reed was on par with grady seizmore as a prospect. griffey in my opinion is not an outfielder anymore. he is a DH and we already have a DH.

hes not a free agent. he has to be had in a trade and he has two years left i believe at 12 mil per season.

crisp and reed are cheaper and better options than griffey. people we have to take everything into account here with griffey. everyone loves him because he is a name and was great. but he is not great anymore. he is now a DH. he does not have the range to play center anymore. he has trouble staying healthy. He is due 12 million each of the next 2 seasons. those to me are all red flags why i don't want griffey on the red sox.

he had talent. he is not the same griffey and people will be disappointed. he comes with a big contract and alot of injury baggage. the sox need to get younger not older and more injury prone. they already have one injury prone outfielder in trot nixon. do we really need another one in griffey.

im not but its not in the red sox best interests to get griffey who is an overpaid injury prone outfielder. the sox can do better than griffey at less the salary.

and there is no guarantee he even has that season again or can stay healthy for a full year. he is just too much of a gamble with the money that is tied to him.

i would rather have reed. i want no part of griffey's injury history and big contract that is attached to him.

the problem is griffey can't stay healthy and it is too much of a risk for that type of money.

he was a great talent until the injuries got to him. the red sox don't need griffey to appease sox fans or to put fans in the seats. what they need is a centerfielder who can cover ground and will play with an aggressive style something griffey does not do anymore. it would be a bad idea if the red sox bring griffey just to bring a name in. what are we the yankees.

who knows if he would have stayed. the sox were not ever going to go to 52 million even if theo was there at the time. the most the red sox would have probably gone up to if theo was here was 44 million and i still don't think that damon would have stayed.

well i am happy with this team. they may not make the playoffs but they will be in good shape for the future with a farm system to boost. had they kept the 2004 team intact for a few years they would have gotten old quickly. they had a short window to win a title and they did. now its time to build for the long haul through the farm system and the red sox have the prospects on the way to do that.

and griffey could be done next season. griffey was a great talent but he is on the downhill of his career and the money he is getting paid its just not worth it. unless the reds were paying 75% of the deal in a salary dump something they probably won't do then i don't want the red sox to go anywhere near griffey.

the sox don't need his homeruns they need someone who can cover ground because both manny and trot are limited defensively and don't have the best range anymore. griffey is overpaid and on the downhill. sorry i will pass. i will take reed and his 300k salary anyday over griffey because he has high upside and is better defensively.

It would probably take lester, delcarmen, and maybe pedroia something the sox will not do. the drays ask for the moon for their guys. cantu is a budding star and why would the drays trade their best positional player in the majors right now. plus i don't even think he can play shortstop because he really is not that great defensively.

not likely as they will command the likes of lester and papelbon for lugo. when they just got edwin jackson and chuck tiffany for baez and carter then they will still hold out for the bigger name prospects. i know jackson has slipped but he can still turn it around and tiffany is an impressive prospect. i will highly doubt the drays drop their price because its not their style.

harris i believe was signed to a minor league deal so a roster move does not have to be made yet.

Lugo will not come cheap no with the devil rays and their ridiculous demands. the sox will not give the drays any of their top prospects for a guy that is not that good and will be a free agent next year.

I think we will see cora as the starting shortstop because there is no one out there unless the red sox trade for tejada. they are not bringing in alex gonzalez because frankly he is not an upgrade from cora and will cost alot more.