SoxSport

I read 5 of the 7 arb players lost their cases. Ortiz probably would have lost, but the Red Sox are overpaying him for PR reasons.

You can't turn chickens**t into chickens***d with just IQ. Could be Pawtucket filler.

If they stay away from injuries, get in shape in ST, and get off to a fast start, they'll be right in there for the division title and should make the playoffs. It boils down to injuries for all the contending teams. The Yankees are always vulnerable because of their age.

They got to give those young guys a shot. Look at that Harvard kid Lin with the Knicks. Without injuries, the kid never gets in a game. Same with Reddick last year. They gave him a shot, he panned out, and they got a good closer for him. Lavarnway comes in, hits two HRs, and Tito bats him cleanup the next day. Well, that's Tito. Not the thing to do with the kid. Not in that lineup. So now they've got Lavarnway, Iglesias and Kalish waiting in the wings. Kalish will be late due to injuries, but I think Valentine will give the other two plenty of opportunity to show what they can do in ST. Bobby will be looking for fundamentals, and he will run.

The beer and chicken thing was useful for the media to highlight because it was a reflection of the lax attitude on the Red Sox which contributed to their collapse. Symptoms of their conditioning problems appeared the previous year as well, with a spate of injuries--and some made note of that. In my view, the real culprits were the management, who ran too loose a ship. The media points fingers at the players, but the management set the tone. Certainly Tito, probably Epstein, and maybe also LL and Henry. Beckett, for example, is a current media target. He may have enjoyed a beer in the clubhouse on off-days, like many other players do, but he had a very good year, and was one of those who started the season as though he was in shape. I give him credit for that, and wish him well this year. Wouldn't mind having a beer with him sometime.

Don't think so. I think traction is where you get put into a harness and can't move. In decompression, they put you on a split table and pull the halves of the table apart--stretching your spine. You are in a harness strapped around your waist, and they can localize the stretching down to the lower lumbar area if desired. They apply a load of about half your body weight for a minute, reduce the load in half, then reapply the original load for a minute, etc. repeating this several times over a 30 minute period. You do this 3 times a week, up to 20 visits, and they increase the load every other time. The final load should be 10-25% above half your body weight. I just completed 20 treatments. There is definitely an improvement in my lower back--I don't get the nerve sensitivity down my leg I had before, which means the disks are less inflamed. The disks are supposed to thicken from the treatment--refilling with disk fluid regenerated by the stretching. I have a couple of flattened disks--no herniation. It also helps in herniated cases--sucking the herniated stuff back into the disk.

Their 4 and 5 starters should be Bard and Aceves. I think Bard is going to surprise. Nolan Ryan would be starting him, too. The other guys are a longshot--maybe some BP help there. Padilla has the best shot at sticking.

Maybe Ortiz has secretly agreed to work out at SS. Just kidding. He needs to stay in the same shape as last year, though. That should be in his contract. I think they will go to Iglesias at some point in the season. SS is a defensive position. His hitting has been way overemphasized.

Have you tried spinal decompression? I just had that done--20 treatments over a 2 month span. It does improve things some. How much is too early to tell yet.

Welcome to the club. You don't usually get this until you're past 50. But athletes have a way of speeding up the age process. It's hard to say whether a guy can pitch every 5th day after spinal manipulation treatment, etc. Surgery is not an option. Spinal decompression is a good option. You get incrementally stretched on a table--to widen the disk spacings. Just had that done. I think the Red Sox should pass on Oswalt. My hunch is Bard is going to be a much better starter than many expected. He's too good to be a setup guy.The other thing is the media is now placing a premium on having 6-7 starters. Since the media is almost never right on its pre-season predictions, I would discount that. They should be OK with 4 reliable starters. The trick is to get that 4th starter who can fill in for one of the top 3 in case of injury. That was missing last year.

How can you tell what's behind all that hair?

I see a whole lot of bad stuff here about Youkilis. Brainless, ugly, etc. Probably just a lot of kidding. I don't see Youks that way at all. First of all, he's a damn good hitter when he's healthy--one of the best. And he was an all-star 1st baseman after he was moved over there from 3B when he was younger. Seems like they needed a first baseman. Last year, he got unceremoniously moved back to 3B because the GM had a love affair with a 1st baseman from the West Coast. No complaints from Youks. The last two years, the Red Sox have collapsed at roughly the same time Youks went down with injuries. Two years ago, Pedroia went down with him, and that sealed their fate. This year Youks was injured and wasn't part of the September collapse. Maybe that contributed to it. Maybe, too, his hernia problems stemmed from having to go back to 3B at age 33. He didn't bitch about it. Oh yes. There was that clubhouse story by one of those irresponsible sports writers who printed some juicy quotes about Ellsbury's injury--which was mishandled by the Red Sox--not by Youks. So what's the big deal about Youks? He wasn't even one of those beer and chicken guys. And he did not lose two Super bowls to the Giants.

Overheard at Yahoo sports: "The Red Sox pinched pennies in the wake of their beer-soaked collapse." Who writes this crap at Yahoo? Never anything positive there about any Boston team--it seems.

I want some credit, too, for setting it up.

Diva and the RSFO are about $4mil apart--to answer the thread question. It looks like that's where they'll stay. I don't see them going 2 years now that they've seen there's no market for him. They probably also think they'll win the arbitration. It will be interesting to see what they do if they lose. $16.5 mil looks embarrassing. They could cut him or dump his salary--like the Yanks are trying to do with Burnett. I doubt they'll do either, because Henry is sensitive to the fan reaction.

How do you like those Yanks unloading Burnett on the Pirates. First they steal Pineda (Seattle wanted Ells from the Sox for him), now it looks like they they might dump Burnett on the Pirates. They sure have a way with the poorer teams.

Just saw some data on Bard from last year. Clearly tired in September as his velocity dropped from upper to mid 90s. This guy could be a sleeper ace as a starter. He has enough pitches. I think they figure they have a better than #4 starter. The competition is probably for #5.

Would love to see Diva barge into one of Bobby V.'s press conferences. Bobby might cut him on the spot.

I like to think his wrist was his problem last year--not his head. Heads are harder to heal.

I'd like to see the Globe get a bit more positive about the Sox, now that Spring Training is around the corner. I don't know what Boyd using coke 30 years ago has got to do with anything. Ancient history. And Beckett on the Millar show sounded OK to me. Beckett is the last guy you want to point fingers at. He came out of spring training in shape, unlike a few others, and had a pretty good season. The killer was Buchholz, and all the failed efforts to replace him.

Maybe the Patriots have found the way to beat the Giants in the playoffs.

Buchholz, Crawford, Youks. 3 guys who have to rebound.