Spudboy

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!1!! He needs implants at the minimum.

Actually Heidi is a nice woman.

Lol. http://www.gammonsdaily.com/manny-ramirez-dominican-winter-league/ Manny is playing good ball in the DWL. I hope that he gets a crack at MLB in 2015. Baseball is definitely more fun with him around.

Me too. He may not be at or above league average in BA but I don't see him as Mendoza or below except for short slumps. Who came up with the idea that Vasquez can not hit? Obviously his offensive numbers are looked at differently because Swihart is in the picture with gobs of promise ( supposedly ).

Well he does have an Ivy League education to fall back on.

Maybe the Sox see Miley, Porcello and Kelly as their primary starters going forward. I was thinking that the Sox would stand pat until the apparent glut of SP hits free agency after 2015. Not sure what will happen now. I do suspect that the Sox will emphasize reliance on younger, demonstrated MLB arms going forward. I doubt that they go nuts and trade a bunch of prospects for Cole Hamels or sign Shields to 5/100+ now. Maybe if the Sox are in contention for a playoff birth in 2015 they could take a rental on a high end arm for the postseason. But I doubt that as well. I suspect that the Sox will continue to target arms like Miley and Porcello instead.

My heart pumps piss for both of them.

In defense of WMB his decision came down to a winter of titty f***ing Jenny Dell or playing sandlot ball with a bunch of smelly fringe players. I'm not a "Big Tit" man. But I can see how he would be swayed.

I will say this about Capuano. He wore the Red leggings when playing for the Sox. I think that is cool. Porcello has much better stuff. The two pitchers are not close in ability and value.

Maybe the chart has been amended.

Your Wife sounds great. How did she get stuck with you?

Cp176 Check out a page called fangraphs. All the newer metrics are explained there.

Porcello knows his projected value entering free agency. I doubt that the Sox would get a bargain but it should be investigated. They will most likley wait until July - August to move on it if at all.

Well his games played and other stats are down I don't think that they preclude Hanigan from playing a more major role in the Sox roster than Ross would likely have. Does he have major injury issues that will prevent him from playing 80-110 games?

And of course the whole SS situation is seen as yet another aspect of what has been a mess of a position for most of the time since Nomar was traded. Success has sort of obfuscated that.

I imagine that the core Yankee fans are in tune with what is going on. I bet that there is some optimism.

I missed it earlier this week. Nick Punto was released by Oakland. I always liked the guy. Not a great player but he was a decent utility type guy and a good teammate. At 37 I assume that he is very close to being done.

I guess. Those big checks sure would go far in my life. But I was just commenting on Amaro. Even if Howard is near to totally useless now, the man still has some dignity I presume.

Speaking of long term dead money I just saw this. What a giant dick Amaro is. It was in very bad taste that he said these things to the press and It was questionable if he should have spoken with Howard that way. Can you imagine Cherries saying things like this to the press? NL East Notes: Howard, Turner, Tulowitzki By Charlie Wilmoth [December 20, 2014 at 11:02am CST] GM Ruben Amaro says he’s told first baseman Ryan Howard the Phillies feel the team would be better off if he were elsewhere, Matt Lombardo of NJ.com writes (via Mike Missanelli on 97.5 The Fanatic). “I told [Howard] that in our situation it would probably bode better for the organization not with him but without him,” says Amaro. “With that said, if he’s with us, then we’ll work around him. We’ll hope he puts up the kind of numbers that we hope he can and we’ll see where it goes from there.” Amaro notes that the Phillies are not willing to release Howard. A trade, obviously, will be tricky, given the $60MM remaining on Howard’s contract. Here’s more from the NL East.

He has very few games under his belt in AAA. I hope that he stays there for the entire 2015 and then gets a crack if ready in 2016. Of course he may tear it up in Pawtucket and convince the FO that he is ready at some point this season ( 2015 ). I think that they should give him some time at 1st base. That would seem prudent given the current MLB roster and his projected greatness with the bat.

It's just back-up catcher. Who really expect a lot of production from that position? Also, Hanigan throws out base stealers at a high rate and is known as a good defensive catcher. That is a good thing becuase this rotation will likely need that kind of help.

Who said Kelly would not be in the rotation? Plus, that's only 7 relievers!!!!!! Is Badenhop signed elsewhere yet?

Lol. Okay. I guess I'm confused. Cubs To Sign David Ross By Jeff Todd [December 19, 2014 at 4:13pm CST] The Cubs have agreed to a two-year, $5MM deal with catcher David Ross, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports on Twitter. Reports emerged earlier today suggesting that the veteran was headed to the Padres, but indications are that he is in fact set to join former teammate Jon Lester in Chicago. Ross, a client of Sports One Athlete Management client, will add yet more veteran leadership behind the plate for the Cubs. He will slot in alongside the recently-acquired Miguel Montero, providing a right-handed-hitting complement. Chicago also added another former Red Sox backstop today in Ryan Lavarnway, who was added via waiver claim. Before joining the Red Sox in 2013, Ross spent four years as the reserve option for the Braves. He slashed a robust .269/.353/.463, but never made more than 200 plate appearances in a given season. Ross has fallen back to a .650 OPS over the last two seasons in Boston, over 287 plate appearances. Defensively, Baseball Prospectus did not value Ross’s work very highly last year. In the aggregate, then, there are plenty of questions about Ross’s abilities moving forward. But he does have a rather high established ceiling for a backup catcher, and obviously is one of the game’s most respected elder statesmen at this stage of his career.

Good!

He did break his wrist along the way. I'll miss the Fenway chants of Meyers.