TedWilliams101

So I can actually relax for an inning before biting my fingers to the bone.

Buzz kill

Yeah, I don't understand passing on Lowrie unless he's still a bit "heat exhausted" or whatever.

Yes, 7 IP and 5 runs isn't getting the job done. That extrapolates to a 6.48 ERA...

Beltre up with 2nd and 3rd. How about another one up in the monster seats?

So we'll need about another 6 runs to secure a win? Is that enough with 3+ IP from the pen?

BELTRE!!!! This team would be NOWHERE without Beltre.

KALISH!!!! I love this kid!

I hate Hunter. He's too good.

I don't think we should resign Vmart if we intend to move him to first. There are 2 major problems here: 1. He will want to be paid as an elite Catcher 2. He is a career .832 OPS, .464 SLG hitter. 1B is a power position, those numbers just don't cut it for at 1B and on top of it, he might cost a pretty penny. Either resign Beltre (which I agree will be expensive and could be dangerous) or sign/trade for a big bat at 1B. Beltre has been the big hitter in our lineup, I don't think it would be wise to let him go and not replace him with an equally dangerous bat (and lets not forget if we resign Ortiz, he will likely continue to regress). As I said before the bullpen is my biggest fear. As of today I don't feel safe having Paps as our closer anymore. They need to do a LOT of work in the pen.

Thats pretty much exactly what I said. The team has a good core, but Theo could easily bring in the wrong pieces if he goes cheap. If they spend the money, they can put together a good team.

This team has a LOT of work to do on the bullpen. The only "safe" arm I see is Bard (yes, I'm excluding Paps, he's already lost his elite status and I think it's only going to continue downhill).

I love our bullpen...

I'm not so certain about next year actually. Lets take a look at what we have: Pitching: Lester, Buchholz, and Lackey make a good trio, but Lackey has fallen short of the "Ace" type money he's getting. Beckett hasn't shown any indication of returning to stellar form, so I don't think you can count on him going into next year. Dice-K is always an uncertainty. The bullpen needs to be completely redone, the only guaranteed guy to stay is Bard, everyone else needs to go. Papelbon is also a problem, he's been getting worse every year, so do you let him keep the closer role or trade him and give it to Bard? As for the lineup, If we resign Vmart we still need another catcher to be playing a good amount of games. SS might be a weak link, we will need to resign Beltre or find a new 3B/1B. Cameron will be a huge question mark and might find ourselves looking for a new CF/LF and Ortiz is a big question mark as well. If Theo doesn't play his cards right, next year might not be the team we were all looking forward too.

After this game we will be 6 back in the division and 5 in the WC. The Sox aren't making the playoffs, it's as simple as that. Short of divine intervention, the season is over.

Here's a stat to think about: 19 That's the amount of blown saves we have had this season. The team's save % is an abysmal 65%.

Thats the game.

If you can improve your ballclub without giving up much, there absolutely no reason to not do it. This team has a ton of holes and a ton of injuries. He would have to be completely insane if he thinks this team has what it takes to make the playoffs. (And I'm not talking "it's possible", I'm talking about probable.)

Yeah, Francona might as well forfeit the game sending a lineup like that out there.

I don't understand this, just drink your god damned water!

While they would have been a boost, the offense was not the problem. The problem was the inconsistency from Dice-K and Lackey and the missed time (and suck) of Beckett in addition to a lousy pen. If we had a decent pen we would have won the last two games and would be closing the gap in the division.

Just got back in from watching the meteors (perfectly clear sky tonight vs completely clouded last night), too bad they lost. 2 straight must win games blown, this team is done. They've shown flashes, but they keep blowing it.