TedWilliams101

Yes.

I don't think Foulke will return to being the great reliever he used to be. Even if he does stay healthy next year, there is still the confidence factor, and his stuff just doesn't look as good as it used too. He'd be an alright option if he's stays healthy, but I'd only sign him if he was cheap.

Please no. The last thing we need is Keith Foulke in our bullpen again. Id like to see us get Gagne. About Ramirez, if we didn't need good protection for Ortiz, then I would agree that it would be a good trade to get a good MLB and 2 prospects for him. But the fact is that Ortiz will be walked about 200 times next season if he doesnt have Manny behind. Manny is a first ballot HOF and is arguably the best hitter baseball has seen in a long time. Deal with him. Even if he isn't happy and the sox have to deal with his antics, he will still hit. He loves the game, he will play. We will get his 40+ homers, 130+RBI, .300+ BA, .400+ OBP, .600+ Slugging. When you have that good of a hitter, you do anything you can to deal with him and keep him in your lineup. Period. And TheKilo, I don't buy your excuse that JD Drew has missed time because he was hit by a pitch. Your telling me the reason he has never played more than 146 games in a season over 9 years becuase he was hit by a pitch? He averages just 107 games per season. Sorry, but thats not too convincing. I'm not saying we shouldn't sign him. We should. But it would be a mistake to have him hit cleanup or even the 3 spot. Hes a 5 hitter, who will more than likely miss at least 20 games. I agree that great pitching beats great hitting, but were talking about a serious downgrade to our lineup. It's true that if we trade Manny we will still get a good package and have a good, maybe great team. BUT it still won't be as good as it would had we kept Manny. Isn't an organizations goal to put out the best team on the field?

Costs money, but I really think the best solution for the sox right now is to 1. Sign Drew 2. Hold on to Manny 3. Sign Lugo 4. Sign Gagne 5. Look for bullpen help 6. and obviously sign matzusaka It would cost the sox money, but that would certainly put us in a good position this season.

Im sorry, but that lineup is not essential the same without Ramirez. Drew hitting in the 4 spot is a joke. Hes a #5 hitter, not clean up. Ortiz would not get any protection and Drew will probably miss 1/3-1/4 of the season given his history of injury, so who would then hit in the 4 spot for all those games? Its not even close to the same lineup. Having Manny is the difference between a decent lineup and a great lineup. We wont survive in the AL East with just a decent line up. You need a great pitching staff PLUS a great lineup.

s***, ya I just noticed that. I'm really starting to hate the Beckett trade. Marlins wanna take that back? lol...

No way Pedroia should play at SS. I don't even like the idea of him playing in the majors next year. If the sox must though, I would much rather at 2B. I think his defense is a bit over-hyped. He has an average glove, slightly above average speed, but his arm strength is below-average and has very limited range. That doesn't spell good for a SS. A SS needs great range and a strong arm. I would like to see him play 2B and Lugo at SS. Then next year go out and get Hanley Ramirez back. His contract is up after the 2007 season. He grew up in our farm system and he should return and play for the bosox. I say go get him and pay him how ever much he is charging. He would be the perfect lead-off hitter. We need Defense, speed, and a spark bat. What better than youth like him. The obvious issue would be that the Marlins offer him a good contract next offseason. I believe though, if we show enough interest in him and would be willing to give him the best contract, he could end up with us. I just hate to see him on the Marlins.

I think it would be a big mistake if we traded Manny and put Drew in the #4 spot or if we kept Manny and didn't sign drew. It's obvious that we need a stronger lineup. Drew is the perfect fit. Hes expensive, but if they are smart, they realize the market is getting expensive and it you have to pay for tallent. Spend the money, damnit.

I would be pissed to no end if Manny was traded for Beltre or Sexson. Neither of them is what I'd consider an elite hitter. Beltre had one fluke season, battting .330 w/ 48HR. If you look at every other year, his BA is around .250 with 20 or so homers. Sexson has pretty good power, but again, can't hit for average. If you put one of them in the #4 spot, Opposing pitchers would laugh and walk Ortiz all the time. Beltre and Sexson don't even come close to comparing to Manny. Manny has great power, hits for average, has great plate vision and discapline, and he is one of the most clutch hitters in the game. You simply can't find a another hitter that will do 1/2 as good as a job as him in the cleanup spot. If manny is traded this season and we don't see at least an Andrew Jones type of hitter behind him, forget it. Ortiz will never get a chance to hit and the season will be a waste.

I just don't see how he would be happy anywhere else. Any team he goes to he will attract a lot of attention and will privacy problems. If he is traded, he will be on a playoff contender, meaning lots and lots of attention.

Any trade involving Manny is a mistake. Even if you put Drew behind Ortiz, which would be pretty bad for a cleanup hitter, Ortiz would always be walked. You need Manny hitting behind him for protection. The lineup is looking weak enough as it is. Unless we are getting Young and Tex or Pujols, or Johan Santana, it is a bad trade. How about this, why doesn't the front office try to please Manny. Maybe he's upset at our organization? Why don't we do everything we can to make one of the best hitters in baseball happy. If it means having to DEAL with him, well, that comes with the job.

Well, who ever started it assumes that sox fans like Theo, otherwise, I don't see whats wrong with it. There are a lot of people who are upset with Theo lately. Why not start a thread to discuss if you like Theo and why/why not.

Yes, but I don't think Pedroia is ready. He hit under .200 in 89 at-bats with little power, but I worry more about his defense. I think he needs more work. If our lineup wasn't looking as weak as it is right now (plus all the manny trade talks) I wouldn't be as worried, but our Defense is going to take a dip (gonzo gone, nixon gone) along with our offense. Durham or Loretta would make a much better fit for better defense and much better offensive contributions.

I don't like Theo. I am very frustrated with Theo and the Front Office. I don't agree that the Beckett trade reflects poorly on Theo. It was a good trade at the time. Beckett was becoming a young Ace and we needed pitching. We got a 25 year old ACE for a high prospect and mid-low level prospect. We just turned up on the s*** end of the stick last year with Beckett. However, I do believe Theo has made countless mistakes in the last 2 seasons, along with the Front Office. He himself admitted that trading off Bard and Meredith for Mirabelli was a terrible trade. Not making any moves at the trading deadline last season official killed our chances for the playoffs. Worst, however, has been the sox problems with keeping players. We have gone through more SS in the last 3 seasons than most teams go through in 10 season. We traded Nomar and used Pokey Reese for a bit, had Cabrera for a whole 58 games, released him and signed Renteria for a whole year, traded him and picked up Gonzalez for ... a year, let him go and now, guess what, we have to get the last "good" SS on the market in Lugo. Good job FO. Way to hold on to players. This offseason has been especially annoying. We have spend $51 million just to talk to Matsuzaka who might comand up to $14 million a season. I am fine with this if he is truely as good as the scouts say. However, the sox philosophy in spending money seems to change on a daily basis. Theo says he cares more about balancing the future with the present and not overpaying. Right... so trade off prospects for garbage like Mirabelli. Nice planning for the future. The FO, not Theo, though was the reason why Damon wasn't resigned. They release him and now are looking to sign JD Drew for just as much as it would have cost to keep Damon. Great. Damon has more speed than Drew, a better contact hitter, similar OBP, little less power, better Defense, far better Durability, and a great personality in the locker room. Good job. I know the FA market is going crazy this year, but its only been one year, come on! I am extremely uneasy right now. So far we need a SS, 2B, RF, RP, CP, and SP. And thats just what we actually NEED, not just what should be upgraded. So far, all we have done is released players and gone after Matsuzaka. We have one viable option on the Market left for SS, Drew for RF as all the big bats were signed already. 2B we really only could use Loretta or Durham. RP is been gobbled up. Speier was the best FA and was signed, Baiz, etc. SP were going after Matsuzaka, great, but we could still use another arm as we saw last season you can never have to much pitching. And we still need a closer with Paps moving into the rotation. On top of that, the FO is trying to trade Manny. Why in gods name would you trade one of the best hitters in baseball and break up the 3-4 punch of Ortiz and Manny? Manny is an almost garenteed 40+ HR, .300+ BA, 100+ RBI, and he is clutch (second highest BA w/ RISP over the last 4 years, higher than even Pujols). There really is no trade that could be made were we could get his full value back. Any trade involving Ramirez is bad. You better have Pujols in the 4 spot if not Manny. Otherwise, your making a mistake.

Ya, an offense without Manny, or another hitter of his caliber (which are very rare and hard to find...) is not going to be putting this team in a good place. The idea of trading Ramirez to "fill smaller needs" is rediculious. Two relievers and utilityman doesn't come close to equaling the value of Ramirez. And why would we even consider talking with the Giants about trading Manny? They have absolutely nothing valuable on that team. Quit trying to trade manny and figure out how to please him here in Beantown.