Dojji

I disagree. The purse gilds the lily, turning pure natural beauty into an artificial production, which I feel takes away from the pristine memory of that moment of greatness without adding anything.. That event doesn't need any embellishment to be a shining example of epic fail. It just needs to stand as it is in all its inglory.

The guy I wanted back was Nick Green. He was an underrated defender last year (yes, even with the throwing errors factored in) and he wasn't an utter tragedy at the plate, at least not for a utility man. He could also play second and fake it at third, so he's an ideal utility guy. He would have been the ideal guy to cover for Lowrie and make sure we have a decent backup SS even if Lowrie can't hack it, and he's expendable enough to go play somewhere else if Lowrie *was* ready.

http://thearchnemesis.com/images/Arod%20ball%20slap.jpg

So I guess I'm off the hook.

Minnesota has been a poster boy counterargument to the whole "trade established veterans for prospects" thing since the Santana trade..

I only about half agree. If you think you've got the leverage to hold out for the top guys, sure, go for it, but you'd better be right. Insisting on only the best players from the other team's system is the mistake the Twins made in the Santana deal. A nice package of the better players Boston could have offered them without giving up on Lester, Ellsbury and Buchholz would have been a lot better than what they wound up with.

Pity to see so much talent turn into so much nothing.

It's somewhere upthread. Anywho, one of the funnier moments of the 2007 playoffs -- remember that "homer" Manny hit at Jacobs Field, I think it was Game 5, where it bounced off the top of the wall and back into the field of play, only Manny stood there and posed and went into his trot and was lucky to get first base?

The only half decent one, if Lowrie's hurt. I mean... Angel Sanchez?

Eh like I said, my memory of that year is clouded by how it ended.

I think that Loretta's winner was more evidence that he was already dead rather than a "kill." Course it was a few years ago now and it's a season I usually prefer to forget.

We don't have a backup SS, how's that for a reason?

The Sox killed Fausto twice. Papi did it, JD did it.

Meh I'd read somewhere that Lowell was still having health problems and "could" start the season on the DL. I don't think a couple weeks on the big league bench are going to kill the kid's career. If Lowrie's health is not a problem then this is a nonissue anyway.

Whattever you think of Drew, that homer was freaking huge.

So I take it there's little interest here in the fact that the Nats released Elijah Dukes?

Question: Is Iglesias already on the 40-man roster? I seem to recall that he is. In that case, I think you could actually put him on the roster to break camp, strictly as a backup and playing only in an emergency, until Lowrie or Hall prove they can manage the job of backing up SS. If Lowell's going onto the the DL to start the year, which it sounds like he is, Lowrie is the most obvious player to break camp in his place -- unless his health keeps getting in the way, which it very well might. If it does, it's Iglesias or Sanchez, and I'd rather see Iglesias. I honestly think Hulett only cracks the roster if Beltre is hurt or totally ineffective. if that's the case, then he'd be there solely as a place-filler until we could make an acquisition. And we'd play Youks at third, VMart at first and Tek catching until we'd made that acquisition.

http://www.nikiburnham.com/uploaded_images/uvAMAo84-761615.jpg $14M grand slam

I think the even the Yankees may lean back a bit after blowing $400M the previous offseason, although of course betting against their willingness to spend is seldom a winning proposition.

Which apparently means he's our best trade piece.

Wouldn't shock me, but it'd only happen if we signed Carl Crawford which would turn Reddick and Kalish both into trading pieces. Personally though I think Crawford's an Angel in waiting.

Yeah you're right, it's Jesus Montero, and my point stands because Boston has already declared these guys untouchable, therefore they are not trading chips. You're right that they could be traded if the return is big enough, but that's not the same thing as being a trading chips. Of course, rooting for a team like you do that uses all of its prospects as "trading chips," I'm not surprised that you're confused as to the distinction.

I don't count the guys Boston won't willingly trade as trading chips and I have no idea why you would. It'd be not unlike claiming Joba Chamberlain and Miguel Montero as New York's best trading chips.

In my mind, Doubront is perhaps our single best trading chip. He doesn't have a real chance to break into the Boston rotation, but there's a lot of other teams which would love very much to have a lefty with his skillset and would part with talent to get him. While he probably doesn't have what it takes to headline a Gonzalez deal, he'd be useful in any deal for a lesser talent that fills a position of need, such as an LF/CF, 3B, SS or C, should the veterans occupying those positions prove not up to the task. The chances of failures at any one of these four positions is fairly small, but the chance of failure at AT LEAST ONE of these positions is non-negligible IMHO Does anyone think this kid could gain just a little more velocity? He's alreay got good K rates, and command well above Lester's at the same level, if he's able to sit 92 and flash 95, he might just make something of himself. BTW the forum summary truncated the title at "Doubront joins line of Sox." It gave me a turn, despite the non-sequitur English. For just about half a second I thought he'd been guaranteed a roster spot lol.

Suns, just for you: http://nbcsportsmedia4.msnbc.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/071005/071005_JoboBugs_vmed_7p.widec.jpg