Dojji

Probably not really. We just hear about these guys from our team. I doubt this is more than a footnote nationally, no non-Sox fan really cares about Britton. There's probably a story like this every few years on every team. Yeah. I agree. Cut this kid before he kills someone.

http://www.kcconfidential.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Crying+Baby+Natural+High+for+Some+Moms.jpg

Which has nothing to do with what SBF claimed or any rebuttals made against his claim. There was a specific claim made. That specific claim was called out. It has never been backed up in any meaningful way, and SBF, instead of either backing up his speculation or admitting that he was just speculating, has decided to lash out like a petulant 4 year old. There's a pretty good example of same in the prior page. If a man doesn't have the cojones to admit when he's overstated himself, he isn't much of a man. We all do it, but SBF for some reason needs to insist his **** don't stink and lash out like a little kid when people point out that yes, it in fact does. You're just throwing out nonsense to run interference for your bud. Your argument has no place here and is in fact completely irrelevant to any other point discussed here. This discussion has nothing to do with you in any way whatsoever. Go away. Please.

The Angels are a darn good collection of players, but they had a hard time being a good team last year. That said their management team is as good as it gets, so I don't expect that to be an unsolvable problem for them. That said, they definitely do have to solve it this year if they want to go all the way..

Not sure how logical that point is. No matter how bad a team is, it has a few strengths and MIA switched out its strongest players for prospects in that deal. Just because those were the best players on a joke team doesn't mean they can't help an actual baseball team get better.

Even the most generous interpretation of that doesn't give SBF the right to declare as God's truth that there was tension between Rolen and Baker. Any time he wants to back off that point, we can all move on.

Indeed, if SBF had the cojones to match his pride, he'd admit that and move on rather than constantly trying to defend himself and lashing out at people like a petulent child... but then, that wouldn't be very interesting would it.

Defensively I'd have little trouble calling Bogaerts at least an average big league 3B right now. But if he can stick at SS, he's a lot more useful to us. So it's worth sticking it out, knowing that Bogaerts can handle 3B fine if a Plan B is required and won't need many reps to get up to speed if they do have to permanently switch him.

Yes, but that doesn't entitle you to go out there and claim, as fact, that the reason Rolen was let go was a specific personality conflict with specificallly Dusty Baker. And if you're going to go out on a limb like that, don't be afraid to be man enough to admit it when you're caught in an inaccurate statement. Or at least have the dignity to change the subject.

The problem is that for "just a 4th liner" what Thornton provides is just too rare. That guy who can skate a little, play a little, and hang with the heavies, really isn't as easy to find as all that. Julien doesn't want a conventional goon, that's well documented, but hybrids like Thornton are not a dime a dozen. Here's what I want to know: Where the heck has Adam McQuaid been? He's the guy who should be stepping it up as the enforcer in the absence of Thornton. He's the guy who should have gone after Emelin last night. Did he lose all his power and confidence when he lost his mullet? I used to think this guy had some sneaky potential, but now I'm not sure.

Why would he take one here? Because he's tried the market and it won't bear him into being a starter, so if we offered him a bench role, it looks a great deal like that's the best offer that would come his way. I would still rather have a backup 3B than the famous backup LHH OB/1B we're supposedly investigating. I'd still rather that backup 3b bat left, but given the choice between Rolen, and a guy with an ideal platoon split who doesn't bring Rolen's leadership and talent, I go for Rolen.

If anyone else is listening on the radio, I'm impressed with what you might call the energy of youth. There's been the same, like, 3 young Sox fans chanting near the booth for the entirety of a spring training game. EDIT: Game just ended. These kids were standing there, screaming "Let's Go Red Sox Let's Go" with maybe a pause for breath for literally the entire 9 innings. There ought to be a medal for that. Possibly shaped like an oversized pair of ear plugs?

Agreed. Made worse by the fact that there's a lot of things you can't do while recovering from a broken rib. Realistically, they should have waited until he was more or less recovered before even trying to push him to get back into game shape.

And if middlebrooks isn't the franchise? Busts have had a good half year before. I'd like to have something between Middlebrooks and having to rush Bogaerts when Bogaerts isn't really any better a gamble than Middlebrooks.

All things considered until we know more about how durable we can expect WMB can be, I think extending an offer to Rolen makes sense. Having a guy like that on your bench never hurt anyone. Not having that guy on your bench, on the other hand...

Sorry Pal, he's right. Schill had a 148 ERA+ that year, Lester's never really been all that close to that. Schilling was THE man that year. No one else came close. That said, Pedro was definitely mortal in 04. In fact he was barely above average. Every Lester season from 08-10 was better than Pedro's 04 by ERA+. And Lester's 2011 campaign, his worst up to that point, was exactly equal to it. It's a good thing that all we needed Pedro to be was a half decent #2 that year. Because that year, that's ALL he was.

You guys are talking like he'd be given the starting 3B role. Come on, a guy like that on the bench, there's value there, and he still has some of his old on-field skill. I'd love to have a guy like that to help push WMB to be the best he can be.

Slightly amusing historical perspective that's slightly applicable in context of the Youk signing and isn't the worst way to kill time between Spring Training games. Some people need to lighten the **** up.

Given our depth situation, if Rolen's interested in coming over, the interest is mutual. I don't think counting on him to be a major contributing factor would be wise, but if he's got something left, he could make a difference off the bench. And Fenway ought to be friendly to his hitting style. That said, I wouldn't read anything at all into this, to be quite honest. I don't think there's any huge chance Rolen winds up in a Red Sox uniform unless we know Middlebrooks is going to be out for weeks. We don't even come close to knowing that now. On the other hand, which would you prefer to sit on the bench? A champion veteran like Rolen who's still got some skill even if he's not a middle of the order bat anymore, a washed-up schlub like Overbay, or a busted prospect like Carp? If you can get Rolen for bench money, go for it. He's not the perfect fit if you're going to be obsessive about platoon splits, but he makes the team better.

tiant mike myers mark bellhorn johnny damon john olerud alfredo aceves Mike Lowell We counting former red sox property like pavano?

Vazquez is probably going to be in AA, behind Lavarnway developmentally. He's a guy who isn't going to provide much offense at the big league level unfortunately. He has solid OBP ability but no power, and that lack of ability to drive the ball will catch up with him at the big league level. Unless you're committed to being perfectly content with a .230 hitter in your everyday lineup, you're looking at a backup catcher. With that said, he's quite young, going to be 22 this year, and maybe he does have the ability to provide something more than I expect offensively. And the Iglesias Rule applies. If you're sure Vazquez can stand 120 games as the starting catcher without his defense slipping, you might take that tradeoff and count yourself happy. Since he played exactly 120 games last year between various levels -- a number I feel is no accident -- it seems possible. Vazquez is certainly one of the more interesting dark horses this spring. It doesn't hurt that those not wowed by Lavarnway's D are desperate for an alternative, but Vazquez hasn't hurt his own chances either.

Not out of camp. If Bogaerts makes it obvious he belongs in the majors before WMB gets back, we'll see. For now, I strongly suspect the plan will involve letting Holt and/or Ciriaco try to make the job their own. Which is going to create a window for Bogaerts if he gets out the gate well in AAA. There's no denying that if Bogearts is in any way ready, he can outperform those players. But I feel comfortable saying there is no chance at all that Bogaerts breaks camp with the team. It's a bridge too far for a very conservative franchise when it comes to promotions.

The Victorino contract I'm not in love with. Everyone else, if someone shows they're fully ready to go, the veteran ahead of them can be shifted for some kind of return. Thing about a 2 year deal is you have to think that it'll be a 1 year deal before most of our prospects are provably ready to go. Any one of our upper minors guys COULD force their way into the majors, but gun to my head, I'm not calling that any single one of them WILL, with the possible exception of Ryan Lavarnway. And the cold fact is that Lavarnway is so unlikely to be a significant upgrade over Salty that I don't see it working out. People who hate Salty are inflating Lavarnway's defensive readiness because they desperately want to believe Salty can be replaced. Lavarnway is not a talented defensive catcher. Even with the low standard he has to reach to exceed Salty's defensive skill, it's very doubtful he's there now, or really ever will be. Or to put it more bluntly, Soxprospects, which is not known for its restraint in touting prospects, especially those with offensive success, still lists Lavarnway formally as a C/DH. The gratuitous inclusion of DH as one of Lavarnway's "positions" is intended to be telling -- and is.

If they signed him to a big league deal that might even be relevant. If he turns out to have something, that's the only scenario in which we'll actually hear about him again.

Apparently the Red Sox just signed Ryan Rowland-Smith to a minor league deal. Not a bad idea. I can see why they're checking him out. I don't exactly expect huge things there. But there's enough of a chance that I can see why he's being brought in.