Looch Ness Monster

Look how much Ellsbury gets injured in center field. It's a pretty dangerous position if you think about it. I agree with you though, right field appears to be the more realistic option. Left field usually isn't a position that you fill within your farm system in my opinion. Especially somebody who has five tools potentially as Westmoreland does. I kind of see him being what people wanted J.D. Drew to be when he came up in the big leagues in right field.

Five-Star Prospects 1. Ryan Westmoreland, CF 2. Casey Kelly RHP/SS Four-Star Prospects 3. Josh Reddick, OF 4. Ryan Kalish, OF Three-Star Prospects 5. Anthony Rizzo, 1B 6. Jose Iglesias, SS 7. Junichi Tazawa, RHP 8. Michael Bowden, RHP 9. Lars Anderson, 1B 10. Reymond Fuentes, CF 11. Derrik Gibson, 2B/SS Four More: 12. David Renfroe, RHP/SS: Like Kelly, he's another big-bonus, two-way star, but Renfroe will begin his career as an infielder, and he projects as a prototypical third baseman due to his size, power potential, and arm. 13. Alex Wilson, RHP: He had a 0.50 ERA in New York-Penn League while giving up just 10 hits in 36 innings, but he's already 23, so he should dominate. Still, his fastball/slider combo is impressive. 14. Stolmy Pimentel, RHP: The young Dominican righty still has plus command and plenty of projection, but performances have been so-so. 15. Che-Hsuan Lin, LF: Lin’s tools still impress, his defense remains outstanding, his numbers... not so much, but Red Sox officials remain very high on him. 1. Ryan Westmoreland, CF DOB: 04/27/90 Height/Weight:6-2/195 Bats/Throws: L/R Drafted/Signed:5th round, 2008, Portsmouth HS (RI) 2009 Stats: .296/.401/.484 at Short-season (60 G) Last Year’s Ranking: 5 Year in Review: The high-profile over-slot draftee from 2008 did not disappoint in his pro debut. The Good: One scout described Westmoreland as having "the tools of a top-five high school pick, with the advanced skills of a college player." Supremely athletic, Westmoreland has average power with projection for more, as well as a keen understanding of the strike zone and a silky smooth swing with some natural lift to it. He's an outstanding runner with instincts, as indicated by his 19 stolen bases in 60 games for the Spinners without getting caught. The Bad: Westmoreland had shoulder surgery after signing, and he played in the field for only eight games last year. He had a plus arm in high school, but it's not completely back yet. His season ended early when he broke his collarbone, so there are some minor concerns about his health record so far. Some of the more advanced left-handers of the New York-Penn League gave him trouble with good breaking balls. Ephemera: Westmoreland knew how to get things started at Lowell, batting .423/.500/.635 in his first plate appearances over 60 games. Perfect World Projection: Westmoreland could be the kind of player people thought Grady Sizemore would become. Path to the Big Leagues: Jacoby Ellsbury is well established in Boston, but it's too early to worry about that. Timetable: Westmoreland will make a highly anticipated full-season debut in 2010, beginning the year at Low-A Greenville.

Well, if what you're saying is that the Red Sox need a big bat in the middle then I wholeheartedly agree.

Of course you agree wholeheartedly. Yawn. Teams don't follow 10 year trends, it's up to management to bring new players in that make the team better and it's a year by year process.

I've really learned to love Drew. I realized after a while the contract really doesn't matter..it isn't like we're paying his salary. He's a good OBP guy and fits in our system well. He's our 8th hitter on our best days and he's very good in that role. He can also be a leadoff if Ellsbury has to miss time and he always adjusts to new roles fairly well. He isn't great but I feel like he does everything solid. I also feel like he's been more durable this year and that has been encouraging. I'll always remember his amazing catch against the NYY in that 15 inning thriller too.

Buchholz is really HIT or really MISS.

I think the consensus now is...nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnope.

All things considered, Dice-K has been a stud today. *knock on wood since he's still in*

What I don't understand..is Beckett really going to pitch like crap on purpose just because he's the Game 2 pitcher, to spite the team? No, his ego is too big for that. Lester's been the best pitcher on the team this year and I'm more confident in him than Beckett at this point.

5 years/$15 million with bonuses. Because of his style of play he's bound to miss 7-10 games a year. So I would say unless he has a monster year next year and has 30 goals+ he'll get about $3 million a year. He could also be a guy they sign to one of those huge 10 year deals. I'd rather they do that with Chara though.

We'll keep him. The Bruins have been trying to get rid of Kessel for the past 2 seasons. Lucic is the face of the franchise, plays in all 3 zones and is a future captain.

Interesting...I wonder if the Bruins could swing a deal using their massive amount of picks in the next 2 years and a big contract like Ryder. 2010 Bruins 1st round pick Leafs 1st round pick Bruins 2nd round pick Lightning 2nd round pick Leafs 2nd round pick 2011 Bruins 1st round pick Leafs 1st round pick Bruins 2nd round pick

You read the first few words of the post then stopped? I said it doesn't mean we shouldn't have signed Thomas because it obviously is stupid to throw a young kid into the fire but I think the team jumped the gun on signing him and overpaid him.

The Thomas deal looks terrible now. We have no other players of Kessel's caliber in the organization waiting in the wings (as far as I know) as far as speed and explosiveness is concerned. Yet, we do have a player on Thomas' caliber in Tuuka Rask ready NOW. I'm not saying we shouldn't have brought Thomas back but I think we should have waited until the offseason and signed him to a shorter deal at a smaller cap hit. Lucic is gonna have to increase his goal scoring production, which I think he will. Same with Wheeler. And Sturm is gonna have to be healthy. I think Sturm can be like 3/4 of what Kessel was but a guy like Kessel is irreplaceable. This deal is going to need a few years and really depends on how the other players on the team PC chose over Kessel perform.

I wouldn't want to play for the Raiders either. That sucks for him.

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/reiss_pieces/2009/09/patriots_confir_1.html Wow..in Belichick we trust but this move is shocking. I'm guessing this means we want money to sign Wilfork and believe Burgess can replace Seymour at DE.

Jason Varitek should not be playing again in Boston after this season. It's disappointing Francona is staying loyal to a guy who would probably struggle hitting in AA.

Kind of disappointed Clay didn't go all the way...

Not only this but the Celtics beat writer Marc Spears. They're financially unstable right now and the NY Times (their grandfather company) is not backing them up because of it.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/244353-mike-reiss-to-leave-globe-join-espnboston Wow. Definitely disappointing. Reiss was easily the best, most informative writer at the Globe. I only read Boston.com and that's where he stands out. Sad to see him go, interested to see ESPNBoston. Plus, the Globe is just about to collapse. It's DONE. They can't support themselves much longer. His new home is http://espn.go.com/boston/

Just take care of business at home. Won't be rooting for the lame Yankees.

You should be in the lineup every single day when you're making $12 million a year. EDIT: This isn't knocking Drew.

Except for Gom, trolls never die. I'm predicting a very very solid Red Sox win tonight in a pitching duel. 3-2 Sox with Beckett and Sabathia both going 8 IP.

I got a good night's sleep.