Dojji

Your post exceeded your signature by exactly two words. What happened to Lars was simple. In the words of the immortal Montgomery Scott, she dinnae have the power. Lars never developed the ability to drive the ball in higher levels that people (myself included) were sure he would do, and he's likely too one-dimensional defensively to make a big league bench, at least in the American League where so much emphasis is placed on versatility among the pineriders. He does still have some time to turn it around. He's only 23, it's not beyond the realms of possibility that he gets himself up to at least the Lyle Overbay range of offense as he rounds into his mid 20's. But the odds are now stacked against him, since any power surge will be regarded with skepticism both on a PED and on a sustainability front.

because that's as easy as getting a hamburger. No one is giving up a starting pitcher for anything less than the moon. Forget it. Our best hope is that one of the younger guys, Weiland or Miller or Doubront, steps up.

David Murphy's career, especially post Red Sox, is nothing to sneeze at. He's established himself as a very competent 4th OF who can start for long stretches in the event of an injury, not just play all 3 outfield posts but play them fairly well defensively, and hit for both OBP and power, and his play played a big role on the Rangers making the postseason and getting to the World Series on 09. When he was originally called up, Murphy was a guy people were comparing Reddick to, hoping he could reach that level. Of course since he's gone on an absolute tear, like the one Murphy had at first with the Rangers before he settled into his role as a competent outfielder with a lot to recommend him, but not precisely a superstar. My question is basically, right now, where are we projecting Reddick to fall as an offensive player? In Murphy territory? Above? Below? Are we calling Reddick a surefire 140 game starting OF with an .800 OPS+? Would a Murphylike career represent disappointment or is he one of those glue guys championship squads wind up and we'd all be pretty happy if that's what Reddick wound up being? Basically I want an idea what people think Reddick will wind up doing in terms of role and productivity, and Murphy, a solid 3 position outfielder who has proven very useful to his team as an average or better hitter year in, year out, is IMHO a good place to tentatively set the standard. Thoughts? (oh, and on the subject of alternate history, what if Murphy rather than Drew had been our starting RF? What if we'd "gone young" back then? Do we still win it in 07? Are we in a better position now?)

Just a random thought, mostly. I wanted to see what you guys brought to the table on this one. Call it heat-induced sanity if you want to. Although there may be an opportunity to pick up Yadi if the the Cards become desperate to keep Pujols, soooooo...

Which are you?

That's because of the way Lackey got his ERA. If you take out like his 4 worst starts (I know, I know) the numbers in all the rest of them look like vintage Lackey. So his pattern is pitch all right, get shelled, pitch OK, get REALLY shelled, and so on. I'd rather have a guy who got bombed 1 night and dominated 2 nights, than a guy who surrenred a consistent 4 runs a night. The first guy seems likely to do more winning for you.

I think that last decent start by Weiland, and Miller pitching 6 shutout innings, blunted Boston's desperation to the point that anyone who we pick up for the rotation is going to be a #5 type.

I was very encouraged when Tito made the right call today. Putting in Reddick against Hernandez instead of Drew -- when JD was one of our best hitters against King Felix over the years -- was a very large sign that Tito gets it and isn't going to let his veteran fetish get in the way of playing an obviously superior hitter. Drew will get into the lineup at times. But this decision by Francona was significant, and it signals that Reddick has successfully pushed Drew out of right field for now, and that good performance is, in fact, rewarded by the Red Sox even setting aside all other reservations and concerns about a player.

Fair warning, he hasn't hit much this year. He'd be buy low. But he could work out very nicely as a utility guy here and he's got the speed and athleticism you like to see. I could see at least Alcides Escobar out of him, and that would be pretty sweet.

Speaking of the Nats, the Red Sox should at least kick the tires on Ian Desmond. He's not a sexy type of player but he's quick and athletic, plays a much better shortstop than anyone we got, and used to hit. He'd make an interesting utility/reclamation guy, and Navarro isn't getting enough at bats for me to think that a top 10 prospect in the Sox system should be playing that role. Desmond could provide the same depth Navarro does and Navarro could go work on his offense in the minors.

In his defense, he did actually also mention e-mail. Although since I doubt too many of us have his e-mail on file, the best way to find it would be to... umm. look for it on the site

Lavarnway closing on on 1.200 OPS. I've run out of adjectives.

Well it was a good win anyway. Lackey pitched well, which has been coming a little less infrequently lately and Ellsbury is ridiculous Salty didn't have a great game. He was 1 for 4 with a loud 400 foot out, but he also had a bad throw or two. Hopefully he can get that turned around, he's been underrated for us since May or so.

He just doesn't have the mobility to play a big league corner outfield post. You're right though, it is a pity. If we could just find him a position Lavarnway would kill it for us. Trade Ortiz. I'm only about half joking.

Not when you consider what he's done, the level he's doing it at and his age. Playing passably well as a shortstop with patience and power amply demonstrated in mid A at age 18 is something to take seriously.

He's pretty easy to underrate. I can see why trading him isn't a big deal in fans' minds since he seems to be a bit of a tweener at the moment, but Doubront is a guy who can help us if he gets the opportunity. Boston needs to stop this habit of dismissing any non top prospect's chances to crack the rotation and going out to sign a guy instead of using their own prospects outside the top 10. Weakens the team as a whole. Leave yourself open to the concept of being pleasantly surprised and don't try to outguess yourself, Theo.

Define a good pitcher. No one would call Jeff Weaver a good pitcher, but he was a stud in the Series in '06 with the Cards. He always had that kinda talent but could never harness it consistently in the regular season. That one World Series comes around and it's his day for some odd reason, and for that one playoff, he wasn't a good pitcher he was a great pitcher.

He's never gonna get that many RBI if he keeps leading off. 30-30 is more likely than 100 RBI.

I don't think it's entirely impossible that Beltran clears waivers given the price tag and injury history. I think we have more time than just to the 31st.

That's interesting. Pena is a converted infielder who got converted when he couldn't hit. He cameo'd as a pitcher a few years ago and flashed 90 MPH heat with a bit of wiggle to it and a slider that fooled a couple good hitters, without a lot of training or prep. He gets his heat into the 92-93 MPH range and his command is good, he could succeed in the bigs. Heck use him as a junktime reliever and LIDR at short. He could pull it.

Never been able to afford it. Besides, no ballpark built by man is built to really seat me comfortably. Even if I wasn't uncomfortably overweight, I'm built like a tank.

With the demise of old Yankee Stadium and Tiger Stadium there are only 2 parks left that capture the true depth and scope of the history of baseball -- Fenway and Wrigley Field. And Wrigley is falling apart.

Doubront has the upside to be a good depth oiption for the next few years. He's a pretty competent pitcher. May sound like damning with faint priase, but I'm reluctant to deal him. The kind of prospect I move for Beltran is a guy like Tim Federowicz or Chih-Hsien Chiang. A guy with possible MLB utility but not a ton of upside. I'd be much more generous for a guy who is going to be here beyond this offseason.