redsoxfan3

Define your definition of decent. Salty has a career BA of .244. He hit .235 last year for the Sox. In my opinion, those numbers are not that decent. We can get by with his production, but I think Lavarnway is the better of the two offensively, hands down. Lavarnway has power. He showed that he can hit major league competition. Yes, it was a small sample because he does not have much experience. Lavarnway has proven that he has power in the major leagues. He hit two homeruns in one game. Do we know if he can do that on a consistent basis? No we do not. But don't say he hasn't proven anything, because it is not an easy task for any MLB player to hit two homers in one game.

Can we take anything away from Bard and Aceves' performance today? They both have an ERA of 9.00 after pitching their first inning in a B game. I know that it was their first live game action of the year, so they are trying to get back into the swing of things.

Lavarnway hit his first homer in his first at bat in Spring Training. Man do I wish this guy was able to catch defensively at the major league level.

After practice today, I waited around a little bit and I ended up following a nice white BMW out of the stadium. I didn't really think anything of it. The plates were Mass. and it had a Red Sox logo on it. I come to the red light at Daniels Parkway and I looked at my fiancee and she was like "Do you know who that is? It is Adrian Gonzalez!" I thought it was pretty cool. I waved over to him and he waved back. So far I have been lucky with a lot of autographs this year. I am excited for Saturday. I get to see the first game ever played at JetBlue when they take on Northeastern. I was kind of pissed today. I knew the Sox were playing the Twins in a B game today at Hammond Stadium, but I didn't know it was free. I should have went. I had the entire afternoon off today.

I don't have big expectations for Salty, but he is the best catcher we have at this point. I hope that he can just do a decent enough job for this team so that we are competitive. I think that the organization is holding out hopes that Lavarnway really has another solid year in AAA. My hopes are that Lavarnway can improve defensively and within the next two or three years that he can become our future catcher. I know he projects as a better big league DH, but I really am hoping that he can prove that he can play in the majors as a catcher.

I agree with you on Aceves, but like a700hitter said, he really really wants that 5th spot in the rotation. I think that he has earned a chance. Losing him from the pen would be a big blow, but I think he would be a great option for the rotation. Moving him to the rotation might not make much sense to some, but it could realistically make this team have one a great rotation. Lester, Beckett, Buchholz, Bard, and Aceves would be a great rotation. We know we would get solid innings out of all of those guys. Doubront is also not a bad option and if he were to get it, I love the scenario you provided with Bard and Aceves. That would be a good combo in games. They do have Aceves actually pitching after Bard in their first game pitching, so maybe that is what they are thinking?

Yesterday was a short day at Spring Training. They had a golf outing on Monday, so I am sure being out in the sun all day took a lot out of them. Yesterday they were out there from 11-1. On a positive not, I was one of the lucky few who got an autograph from Dustiin Pedroia. Well actually my fiancee got it for me. She has good luck with getting autographs. I love the new stadium and complex. If you get the chance to check it out, you need to do so.

From the other thread, this is what I said: From what I have heard at Spring Training, I think it will be either Aceves or Doubront. The Spring games haven't started yet, but Doubront and Aceves both have been impressive in their bullpen sessions. Silva, Cook, and Padilla all have a realistic shot, but if I were to choose right now, I would say it is Aceves if he does well pitching in the Spring and if the organization is comfortable with losing him out of the pen. They would have to find someone to replace him. I think that if they don't want to lose him out of the pen, then it will be Doubront. Like I said, it depends on what happens in the Spring Training games and what the organization wants to do in terms of the pen. I haven't really heard much about Padilla other than if he gets the ball every 5th day that he could be a problem with his attitude. I watched Silva yesterday pitching live batting practice and I was not overly impressed.

About to head off to JetBlue to watch practice for the day. I will fill you guys in if I see anything interesting today.

1. He has the right to say whatever he wants. I do agree that he should watch what he says, but I don't blame him for being upset. Bobby V was also saying that other players were telling him the same thing. They just didn't talk to the media about it. This topic is something that is not going to carry on in the season. He still might have some frustrations from the end of last season. He is allowed to express his mind. It is better that it is coming out now and not in the regular season so it is not a disctraction then. It will get resolved. I don't think Beckett was in the wrong about what he said. I have heard the same thing about Scutaro. Supposedly he was saying some things and that is possibly the reason they traded him this offseason. If that is the case, then I think it was a good move. I would rather not have a snitching Scutaro and have better chemistry in the clubhouse. The team chemistry will get better and they will develop trust over the course of the season. 2. Saying Beckett is not in shape is a matter of opinion. He didn't look like he was in Jacoby Ellsbury shape, but he is also a pitcher. He will improve the shape that he is in over Spring Training. He will be right where he needs to be after Spring Training is over. The team will make sure of that. 3. After coming off of a great year last year, I expect Beckett to keep pitching the way he did. We will definitely see during the course of the season. All of this is a matter of opinion. If you don't like the guy then of course you are going to be negative about him. I don't have a problem with him. He is the way he is. My concern is that he does what this team needs when he is on the mound.

At this point, it is unlikely that there will be any changes like that only because CC is getting used to playing in LF after playing there all year last year.

What kind of s*** is this? I typed in jetbluepark.com and it took me to the Yankees website. That is messed up. I hate the Yankees as it is and I get redirected to their site when I tried searching sites about JetBlue park. I apologize for posting a website and cursing, but I am shocked and thought you guys need to see this.

I agree, it would be so much better to have a guy like Silva, Cook, or Padilla as our #3 starter. It WOULD be extremely stupid to trade Beckett. He is the way he is. We don't have him as part of this team for his personality, we have him as part of this team because he is a good pitcher and one of the two best starting pitchers that we have. We can't trade away one of our best pitchers when one of our biggest weaknesses is SP.

I do not agree with you here. What makes you think that? I respect Varitek and he was always one of my favorites, but the C on his jersey was overrated. He deserved to be the captain of this team, but just because he is gone does not mean the leadership on this team will take "an even bigger drop." Pedroia is a natural leader. The players know what they did wrong last year and they are moving in the right direction to fix it. I think the lack of leadership last year was due to Francona not being able to control what goes on in the clubhouse and players not really listening to him. Bobby V is coming in with a new style and some new rules. He is going to do everything in his power to make sure this team is heading in the right direction. I think there actually might be more leadership in the clubhouse this year than there was last year. Lester is a guy that seems like he has learned from his mistakes last year. He will play a big leadership role for this team and the pitching staff. Pedroia is going to be a great leader once again for this team. If you are doing something that you shouldn't be doing, Pedroia will not hesitate to say something. Ortiz learned a lot from last year. Gonzalez will lead by example. Ellsbury will lead by example. This team has a lot of guys that are capable of leading. I think overall that this team is better off this year with new coaches, some new players, and some new rules. I think it is a stretch to say that leadership will take a drop. Correct me if I am misinterpreting what you are saying.

I went to the practice today and I actually heard about that. One of the workers at the stadium was telling me that he was saying that he isn't a basketball player and can't jump or dunk. I thought it was funny. It is nothing serious. If it were the regular season it is something he can play through. Since it is Spring Training, they are just taking precautionary measures to make sure he will heal up fine. Supposedly Big Papi also hurt himself in the batting cages when he fouled a ball off of himself. Bobby V was the first one over there to make sure he was fine. I haven't heard anything new about that, so I am assuming he is fine. I watched Iglesias and Aviles at SS today taking some infield. Iglesias and Pedroia look great together up the middle. Middlebrooks is looking solid too. Aviles did good, but to me Iglesias stood out to me more. The first game that I am going Lester will be pitching (against Northeastern). Doubront is starting game 2 against BC later that night. I wish I could see Doubront pitch, but I have to go straight to Orlando later that night because I am going out of town for the week for Spring Break. If anyone is going to see Doubront pitch, please fill me in on how he does this Saturday. He has been doing good in all of his workouts and practices. I would love to see him win that 5th spot in the rotation. Iglesias and Lavarnway might both start the year in AAA, but the word at JetBlue is that both might be able to crack the big league roster at some point in the season. Both players have been very impressive so far this Spring. Another note about starting pitchers, Aceves is said to really really want the 5th spot in the rotation. He has been working really hard and if we can somehow replace his production in the pen if some other guys pan out, then it might be realistic to see both Bard and Aceves in the rotation this year. It is interesting to see how that might turn out. Obviously the concern at this point will be to see if the pen will be fine without both Bard and Aceves. I will be right back at JetBlue tomorrow morning for practice. Class can wait until Spring Training is over.

1. I have heard the same thing about Doubront. I am going to Spring Training practice all this week, so I will let you know if I see how he is doing. If Doubront has a good Spring and can prove himself, I would love for him to be our 5th starter. That would be good for this team. 2. I agree. Crawford has the first year in Boston out of the way. He can't do much worse. 3. I think that Dice-K will play a bigger part with this team in 2012 than many people think. When he comes back this summer he could be a nice addition to this rotation. I hope it ends up working out that we have 5 decent starters when it is time for him to come back, but he could add some nice depth when he returns. 4. Well said. 5. Nice fact. I hope that you are right.

The difference between this year and last year is that a lot of people saw us as favorites to win the World Series. This year people are seeing us as a team that might not even make the playoffs. The expectations are a lot different. This team has a bunch of question marks. Last year we did not have a lot of question marks. We need Crawford and Youkilis to have solid years. We need Bard to be solid in the rotation. We need Bailey and Melancon to be solid. We need to figure out a 5th starter that will give this team the best chance to win. I think we will be fine when Spring Training comes to an end. It seems like the world is coming to an end when this team is not expected to win the World Series. I know several fans who are comfortable with the position we are in. They think everything will work out. I know a few fans who have completely given up hope for this team. Hell, my old supervisor was a Red Sox fan and he said is questioning if he wants to be a fan anymore because the Sox "are not going to be contenders for a few years." I find it laughable. I honestly cannot predict what will happen this year with this team. That is not making me question my loyalty to this team. I just know we went the entire year last year without decent production in the 4th and 5th spots in the rotation. This team will contend for the playoffs this year. There might be some struggles, but we are not going to be the worst team in baseball. We still have a solid core of guys that will lead this team in the right direction.

I am fine with Crawford batting second. I preached this before the start of last season. I want to see consistency in the lineup. I think Bobby V will do a fine job of that. If you are going to bat CC second, then don't move him around all year until he can produce results. I am fine with Pedroia batting 3rd or 4th. I think it might be reasonable to bat him 4th because of how well he did in the cleanup role last year. I think we need to keep Ellsbury in the leadoff spot regardless. Pedroia is capable of batting 2nd, 3rd, or 4th. I am not getting paid to make the lineup and batting order, so I am going to trust Bobby V's decisions, but the most important thing I want to see is consistency. It gets everyone comfortable with their spot in the lineup and the players know what to expect. Ellsbury is also already saying that he wants to stay in Boston and that he is open to talking about extensions. We are stuck with Crawford. I don't think we will be able to trade him at this point, unless we eat the majority of his contract. If we can afford to give Big Papi 14.5 million this year, we should be fine with giving Ellsbury what he is worth. We need to lock Ellsbury up long term and keep him in Boston. He is too good to let go.

Pedroia is no doubt the best option for captain if we were to name a captain. He is a hard worker, a leader, and a good role model. However, it is not that important if this team does not have a captain.

How am I "losing it?" Don't put a different meaning on the word than it actually has. I simply said Melancon and Bailey are going to replace Bard and Papelbon at a much cheaper price. That does not mean I am saying they are going to be as good as Bard and Papelbon have been for us in the past. I think Melancon and Bailey will be a good combo, but not as effective as Bard and Papelbon, especially not in the first year. I could see them being very good for us, especially with the more experience they get. I hope they are both in Boston for years to come.

I am borderline C+ and B-. If I were to use a number system I would say he gets an 8/10 or an 80%. He made the mistake of offering Big Papi arbitration. I still think it was a solid move to resign Papi, but I feel like it should have been done at a cheaper price. I also give him credit for not resigning Papelbon. I know I might get some negative feedback for saying this, but Papelbon is asking way too much for a closer. He went out and traded for Melancon and Bailey. That replaces Papelbon and Bard in the pen at a much cheaper price then resigning Papelbon. He did not get a proven SP, but he did move Bard to the rotation and has several former decent SP that have a shot to crack the rotation and have a rebound year. I am not panicking with our rotation because we have four pitcher that should be fine, along with Dice-K coming back sometime this summer. We also have options to trade for someone before the deadline. I think our offense is one of the best in baseball. Our pen and rotation are question marks at this point, but I feel like he did a solid job with what he was given to work with. We all knew we did not have a bunch of money to spend this offseason, but he still made good moves in trading for Melancon and Bailey. I still do not understand the Scutaro trade, but I think we will be fine with the options that we have. I gave him a C+/B- because he made a couple of mistakes, but at the same time he did what he needed to do to give this team a chance to compete. If things go our way, then we will be fine.

So here is an update from a personal perspective of Spring Training. I went to JetBlue today and watched practice and took a tour of the stadium (I caved in). First I will start with the practice. I saw Bard, Bailey, Buchholz, Carlson, and Lester all pitch. Lester looked great when he pitched live batting practice. Buchholz is doing solid. Bailey is doing solid. Carlson looked decent. I must say that I am really impressed with Lester. His stuff looks great at this point in the Spring. I saw Lavarnway catching as well. Although it was just BP, he looked great and extremely comfortable catching for Buchholz and Bailey. I did not see Beckett at all. I got the chance to watch the team field some ground balls as well. Aviles, Punto, and Iglesias were all at short and looked pretty solid. We all know Iglesias is great defensively and he showed me that today. He has unbelievable range. Middlebrooks is really tall. He towers over Youkilis at 3B. They both did solid, although that is what we should expect with it being practice. Pedroia did solid as well. My fiancee got Youk's autograph after practice. He was actually pretty irritated with the fans today. Someone kept yelling his name to come over and sign autographs and he turned around and said something along the lines of "I sign autographs everyday. Just wait and I will sign." I can understand his frustration. The fans were yelling for him to sign autographs. He went to another area to sign instead of by the area the guy was yelling. Pedroia also signed autographs. Pedroia grabbed the hat in my fiancee's hand to sign it and then handed it back and headed for the clubhouse. I was really close to getting his autograph, even though I already have one of his. My fiancee also got Lester's autograph right as we were about to leave the practice fields. Lester is really humble and really polite. As for the stadium. I ended up taking a tour of it in a group of about 40 or so. I got to go in the dugout, go on the field, look at the Green Monster in person, and go on top of the Green Monster and see the view from there. The Green Monster is unique because they have seats in the Green Monster and on top it. The seats inside it are blocked with a net. If the ball bounces off that net, then the ball is still in play. The Green Monster also has an actual scoreboard that is from the real Green Monster that was taken from the 2002 season. Another interesting note about the Green Monster at JetBlue is that it is 43 feet tall instead of 37. It is harder to hit a homerun at JetBlue because of the 6 feet added to it. The stadium has a real Florida feel to it, but it also has the same dimensions as Fenway. It is a really nice stadium and I was impressed with what I saw. I took 97 pictures total today. It was a great experience and I recommend that if you get the chance, then go check it out. I also checked my seats out for the games I am going to and I have great seats. I am sitting behind home plate in one of the games and right behind the Red Sox dugout in the other games. I also learned that the reason that we use the 3B dugout for games in Spring Training is due to the fact that it is a Grapefruit League requirement for all home teams to use the 3B dugout. The clubhouse is also located right behind the Green Monster wall. I thought that was interesting. I am excited for Spring Training to start. I cannot wait to watch a game at JetBlue.