Dojji

All you get for sitting on the fence is a deep wedgie. There's plenty of ways to honor our past and even to make good use of Fenway Park without making it the everyday home venue of the Boston Red Sox. Keeping the Yankees home games, the playoffs, the Patriot's Day morning game, and other selected games in Fenway should keep it in memory while also allowing the team plenty of opportunities to take advantage of the actual market for their performances in a venue of adequate size for their and our needs. Since we're in the Northeast weather corridor, we really should look into a roof, too.

If he's hitting 25-30 HR's and providing quality 3B defense i think you have to seriously think about paying Youkilis that much. He's not that far behind Teixeira as a hitter and plays (or is capable of playing) a much more premium position. Besides, his brand of patient hitting is a type that ages well so as long as he can stick at 3B defensively he should provide good value to the ballclub.

The Sox need to increase their revenue stream in order to have a chance to match finances with the Yankees and remain competitive now that free agent contracts continue to rise. It's time to replace Fenway. The downside of the sellout streak and one of the reasons for all the scaplers is the simple fact that demand for seats, tickets, etc. to watch Red Sox baseball is drastically outstripping the supply. To the point that fans rabidly chase after that elusive opportunity to watch the SOx take on the Kansas City Royals. To the point that I believe that the Sox are letting money get away by not building a capacity that can handle the real New England demand. There's little doubt in my mind that the fanbase would fill a 50,000 seat stadium. This team is not as good as it could be with that revnue stream as a result of its addiction to the past. This leads me to believe that for the sake of the product on the field Fenway should be retired except for a few commemorative games or for the playoffs. You will never see me calling for Fenway to be torn down. I have no doubt at all that it not only could, but should and will be preserved even when (not if) the Sox eventually move on. But it's time to stop pretending that a park build nearly a hundred years ago is adequate to the demands of a modern sports fanbase.

If he does, then pay him. Top dollar for a quality 3B is not a stupid move.

No, he's saying that the dedication to that model is mostly an accident of history combined with the fact that they haven't won too many head to head financial battles with New York recently -- or ever. He's saying that we try to be a big market power team and that Moneyball strategies are always a Plan B for the Sox. That is the case, but it makes a very solid Plan B and it's a plan we've successfully fallen back on for the entire history of the Epstein regime with much greater success than we've enjoyed with any of the other Plan A's we've had since 1918.

Power-hitting career minor league 1B who went off and had a great season both in AAA and in limited MLB playing time. He would have provided righthanded power either on the bench or in the field that might have helped when Lowell was unable to play. If you think "Boston's answer to Shelley Duncan" you're not wrong, except Bailey takes more walks. He's not Teixeira, but he was available at the time and would have improved the postseason roster.

So much for the win streak. Time to start another. Not worried about the loss to LA as anny kind of prelude to the postseason, everyone knows the postseason is not the regular season by now.

I think there's a bit of overreaction here. The Sox got outbid for one FA and suddenly we have to look at their whole approach Where Theo's genius lies is not necessarily Moneyball, but in a kind of player chess where he lines up his backups, his depth, his 5 year plan, until most positions (not all since SNAFU's happen but most) are protected both by a veteran and by the ability for one or more younger players to come in and cover for the veteran should he go down. (to the point that Tito gets some blame for briniging in the WRONG alternate when Lowell went down -- if we'd had Jeff Bailey's bat in the playoffs we might have won them) Even in our weakest positions, catcher and 3B, we have players, and I mean multiple players, who can fill in at the big league level at needed and probably do fine. Remember back in 2003 when he signed like a billion players to fill our holes at 1B and 3B? A year later when the gold separated itself from the dross we had Millar, Mueller, and Ortiz destroying the baseball and playing a huge role in the 2004 championship run That's moneyball, but it's smart, big market moneyball, not putting all your eggs in one basket but still hunting for value in bulk purchases and intelligent pickups of guys who fit the model. It's one of the reasons I think that Johjima is a distinct possibility. It fits the prior model. This is one of the reasons I suspect Theo Epstein has already decided exactly what he's going to do with the catcher question and just hasn't told us. Because we haven't seen him acquiring large numbers of marginal catchers or in negotiations for marginal catchers.

THe only positions where signing someone makes sense are SP and possibly C and in each case there's not a lot of choices that are definitely better than what we already have Maybe you go after Rocco Baldellii as a bench OF but then again, maybe you see what Jon Van Every's got too. Catcher will probably be resolved in a trade unless we bring 'Tek back. In all I don't see a lot of improvements this tean can make on the FA market this year.

So sorry if your offseason experience hasn't been entertaining enough for you. You all heard me predict a quiet offseason. Quite honestly there isn't that much to do. The only true opportunity to upgrade this team is catcher and the offseason situation this year makes it difficult to contemplate how to do that without prohibitive costs in dollars and/or talent. If you believe that George Kottaras can be an adequate MLB catcher and that one of Buchholz, Bowden and Masterson should settle into that last rotation spot there's no reason at all to go to the FA market or even make a blockbuster trade. We just don't line up that well with anyone anyhow this year. Considering that we made the ALCS a 7 game battle and should have won except for key injuries to Beckett, Lowell and Ortiz, I see little reason to believe we won't be an elite team next year barring the kind of disaster we can't prepare for right now. And in our weakest positions we have solid redundancy thanks to Youks and Lowrie. We don't even need to spice up the bench THAT much. Van Every, Bailey, Lugo and Brown are already a step up from Kotsay, Cora, Casey and Cash. So short of the kind of insane fan-panting and unrealistic trade scenarios that boards like this exist for in the offseason there really isn't that much to get excited about at all, you're right. Frankly since there's so much room to go backward and limited opportunity for roster surgery to turn in a positive result I'm not worried about it.

Honestly IMHO the Sox should look into finding a good RF, not a LF. Drew's bat would be in the lineup more if he was playing the least strenuous outfield position and the new RF would probably be healthier. But if they bring Bay back I have no issues.

He was drafted in the later rounds because if he did, improbably, sign it would have been a great pick. It was a calculated risk and just because it didn't net them a great pitching prospect doesn't mean the draft pick was a bad idea.

You make it sound like the Sox are the only ones with any agency here. Meyer didn't sign because he didn't want to sign, not because the Sox decided to randomly waste a draft pick. Same with Teixeira.

He's definitely playing that way right now but I stiull think Savvy's gonna pass him again in the longer run

lolwut?

I disagree with you about Youk and possibly Papelbon. Youks is going to be a priority for the Sox unless Almanzar does a lot better in the next 3 years than he's done so far. The whole league is weak at 3B so Youks will get paid, but Boston is one of the better places for a player to go to get paid so I do see him coming back. Ditto for Papelbon, I really doubt Theo is going to pinch pennies with a young closer in his prime, not unless Papelbon gives us some indication that he's not happy here (which so far it seems like nothing could be further from the truth). Beckett is a borderline case. He's a lot like a slightly more effective AJ Burnett because of his inconsistencies related to his health. I could see Theo looking at Beckett and saying "great pitcher, but too fragile for a big franchise contract" and letting him walk, especially if Buchholz makes it an easy call.

Mikey ain't cooked just yet, and Ortiz' problems boil down to just the one bad year. If they falter we have Carter, Bailey and Anderson behind them to pick up the slack I see no reason why either player is now doomed to instant, swift decline and actually expect both men to bounce back nicely and even if one or both of them struggle we're not hurting for alternates with the ability to put good wood on a baseball.

Since Theo Epstein has said in the past that he plans to make the postseason 4 seasons out of 5, that indicates that his offseason effforts are clearly designed not just for the next year, but for the next multiple years. Specifically for the season after the current opne but his MO involves projecting a player for the life of his contract and making as sure as he can that the later years of a deal are still serviceable and effective -- no end of contract dropoff like the Yankees just had to eat in the last few years with Mussina, Giambi and others and like they've set themselves up for with Jeter, A-Rod and Matsui. With that in mind, let's expand our horizon out past the next 365 days and take in the next 3 years. To open the discussion I'll ask, then do my best to answer, three questions. 1: Who do you see on our roster in 3 years? Both free agent signings and prospect projections are welcome as answers. 2: Do you still see us contending as well and as forcefully as we did this year in 2011? 3: Will Theo and Tito still be employed by the Sox in 2011? My answers: 1: This will be an easier question to answer when we know who our catcher is. All of our catching prospects are at volatile points in their careers, including probably our best C prospect Luis Exposito, who just hit well in A+ ball but with a low OBP, not usually a good sign. I see Bay re-signed or replaced by a similarly competent offensive player, possibly Holliday or Dunn. I see at least one of Buchholz, Bowden and Masterson claiming a pivotal spot in the rotation. Lester, Matsuzaka, and Beckett (re-signed) anchor the staff in some order. I see the bullpen not changing a great deal from year to year with the possible exception of Oki's role being reduced as he ages (although Oki's brand of soft-tossing lefties tend to age fairly well). If RamRam makes it as a Red Sox reliever there won't be a lot of moves we need to make. Other than left field and possibly SP the only place I see us making a big personnel splash is catcher, either now with Salty or later when Mauer gets too expensive for the Twins (Yanks are gonna be on that one unless Montero pans out though because by then Posada certainly won't be behind the plate). I do see some trouble if we lose key players. Especially if we use Youkilis. This organization is very weak at third base with only Lowrie and Navarro projecting to do decently well at that position within the 3 year window. Retaining Youk is a must. Losing him to injury is a disaster. If the chance comes along to snag a decent 3B to succeed Youk or solve a situation caused by his inability to move back to 3B you have to take it. 2: Answer is yes, if. We need to not have players take big steps backwards. I'm especially looking at Beckett, Daisuke, Lester, Youkilis, Lowell, Ortiz and Pedroia, who all for one reason and another stand reasonable chances of producing less than they did in 2008 and most of whom would be difficult to replace properly. If they play at the level they're capable of I see no problem giving this team a 90-win floor most seasons. 3: I see no reason why not. Theo Epstein is one of our most successful GM's ever in terms of actual wins, losses, and playoff berths. And health permitting Tito is possibly history's greatest Red Sox manager. There's a lot of little things they do that get on our nerves but if you step back and look at things you realize that that's just because they're so successful we can't ignore them. It's like having a hot wife with a handful of annoying quirks. SOmetimes you get hung up on the quirks and do or say something stupid but most of the time if you're smart you just realize how lucky you are. And if you'rte dumb, say hello to the alimony judge.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2261/1685886084_ddd3497b44.jpg A little harsh? Perhaps. Buit tell me something, Kilo, exactly why does a team that got to Game 7 of the ALCS with one of its best hitters injured and out for the series and its best hitter hurt and slumping need to make a dramatic overhaul just to please the bored masses of Red Sox fans?

Hey, a broken watch is right twice a day. Of course it helps thjat I think the team is ready to contend right out of the box with minimal changes.

Should have, should have, should have. Good god people. This is a team that has missed the playoffs exactly once since Theo Epstein got here. Remember where we were before that during the height of the Yqankee dynasty and appreciate what we have here. If you want a GM with a 1.000 AVG I'm with you and we should hire him as soon as you find one. Well, what are you waiting for? For all he's done or hasn't done that you, personally, disagree with this is a GM that has taken a disgraced team that hadn't done anything meaningful since 1995 and got them into the playoffs in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2008 and won the World Series twice. That's a damn good run no matter what else he's done or will ever do. We're talking about the most dominant stretch of Red Sox baseball since 1918 and dissing the GM that got us there. I mean come on people! IMHO Theo Epstein's grace period is renewed every time the Sox go deep into the playoffs. It is DANG HARD to win back to back world series, and the Sox are a David Price pitch 18 inches outside the strike zone for called strike 3 in the 8th inningof ALCS Game 7 from accomplishing exactly that. It was the most effective title defense since 2000, which is an accomplishment itself working with a team that had an extra month of baseball just the year before.