redsoxfan3

They should not be sellers, unless they trade for a true ace. There is still a shot to make the playoffs. CC and Ells are both coming back. Pedroia should be healthy. Hopefully Gonzalez can find his power. Middlebrooks will be back, so that means there will be no more defensive liability in Gomez at 3B or offensive liability in Punto at 3B. If we can stay healthy, and if these guys can play like we all know they can, then we should be fine. We should have a real chance to compete for a WC spot. It all comes down to the SP. If Lester, Beckett, and Buchholz can all pitch the way they are capable of, then that will more or less make or break this team's shot at making the playoffs.

I am very familiar with Jared Sullinger. I followed him while he was in college. I went to Ohio State for two years and actually had the opportunity of meeting him. He is very mature. He had 20 points in his debut in the Summer League. Sullinger is not the most athletic, but he will also surprise some people. He is very solid in the post, can knock down jumpshots, and is a very smart basketball player. The injuries are a big concern. He has had back problems at a young age. He has also had some problems with tight hamstrings and quads. I think he will be a nice addition to the team. He will be a nice offensive addition to the team. He was double teamed and sometimes triple teamed in college. That will not be the case for him in the NBA. I think he will be a good player. I do not know so much about Melo, but I am liking what I am hearing. He has a lot of length, is a solid rebounder, and a solid defensively. He will be a nice addition. He will be limited with playing time since he does not have many offensive skills, but he will be able to help us out defensively. Melo is 7-0 and Sullinger is 6-9. Melo has the height and the defensive skills. Sullinger is undersized, but has the offensive skills. Overall they are both nice additions to the team.

This is exactly what I was thinking, but in reality, who actually gets to determine what the expectations are? This team is nothing but mediocre and average. One of the best offenses, one of the worst starting rotations, and a pretty good bullpen. I gave the Red Sox a C. We are in a spot where we can make a run for a WC spot and make the playoffs if guys like Buch, CC, and Ells can all make huge contributions. Also, Beckett, Doubront, Lester, and Morales are going to have to all be consistent SP's in the second half. We are in a situation where we can stay mediocre or make a real run. The expectations for this team are always high, but realistically after what happened in September, there were mixed expectations. Some people didn't expect us to do anything and then you have some people who expect us to make the World Series every year.

I understand your points and how someone can take them offensively. I think Ortiz is more out of line about bitching about how he is disrespected. I don't think Pedroia has done anything like that. Pedroia is a realist and says what is on his mind. He didn't like the manager questioning a player's work ethic, when fact has it that Youk has always been a hard worker, so I was actually impressed Pedroia had the balls to say something about that. The one where he said that no one tells him he is going to play is just him being stubborn. He hates to sit out and wants to help his team. He probably did cross the line a bit there, but I don't think it is anything that serious. The last one when he said the team was playing like horseshit was a situation where a player was showing his frustration. Everyone was frustrated. I don't think any of those situations were all that bad. Pedroia has a mouth, that is for sure. He says what is on his mind, but I do not think it hurts the team any. He isn't going around talking s*** about the FO, manager, or his teammates.

I agree, Pedroia is a guy you want to keep on this team. No one is untouchable, but if anyone should be labeled that, Pedroia is probably one of those guys. I just don't think you trade an AL Rookie of the Year, AL MVP, and a Gold Glove winner because he has struggled some this year due to injury. The guy is only 28 and still has at least a few more years where he is going to be able to produce.

The real problem is that we should be scoring a lot of runs when our pitchers are pitching well. We cannot expect to score 0, 1, or 2 runs on a west coast trip and win games. Our pitchers pitched well, but we should have been scoring more. It is nice to see we were able to put up an 8 run game and a 9 run game against the Yankees, but we need to do that on a consistent basis. When you give up 10 runs, you cannot expect to win.

I don't think we should let Ortiz walk. He is aging, but he is keeping this team together this year. In my opinion, we need to resign him. I don't think we should trade Pedroia either. He is a Red Sox player until he retires. When he is healthy, he is a hell of a player. He means too much to this team to trade him. I agree about the trainers and the farm system. We need top of the line trainers and we are starting to put together a nice farm. It will take some time, but I think we are heading in the right direction. I agree about releasing Dice-K. I could deal with trading Beckett. I don't think we should trade Lester unless it is for a true ace like King Felix.

Lester, Ellsbury, Gomez, Nava, Punto, and prospect for King Felix, Walker, and Hultzen? haha, I wish.

Ciriaco had an impressive game tonight. I was impressed with both him and Gomez. I am going to enjoy it while I can, because who knows if a game will happen like this again. I am tired of seeing people say that Ciriaco is the future 2B and is going to take over for Pedroia at 2B after Pedroia retires. Let's not forget that Ciriaco is 26 and only two years younger than Pedroia. Let's not let one game make up our mind about a guy either. He was also 0-4 in the first game with two strikeouts. I love the energy he gives this team and I love the fact that he brings speed to the roster, but we need to see consistency over the next three or four weeks before we can determine that he is worth keeping on the Major League roster. Let's keep our feet on the ground and not let the hype get to us.

I agree though, we really do need a good utility player. I really wish Iglesias was ready for the majors. Aviles could then take over Punto's role. The thing that sucks is that Punto is here next year too. His contract was only 2 years for 3 million, so it is not like we are losing a lot of money if we DFA him.

That is why we got Lillibridge. haha, that is a joke. Can we trade Lillibridge and Punto for some pine tar and some broken bats? The incentive that will get the deal done is that we will ship them and all their belongings in a garbage truck.

He tore a muscle in the thumb the first time. This time it is a sprain. There is a difference. The cast is there for the sprain, they just gave him a brace for the tear. I am not saying you are wrong, because I do not know the complete truth. I am just going with what I am given. Whether it is related to the other injury or not, I think we can all agree that we need Pedroia to get a full recovery so that he can produce when he comes back. Pedroia was saying that there were two freak accidents that happened in two different areas of the thumb, so by going with what the Red Sox and by what Pedroia are saying, the injuries are different, although you can never count out that the thumb injury before did not have an impact on this one.

Also, he is in a cast supposedly for two weeks. Let's hope everything is fine when the cast comes off and he can play shortly after. At this rate, it looks like the earliest he could play would be July 20th. It is hard to tell if they will want him to play a couple of rehab games, but hopefully that is not the case.

“This is not related to the other injury but it’s a disabling situation, so he’s going to take the 15 days -- and 4 of those days thankfully are All-Star break days -- to try to get better and come back to us healthy and ready to go,” Valentine said Friday afternoon in an interview on Boston sports radio station WEEI. That is from ESPN. Bobby V is saying that it is not related to the other injury. It is a sprained right thumb. The injury can take one to two weeks to heal and as long as six weeks. Pedroia is tough and he hates not playing, so let's just hope that it is fully recovered by the time his DL stint is up, because I guarantee you that he will beg the coaches and trainers to let him play.

This was not addressed weeks ago because it was not that serious. He recovered from the previous injury. He injured the same thumb, but they said it was a different part of the thumb. "Pedroia was injured trying to make a diving catch. He said Wednesday that it was the other side of his thumb that was hurting this time." -Boston.com It was just an unfortunate injury. It sucks, but if you think about it, he was only hitting .210 since coming back from the injury in the first place. A short DL stint might be best for both him in the team if he can fully recover. It could prevent him from reinjuring his thumb and could be better for this team and for him in the long run if he gets some time off. It doesn't look good for the short term because we could use him for this Yankees series, but I heard Ciriaco was not in the Paw Sox lineup last night, so maybe that is a sign he is coming up to be with the team for the Yankees series. I have not heard an official word on that yet though.

If we can somehow manage to win three or four against the Yanks, I very well think that we can keep things intact with Ells, CC, and Sweeney all coming back after the All-Star Break. It is bizarre, but all three are going to hopefully be back at the same time.

I heard that as well. I saw it on Scott Lauber's twitter. He said that Pedroia is headed to the 15 day DL according to a Major League source.

Just saw on twitter that a Major League source is saying Pedroia is likely headed to the 15 day DL. The good thing is the All-Star Break is coming up. Hopefully he can get it healed up and be back to 100% by the time he returns.

No, we had 16. I don't know where the 6 came from.

He gave it a ride, but just not enough on it. Nothing to be said about this west coast trip, except that things to change. Let's go back East and win the series against that worthless team we have to play.

No pressure Gomez.