Dojji

I'm not sure why you assume Youk would have a better day than that. Verlander's having a career year.

Optimally? Sure. Realistically? It's Kotchman who sits.

Until that's confirmed you have to stay away.

Fixed

Any confirmation yet on Chapman's age?

Not the way Verlander was dealing, not really.

What part of a .700 OPS from the DH spot counts as "doing something?" That didn't save Lugo. Not unless he really shows something in the last month and a half. We're right in the middle of a playoff run, if Ortiz had anything in the tank we'd be seeing it right now.

I believe there is a place on MLB.com you can buy archived copies of games for ITunes. I could be mistaken.

When the entire second half of the order sucked and the balls just weren't flying out, I'd need convincing he would have made a real difference. Especially since Woodward was going to play whether or not Youkilis was in there. Verlander was just on his game. Give credit where credit is due and move on.

Highlights of Lester's no no are still on the MLB.com video clips page.

I have Lowell playing 3B part time, and also possibly forming the RH part of a DH platoon with Drew. the softer schedule might help him recover and unlike Ortiz, when he's been in the lineup Lowell has still been reasonably effective.

I have nothing against getting Nick Johnson but I think that we have enough 1Bman. The maximum roster flexibility move is to retain Bay and pick up another outfielder (preferably a RF) and play a cycle of players through the DH spot.

Immediately: George Kottaras. After all, we'll get Wake back soon and DFAing Ortiz allows Youkilis, Lowell and VMart to be in the same lineup without weakening our D. I don't really think we actually need to replace him with a starting caliber hitter -- seeing as he himself hasn't been one this year. Kottaras is a little underedeveloped as a big league hitter, but he does have decent power and patience and deserves a better shot than he's gotten so far. If he CAN "get it" at the big league level it would solve some problems In the offseason I would look for a competent offensive outfielder. My #1 preference is Jermaine Dye. Cycle Drew, Lowell, Martinez, and Dye through the DH spot instead of having one DH.

Frankly George Kottaras is a better use of a roster spot than a DH who can't hit.

We sort of all knew that the time would come to part company with Big Papi at some point but I think we all hoped he'd hold on a bit longer than this. While I want to stay loyal to a guy who carried us to both of our recent championships, I just don't see him getting his stroke back at this point. He's had most of a season of relative health and while he's shown some flashes of the old Papi, flashes are exactly what they've been. His eye has been fine, his isolated power is fine, but there just isn't enough pitchers in this league that he can catch up with any more for us to see more than a shadow of the Big Papi of old. While you want to show patience in the guy, none of us are masochists and the first and most important question for any manager or GM is what you need to do to allow the team to win baseball games. Getting a .700 OPS out of the DH spot isn't doing this. David Ortiz is owed 12.5 million for next year. This is salary that is not going to be cleared. There is no one who will take one such as he on at that money. There is no point in paying him that money to sit on the bench -- and he doesn't provide anything resembling the defensive flexibility required of a bench player anyway. If he isn't effective enough to be a productive offensive player there just is no point to Big Papi. In short, if he doesn't turn it around, his salary becomes a sunk cost much like Lugo's and the better course of action may well be to move on past him and cycle Lowell, Martinez and others into the DH spot as needed.

http://www.sivacracy.net/archives/xmasg2.jpg

A better chance? I'll buy that. A good chance? No. I like Drew, but he succeeds by working the count, and Verlander just wasn't beatable that way today. it's an open question whether the bat would have ever left his shoulder.

Offseason talk is going to be tired enough by the end of the offseason without giving it a headstart at getting old.

For the record, as good as Verlander was all day, I don't think you can put a lot of blame on the lineup for this one. The pitching is better than the hitting is bad.

Jeeze, Verlander's as strong now as he was in the first. I guess that's why some of our good hitters decided to take the day off.

This is the game right here on Bay's bat.

VMart goes long here.