jacksonianmarch

mediocre stuff? He throws a mid 90s sinker that is probably if not the one of the top 3 sinkers in all of baseball. I agree that Beckett has the higher upside, but dont be an idiot and say that CMW brings nothing to the table. Cause that's plain stupid.

it isnt sustainable and the sox know it. If Beckett and Lester dont come back to their inning eating ways, then they arent going far this season.

Garnett may be back tonight. At least per WEEI

agreed Crunchy on all fronts.

at home

the sox offense never hits Andy well. That being said, I likely jinxed him into giving up 8 runs tonight

Last yr when he was injured, it was obvious that he wasnt himself. Heat in the high 80s, low 90s and he couldnt control the breaker. But last night was different. Reminded me of the 2006 Beckett. For 2 or 3 innings last night, he looked better than Garza. Sharp curve, hard heat on the corners. But then his fastball started drifting over the plate and his curve started drifting higher in the zone. I dont think its injury with him. It certainly could be mechanical after having to pitch through the oblique pain. But my money is on mental. You dont run that hot and cold in the same start without having something upstairs that isnt right. We'll find out. But if he doesnt right himself, you guys are in serious trouble.

The sox O and their pen have been the stories of the first month. That isnt sustainable. Their rotation needs to come together if they are gonna go anywhere. They will, IMO, but the question is, how much will they get out of it?

AJ had no location today, but he had enough grit to keep the team in the hunt through 7 innings. That was good to see. Pettitte tomorrow. See if we can extend the streak to 6. No, not win streak. Starters going > or equal to 6IP. That seems to be a good thing for us

Boneytek for sox captain!

Beckett looked like s***. Thats about all I'd take from this game. Garza was untouchable. You werent beating him tonight. But Beckett could do anything. And, early on, his stuff looked solid. Then, he was just getting hit, hard.

and its april. But if you want to compare ERA'sm Beckett's is 7.22.

Beckett out. Line with Hernandez at 1st still his responsibility... 4.2IP 10H 7ER 3BB 8K

he hasnt been good. But he's not nearly as bad as Beckett right now

on his off days, Michel Hernandez is the enforcer for the local drug cartel

not as bad. Burnett's tied 4-4 right now and he's completed 6 innings

Beckett has been awful tonight

they made a fake penis to carry someone else's urine. These are the lengths that these so-called "clean" kids go to so they can stay "clean". Like I said, I know a good amount of guys who got drafted, and I know for sure that all but 2 of them were dirty. And the only reason why I was unsure about the other two was because I never played on their team.

that road is a shithole. Route 9 is quite possibly the worst road in the land. Torn up, too small, too much traffic at all times, too many lights.

I disagree with that in part. The Yankees set the blueprint in the early 90s. Draft well, make trades for undervalued players, and then fill the holes with vets when the rookies are ready. George came back and took us away from that. What I found was funny, was the Steinny got bored with winning on the MLB level. So he demanded that all of his farm teams win too. And he demanded that on the smallest draft and INTL signee budget in baseball. This caused us to have poor drafts, getting players who were mostly AAAA in quality. This forced the yankees to be the poachers on the FA market, snapping up every big name under the sun. The sox, under Duquette, tried to beat the yankees to the punch for every big name, and lost. This caused Duquette to be fired and brought in Theo, who recognized that a dollar for dollar battle with the yankees was a futile effort. So, he developed his team, picked up undervalued FA talent and made smart trades for hole fillers to put them over the top. Once 2004 happened, the yankees mindset changed. The Boss fell out of the picture, the sox showed that they could beat us and their minor leagues were getting stocked. All the while, some of our young talent came to bear in Cano and Wang in 2005 and the hot and cold Melky in 2006. But that was all. 2005 was a building yr for the sox while we traded away future All Star catcher Dioner Navarro with Javy Vazquez to get the older Randy Johnson. The power struggle occured that winter as well, leading to Cashman seizing some power from the Boss as he further slipped into oblivion. Once Cashman took the reigns, the prospect level in the system improved. Our 2004 draft featured Hughes, Marquez (who was the main piece in the Swisher trade) and Christian Garcia (who should make his debut this yr if things work out right). Our 2005 draft featured CJ Henry, who was the centerpiece of the Abreu deal, Austin Jackson, Brett Gardner, Alan Horne and JB Cox (who was heading right for a BP spot with us prior to blowing out his elbow, now he's toast). Our 2006 draft was a fantastic draft. Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy, Zach McCallister (in AA now), Colin Curtis (who is killing the ball in AA), George Kontos (AA now), Dellin Betances (A+ ball now), Mark Melancon (in the bigs), Dan McCutchen (dealt for Marte and Nady), Coupled with the INTL signings of Jesus Montero, Jairo Heredia, and Carlos Urena, it could be on of the best prospect seasons we have seen in decaded. Our 2007 draft is headlined by Brackman and Romine, two solid talents to have in the system. Mixed in is the powerful Laird and the solid hitting Suttle. And then have some long range projects in Weems, Grote, and Angelini. Add in DeLeon, Aceves, Banuelos, Sosa and Vizcaino and the 07 class is pretty good Our 2008 draft was headlined by losing out on Cole and Bittle, but we still put together what is turning out to be strong draft. Bleich and Mitchell have started very well, and the young arms of Turley, Marshall, Obrien, and Richardson all have promise. The offensive side of the ball starting with Adams and finally going on to the younger guys with promise in Joseph, Lassiter and Smith. Mix in the INTL class, considered by many to be one of the best and 08 was a good yr for amateur talent signing. If you notice, nothing big prior to 2003. 2004 we have only 3 notables, one in the bigs now, one traded for Swisher and the other a possible blue chipper by the end of this yr. 2005, the only guy to really write home about is Jackson, especially after the injury bug robbed Horne and Cox. 2006 was our real solid yr. 2007 is still being evaluated. And 2008 is freshly minted. Now lets look at the sox 2000- Delcarmen and Freddy Sanchez. Sanchez is an all star and MDC might end up being an all star closer or setup man. And they signed Hanley Ramirez that yr too. 2001- Shoppach and Youkilis. Two all star performers. And they signed Anibal Sanchez that yr too 2002- John Lester and Brandon Moss. One all star player and another MLB player 2003- Papelbon, Murphy, Alvarez and Murton. One all star, an above average MLB player, a MLB player and a guy who had a cup of coffee 2004- Dustin Pedroia and Cla Meredith. MVP player and another solid setup man 2005- Ellsbury, Hansen, Buchholz, Lowrie, Bowden. Those were the top 5 picked. Wow. Mark Wagner is still in the fray as is Exposito and Natale. They also drafted but did not sign Pedro Alvarez that yr. And they signed Hunter Jones as a non drafted FA in 2005. This could be the sox banner yr 2006- Bard and Masterson are the headliners. Place, Bates, Cox, Kalish, Weeden, Reddick and Lars could all be knocking on the door real soon. 2007- highlighted by Almanzar and Hagadone and have a lot of long range HS kids behind them 2008- fresh off the mint, but once again, a lot of talent. My point with this post is that the sox had something coming out of every draft for the past 9 seasons that was extremely valuable. From 2000-2004, they drafted or signed at least 1 player who went on to become an all star. All total, 7 players who had all star seasons or should have been invited to an all star game (Shoppach, Pedroia, F. Sanchez, Ramirez, Youkilis, Lester, and Papelbon). Then you factor in the above average players in that time period and you have MDC, A. Sanchez, Murphy and Meredith. Then factor in the guys who made it to the bigs in Alvarez, Murton and Moss. You have a ton of talent coming out of those drafts. Contrasting that to the Yankees and all I have for you is that we signed Wang in 2000 and Melky + Cano in 2001. This is why you can say that the sox can just fill in the spots now. Cause they have the home grown talent which started all the way back in 2000. And if you consider that they also have a better 2005 draft, this is going to be an ongoing trend. That being said, I think from 2006 on, we have either matched or surpassed the sox on a yr by yr basis. So we should be seeing similar returns. But when you consider that the sox didn’t see significant dividends until the 2007 season, you have to take your time. It might be a few yrs before we see Colin Curtin in the OF or Jesus Montero at the plate. It might not happen at all. But since the sox started a full 4 yrs before us and Theo just expedited that significantly with his draft strategy, you can say that. I have a feeling it will be a very similar feel in a few yrs when our system produces just as much talent as yours. But right now, you have the established, young, All Star caliber players already there from your farm to build around. We are hoping that the start was with Wang and Cano and we can add Melancon, Hughes and Joba to the fray this yr. It’s a long road, this player development thing, but it is worth it if you are patient.

My point is that they hit on far more prospects than most GMs. And when the guys get to the bigs, the sox typically get a seamless transition out of them.

and Theo gets uncanny success out of his young kids. This is something that just cannot be sustainable. You cannot roll 7's every time, eventually you hit snake eyes. He brings up Lester, he fares well through cancer, then absolutely dominates last yr. He brings up Pedroia, has one rough month then goes on to ROY and MVP. He brings up Youkilis who starts out serviceable and becomes MVP caliber. He brings up Papelbon who goes from being a wild guy with good stuff to being one of the top closers in the game. He brings up Ellsbury who immediately steps in and keys the sox to a WS victory. After a rough 08, he comes back well in 09. He brings up Delcarmen who starts off slow then becomes a solid setup man. He brings up Buchholz who throws a no hitter in his second or third start. Granted, he struggled last yr, but he will likely be up this yr at some point. He brings up Bowden who has a good start last yr, then comes in for a big spot this last weekend and gets the job done vs NYY. He brings up Van Every who subs in for Drew and wins the game for him. He brings up Masterson, who right now looks like the sox best non knuckler throwing pitcher. He hasnt missed much in the minors. When he eventually does, his exogenous acquisitions will come to the limelight. But sox fans arent complaining with Masterson stepping in, and if Bard steps in and if Buchholz steps in.

the question is, who would want him?

Lets see... He picks up Saito who was considered to have a UCL that's "hanging by a thread". He comes out and gives up more homers this season already (2) than he did in 40+ innings last yr (1). And, right now, his OPS against is .997. Granted, small sample size, but he is certainly not the guy he was when he was a dodger. Maybe he turns it around. He picks up Baldelli and re-signs Kotsay. About 2 weeks after resigning Kotsay, he goes down with back surgery. Did they expect that when they signed him? Then they pick up a guy in Baldelli who has a genetic disorder that is going to weaken him chronically. Treatable, but there nonetheless. He pulls a hammy and is out for who knows how long. They sign Penny, a guy with a good track record, but is coming off a shoulder injury that wasnt fixed. He gets shut down in ST, comes back, regains velocity but can't command anything. And RSN is screaming for his DFA, already. They sign Smoltz, a guy they know wont be back until June at 41 after major reconstructive shoulder surgery. Now he has a setback. The sox offseason acquisitions have done nothing, actually they have hurt this team through the first month of the season. Theo should thank his lucky stars that the minor league juggernaut he's created can mask his inability to find exogenous talent. Van Every saves his ass last night while Nancy is on the rag. Lowell comes back like a wild man. Youkilis gets even better. And Masterson looks like a CY candidate. If he pitches every night like he did vs the yankees, he will be the ace of the staff by yrs end. 96 mph 2 seamers with that slider is just solid.