jacksonianmarch

And now, you'd have to have Bonds get into game shape and get his bat speed up in 6 weeks. Even if he signs, he wont be the Bonds you'd expect.

Therein lies the point ORS. Gom is incapable of seeing anything past this one season. He's shortsighted. Something that killed this franchise for yrs in the 80s and early 90s. Only after a long term approach did we ascend back into glory. Unfortunately, Gom isnt very good with history.

per rotoworld. Unknown what the prognosis is, but the MRI showed a disk herniation.

Gom is an idiot, once again, a tried and true idiot. That is all.

If no CC, Harden, or Sheets are acquired, then Cashman is putting his face on the reclamation project. If the Old Stadium goes out without success and the New Stadium comes in without success and no big names are acquired when they are available for money only, then he should go.

He might be scratched. He went to the beach, got some sand in his vagina, might be out for the yr

Gom, I think the entire idea on passing up on Johan was to give the kids another yr to develop and to have a shot at CC, Sheets or Harden. If none of those guys or Tex are obtained, then yes, I think he should be on the hot seat. Granted, he should be given till the end of 2009 regardless, but if none of the big time FAs fall into our laps and he isnt proven a genius by the end of 2009, then yes, he should go

10-4.

my team sucks. Time to root for my second favorite team

If you watched the game, you could see that he was missing his spots in the zone with his FB, curve and change. His curve was flat, but his FB was also up or wild within the zone. Against a MLB club, you cannot make those mistakes. Whether this is due to him truly having numbness or something more serious (or just an excuse to explain away his bad start) remains to be seen. That being said, most complete neuropraxias (total numbness and weakness, aka no chance of pitching) from sleeping wrong are gone within a day or two and have no residual effects a week later. The fact that they moved his start back makes me think it was either an excuse or something more serious.

Do you think DiceK is getting by on luck? He hasnt allowed a hit with the bases loaded in 14 tries. He also only goes 5-6 innings per start giving a good team a shot at the underbelly of the sox pen. And, whose to say he'll actually get out of the jams when a playoff team is at the dish. I think you gotta go Beckett-Lester in that order with DiceK third.

if the sox lose, they will drop into a tie in the L column with the Twins for the WC lead

I agree. Right now, Buchholz needs to be in AAA refining his craft. He's been mindf***ed this yr

Buchholz, like Kennedy and Hughes, needs more time to get his fastball command back. The fact that Buchholz threw 4 FBs to the #9 hitter and couldnt get one of them in the zone shows he is either lacking command or confidence, or both. He isnt a MLB pitcher right now.

Damon and ARod ruin a well pitched game. We're gonna be 2 games away from having a protected 1st rounder in addition to the pick we get from Cole not signing. GO STROS

Sabathia is getting 20+ mil a yr from someone. I have a feeling that the sox may try and negotiate with Beckett before they set a team precedent for what Beckett should exceed.

His arm is in shreds. With Percy on the DL, you gotta think this guy would have a spot in the Rays pen. But he's throwing mid 80s now and seems to rip something in his shoulder every time he moves.

bypass has phenomenally high success rates, but it is a bitch of a surgery assuming they are doing the tradition rather than the new minimally invasive. They will cut into his leg and take out the saphenous vein. They will invert that vein and use it as an arterial bypass (it will arteriolize with the change in pressure). Then they will make a vertical incision from the supraclavicular notch down to the base of the sternum. Using a bone saw, they will make a vertical cut through the sternum and then spread the sternum. Once inside, they will place the patient on a bypass machine and stop the heart. Then, they will sew the new bypass into the origin of the arteries which need bypass and then sew it to the distal site past the blockage. After they will finish, they will restart the heart, insert chest tubes, take the patient off bypass, tie the sternum closed with wires, then use either staples or stitches to sew the skin back together. In a week, assuming no complications, he'll be rehabbing and in a few months, he'll be feeling better than he had felt in yrs. It is barbaric, but it really does change quality of life. Bypass is only indicated if a patient has "triple vessel disease", meaning there are significant blockages in all 3 major coronary arteries (LAD, circumflex and RCA) or if the patient has Left Main coronary disease, which is a short stretch of an artery that gives rise to the LAD and the circumflex.

And this is why Kennedy should have taken more time to get to the bigs. He isnt as good as his one yr rise would have you believe. But as a guy 2 yrs s/p being drafted, he is not as bad as his initial MLB stats would indicate. You guys kill him as if he is nothing. He has a very good shot at being a solid back of the rotation option and I have hardly deviated from this thought process.

Also, over the 3 yr span of 05-07, his OPS vs lefties was .895. This yr it is surprisingly worse than his righty split.

This is per WEEI. Ross, 31, is an interesting player. He's more of a lighter hitting offensive minded catcher. He isnt a great catcher by any means. And the fact that the terrible Cincinnati Reds released him should send up warning flags. But some interesting stats this yr for Ross. Lets take a look at his career playing time. Well, he made his MLB debut in 2002 with the dodgers, he was nothing more than a Sept callup. Since then, he's been with LA, PIT, and CIN. His maximum games played was 112 in 2007 and he put up the line of .203/.271/.399. His best season came in 2006 when he hit .255/.353/.579 with 21HR in 247ABs. Now this yr. He's only appeared in 52 games (134AB ) but he has more walks this yr (32) than he had in his longest season of his career (2006, 30). His BA is right around his career norm, but his OBP is insane this season (.381). This is way above his career IsoPatience of .087. If you plot out his 162 game average for his career, he'd hit 23 homers and over the last 2.5 seasons, he's hit 41HRs in just 692ABs. In short, he seems like mix of a Doug Mirabelli defensively and a younger version of Jason Varitek's aged self prior to this yrs collapse. Sounds like a serviceable backup who could use the wall well and potentially be a solid platoon mate with a young left handed catcher (like Kottaras). I'd do it if I were the sox. It would provide protection if Vtek left and allow for a guy with a good eye and occasional power to be in the lineup half the time. We'll see what they do

If the playoffs started in a week and all pitchers were rested, who would start? I know the majority of you would choose Beckett, but Lester has been much better. IP? Beckett missed 2 starts to begin the yr, but he still trails Lester by 11IP (149 to 160) WHIP? Even with Beckett's abysmal start, he leads in WHIP by 0.05 ERA? This one isnt even close. Lester's ERA is over a full run better than Josh's. 3.17 to 4.34 HR allowed? Lester had allowed 6 less HRs, 11 to 17 BB and K? Beckett has a lower BB/9 a higher K/9 (by a lot) and a higher K/BB than Lester Then there's the whole Beckett lore with two WS titles. I'd still have to go with Beckett, but Lester is really putting himself in the conversation. At worst, he's the two.

ORS, remember, thinking is important. Kennedy dominated the minors and made it to the bigs in one yr. That doesnt happen often at all. How he does in the bigs is more a development and coaching issue than a drafting one. He was a low risk pick, that is for sure. It was obvious this kid would move through the system, just not at this speed. Right now, he just needs to start working on his stuff in the minors rather than just dominating which he can do to the AAA population.