redsoxfan3

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I agree that Loney and Gomez could be adequate next year for a cheap price. I do not think that we should pursue this route. I am all for keeping one of Gomez and Loney, but I think we need to pickup a 1B this year in the FA market. What do you guys think about Mike Napoli? I am not sure about his price, but I would be for having him platoon at 1B and C. I think he could be a decent pickup who will provide some power. He didn't hit for average this year, but in 2011 he hit .320 in 113 games. I am not sure how legit that rumor is about Gomez, but it is just a team that is eyeing Gomez. I am not sure if he goes to Japan, but I doubt it if he thinks he can compete for the starting job in Boston.

EXACTLY. Is this a serious thread? How can one even ask if we are willing to wait. If you are a true fan, you stick with your team no matter what. Red Sox fan until the day I die, even if we are the worst team in baseball. We have had some recent success, so there are a lot of fans who expect us to make the playoffs and compete for a World Series every year. In reality, that is not going to happen.

I am getting kind of nervous about the pitching for next year as well. It looks like Aceves will probably get a chance to start the rest of this year in Dice-K's role. If he is successful, that means we have six internal options in Lester, Buchholz, Lackey, Doubront, Morales, and Aceves fighting for spots in the rotation. Realistically I think Lester is done and I would be all for trying to trade both Lester and Ellsbury if we can get some pretty good prospects in return. Next year will be a really bad year if we do not improve our rotation. Lester has underperformed. Buchholz has been inconsistent but has shown signs of being a great pitcher. Lackey is a toss up. I imagine he will be a lot better than he was in 2010, but then again, that is not a given. Doubront has shown potential, but his arm has gotten fatigued. The problem is can we rely on him to be consistent all year. Morales has shown he can start, but then again that is a small sample. Aceves could be a good option, but he also has a small sample. I hope we just do not get content with the internal options. Lester will have to pitch like an ace. Buchholz will have to be a solid #2. Doubront will have to prove he can pitch a whole season without s***ing the bed in the second half. Lackey will have to be on. Aceves and/or Morales will also have to pitch consistently as well. These are all question marks that are huge concerns in our rotation. We really need for these guys to step up next season. What we really need is a true ace. If that means that we get rid of Lester for one, then I am all for it.

My offseason to do list: -Sign Ross to a 3 year deal worth close to 20-25 million. -Sign Big Papi to a 2 year deal worth close to 20-25 million. -Try to sign Ellsbury long-term. -Explore all possible free agent options. Mike Napoli is a guy that I want us to take a serious look at, especially with him capable of playing first and catcher. He could be a platoon guy at both positions. As much as I do not like Nick Swisher, I want us to take a serious look into signing him. I cannot stand the fact that he is a complete ******* who always has a smirk on his face or the fact that he plays on the Yankees, but he is versatile in terms of being able to play 1B and RF. He is not the best player to hit for average, but he does have some power. The biggest problem of all is our SP. I want Lester and Buchholz in the rotation, but if we can replace Morales, Doubront, etc. with better options, then I am all for it. Lester and Buchholz have potential, but I do not see either has more than number two and number threes on this team, or possibly back end of the rotation pitchers if they keep underperforming. Here is one option that I thought was interesting. The Mets are looking to rebuild. David Wright might be a FA if they do not pick up his 16 million option. I think he is definitely worth picking up that option, but that is not my call to make. Jon Niese and R.A. Dickey are both guys that are on the Mets that are pitching well this year. I know this will cost us an arm and a leg and would take a lot of balls to pull off, but a huge blockbuster trade for Jon Niese, R.A. Dickey, and David Wright would be huge for this team. David Wright is only 29, Jon Niese is only 25, a R.A. Dickey is 37, but is coming off of a career year. Here is where it gets interesting, who do we trade for? Middlebrooks has a bright future and Doubront even has a bright future, but with getting David Wright, that means we will have a 3B for a few years to come. The only way I would ever make this trade if is I can get Wright to sign a long-term contract with the threat of him becoming a FA after 2013. I would do the same with Dickey, but only by making him sign a 2 or 3 year contract with him being 37. Jon Niese is under team control through 2018. The negative is we get rid of a young guy with a lot of potential in Middlebrooks, but with Wright being our 3B for a few years, a lot of people would forget about Middlebrooks. Doubront pitched decent for us early on in the year, but as the year went on and his arm started to fatigue, his performance started to decline. If we can somehow package a trade around Middlebrooks, Doubront, Iglesias, and prospects, then I will be all for this trade. There are obviously a few prospects that should be untouchable, but I think we should try to get rid of Iglesias in this package. It is hard to tell how much in return the Mets would want, but I am assuming it will be A LOT. Realistically, this probably will never happen. Edwin Jackson is a SP that has had a solid season. He is one guy that I hope we at least try to go after. Brandon McCarthy has had a solid year and might be worth pursuing as a SP. Zack Greinke is another option, although I am kind of hesitant with him. He has pitched decent this year, but with the Angels he has only had a 4.82 ERA in seven starts. Hiroki Kuroda could be worth a one year contract if the price is right. Kyle Lohse is definitely a good option to pursue, although he is a Boras client. Shaun Marcum might be worth looking into, even though he has missed some time this year. There are definitely options out there. They may not be the best options, but we definitely have room and the opportunity to improve our SP, especially with a flexible payroll. Dice-K and Cook will be gone (hopefully). Morales and Doubront are still options, but if we can take a step up from them and improve our rotation, then I am all for it. If both of those two guys have to fight for a 5th spot in the rotation, that is fine with me. I see us sticking with Lester and Buchholz, but potentially adding three new starters to our rotation is a good thing.

I agree here. Iglesias has an unproven bat and I don't see him becoming a great offensive hitter anytime soon. If we choose to stick with Iglesias, we need to have other offensive weapons that can produce. Iglesias will not be anything more than a nine hitter who is playing because of his defense. He is an offensive liability. Aviles has been adequate this year, but I do not think he will be our starting SS for the next few or even next couple years. If we stick with internal options, I would be fine with giving Ciriaco a shot and having Aviles as a utility IF. I would really like us to get a solid defensive SS, with at least a decent bat. In a perfect world, that is probably not going to happen because those are hard to come by. The free agent SS's are not anything great. Ciriaco might be the best option, unless we can manage to trade for someone.

I agree with Palodios in terms of not producing great numbers in consecutive years. He had a career last year and a lot of people question whether he will be able to do that again. I believe he can produce at his career averages. My concern is going to be injuries going forward. Can he stay healthy? That is the big question. I think that he will be able to hit around .300/.350/.450/.800. I think he can be a 20 HR, 80-90 RBI guy, with the ability to easily be able to steal 30+ bases. He stole 70 bases in '09. The thing for him has been inconsistency and the ability to stay healthy. With the money that we have free, I think we need to look to sign him long-term throughout the next year. If he hits the free agent market, I think it might be hard to sign him long-term, especially if we keep having seasons like we are having this year. The part that is hard is going to be his value. How much is he willing to accept? With Boras as his agent, he will probably not accept anything close to what his value will actually be worth. Ellsbury is only 28, so I could realistically see a 6, 7, or 8 year contract.

I have not been around for a while because I am working full time, attending college full time, volunteering, and playing baseball in an amateur league. I know I missed a lot of conversation with the whole Dodger trade. The only thing I can say about that is that I am okay with the trade, even though I really liked Gonzalez. As for next year, here is what I am thinking. C: We currently have Lavarnway and Salty. I am content with that combo, although I would really like to keep Lavarnway and get rid of Salty. Correct me if I am wrong, but Salty is arbitration eligible, and if we do not offer him arbitration, then he is a free agent, correct? I really want us to take a serious look into Mike Napoli. He can play 1B, C, and DH. I know that he did not have a great year this year, but he is a guy that can hit for power and has a lot of versatility in terms of playing both 1B and C. I would love for Napoli to split time with Lavarnway. I really think that Ryan is going to continue to get better and I think as time goes on he will become a better MLB hitter. The potential is there. If the price is right for Napoli, then I am all for it, especially with him only being 30. There is always the option of signing Napoli and keeping Salty and sending Lavarnway back to AAA. That might be a better option to see if we can trade Salty and get some prospects in return. DH: Big Papi is the name of the game. I read recently that he wants to come back. He had a great year before going to the DL and we could use his consistency in the lineup. If for some reason he gets hurt, then that is where a guy like Lavarnway or Napoli could take some time and fill-in at DH. I think we need to work it out with Big Papi and make sure we sign him. The money is obviously there, so do what it takes to resign him (just don't go overboard). 1B: This is one position that will be interesting to keep an eye on. James Loney will be a free agent and is only 29. He has never really blown anyone away with his power, but he has had a couple of 90 RBI seasons. He is a career .284 hitter, but is having a down year this year. If he comes cheap, he is probably a guy that can be a decent 1B for us next year, especially if Napoli is there to help play some 1B. In 14 games, Mauro Gomez is hitting .292 this year. He can play 3B as well, but is a defensive liability out there, but he is a guy that could potentially play 1B, 3B, and DH if needed. I am not sure if he under contract with us next year, but if he is, I could see him bouncing back and forth from AAA and the majors. He could be a third option behind Loney and Napoli. David Ortiz has also proved he can play some 1B, so those interleague games look for Big Papi to get some starts like usual. Carlos Lee is another guy that will be a free agent. He is getting older and his numbers are declining, but he is an interesting option if we can sign him cheap for one year if we do not resign James Loney. Kotchman, Nady, Overbay, and Pena are all free agent 1B as well in 2013. There are options, but there are not great options, so resigning Loney, signing Napoli, and keeping Gomez around sound like good options. 2B: It does not get much easier than this. Pedroia is the sure lock at 2B. He has had his fair share of injuries, so keeping Aviles and/or Ciraco around as a utility player to play 2B in case of an injury is important. If healthy, look for Pedroia to hit close to his career averages. SS: SS will be an interesting position. Aviles, Ciriaco, and Iglesias are all internal options. Aviles is arbitration eligible this year. Iglesias is under contract until 2017. He is a guy that has just not made the next step. Look for him to start the year in the minors, although he will be competing for the starting SS position come Spring Training, along with Aviles and Ciriaco. Ciriaco is a guy that has obviously been a big spark to our team this year. It will be interesting to see who wins the starting SS position this Spring, but look for a close competition. If Ciriaco does not win the position, he will be a good utility player with a lot of energy and speed. The free agent options for SS are slim with Bartlett, Betancourt, Blum, Cedeno, Tejada, Izturis, Vizquel, etc. I don't know if there is really anyone that is worth taking a chance on that will be much better than Aviles, Ciriaco, and Iglesias. I think the best option is to go with the internal options and see who wins the job this Spring. If Aviles wins, then Ciriaco is a good option for a utility player, and vice versa. The guy to keep an eye on will be Iglesias to see how he progresses. 3B: Will Middlebrooks is the future 3B for this team. It is his position to lose. He will be healthy and ready to go by 2013. Look for Ciriaco to compete with him at 3B, although it is a long shot for anyone to beat out Middlebrooks for the position in 2013. David Wright has a 16 million club option for 2013. He is really the only free agent worth looking at if the Mets for some odd reason do not pick up his option. That is a long shot. LF: This is where we need to take a serious look at the Free Agent market. Podsednik, Ellsbury, Kalish, Ross, Sweeney, and Nava are all internal options. Podsednik has been consistent at the plate. Nava has proven that he can play LF in Fenway and had a decent season. With Pods getting older and Nava not being more than a 4th OF, this could be an interesting position to evaluate via the Free Agent market. Delmon Young has had a decent season with Detroit and is only 27. Juan Pierre is 35 and is another option. Carlos Lee is another option who can play both LF and 1B, but he is also aging. Scott Hairston is only 32. Josh Hamilton is probably the most intriguing guy. He will cost a lot of money and I know the front office is probably trying to avoid big contracts, but if you are going to dish out some money, Hamilton is probably the guy you would want to give some money to. We can more than likely afford to sign Josh Hamilton long-term and also lock up Jacoby Ellsbury long-term. If we can somehow sign Napoli, then that might increase the interest of Josh Hamilton in signing with the Red Sox since they have played for the Rangers together. Some might disagree, but I think we need to do what we can to sign Josh Hamilton. Nava and Podsednik are both guys that will be fighting for a 4th OF position if we sign Hamilton. Assuming we give Podsednik an invite to Spring Training, which I don't see why we wouldn't after the year he is having with us. CF: Jacoby Ellsbury is our CF without a doubt. If he can avoid injuries, then he will be fine. He might not have as good of a year ever again as he had in 2011, but he will be a reliable leadoff hitter and a reliable defensive CF. Kalish is probably the guy that is in the running to be a 4th OF to backup Ellsbury. Look for us next year to look to extend Ellsbury long-term, because if he hits the Free Agent market in 2014, it might be hard to resign him. RF: There are a lot of teams interested in Cody Ross. I think we need to resign him to maybe around a 3 year/21 million deal. He is worth it and it is not a huge investment. He hits well in Fenway and a lot of fans love him. I don't think we need to do anymore of this platoon stuff with him and Sweeney. RF is for Cody Ross. Sweeney, Nava, Kalish, and Podsednik are all internal options that will be fighting for OF spots. I think we should go with 5 OF's if we sign Hamilton. Start Hamilton in LF, Ellsbury in CF, and Ross in RF. That leaves two spots available. I really am hoping that Kalish and Podsednik can win out the last two spots. If that is the case that means Nava will be in the minors and that we have to somehow trade Sweeney. I am not big on Sweeney after him hurting his hand after punching a door. He can go lose his temper somewhere else. That leaves the position players looking like this: C: Napoli/Lavarnway DH: Ortiz/Napoli/Lavarnway 1B: Loney/Napoli 2B: Pedroia/Ciriaco SS: Aviles/Ciriaco 3B: Middlebrooks/Ciriaco LF: Hamilton/Podsednik CF: Ellsbury/Podsednik/Kalish RF: Ross/Kalish That is 13 position players, so that leaves only 12 pitchers. I would be all for only carrying one OF if need be. I am okay with Kalish in AAA. I think Podsednik is a good 4th OF. He can play all three positions. He can hit for average. He also brings a lot of speed. Gomez will also be in AAA and will get called up if one of Big Papi, Napoli, or Loney gets injured. I have Iglesias starting the year in AAA as well and he gets the call up if any one of Ciriaco, Middlebrooks, Pedroia, or Aviles goes down with an injury. Kalish and Nava are both going to be guys that get called up also in case of an injury. SP: 1. Jon Lester 2. Clay Buchholz 3. Felix Doubront 4. Franklin Morales 5. John Lackey This is where it gets hard to predict. Lackey will be ready to go. I think he will be A LOT better now. I am not expecting him to be an ace, but I think he will bounce back and have a decent season as a number 5. It is time for Lester to become our true ace. He has had a bad season and is finally regaining his form. I think that he will have a better year next year, but only time will tell. Buchholz has a lot of potential. If he can pitch consistently like he has recently (aside from his last outing), then there is no reason to expect nothing less out of him then stats from a number 2 pitcher. Doubront is a guy that is finally living up to his potential. He is wearing down at the end of this season, but I think he will be a decent number 3. I think we can expect more consistency from him next year and more innings. Morales deserves his shot to start. He has proven that he can start, so let him have his chance from day one. Cook and Dice-K might get invites to Spring Training, but I don't think either makes the opening day roster. There are going to be some interesting option like Greinke, Kuroda, etc. on the Free Agent market. I am not against trying to sign a starting pitcher, whatever will make this team better is all that matters at the end of the day. BP: Bailey (closer) Melancon (set-up) Bard Miller Breslow Atchison Aceves Mortensen/Padilla I do have 13 pitchers total, including 8 in the bullpen. This is a tough call in the bullpen. You have a big question mark in Daniel Bard. Who knows if he can regain form back to an elite set-up man, if he can then I am all for having both him and Melancon as the set-up guys. Tazawa is also another guy to keep an eye on. There is a lot of competition this Spring for the bullpen. We have Bailey, Melancon, Bard, Miller, Padilla, Breslow, Atchison, Aceves, Mortensen, Tazawa, Beato, Stewart, etc. fighting for 8 bullpen spots. Possibly throw Morales into the equation if for some reason he does not start next year. I really don't think there is much need to go out and get more bullpen help. I think there is a surplus there. The starting rotation, SS, LF, and 1B are the position that will be fun to watch this next year. I also think by signing Napoli that we will be improving at C. I didn't really change a whole lot to the roster. There is still a lot of talent there. By adding Hamilton and Napoli, that could change a lot in the lineup. This could potentially be the batting order: 1. Ellsbury - CF 2. Pedroia - 2B 3. Hamilton - LF 4. Ortiz -DH 5. Ross - RF 6. Middlebrooks -3B 7. Napoli - C 8. Loney -1B 9. Aviles/Ciriaco - SS Put the order any way you want to, but that is a pretty good lineup. Edit: One last thing. I would love to go after King Felix, but that would cost the entire farm. He is a true ace and would be a great addition to this team, but the chances of the Mariners trading him are slim.

I have not been around for a while because I am working full time, attending college full time, volunteering, and playing baseball in an amateur league. I know I missed a lot of conversation with the whole Dodger trade. The only thing I can say about that is that I am okay with the trade, even though I really liked Gonzalez. As for next year, here is what I am thinking. C: We currently have Lavarnway and Salty. I am content with that combo, although I would really like to keep Lavarnway and get rid of Salty. Correct me if I am wrong, but Salty is arbitration eligible, and if we do not offer him arbitration, then he is a free agent, correct? I really want us to take a serious look into Mike Napoli. He can play 1B, C, and DH. I know that he did not have a great year this year, but he is a guy that can hit for power and has a lot of versatility in terms of playing both 1B and C. I would love for Napoli to split time with Lavarnway. I really think that Ryan is going to continue to get better and I think as time goes on he will become a better MLB hitter. The potential is there. If the price is right for Napoli, then I am all for it, especially with him only being 30. There is always the option of signing Napoli and keeping Salty and sending Lavarnway back to AAA. That might be a better option to see if we can trade Salty and get some prospects in return. DH: Big Papi is the name of the game. I read recently that he wants to come back. He had a great year before going to the DL and we could use his consistency in the lineup. If for some reason he gets hurt, then that is where a guy like Lavarnway or Napoli could take some time and fill-in at DH. I think we need to work it out with Big Papi and make sure we sign him. The money is obviously there, so do what it takes to resign him (just don't go overboard). 1B: This is one position that will be interesting to keep an eye on. James Loney will be a free agent and is only 29. He has never really blown anyone away with his power, but he has had a couple of 90 RBI seasons. He is a career .284 hitter, but is having a down year this year. If he comes cheap, he is probably a guy that can be a decent 1B for us next year, especially if Napoli is there to help play some 1B. In 14 games, Mauro Gomez is hitting .292 this year. He can play 3B as well, but is a defensive liability out there, but he is a guy that could potentially play 1B, 3B, and DH if needed. I am not sure if he under contract with us next year, but if he is, I could see him bouncing back and forth from AAA and the majors. He could be a third option behind Loney and Napoli. David Ortiz has also proved he can play some 1B, so those interleague games look for Big Papi to get some starts like usual. Carlos Lee is another guy that will be a free agent. He is getting older and his numbers are declining, but he is an interesting option if we can sign him cheap for one year if we do not resign James Loney. Kotchman, Nady, Overbay, and Pena are all free agent 1B as well in 2013. There are options, but there are not great options, so resigning Loney, signing Napoli, and keeping Gomez around sound like good options. 2B: It does not get much easier than this. Pedroia is the sure lock at 2B. He has had his fair share of injuries, so keeping Aviles and/or Ciraco around as a utility player to play 2B in case of an injury is important. If healthy, look for Pedroia to hit close to his career averages. SS: SS will be an interesting position. Aviles, Ciriaco, and Iglesias are all internal options. Aviles is arbitration eligible this year. Iglesias is under contract until 2017. He is a guy that has just not made the next step. Look for him to start the year in the minors, although he will be competing for the starting SS position come Spring Training, along with Aviles and Ciriaco. Ciriaco is a guy that has obviously been a big spark to our team this year. It will be interesting to see who wins the starting SS position this Spring, but look for a close competition. If Ciriaco does not win the position, he will be a good utility player with a lot of energy and speed. The free agent options for SS are slim with Bartlett, Betancourt, Blum, Cedeno, Tejada, Izturis, Vizquel, etc. I don't know if there is really anyone that is worth taking a chance on that will be much better than Aviles, Ciriaco, and Iglesias. I think the best option is to go with the internal options and see who wins the job this Spring. If Aviles wins, then Ciriaco is a good option for a utility player, and vice versa. The guy to keep an eye on will be Iglesias to see how he progresses. 3B: Will Middlebrooks is the future 3B for this team. It is his position to lose. He will be healthy and ready to go by 2013. Look for Ciriaco to compete with him at 3B, although it is a long shot for anyone to beat out Middlebrooks for the position in 2013. David Wright has a 16 million club option for 2013. He is really the only free agent worth looking at if the Mets for some odd reason do not pick up his option. That is a long shot. LF: This is where we need to take a serious look at the Free Agent market. Podsednik, Ellsbury, Kalish, Ross, Sweeney, and Nava are all internal options. Podsednik has been consistent at the plate. Nava has proven that he can play LF in Fenway and had a decent season. With Pods getting older and Nava not being more than a 4th OF, this could be an interesting position to evaluate via the Free Agent market. Delmon Young has had a decent season with Detroit and is only 27. Juan Pierre is 35 and is another option. Carlos Lee is another option who can play both LF and 1B, but he is also aging. Scott Hairston is only 32. Josh Hamilton is probably the most intriguing guy. He will cost a lot of money and I know the front office is probably trying to avoid big contracts, but if you are going to dish out some money, Hamilton is probably the guy you would want to give some money to. We can more than likely afford to sign Josh Hamilton long-term and also lock up Jacoby Ellsbury long-term. If we can somehow sign Napoli, then that might increase the interest of Josh Hamilton in signing with the Red Sox since they have played for the Rangers together. Some might disagree, but I think we need to do what we can to sign Josh Hamilton. Nava and Podsednik are both guys that will be fighting for a 4th OF position if we sign Hamilton. Assuming we give Podsednik an invite to Spring Training, which I don't see why we wouldn't after the year he is having with us. CF: Jacoby Ellsbury is our CF without a doubt. If he can avoid injuries, then he will be fine. He might not have as good of a year ever again as he had in 2011, but he will be a reliable leadoff hitter and a reliable defensive CF. Kalish is probably the guy that is in the running to be a 4th OF to backup Ellsbury. Look for us next year to look to extend Ellsbury long-term, because if he hits the Free Agent market in 2014, it might be hard to resign him. RF: There are a lot of teams interested in Cody Ross. I think we need to resign him to maybe around a 3 year/21 million deal. He is worth it and it is not a huge investment. He hits well in Fenway and a lot of fans love him. I don't think we need to do anymore of this platoon stuff with him and Sweeney. RF is for Cody Ross. Sweeney, Nava, Kalish, and Podsednik are all internal options that will be fighting for OF spots. I think we should go with 5 OF's if we sign Hamilton. Start Hamilton in LF, Ellsbury in CF, and Ross in RF. That leaves two spots available. I really am hoping that Kalish and Podsednik can win out the last two spots. If that is the case that means Nava will be in the minors and that we have to somehow trade Sweeney. I am not big on Sweeney after him hurting his hand after punching a door. He can go lose his temper somewhere else. That leaves the position players looking like this: C: Napoli/Lavarnway DH: Ortiz/Napoli/Lavarnway 1B: Loney/Napoli 2B: Pedroia/Ciriaco SS: Aviles/Ciriaco 3B: Middlebrooks/Ciriaco LF: Hamilton/Podsednik CF: Ellsbury/Podsednik/Kalish RF: Ross/Kalish That is 13 position players, so that leaves only 12 pitchers. I would be all for only carrying one OF if need be. I am okay with Kalish in AAA. I think Podsednik is a good 4th OF. He can play all three positions. He can hit for average. He also brings a lot of speed. Gomez will also be in AAA and will get called up if one of Big Papi, Napoli, or Loney gets injured. I have Iglesias starting the year in AAA as well and he gets the call up if any one of Ciriaco, Middlebrooks, Pedroia, or Aviles goes down with an injury. Kalish and Nava are both going to be guys that get called up also in case of an injury. SP: 1. Jon Lester 2. Clay Buchholz 3. Felix Doubront 4. Franklin Morales 5. John Lackey This is where it gets hard to predict. Lackey will be ready to go. I think he will be A LOT better now. I am not expecting him to be an ace, but I think he will bounce back and have a decent season as a number 5. It is time for Lester to become our true ace. He has had a bad season and is finally regaining his form. I think that he will have a better year next year, but only time will tell. Buchholz has a lot of potential. If he can pitch consistently like he has recently (aside from his last outing), then there is no reason to expect nothing less out of him then stats from a number 2 pitcher. Doubront is a guy that is finally living up to his potential. He is wearing down at the end of this season, but I think he will be a decent number 3. I think we can expect more consistency from him next year and more innings. Morales deserves his shot to start. He has proven that he can start, so let him have his chance from day one. Cook and Dice-K might get invites to Spring Training, but I don't think either makes the opening day roster. There are going to be some interesting option like Greinke, Kuroda, etc. on the Free Agent market. I am not against trying to sign a starting pitcher, whatever will make this team better is all that matters at the end of the day. BP: Bailey (closer) Melancon (set-up) Bard Miller Breslow Atchison Aceves Mortensen/Padilla I do have 13 pitchers total, including 8 in the bullpen. This is a tough call in the bullpen. You have a big question mark in Daniel Bard. Who knows if he can regain form back to an elite set-up man, if he can then I am all for having both him and Melancon as the set-up guys. Tazawa is also another guy to keep an eye on. There is a lot of competition this Spring for the bullpen. We have Bailey, Melancon, Bard, Miller, Padilla, Breslow, Atchison, Aceves, Mortensen, Tazawa, Beato, Stewart, etc. fighting for 8 bullpen spots. Possibly throw Morales into the equation if for some reason he does not start next year. I really don't think there is much need to go out and get more bullpen help. I think there is a surplus there. The starting rotation, SS, LF, and 1B are the position that will be fun to watch this next year. I also think by signing Napoli that we will be improving at C. I didn't really change a whole lot to the roster. There is still a lot of talent there. By adding Hamilton and Napoli, that could change a lot in the lineup. This could potentially be the batting order: 1. Ellsbury - CF 2. Pedroia - 2B 3. Hamilton - LF 4. Ortiz -DH 5. Ross - RF 6. Middlebrooks -3B 7. Napoli - C 8. Loney -1B 9. Aviles/Ciriaco - SS Put the order any way you want to, but that is a pretty good lineup.

Big game tonight. Every game from here on out is a big game. Morales gets the start on Sunday.

Whoever is talking in the clubhouse about Bobby V's comments and the whole beer and chicken ********, it needs to stop. We will probably never find out who the "snitch" is because reporters lose all credibility if they reveal their sources. Players need to keep their mouths shut about stuff going on in the clubhouse, it is that simple. We do not need to add more drama to the already filled drama queens that make up this team. Shut the f*** up, play baseball, win games, and make the playoffs. It is not that difficult. The talent is there. Just play baseball already. I am tired of this .500 ********. This team is so much better than that. Time to take a step in the right direction and take the next three from this worthless Twins team. It starts tonight. No more drama. Have fun and play the game.

They did that already. Lavarnway, Mortensen, and Kalish are all guys that were called up with the trades and the injuries recently.

The good thing is that Lillibridge is gone. The not so good news is that we got a career minor leaguer. This is a fair trade for the most part. De La Torre is 26. He will continue to tear it up in the minors. Now hopefully we can make a move that will actually have an impact on our Major League team.

It is stupid to even consider Crawford for Bell and Ramirez. Crawford has had some injuries, but if he can stay healthy, he is a big part of this team. Ramirez is only hitting .246 and Bell has a 6.05 ERA. That trade would not be worth it in my opinion. Also in other news, Lillibridge was traded to the Guardians for Jose De La Torre. At least we dumped Lillibridge, but we got back a 26 year old minor leaguer. His career minor league ERA is a 2.86 in 6 seasons. I don't think there is much upside to him because of his age, but at least we got rid of Lillibridge.

We are only 4 games out of the WC. There is still hope to make that, but that relies heavily on the SP. I say Lester gets one more start against the Yankees. I don't think he will turn things around, but if for some miraculous reason he does, then he stays in the rotation. If not, then he goes to the bullpen and Morales starts in place of him. I just cannot understand for the life of me why Morales is in the pen. The pen has been decent this year, and moving him back to the pen when he should be a starter is ridiculous. The weakest part of this team is the SP, so we take one of our most consistent SP as of late out of the rotation. That makes no sense at all. McClure needs to go. Cook has been inconsistent, but I would rather have him in the rotation over Dice-K. In a perfect world, hopefully Beckett, Lester, Buchholz, Morales, and Doubront can all get better and be our starting 5.

David Ortiz can play first base. I am not 100% sure, but I think Punto can play first as good as Lillibridge. I think we need to get rid of Lillibridge. As bad as his bat is, we can find someone to replace him.

Thoughts and prayers go out to Ryan and his family.

Ellsbury CF Nava LF Ortiz DH Gonzalez 1B Middlebrooks 3B Saltalamacchia C Sweeney RF Aviles SS Ciriaco 2B Morales P

I think we need to look to deal Nava and Pods first. Lillibridge needs to either be traded or demoted to AAA. I like Crawford in LF, Ellsbury in CF, and a Ross/Sweeney platoon in RF.

Here are his two latest tweets from his Twitter. That does not sound like someone that wants to leave Boston. I don't know what Gammons has heard, but from what I am reading Lester is happy here. He did start retweeting some trolls on his Twitter yesterday, which was pretty stupid to do. I cannot say for sure what Jon is thinking, but I do know he needs to pitch well in the second half of this season. If this is his last year in Boston, or if he is here for the remainder of his career, it doesn't matter what he is saying, as long as he does his best in the uniform while he is here.

I agree. I wish Crawford would go do the surgery now, but he still thinks that he can contribute this season. The problem there is that he will probably hurt his arm more. Even if he is fine and waits until this offseason to do the surgery, we are looking at him getting the surgery in October or November and that means he won't be ready until April or May of next year. Let's hope by him playing is the right decision. Taking it game by game is the right way to do it. A sweep would be awesome though. Ellsbury probably bats leading off. I think he needs to get right back into his comfort zone like you are saying. Ellsbury, Nava, and Ortiz might be right, or I was thinking Ellsbury, Ciriaco, Ortiz, with Nava falling to 6th or 7th in the lineup. I think Middlebrooks might be ready as well. Pedroia is actually out at least three weeks now. That means it has already been a week when the All-Star Break is over on Thursday, so that is two more weeks Pedroia will be out. I think he will be ready to go hopefully sometime around July 26th or 27th, but to play it safe we should not put a time frame on it, because anything can happen. It depends on a lot of different factors.

I like the optimism and the positive attitude. I am with you. I think it starts with this series. A sweep could change a lot. Let's take it game by game. Ellsbury is back on Friday. Crawford will hopefully be back soon. He starts a rehab assignment in Pawtucket on Thursday. Buchholz is back on Friday. Let's hope everyone brings their A game. New start. It is like we are 0-0. Let's turn this season around.

I am not sure who voted for A or B. But, like a700hitter said, A is for awful and that means B is for bad. C is for crappy, D is for dreadful, and F is for failure.