Spudboy

Lol. I don't have any inside info but I really doubt that the Sox sign Lester for all the reasons I have stated over the past two-three months. I hope that I am wrong, though.

Farrell says that pitchers have leaned how to pitch to Holt and that Holt will make the adjustments soon. I think so. From what I have seen, Holt has very good at bats and knows how to hit what he is thrown, not just swing at what he would like to hit. In my opinion, Holt has a very good skill set as a batter. I wish it would rub off on two other Sox rookies!

Boston Red Sox Player AB R H RBI TB BB K AVG OBP SLG B. Holt, CF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .297 .344 .414 D. Pedroia, 2B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .279 .344 .377 D. Ortiz, DH 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .249 .342 .497 Y. Cespedes, LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .258 .305 .462 M. Napoli, 1B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .271 .384 .449 D. Nava, RF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .256 .336 .320 X. Bogaerts, SS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .238 .303 .361 W. Middlebrooks, 3B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .195 .290 .329 C. Vazquez, C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .255 .328 .327 Los Angeles Angels Player AB R H RBI TB BB K AVG OBP SLG K. Calhoun, RF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .279 .337 .463 M. Trout, CF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .300 .389 .576 A. Pujols, 1B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .275 .325 .475 J. Hamilton, LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .274 .343 .429 E. Aybar, SS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .270 .309 .380 H. Kendrick, 2B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .279 .335 .374 D. Freese, 3B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .253 .320 .356 E. Navarro, DH 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .284 .344 .420 C. Iannetta, C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .263 .367 .411

Come to think of it, this is an opportune time to apologize to SoxFanForsythe. Shortly after the deadline deal with Oakland I got into it with him about Cespedes. I proclaimed our new slugger as someone with low OBP, which is atypical of the batters this team seems to favor. I stand by that and by my opinion that he is defensively deficient. He's Gomes with more speed and an accurate cannon of an arm. I misstated that Cespedes strikes out too much and that he did not walk enough. I had only given his offensive history a perfunctory look and made an incorrect assumption without crunching the numbers. Subsequently I trolled SFF. I allowed the conversation to devolve into a pointless, immature, and unpleasant personal attack. Such behavior is beneath me and makes me a hypocrite. Since I did this all in a public way I think it is only correct that I apologize in a public way too. I'm sorry Forsythe.

You will likely have to wait until September!! I hope not, though.

I had the occasion to listen to WEEI this afternoon ( I don't make a habit of doing this ). The topic was Cherrington's statement about different ways ( from adding a #1 and #2 ) to build a rotation that is competitive. Naturally the Sox reluctance to pay market value was brought up. They played a tape of a conversation with Buster Olney. On this tape Olney said that on the evening of June 8 ( when Lester was facing the Yankees! ) the Sox called the agents of Lester and offered "Homer Bailey money". Something like 6/100. It seems the agents said no thanks, we want more a like Sherzer type deal. If this is all true, the Sox brass made at least two sub-market offers. How dumb! If they were serious at all about retaining Lester they should have offered 5/120 -5/135 or 6/120 - 6/135. That would have been enough, as I see it, since Lester has voiced his desire to stay and a willingness to take a home town discount. I'm surprised that the Sox offered 6 years!!! What the hell???? Again, I just do not understand what in the wild, wild world of sports is going on. It was my understanding that the Sox wanted to avoid committing to 5-7 years! Oh well.

Time for some fun on the left coast Sox fans!! Webster (1-1, 6.75 ERA) vs. Weaver (12-6, 3.59 ERA) Oh joy! Webster brings part three of his s*** all over himself routine against Weaver and a talented group making a playoff push. I hope that the Sox equipment manager has brought enough diapers and wipes!! I'll give Webster this much credit, though. His 2 plus innings will take some attention off our former top prospect striking out two or three times. At least he's a compassionate teammate, eh? And as if this was not enough of a sacrifice, Webster's 6.71 ERA is taking some of the attention off of our new Ace's skyrocketing ERA. What a guy!!!!! This game starts at 10:00 EST. Let's all stay up and get another dose of frustration and insomnia!!! GO SOX!

lulz.

I know. I'm not trying to call you out or to prove you are wrong and that I am right. To much of that crap goes on around here.

And Cherrington verbally acknowledged that signing Drew was ultimately a mistake. And in trading Drew away they owned up to the mistake further. Which is one reason that I do not understand why some believe that Bradley has not been demoted to Pawtucket just because Farrell and Luchino don't want to be further embarrassed if Bradley fails to hit there too. The Sox brass has made some mistakes this year. Most of us know this.

De La Rosa has shown promise and in a larger sample size.

Thunderstorms are in the forecast for St. Louis and it's been raining there most of the day. Odds are that you will get your wish!!! Mookie was sent back down to Pawtucket today. Someone better remove sharp objects from Fred's house!!!

So if Kelly is a back of the rotation guy and Craig does not recover from his fractured foot ( It happened last September, I have read ) then this trade is not a fair swap at all. I have no way of telling if or when Graig will recover and start producing. But so far even with the good game by Kelly last night, this trade looks bad. Of course it's too early to tell.

This is what Farrell had to say: • With Mike Napoli at the plate after a leadoff single by Yoenis Cespedes in the ninth, David Ortiz goes out to the on-deck circle to hit for Daniel Nava. Napoli hits an opposite-field double to right, Cespedes stopping at third. Farrell could have called Ortiz back to the dugout, knowing that the Cardinals would intentionally walk him. Why didn’t he? Farrell explains: "Recognizing full well that they might take the bat out of [Ortiz's] hands, but they'll probably pitch to Nava, with no guarantees," Farrell said. "And we’re into some right-handed hitters after that. We didn’t want to get in a situation where we left David on the bench if we don't get through that inning. We were limited with the opportunities for him. We couldn't pinch hit for another infielder. Will [Middlebrooks

Or Stanton?

Wut?

lol

The Tiger's pen continues to be a question mark or even their Achilles heel regardless. I don't know why they have not addressed this need successfully over the past two or three years.

Ugh...You certainly move XB back to third if you pick up the best SS in the game.

It is a small sample size but he does do everything you have said. He is the anti-AJ!

Massachusetts is a consumer protection state. We have a Lemon Law. Craig should be sent back to the Cards and new compensation should be made to the Sox!!!!!

Which begs the question. Who did the pre-trade physical? Dr. Dolittle? Dr. Seuss? I just don't get it ( I'm saying this with greater regularity recently! ) He rolled his ankle last season and has been a shadow of himself at the plate since. Did the Cards pull one over on the Sox? Did the Sox make an inaccurate assessment of the injury? He tore tissue in his foot. It is my experience from many years of playing basketball and racing motorcycles that sprains ( if that is indeed what happened ) never go away. Like a dislocated shoulder which pops out easier with each successive occurrence, sprained ankles happen with less provocation and never seem to go away. I love the promise of Graig's offensive stats and his salary is not out of this world. But unless he recovers completely and regains his form he will be just like a prospect that could never seem to make it. Useless.

I don't know the status of Pedroia's bad wrist. If he ends up needing surgery after the season I say that he should be shut down now to have surgery and play Mookie at his natural position, 2nd base. One way or another the Sox should put him out there. If not, send him back down until September. Having him sit is just way stupid in my view.

3/39 is not 5/125 or 5/150.

Allen Craig Headed to the Disabled List With Ankle Injury http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2014/08/allen_craig_headed_to_the_disabled_list_with_ankle.html Lol. Unbelievable.