Dojji

I wouldn't have taken Cust. Tremendous power, but he's teetering on Steve Balboni territory and those guys can lose it as they hit their mid to late 30's. And when it goes, it's bad.

So was Schilling's. It was, quite frankly, bloody obvious that you would at least have to be very careful of Schilling's shoulder even if he did pitch in '08. We were all talking about pitch and innings limits even before we learned the worst. What the FO knew on Schilling was that he was at risk of what actually happened -- career-ending shoulder surgery. He made it through his final 2007 playoffs on the three C's -- Command, Courage, and Cortisone. They couldn't have NOT known. They couldn't have even not known the magnitude of the risk, considering that Schilling was i teetering on the edge of a significant shoulder injury for pretty much the entire 2007 season. Read 38 pitches. The physical didn't turn in a clean bill of health. What it turned in was a thought that they might be able to coax one last year out of Schilling's battered ligaments. Much like an inspected car doesn't mean a perfect car, just one that's not likely to fall apart on you within the next 15 minutes unless you do something really stupid.

So if Smoltz can't come back is that money 'stolen' too? Theo did due diligence on Schill. If he didn't he should probably be fired on the spot. He knew the risk he was taking, so Schill "stole" nothing. It was a calculated risk that didn't work out the way either party wanted to. Both of them agreed that health was a big part of the risk of Schilling pitching again, and after multiple cortisone shots required to limp through the postseason it was a legitimate concern. That's why the 13M deal contained $5M of incentives. I think both parties knew Schilling was a big risk to miss the season or at least part of it. I certainly don't begrudge Schilling from trying to come back for one last hurrah as long as he actually thought at the time he signed that contract that he could play for us.

He's reasonably young and he isn't embarrassing himself in the field this year. He'll never win a gold glove but he seems to be able to learn the position, has yet to make an error and is actually making a good rate of out of zone plays (tied for 4th in the American League). With his hitting tools he's a guy you reach for.

Schilling didn't steal $8M. When pitchers and catchers reported both Schilling and the team still thought he was going to pitch at some point, it was a calculated risk that didn't work. In Foulke's case he knew he wouldn't pitch at all. That's a small but significant difference.

Billy Butler, 1B

Needed a well-pitched game very badly.

Whew

What was that?

Bout time to get him to Boston somehow.

I was thinking of losing Penny in favor of Buchholz actually.

That said, this might be the thread to call into attention the fact that our currently STRUGGLING rotation could probably benefit from a temporary callup of either or both of Buchholz and Bowden.

http://www.drug3k.com/img2/valium_10284_5_(big)_.jpg

I have a very hard time believing that an average OPS for a catcher is much higher than Varitek's .769.

So if even he gets it, what should that be telling you?

He usually maxes out at 96. You know that. Something is STILL off.

Not at the moment it isn't.

There's been no indication that the Rangers consider Bowden a fair price for Saltalamacchia.

Up from 91 when he was getting hammered.

We'll see on that score. It certainly makes their problems a bit more understandable.

I'd rather dump a couple of the guys currently on the roster or suffer through some years of average catching than deal those young pitchers.

i wonder what it'd take to get Kila Ka'aihue from the Royals. He's sort of blocked right now behind Jacobs and Butler. I would trade Masterson straight up for Ka'aihue.

http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/bruins/extras/bruins_blog/2009/05/surgery_for_kes.html 1: On the one hand that explains some things 2: On the other hand the kid seems to be having trouble staying healthy. 3: Rotator cuff surgery is no joke, just ask Schill. He might not be 100% when next season rolls around. ------ EDIT: Krejci too. Hip injury. This one looks bad. http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/bruins/extras/bruins_blog/2009/05/surgery_for_kre.html ------ No surgery for Kobasew but his ribs paid the price for playoff hockey. http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/bruins/extras/bruins_blog/2009/05/broken_ribs_for.html ------ Ferrence too. http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/bruins/extras/bruins_blog/2009/05/surgery_for_fer_1.html

We're looking at the distinct possibility of needing to trade a pitcher for a bat. We may wind up solving some of our problems that way.

Umm wow. Shows how far fan gratitude extends. Three years ago you would have killed to see the Celtics take a second round exit.