Dojji

I'd be inclined to go for Chris Carter if only because he bats lefthanded and both of our corner infielders are righthanded.

No Kotsay. JVE can do everything Kotsay can do and hit 20 HR's in Pawtucket. If it's Kotsay v. Van Every you have to go to JVE every time. You might as well have Julio Lugo play first base -- at least then you get some speed with your no OBP and your no power.

Pretty sure Smoltz won't go sulk in the DR if he's asked to change his role however.

Shilling for a betting website... nice. I watch the Bruins and Celtics and Patriots. They're pretty good this year. You should try it. And if I really miss baseball that much I whip out Baseball Mogul 09 and play a few games.

Longo 4th, Pena 5th, Burrell 6th. Oh, and Upton probably bats third if he has anything resembling the power stroke he had in the playoffs. Seriously scary stuff when combined with that lineup. Hopefully the Sox can put some pressure on a still-thin pen and stay ahead of these guys.

I'd apply, but it would mostly be as a joke. Seriously, you know it'd never happen and I know it'd never happen. Believe it or not, though, I do have a fair bit of moderating experience. And hey, on the theory that mods wind up hated a lot anyway you might say I have a head start

Because pitchers that aren't quite 100% perfect are officially bad and must therefore be removed from the rotation, of course.

Jeter will be where he is as long as he can hit. His early slump in 2008 though gives good indication that that might not be a pure given anymore. Damon's range has diminished, yes. He has good range for a LFer, but he was signed to be a CFer and he's looked incredibly bad every time they've put him in his "real" position. His defensive numbers in LF haven't been much to write home about either and his offensive production is pedestrian for an LF (although he still makes a nice leadoff type). You know all you need to know about Damon's defense when they left a gaping offensive cavity in CF rather than put him back there even when that would have meant more at bats for Matsui instead of Gardner or Cabrera. Except that he showed his big improvements in the NL Central and hit terra firma when he moved to the American League East, a legitimate concern for a hitter who isn't an incredible RF. But nowhere near Pedroia's. THe problem is that in both cases we're talking about injuries to a knee and a shoulder that will impact performance even after you recover from them. We're also talking about older players. A young guy with an otherwise clean bill of health takes a freak injury sure you write that off, but Matsui's spent significant time on the DL each of the last 3 years and a shoulder injury is a huge concern for any catcher, especially an aging one. I think he'll surprise some people. Gardner seems to me to be a guy who might be able to fight his way into the lineup, especially with the Yankees very weak in CF. I'm not sold on Swisher as a full time CF, especially not with defensive questionmarks in LF and RF as well. He makes a great OF/1B type off the bench but his range will disappoint you if you expect CF out of him. Dude, take off the pinstriped glasses for a second and admit just how big of an IF that is. Right, because we clearly have multiple players who might not qualify to play at their own positions defensively next year and we face the specter of age related decline at 3 different key positions in the lineup and defense -- just like the Yankees... Because Damon has looked wonderful in CF each of the last 2 years, right? Dude, when they sent Cabrera down, Damon remained planted in left field -- even though that took Matsui out of the lineup. Damon. Is. Cooked. As. A. Center. Fielder. How strong a signal needs to be transmitted here to penetrate the pinfoil hat? . Better than bad, yes, but not really good. No, the Sox have C to deal with if fully healthy. They are committed to Ellsbury and they are committed to one of Lowrie or Lugo. Furthermore we have 3 potentially decent options at C and outproduced the Yankees by 60 runs last year with a bleeding, gaping offensive wound at C so it's not exactly like we have to do a lot to improve there. You're really going to play the "Sox are injury risks" card with all the aging wounded warriors in that lineup of yours? Can't wait.

16 wins not enough for you?

Oh, stop. Like the Yankees need another left fielder.

I agree with Diony. The Tigers will try to move several other contracts before they're willing to even consider moving Miguel Cabrera.

That or I need to stop using ) when I should use :

Yes, that's why I think you can pick him up and get some use out of him and the tigers will let him go for little more than salary relief. Especially if doing so makes it easier for the Tigers to retain Cabrera It's the other way for a large-cap team to flex its financial muscle, taking on the bad contracts of low-cap and midcap teams in order to obtain a useful skillset.

That, too. I think Lowell brings a lot of intangibles to the team as long as he can be productive at the plate and in the field. I still think the team screwed up by not resting Lowell as soon as they realized he had a problem. I laud Mike's reputation as a gamer but that was one time that he really needed to focus on getting helathy. If they'd rested him and gotten him the treatment he needed in July, it's possible the injury would A) not have been as severe in the first place or been treated and recovered in time for September, or even in the worst case, C) given the FO time to find a better alternate at first base than Kotsay. ( a deadline deal for your beloved Teixeira for example)

You raise some interesting points but I'm still more interested in Guillen. For the same reasons as Cabrera he should be available and he'll cost FAR less in talent and all you need to do to get him on the roster is get Lugo off the roster..

Let's just say the Teixeira argument was definitely one debate I wouldn't have minded losing anyway. Half of that debate was just me being too stone cold bored to give up a potential source of entertainment.

Even with his value reduced by a large overhead contract I think it takes a little more to get Miggy Cabrera. If nothing else Dombrowski stakes his reputation on Miggy being good for the team. I'll tell you a Tiger we could get though that would make a lot of sense for the team -- Carlos Guillen is nearing the end of his deal, costs a lot of money, and may or may not have an actual position on the team (Left field? Really?). He's got declining skills as a defensive infielder but he's got a great bat and would provide some nice switch-hitting insurance behind 3 different tender spots in the rotation as Lowell and Ortiz prove they're healthy and Lowrie adjusts to big league ball.

I would offer him $15-$18M if he needed that much. He's a good hitter and fills a need position that otherwise we have to sacrifice money, picks, prospects, or a combination of the three to occupy. If you can't replace a guy and you rate your first round pick as worth something in the neighborhood of $3-4M in value to the team then sure you go that high.

What? it's true. In the final analysis I didn't think Teixeira would be worth it for the Red Sox. Not because of what he was or wasn't but because of how I see the state of the team. It's not like we haven't gone over this territory before.

Except that they did put a best offer out there for Teixeira that was pretty good money, so your analogy breaks down there. They didn't break the bank for him as a desperation signing but they definitely wanted Teixeira if he wanted to come here. *I* didn't want Teixeira in the interest of being faithful to the Sox' paradigm, but Theo saw a need to explore breaking his own rules and in the final analysis that's OK. Any plan, slavishly and inflexibly adhered to, is a bad plan..

I don't see any particular reason for Bay to want to leave, and I don't see any particular reason for the Soxx to want him to, so all in all there's no reason why we don't see an extension before he hits FA.

There's a possibility someone makes a standout case for themselves but if not, yeah -- nobody. If captaincy happens it'll probably be one of Pedroia, Youkilis or Lowell depending on what the team likes to see in a captain.

I doubt it w/Bard, if only because I want to see him spend a full year in the minors walking no more than 3.5 hitters per 9 innings before I want him to sniff the big leagues even on a callup.

I think we should have more "he's the freakin' face of the Phillidelphia Phillies" concerns about the possibility of acquiring Ryan Howard. That and "if he was in the AL he'd be a DH" concerns. And "His OBP is nothing to write home about" concerns. On the whole I'd prefer Adam Dunn, who at least suggests some ability to play the field and especially left field.

Yep. I blew it on the whole Teixeira to the Braves thing, but that's really the exception that proves the rule, and in the final analysis that was an extremely bad deal for Atlanta. As a general rule asking for a guy's #1 prospect is a way to not quite close the door if they're prepared to blow you away but at the same time announce that you're really not interested in seeing your guy play for another baseball team. If a player is really on the block, his GM will be flexible in the asking price.