Spudboy

That would be nice. Amaro seems to be waiting for a score of two or three top tier type prospects. Maybe he will lower his requirements ? I have no idea how your offer matches up with the Phillie's needs.

Here is a really nice story about Daniel Bard. I never heard about the thoracic problem and operation. Thanks to Josh Beckett, Bard may have a future pitching a baseball again. I hope so. http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/110381602/daniel-bard-refreshed-for-comeback-with-cubs-after-break-from-baseball

As far as I know the Sox are still waiting for the results of Moncada's drug test or so they say. He has not been signed yet, I believe. Castillo has an oblique strain now. He had a sore thumb in winter ball.

Here is that box score. Bradley had two more hits. TAMPA BAY (1) AT BOSTON (5) TAMPA BAY AB R H BI BOSTON AB R H BI Kiermaier cf 3 0 1 0 Victorino rf 2 0 0 0 Powell cf 1 0 0 0 Nava rf 2 0 0 0 Beckham 2b 3 0 0 0 Pedroia 2b 3 1 0 0 Brett 2b 1 0 0 0 Swihart c 1 1 1 0 Franklin ss 2 0 0 0 Ortiz dh 3 0 1 0 Lee ss 2 0 0 0 Craig ph-dh 1 0 0 0 Souza Jr. rf 3 0 0 0 H. Ramírez lf 3 0 1 1 Motter rf 0 0 0 0 Cecchini 3b 1 0 1 2 Forsythe 3b 3 1 1 0 Sandoval 3b 3 0 0 0 R Shaffer 3b 0 0 0 0 Brentz lf 1 0 0 0 Francisco 1b 2 0 0 0 Napoli 1b 3 0 2 0 Belnome 1b 0 0 0 0 LaHair pr-1b 1 0 0 0 Butler dh 3 0 1 0 Bogaerts ss 2 0 0 0 Brown lf 3 0 0 0 Weeks 2b 0 1 0 0 Gantt lf 0 0 0 0 Bradley Jr. cf 3 1 2 0 Casilla c 2 0 0 0 Hanigan c 2 0 0 0 O'Conner c 1 0 0 0 Bianchi ss 2 1 1 0 TOTALS 29 1 3 0 TOTALS 33 5 9 3 TAMPA BAY 000 000 010 -- 1 BOSTON 002 000 21x -- 5 E--Franklin 2, Lee. DP--TAMPA BAY 2. LOB--TAMPA BAY 2, BOSTON 8. 2B--H. Ramírez, Cecchini, Bradley Jr., Kiermaier. 3B--Forsythe. CS--LaHair. IP H R ER BB SO HR TAMPA BAY Andriese (L,0-1) 2 2-3 2 2 0 1 0 0 Montgomery 2 1-3 4 0 0 1 2 0 Floro 2 3 2 2 0 1 0 Stowell 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 BOSTON Masterson (W,1-0) 3 0 0 0 0 4 0 Uehara 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 Varvaro 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 Owens 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 Eveland 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 Spruill 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 WP--Stowell 2. PB--Swihart. SO--TB: Brown 3, Beckham 2, Souza Jr. 2, Francisco 2, Powell, Franklin. BOS: Victorino, Bradley Jr., Pedroia. BB--TB: Belnome. BOS: Victorino, Bogaerts, Bradley Jr., Weeks. T--2:32. A--10,156.

From MLB Trade Rumors comes bad news for the Jays: "Marcus Stroman Likely Out For Season With Torn ACL". This is one of my favorite young pitchers. The guy has nasty stuff. While his injury may make a division rival weaker, I hate to see this happen to such a promising young talent. At 23, he has plenty of time to recover and to establish himself as one of the best young arms in the game. I hope to see Norris take his place.

The B or C team of Sox beat the Cards today, 3-0. Betts had another hit and apparently Miley did nothing to concern anyone.

While home runs by XB would be nice I'd be happy if he could just keep the line moving. Ropes to the gaps on a regular basis would be nice to see.

The choker has come up twice today with RISP. He has two hits and 4 RBI resulting from a single and a HR.

But the Giants are wondering what to do when Spence comes back in May. It was nice to hear that Craig had two hits and two walks today. I've been very skeptical about him.

Hmmm. I never considered this idea. I certainly prefer my team to be in my city, so to speak. I think cp176 is referring to the Globe property on Morrisey Blvd. While not considered "the city", that would probably be a successful site for a stadium.

This should be a really good year to watch him hone his skills in Pawtucket.

Well now. Victorino is being held out of games until Monday with soreness in his legs. Farrell says that it is not related to Vics back. It was my understanding that Victorino was in great shape several weeks before the official start of camp. How does this happen? I hope it's not an indication of what his 2015 will be like.

And to think, they just gave Farrell an extension!!!!! Two more years of these soft camps!

There goes the season!

Lol. Thanks Bell. I now feel smart!

And Ted, when are you heading to Ft. Myers? I hope that you can post pics and vids while there.

If I'm a Yankee fan I go with Jeter. Again, my perception is that he has seemed to come up big more than A-Roid.

For the Sox I would go with Ortiz simply because he has come through so many times. Not sure what was or is his prime. The lefty match up concerns me some but I have never believed that Ortiz was useless against lefties except when he was struggling with injuries. Of course I could be wrong. This is just my opinion. I'm using my gut, not facts, to support my opinion.

Ortiz points towards his Mother in Heaven.

Exactly. This is not a competition.

I never heard this from anyone but you and I drown myself in Red Sox media and fan opinion everyday living where I do.

lol But he is the first member to remind us all twice a week. But that's Fred!

I was kidding. Sorry if I offended you.

Now, of course, there are some cases where stats may not be totally reliable in predicting future performance. One obvious example is Xander Boegarts ability to hit with RISP. Rather than conclude that XB is a "choker" after half a season of at bats, I prefer to look at his career arc and read between the lines, so to speak. The Kid has hit well up to the 2014 MLB season. But most importantly, he was a 21 year old playing about two levels above his age. I just assume that the kid is still learning his craft. I think that he stunk ( for the most part ) at SS last year. And I believe that he will probably switch positions in the future because of body size and maturation. It has never occurred to me that he will never be a good defensive player at some point.

Not if you have a desire to learn and to understand your world.