Dojji

Kottaras will have to earn his place over Varitek by working very hard and taking advantage of his opportunities. Varitek has a lot of advantages in prestige and credibility with the management. I'd love to see him pull it off though, Kottaras rising to the occasion as a potential starting catching is one of my best case scenarios for the team.

The only way I'd do that is to justify batting Drew second. That's the only way you concievably get Papi to accept it.

No they don't, but Baldelli can and Lugo will.

At least he got his ring last year.

Drew is an RBI bat though.

Based on the fact that most sinkerballers either strike people out or suck, one or the other.

Lowrie had a higher IsoD and I figure a lot of his contact problems are related to his wrist injury impacting his ability to hit from the left side. That seems to be behind him now. He should have no difficulty getting his OBP up around the .350-.360 mark.

Not a bad lineup but I have my doubts that Tito puts two lefties in a row. If you really want to bat Drew 2nd it would probably look like this: Pedroia Drew Bay Ortiz Youkilis Lowell Lowrie Tek Ellsbury

A lot of teams have their own versions of Jeff Bailey, and Ryan Shealy might be on the move soon which will really blunt any chance of getting value for Bailey.

Alright, fair enough. Here's the thing though: I think Sonnanstine could take that step this year. All the signs are there and the third season (second full) is a pivotal time for a young pitcher. That was when Lester broke out after all.

Love that bullpen, love that bench, OK with the rotation and lineup. I think we're good, and we're probably a stronger team than we were in 2007. That said, the competition is stronger too. Should be a fun, engaging, and not a little stressful year for Sox fans. Go team.

Carter makes the cut. Green will be our Lugo replacement. Boston Herald

For the record, I'm a card-carrying member of Tim Wakefield's fan club and I'd still prefer Sonnanstine. I really enjoy that someone who throws as slow as Wakefield does can succeed in big league ball, but the surest way a pitcher can win my heart is to throw strikes, and Sonny throws strikes. A lot of strikes. Also the guy's going into his third year of big league ball and with his strikethrowing ways there's always a chance he can adjust and "take the next step." The next step Wakefield's going to take in his career is when he's finally put to pasture. Also, a700 exaggerated the risks a bit but he does have a point about Smoltz. I think most of us are managing our expectations appropriately, and even airhead optimists like me are waiting to see what we get as he starts to rehab. I don't think it's a winning bet to bet against Smoltz' ability to pitch if healthy, but it is entirely possible that he never gets up to big league readiness. The big reason Smoltz is a low-risk move is precisely because we already have a plan in place for how to proceed with our rotation if that happens, and even if Penny and Wakefield get hurt or suck.

Speaking of irrelevant interjections. Four, you can try to turn the thread back to its original purpose. Was there a relevance to the Red Sox rotation here that I missed somewhere? Go pull your balcony scene somewhere else. This isn't the ORS High Drama forum, it's Red Sox discussion and a conversation on the pitching rotation. That's not particularly an unreasonable request. If you want to go after someone, even me -- especially me, you think people want to go through this crap AGAIN this week? --- take it over PM or somewhere else and stop cluttering the threads. I am sick to death of the testosterone poisoning around here.

Just saying they have these wonderful things called "private messages" so that the rest of us don't have to put up with the mass hijacking spammings that occur when it goes beyond the realm of discussion of the team and into something personal.

If you start bring wars from other threads into a new one, why are you surprised when people don't have any idea what you're talking about? If you two want to snarl at each other over an old grievance, do it on your own.

I was pretty critical of Lester too before he put it together. Most of us were. I'm not sure how much that proves, other than the fact that we have the ability to be wrong sometimes. That's hardly a revelation is it?

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/146/406290045_e8df4b158b.jpg

Welcome to the club.

Pedroia Lowrie Ortiz Bay Drew Youkilis Lowell Varitek Ellsbury Pretty self-explanatory. If I had to take a gamble on which player is more likely to improve significantly next year between Lowrie and Ellsbury I take Lowrie. Ellsbury will have no shortage of chances to earn his way higher in the lineup but he shouldn't just be the presumptive leadoff guy. I think that sends the wrong message.

That strikes me as a little overcautious. You might be right, but I think it's safe to be a bit more optimistic than that if Smoltz really is healthy again.

Who exactly do you take out of that hypothetical bullpen to put in a LOOGY? That bullpen is so dominant I doubt the platoon disadvantage burns them too often. Besides, other than Lopez our only half-decent lefthanded option is Hunter Jones, and they both have a reverse split.

I was wondering exactly how a thread about Wily Mo wound up going there. I guess it was the Arroyo discussion.