jacksonianmarch

I have.... http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=260821102

methinks the east is done.

5 baserunners in 6 innings. Just so happened that all of them scored. This was actually a good start.

what has been even more encouraging is Wang. Man has he looked good tonight.

seriously, wtf is going on. You guys dont hit for s*** for months, then you score like this of late. f***in A.

our offense is exploding again. Wahoo.

what the hell happened last night? All I know is that I got out of work at 10 and saw that we blew it in the 11th or something. We better get our heads our of our asses. Damn.

Dont look now, but Bobby Abreu is putting together another fine season .288 15HR 87RBI .366OBP .816OPS 17 steals and 95 runs. Pick up that option.

Couple things I think might happen 1. The sox will resign Mike Lowell to a 2 yr extension at 11 mil per. He'll take the hometown discount cause he loves it in Boston 2. Schilling will leave and go to Chicago where he will try to break another curse 3. ARod will stay in NY because he knows the yankees will be the only team to offer him 30+ mil a season until he is 40. 4. Youkilis will enter the 08 season in a dogfight for 1b with Chris Carter and may be shipped out for a veteran pitcher to fill the spot left open by Schilling. Dont be surprised if Adam Dunn is under the sox Christmas tree. 5. Buchholz will take Wakefield's spot and Wake will become a coach in the sox system 6. Mirabelli will catch on with a west coast team, burn out and be out of baseball by 09.

low 90s

http://chats.boston.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=auditorium&webtag=bc-sportsmain The biggest fish in the INTL market, SS Eduardo Salcedo is apparently ready to ink a deal with the yankees for over 4.5 million dollars. He just turned 16, making him eligible. He is a 6'3" 180lbs with quick feet, good hands a strong arm and power/average projection to spare. He is considered the total package. If the story is true and the yankees are trying to nab him, this will be one hell of an INTL coup.

I think this is why the sox may have insisted on Carter. Carter adds a dimension as a lefty 1b who has a power stroke. You turn 1b into a platoon late in the yr and you may add both a youth infusion (which could be a major virtue or a vice) and a powerful lefty bat against tough righties.

So, I figured I'd talk about Phil Hughes today, since I am sick of studying and cannot hit the hay yet. So, Phil has had 6 starts thus far. 2 stellar starts. One average start, one below average start (that certainly could have been an average one if Torre hadnt sent him out for the 7th 2 nights ago) and 2 awful starts. Nothing out of the ordinary for a good rookie coming up. Couple things. His fastball command is as advertised. I know, he has walked 14 in 32 innings, but he isnt missing by much. He is right around the plate, but a rookie isnt going to get the borderline calls consistently, and this has killed Hughes. But he isnt missing in the zone with that fastball, and if he misses with it at all, it is out of the zone where players cannot do damage. So, I like that about him. His velocity was overstated. I had seen SR's of him sitting in the mid 90s. I know he is coming back from injury and I know we shouldnt make value judgements on 6 games, but this kid sits 91-92 with a fastball that gets up to 94/95 every now and then. His curveball is dirty. That curve is 68-70mph and drops off the table. I think it will be one hell of a pitch for him as he gets some more experience. But, his curveball command was well overstated. This could be due to jitters, injury or whatever, but that curveball has not been located well thus far and has been the source of a lot of his issues. It has hung a good amount which has led to him getting hit and then other times he cannot locate it where he wants it to be for it to be a consistent out pitch. He has shown the flashes of it and I have no doubts that he can harness it, it is only that he hasnt thus far. His change is better than advertised, but he doesnt use it enough. In his most dominant start, Texas, when he got hurt, his primary off speed pitch was the changeup and he went to the curve for the K. He seems to locate the changeup better than he does his curve and it has a nice bite to it. Once again, once he gets on in the league, he may see that he has another weapon that he could use more than he is currently using it. Now my final assessment of him is both a complement and a knock. Most people will look at the 14BB in 32IP and think he is wild. Quite the contrary. The kid doesnt give in. On 3-0, he will still be trying to hit the corner. He just cannot and will not lay it in there. Hence, he has the mentality of a battler, but combined with being a rookie and not having perfected his arsenal, this approach is leading to increased walk totals and high pitch counts. Overall, I think this kid has a very bright future. He has still shown dominance (30K in 32IP) while still not having shaken off all the rust from his long layoff. One thing I will caution people on, is that Buchholz and Hughes are really similar. And not just in age or arsenal, but in their mentality. Buchholz was the exact same way in his attack of the plate. He'd rather miss than lay one over the plate, and this led to his higher than normal walk totals. Once they both get on in this league and start getting some borderline calls, they should be strike throwing machines. Either way, we may be having "who's better" conversations on here for yrs to come between Buchholz and Hughes. The future is bright.

So for letting Tom Gordon go and having Andy be on sabbatical for 3 yrs, we got 3 of the top young pitching talents in the game. I'll take it. I am just glad we didnt deal these kids away for nothing like we would have in yrs past.

once again, you run the risk of having him accept arb if you offer it. That would guarantee a double digit million dollar contract, which I am not sure the sox will want.

that too. I meant instead of facing the Rays offense as a member of the red sox, he'd be facing the sox offense as a member of the rays. Much tougher.

I would venture to say that we are less flawed than most every other team in the AL right now. The problem is, we spent the first hundred games being one of the most flawed teams in the AL. Sucks to wait for the big run and find out it wasnt enough.

how poor do you think he'd do by playing essentially the exact same schedule, except substituting the sox for the rays?

He didnt have that changeup with the angels. He was a guy who relied on an average FB and a below average breaking ball. Either way, he'll have his troubles like any rookie, but he is still striking guys out.

wow, Mussina had nothing. Villone had even less. Why can we never beat these f***ing guys.