HeadOfSoxNation

I read an article a while back...actually, a long while back...about a guy who was in very much your position. I want to say he was a die-hard Royals fan (if any such thing exists) for a while and was finally fed up with their suckage. He decide to declare his allegiance to another team. He actually WROTE LETTERS to other clubs, stating that his fandom was on the table. Apparently, certain teams did really cool things like sending him merchandise and tickets and autographs and stuff. It struck me as a pretty cool story. Regardless, welcome to TalkSox and, overall, Red Sox Nation. You're going to love it here.

Yea, well, we don't exactly have the staff of the early 90's Braves, either... We pretty much have a consistent 3 man rotation...Snyder sucks, Johnson sucks, Gabbard sucks, Pauley is better but still isn't ready for the show...and getting Wells and Wake back sounds fantastic right now, but neither of these guys are coming back from a blister or the flu...Wells is approaching 300 years old and that poor injured knee has to carry his fat ass around. I'm surprised he can walk for an entire day, let alone pitch a decent baseball game. Wake is getting up there in age and is suffering from an injury that greatly impacts delivery and effectiveness. We don't know what the heck we're going to get from these guys when they come back. I'm hoping for the best, but thinking realistically. And you're overlooking getting Lidle. Yea, he's not Cy Young, but they don't need him to be. If you have an ERA of 4 and a half, you're going to win a bunch of games in NY...especially adding a guy with a .427 OBP into your already stacked lineup. Lidle is a guy who's going to give you a solid 6 or 7 innings every night and keep you in games. He's going to get a lot of ground balls...we've just gotta hope that a lot of those ground balls go towards the left side

Man...yea, this would be cool, but Clemens has been proven to tank in the postseason...I'd MAKE SURE I'm not giving up any of the top 10 to get him. I'll take the salary and roll the dice on his postseason performance...but there's no way I'm rolling the dice and dealing any of the big guys on the club or in the system. Now, for Oswalt or the DTrain...pretty much take your pick. And I'll cut off my legs with MC...and you can all bang my little sister.

I'd rather see Grady Little come in in relief than Seanz.

I'm just curious if anyone has at all thought of the consideration of trying to bring in a closer. Not just any closer, but a proven closer. I know Lidge has had his struggles, but I still believe that he has the stuff to be dominant again, as we've seen in the past. Houston has made it clear that he is available. And I'm not just talking about him, just using him as an example. I know it was rumored that Hansen, our supposed closer of the future, could possibly be on the move (there was a rumor regarding DTrain a while back)...if we could deal Hansen and some prospects and get a starter, and then somehow make another deal for a closer, we could shift Papelbon back into the rotation where he was supposed to be all along. Papelbon has been lights out this year, and don't get me wrong, I'm not usually for messing with success...but something's gotta be done about the back end of this rotation. I really don't think Foulke has anything left to go beyond middle or late inning relief; I can't trust him to close anymore. I'm not too sure, but I think one of the reasons that this hasn't even been investigated, if it indeed hasn't, is because they think it would take too long to recondition Paps to throw 6 or 7 innings a game rather than 1 or sometimes 2. Who knows though, just another possible scenario.

I agree...and love your scenario of moving Lugo without ever having him in a Sox uniform to get Buehrle...but I don't think it will happen. It'd be awesome if it did, but I just don't think it will. And as much as I don't think the Tejada thing will happen...how awesome of a punch/counter punch would it be if the Yanks got Abreu and then we go out and grab Tejada? That'd be like when Bald Bull goes apeshit in Punchout and comes charging at Little Mac and Little Mac counters with that blow to the stomach and knocks him on his fat ass. Yea, that's what it'd be like.

That was an awesome post...nice work. Good to have you here.

Abreu's OBP is like .450...

Anyone that turns down this deal is crazy from a Red Sox perspective...I've been salivating at the chance to get WMP consistent at-bats to shut up all of the "I can't believe we traded Bronson for this dude" guys, and bringing in an arm like Buehrle would be fantastic. Yet again, an arm for the current and an arm for the future. I'll be honest...I don't think the White Sox give this deal the OK.

I'd consider it, that's for sure...but I think for the Sox to trade a young stud like Pena they'd have to be sure that they could get an extension done with Zito for at least 4 years. Does anyone know how the rules work on that? If the A's give permission, can we talk contract extension with Zito before the trade is made?

I don't think Epstein moves Wily Mo unless he gets a front-line guy. To move him for some Jon Lieber-type name just seems ridiculous to me. I don't want to see Wily Mo go, because I really feel like he's got the potential to lead the league in HRs (and RBIs with the lineup the Sox will put together) in a few years...but we do have to stop the bleeding on this starting pitching situation. We know Hansen is available for the right price...combining Wily Mo with Hansen is a solid package that could return something EXTREMELY exciting. Are we sure the DTrain and Peavy are off the table? Anyone hear Dontrelle on Rome the other day? Dude is freaking hysterical...I'd love to have him here.

Is this yet ANOTHER game that I'm not going to be able to watch? It says it's on Fox on RedSox.com, but it's not listed on Fox here, and there's no mention of it on the schedule for Extra Innings. This package blows ass this year.

Rich Gedman gets my vote

So I was just checking out RedSox.com and they have a new contest sponsored by DHL to pick a guy who exemplifies the franchise and blah blah blah....anyways, Ortiz is not even MENTIONED. Now, I understand that there's a different level of RedSox-ness when you look at Ortiz compared to Cy Young and Yaz and guys of the like...but is there ANYONE you're more thankful for over the years than Ortiz? In his short tenure here, he's pretty much single-handedly brought us our first WS Championship in 86 years. I say single-handedly because I whole-heartedly believe that the Sox would not have even been in the playoffs in 04 if it wasn't for Ortiz. Anyways...I just think leaving Ortiz out was kind of an error of omission.

Damn...looks awesome, nice work guys. I can't wait to get mine. Do we have an estimated date?

The last "big" move that Theo made prior to the Beckett deal was when he brought in OCab...and that was "big" at the time because of who we gave up, not who we brought in. There was only one superstar involved in that deal and it was Nomar and we were the one's giving him up, not on the receiving end. Just goes to show that a "big" deal doesn't need to involve marquee, front line players coming to Boston. Look how that deal worked out for us.

Hmmm...Detroit was considered to be the frontrunner in the Soriano sweepstakes...I wonder if pulling Abreu would negate that? If they somehow nailed both...I think we've got a new odds on favorite if their young pitching can hold up...

Gotcha...thanks for clearing that up. Warning was after Schilling hit Swisher?

I just heard Orsillo say something about hitting batters or something...I didn't get to watch the game yesterday...did anything of note happen?

Shaughnessy is an imbecile...I wouldn't reccomend touching any of his garbage, let alone reading it

I think Fox does a decent job with postseason baseball...Buck is fantastic besides the jinxing comments and McCarver is awesome as long as he doesn't open his mouth...

Dude...what's everyone getting all over this dude for being gay for? He said Jeter had a nice suit, big deal. That doesn't mean he's gay. Now that my George Michael CD has finished, I'm off to watch The Notebook. I'll catch you boys later.

DFA this bum...good riddance to bad rubbish, Johnson.

I take it there's no chance that Philly is willing to part with Cole Hamels, is there? If we could bring him and Abreu over in the deal, that would greatly benefit the club this year and in the future...Hamels is young and has the definite capability of being our 5th starter from the day we acquire him. Health has been an issue, albeit a minor one, with him thusfar, though.

What's everyone's bet for how Lester finishes up the season?