Dojji

He just walked JOSE GUILLEN!!!! Do we really have to play out this absurdity to its conclusion? GET SMITH WARMING!

Send him down -- and make him throw all fastballs for MONTHS before we have to watch him again.

Well this is just going beautifully.

Go back to the FB, Clay, but LOCATE it this time!

Another fastball right. down. the. middle.

Looking good, but some minor warning signs. He misses with the FB and is going to the breaking stuff for strikes again. He's gotta hit with the FB to stay relevant throughout a 6 inning start EDIT: Piped a FB there.

Someone please reassure me those 2 runs we scored in the first aren't "it." EDIT: BS strike call.

Papi's slumping again.

Clay made Butler look very foolish on that one. EDIT: Crap

Varitek starting to show some signs of life -- stinging the ball from time to time and showing some plate discipline.

I'd rather give up 8 hits and 0 walks in 5 innings than 4 hits and 4 walks in 5 innings. When Lester was just starting to really get the fine art of strikethrowing he got hit quite a bit. He learned not to be afraid of giving up a base hit or two and ironically enough that's what he needed to do to become unhittable..

Throwing a 91-93 MPH FB for strikes.

Hope we get that strike zone too.

Nice way to get things started.

Pretty sure you meant that in a way other than the one I read it. Nice to see. The NL West has been kind to DLowe.

Was sending Buchholz to Pawtucket 'relegating him to the doghouse?'

A lot of that 12.5M, possibly all of it, is going to go to settling the arbitration contracts for Youkilis, Papelbon and Delcarmen (is Pedroia a Super 2?)

Dunno bout that. THe Dodgers have at least proven that they're willing to spend money, and they've been desperate for offense for years.

Yes but only because we turned them around. THe price of Manny was LaRoche and Morris, even if they're not still in-system. That's not a bad haul. I suspect, BTW, that we overpaid slightly for Bay, but since we were in the business of creating a hole in left field, overpaying to fill it is probably something that had to happen.

The only Boras client I'd be sorry to see go right now is JD.

It really, to me, depends on two things. The first is, obviously, Bay's performance in Boston down the stretch and for 2009. If it's good, then fine -- even if we overpaid, a good quality LF in 2009 was something we're going to wind up overpaying for one way or the other. The other is all about Craig Hansen. He's the part of the deal that either puts Boston into "overpay" territory or is simply a liability removed, and that depends on HIS play. Trading Manny and Moss for a player who's actually going to be here next year is clearly defensible. For the record, Hansen allowed a run in his first Pirates appearance, so he's continuing for Pittsburgh as he began for Boston. Once again -- I see Hansen as a talented flop in Boston -- he might even contribute negative wins. Also, even if we don't get Bay this team would have gone after a high-priced LF in the offseason anyway, be it Bay or Holliday or Kemp or simply renewing Manny. I don't see it really being a majority odds that Moss gets a starting job without following the Youkilis Trail for a couple years even if he turns out to thrive in a bench role. So on the whole, I disagree with you. I think Moss was seen as a 4th OF and trading chip, I think Hansen needed a change of scenery, and I think Manny was gone -- all things point to the players we got rid of being far more valuable to the other teams than they were to us.

If you were going to send him down the time to do it is right now so that he can have a few weeks to get his work in before rosters expand. Coco can hold down the fort in CF just as well as he did last year -- we won with his limited offense but fine D in center last year and can do it again if that's what it takes to get Jaco right. JVE will make a fine 4th OF to complement Crisp's effectiveness against lefties too.