Dojji

So Nava's had a pretty good first game, eh? SCOOTS!

I predict 6 IP, 3R, 2ER, 3BB, 5K and a win.

If we could secure Napoli and play him 82 games at catcher and the other games at DH and play varitek the other 82, that might work.

I don't have the confidence Molina can do that either -- if we're going to have a declining veteran as our backstop I'd rather just keep Tek. The devil you know and all that. Frankly neither Laird nor Molina is a great option. But there aren't really a lot of great options out there right now. the guy I want is Chris Snyder but I'm not sure if the D'Backs are going to make him available.

For the record: Benji Molina is a horrible idea. He wasn't that great a defensive catcher in his prime (Good, but not incredible) and he's what, gonna be 36 next year? If you must go for a veteran, bring in Gerald Laird, He sucks this year, but at least he's hit a little in the past, isn't on his last legs, and has an arm. Absolutely do not bring Varitek back as a player, Back Laird up with Dusty Brown, he's got the skillset to be an A. J. Ellis type backup.

And where are they?

And that's why we need another OF. Bill Hall has played the OF too much recently. He's supposed to be our utility infielder and 5th OF, not the platoon LF with a bit of infield utility. We need a backup OF so we can play Hall in the infield and rest people when we need to.

Doubront has opened some eyes in Pawtucket this year. He's currently posting a 1.05 ERA (!) in AAA in the 4 starts following his promotion It's not enough yet to be 100% comfortable promoting the kid, but he definitely looks good. A lot of teams, maybe half of them, would be talking about when, not whether, Doubront would join the rotation, and giving the ETA in months rather than years IMHO. I think Doubront is basically ready. Not that he has nothing left to learn in the minors, but he can learn the rest in the bigs if he's needed. The kid just looks good, and I don't have any trouble saying I think he could be average in the big leagues right now.

Because it might not just be a few weeks. Rib problems have a way of lingering. Also because you can't count on McDonald or Reddick to sustain their production.

Fund might be a solid investment. Cheaper than Dejesus anyway. 3 position OF with good OBP numbers.

Oh come on, this is one argument I can never get. Good teams drop series against bad teams all the freaking time, it's part of the ebb and flow of the season.

Admitting we need an OF is not panicking. It's just recognizing an issue with the roster as it's played out. I wonder how much the Blue Jays would pay us to take Vernon Wells off their hands.

Possibly just post-gutpunch wangst talking, but I just don't see this team as constituted making any noise this year. I don't think they're a suck team, but 85-90 wins would probably be the high end of what we should expect. The thing that sucks is I can't figure where to go for a talent infusion. The answer just seems to be the guys we have playing better. Maybe we go after a 3 position OF to fill out our depth a bit more and allow Hall to do the job he was brought in to do and back up the infield, but other than that, it's hard to see a place where we can realistically plug in a few extra wins. The way I see it this is a team that needs to play out the string, shuck some bad contracts, and even some good contracts, load up with picks and strip the team around its new core (Lester, Pedroia, Buchholz, Youkilis, Ellsbury). I don't think we should invest in buying talent unless that talent will be here for at least next year. I don't think we should sign Victor Martinez and I hope we get a Type A pick for him and Beltre. All the old-core players, such as Lowell, Wakefield, Varitek and Ortiz, need to move on or retire. Sometimes it's just time, and it's time. I guess what I'm trying to avoid saying is that I think that it's time for a good, honest step backwards, before we wind up going the way of other big-market monsters that tried to hold on too long. We aren't the Yankees, we don't get the luxury of $400M offseasons, so there's going to be periods of time when the Sox are going to need to reload for a couple years. We can either accept that and do it when we have the pieces to make it a gentle transition, or we can live in denial and go the way of the Giants and Mariners until several truly ugly seasons force the team to bust it up.

Now on to watching the Celtics get taken out of the playoffs. *sigh*

And that's why Bard is not yet our closer.

*sigh*

Branyan is fully capable of running into one. C'mon Bard...

He should be trying for a grounder here, not a k.

I don't suppose we could temp-ban Jinx Master Jacko until the game is over?

he always looks like Nostradamus. Confusing, cryptic, and likes to creatively reinterpret the facts afterward to make what he said sound like what happened.

We all feel it coming don't we?

Sure, if you think you can count on McDonald to sustain it. Nick Green had a nice little OPS about this time last year.

I think that's a little unreasonable, to be honest. Holding Daisuke to that kind of standard isn't rational IMHO because he didn't even do that in NPB for one, and for another, having Daisuke has never really interfered with our ability to staff the rest of the rotation or the rest of the team. For what you're saying to be true, that you'd have to hold Daisuke to that kind of standard, he would have to be our Mauer -- our The Guy, the one you paid $20M/year for and now he has to be the best in the league or you're not going anywhere. Daisuke just isn't that, never was that, and never was intended to be that. He is, on the other hand, an asset to the team and there's more good than bad to what he's provided us. But don't even try and pretend Daisuke is or was ever intended to be our franchise ace, which is basically what you're describing. BTW -- stick around, Lasitter. You've got some critical thinking and logical skills that are a cut above most of the recent newbs and you express your points well even though I disagree with them.