Dojji

I'm liking what I'm reading about Balcom-Miller. Fastball that tops out at 92, big frame, good ground ball rates, works quickly, his walk rate is quite low -- all good portents. This guy should at least be a decent reliever, and if that fastball heats up a bit as he develops he could be a solid SP. The only red flag is that he isn't exactly young for his level but he is about age appropriate, so it's not really a mark against him. if he can get himself to Salem next year he could crack the top 10.

It's really very hard to find a quality third baseman. Beltre will be the best of the lot and a lot of teams are hurting for one -- contenders even. He'll get his money. Youk is probably our primary 3B next year.

Not only that, none of the 3 relievers are Mo. That's ridiculous. Mo is having an epic year.

Off hand, I'd say Doubront. But that's possibly an overpay depending on whether you consider him a SP or an RP..

Agreed. Napoli and Salty can do most of our catching, (mostly Salty, unless we really find out that he's just unendurable)and if we need a defensive guy or one of them gets hurt, we can call up a guy like Wagner or Brown to fill in.

Doesn't bother me as I see him as a 1b who can fill in at C rather than the other way around.

Even if all Napoli was is our starting 1B he'd be useful. Add in the catcher versatility, and you have a guy who's almost exactly what we need both at the moment and in 2011. If Napoli fell to Boston in the wiaver wire I can't imagine them NOT taking a chance. He's too good a fit. I mean sure, I could see them getting hung up on Napoli's average at best 1B defense, but all the plating fell off Lowell's gold glove about 2 years ago to reveal the lead underneath, so that might even still be an all around improvement.

Oh please please please, he'd help us now and in the future,.

The fact that you disagree with his decision doesn't mean he made the wrong one either. Ultimately the answer was to not lose George Kottaras to waivers, but that's hindsight, isn't it? And so, really, is this.

Cash played a total of 21 games for Boston including several behind a healthy V-Mart. To call him the primary catcher at any point this year is silly.

Not the best example -- Mauer might be a franchise slugger, but Molina still holds a great deal of value on his own, especially on the defensive end. He's a big part of the reason the Cardinal pitching staff consistently grades out above its talent level. Mauer is ridiculously valuable, sure, but Molina can certainly carry his weight and is an elite defender, so if you were looking for an average catcher you missed by a bit IMHO. An average catcher is more Yorvit Torrealba.

Both of us. The difference is, I know that.

Of your three issues: Catcher: We acquired Saltalamacchia. Whether you agree or not, Theo believes in this guy and he will be breaking camp with the Sox next spring unless something goes wrong. Outfield: Righthanded outfielders aren't as easy to find as you'd think, the outfield is the domain of the LHH/LHT because these guys aren't allowed to play infield. And the guys we have right now (McDonald and the switch-hitting Nava) are getting the job done about as well as most of the guys you could bring in to replace them. RP: Frankly the team isn't close enough to a playoff spot to go nuts loading up the bullpen at this time. See this is the problem with a general shopping list and the reason I'm pushing you into being specific. It's reall easy for a nonspecific list to be divorced from reality. I mean, why stop at a RHH OF, setup-caliber RP and a catcher? I'd like a 60-HR GG RHH 1B, a consistent .420 OBP leadoff bat and a pitcher with Bob Feller's velocity and Greg Maddux's command. And as long as I don't have to identify exactly how the team is supposed to fill my demands, I can sit there all day holding them "responsible" for failing to meet them, knowing full well that if I *had* to get specific the whole thing would become ridiculous in a real hurry.

Oh yeah, sorry, I thought the idea was to IMPROVE the team. Kearns is not a better investment of roster space than Nava or McD, much less worth sending talent anywhere. Heck, McD is hitting at about Kearns' career level at the moment, and plays center with Kearns can't even fake. When Kearns doesn't even depresent a definite upgrade over a guy like D McD how angsty should we be over failing to acquire the guy? I suppose we could have gone after Jose Guillen too.

Which righthanded outfielders even moved this deadline? For the life of me I can't recall even one. Every OF I can think of that moved this deadline was LEFThanded. As for relievers, the surest way to waste talent is to trade it for relievers at the deadline. The Wanger trade is a better model for what we want to accomplish than the Gagne trade, and I think Theo realizes that -- and that there weren't really any Wagners to be had this year.

Nope. Let's see some names. Shopping lists are all well and good, but criticizing a guy or failing to meet your particular list is foolish if you haven't at least taken the time to make sure what you are proposing was actually possible this year (as opposed to "generally possible in an average year" which is as far as you've gone)

Yes we know -- and that's part of the problem. If you were specific, it'd be easier to make a counterpoint based on the price the market has set on a leverage reliever. As it is, without being any more specific than you were, all we have is a "They Should Have Done Something." Fairly useless as criticism goes.

Any chance we can talk the Sox into swapping the road alternates and the road primary jerseys? Those gray things don't have nearly the spirit of the navy blue unis.

It's in Bob Feller territory, but he hasn't beat Bob yet. Before I took it too seriously though I'd have to have it verified that the gun was neutral.

The third category *is* ERA. First it's Wins, then if that's close, IP, followed by ERA and then other considerations.

Imagine you had Pedroia for a patient and he was making it clear he wanted you to tell him he could play on the foot. That's how.

Nah because everyone has the same list, so it'd be a thread full of people sitting around repeating each other.

Yeah, everyone saw that coming really, the issue came down to who wanted to believe it and who didn't. Another San Diego pitcher with the awkward, W-shaped delivery they prefer down there goes down with ligament damage. Sooner or later they'll sane up and stop teaching kids to throw that way. But then it's California, so who knows?