SoxSport

I don't know, it just seems to me that the FO and the management on the field are out of step. The FO seems to do a lot of sensible things in the off-season (discounting the SS fiascos), but the dugout management doesn't seem to keep up with them. That pitching coach gets stroked--for example. What's he done? A string of failures...Pineiro, Penny, Smoltz... That slide business for pitchers, which is making the Sox the laughing stock of baseball. And then there's Tito, with his fanatical loyalty to washed up veterans. To address the VMart issue, I think VMart looks a lot worse right now than he is defensively. I think any catcher would look bad defensively on the Sox with the way pitchers let base runners go. In fact, I think any catcher would HATE to catch for Boston right now.

Did somebody mention CHANGE? Tito isn't a change type of manager. He likes to stick with what he has, especially when it comes to veterans. That's his history. Change will have to come down from above. Most of the suggestions I've seen here are good ones. But batting Pedroia 3rd probably looks as sensible to Tito as pitching a guy in relief more than 1 inning. As far as dealing for AdGon right now, I'm not sure he would want to DH only at this point, and the IF would be a logjam. They are better off moving Hermida and Lowell into the DH role.

Yeah, that whole Bay situation was pretty strange. Letting that guy go because they looked in a crystal ball and saw a knee injury 3 years out. And then signing a guy 36 or 37 years old. Hey, you get what you pay for. Cameron is going to show his age sooner or later. Maybe it's time for Ellsbury to move back to CF. Lots of early injuries on this team, which makes you wonder about their conditioning in Florida.

There's a lot more wrong with this club than just Papi. Sure, sticking him in the 5-hole and having him leave a ton of MOB may not be great for team morale (anybody think of that angle?), but the pitching has sucked. Beckett and Lester deja vu like last year. Beckett has had one good start. Lester had a strong ST, but then fell apart as soon as the season started.Middle relief not good. Another morale builder is all those stolen bases. I wouldn't want to be an infielder watching other clubs taking free bases in historical proportions. All this spells trouble for Francona and company. Tito is outwardly a very easy going, optimistic type of guy. But the FO has gone to some length pre-season to improve the club, and so far it isn't showing. The guys on the field look like they weren't prepared to come out of the box properly, and sooner or later someone will have to pay.

Ortiz done? Well, that's easy to say. But not so easy for Tito and the organization to swallow. It takes a long time for winning to override loyalty in this organization--at least it seems that way. I find that disturbing.

As I said in another thread, I don't think VMart is responsible for all the SBs. There are lots of mediocre defensive catchers in Baseball--but the Red Sox are allowing SBs at an historical rate. That has to be policy--allowing runners to get too much of a jump. The pitchers are probably more at fault for not holding runners on--and that's the pitching coach.

Imagine, with all the talk of unloading Lowell, it's Papi who gets unloaded? That would be something.Papi is a hole in the middle of the lineup right now. He's leaving a ton of men on base, and should be much further down in the order than 5th. Let's go, Tito. The team is off to a slow start, and it's clear it has issues to resolve--some of which Gammons alluded to. Regarding stolen bases, I suspect it goes beyond VMart. More about pitchers holding runners on. That's policy. Maybe it's about Tito and his pitching coach. After all, VMart is probably an average or slightly below average catcher. The Mets got by with Piazza defensively for years. And things haven't improved going from Tek to Vmart. So, my guess it's more the pitchers. Or maybe that pitching coach, who looks more and more like he's overrated in the organization. Epstein spent the whole pre-season improving the defense. Except for holding runners on. That's up to the field management.

Ha. The Royals have a very good organization. Always have. The Red Sox have a very good organization. The Red Sox have lots of money. The Royals have no money. End of discussion.

We'll see how things go in the Draft, but it's a little disturbing to see the Jets and the Dolphins improving themselves in the pre-season with trades and signings--and the Patriots treading water mainly signing their own. The cap picture is very complicated in the NFL right now, so it's hard to judge whether Kraft is missing an opportunity to load up on big ticket players other teams are signing. As I understand it, money spent now is money that can't be spent later. If that's the case, it makes sense to show fiscal restraint. But the way things are going now, the Jets--which are the media's team anyways--will probably be the Division favorites pre-season and maybe the Dolphins 2nd. The Patriots are just getting older--so far.

I wonder if their problems with keeping runners from stealing go beyond the catcher. Maybe the pitchers simply aren't keeping the runners honest enough. Could be a policy issue. Whatever, they are just playing lip-service to defense if they don't stop the leak of stolen bases. As far as VMart's catching is concerned, I don't think that's the problem. Last year, Beckett and Lester both got off to slow starts with Tek catching. Slow starts again this year with VMart catching. Slow starts can sometimes be a sign of a lack of conditioning. You wonder how disciplined this club is under Tito, who strikes me as a guy anyone would want to play for. I remember Dick Williams, an ex-Marine, came to the Red Sox as manager in 1967, whipped their asses into shape in ST on the fundamentals, and won a pennant--with a team that overachieved that year. In contrast, the current club is loaded with talent. Is Tito too nice?

I think they have to take the heat off Papi by dropping him in the order and platooning him with Lowell. Having him hit 5th and facing CC and Pettite to start the season may have been a mistake. A case maybe of placing loyalty over common sense. Last year, Papi started to hit better when dropped to 6th--and maybe that's where he should have started the season. Right now, I think his confidence is messed up, and they need to take the heat off him. Less may be more. I also think the Red Sox need to rethink their policy on showing perhaps more loyalty than they should to players who are past their prime. I don't think this helps morale with the rest of the team, who are out there busting their butts trying to WIN. Overplaying individual loyalty may be counterproductive to team play. I can think of other recent examples: Timlin a couple of years ago, Tek the 2nd half of last year, Papi now and maybe Wake vs Dice-K in the near future.

A lot of good pitchers are having rocky starts as closers so far this year. Maybe just a law of averages. I saw Bard one of those games against NY, and I thought he looked better than Pap. Only time will tell. Delcarmen is about strung out. I'd like to see about 3 lefties in the BP. Never enough against NY.

Tek still has some life. Too bad Tito didn't platoon him last year. Less is more.

When the Yankees want a player, they just offer him more than anybody else can afford. They blew Sabathia away with an absurd offer nobody else would come close to. They got Teixiera because the Red Sox know it's futile to compete with them for a player--especially when Boras is the agent. The problem with this is it raises the bar for all teams in the free agent market. That's why a cap is needed. You can't have the richest team raising the bar for everybody else.

Lowell is getting a start tonite at 3B. The guy needs to play in order to get himself in game shape. I don't feel too sorry for him. Heck he's made $39 mil the last 3 years, and last year he was hurt much of the season. Tito does have a problem balancing loyalties here between Papi and Lowell. Winning has to take precedence--you do whatever you think is best for winning. That means seeing what both players can do.

I doubt it's Francona's call to platoon Ortiz and Lowell--though it would seem to be the sensible thing to do.That most likely is a FO decision. He's bound to hit better against lefties, though he wouldn't have been much of an option against CC the other night. Pettite, I don't know. But Lowell is making $12 mil, and he should have been platooned against lefties in this series. It's not about loyalty, it's about winning. Playing the percentages. Besides, there is loyalty to Lowell, too. What disturbs me is the pattern of pitching these days. They pay starters $16-17 million to go 6 innings and 100 pitches, then they bring in some crap pitchers making $400K to finish out the game--one per inning. Something wrong with the logic there. You throw in 3 or 4 guys, the other team is bound to find somebody they can hit. Note how Girardi used Park for 3 innings tonite, so he had Rivera to finish. Tito wouldn't do that. Is Tito worried about Pap? I would be. Here's an idea: why don't they start the game with those crap relievers, then bring the starter in for the last 6 innings? The late innings are more crucial, anyways. Or at least keep a starter in for 120 pitches--good for 7 innings. Any well-conditioned starter can go 120 pitches--at the same salary. You get more for your money.

Looks like a deeper lineup. Papi might be a big hole in the middle if he doesn't come around. Overmatched last night. Beltre looks like he'll hit in Fenway. Nice lineup, but Tito has to look at Lowell as DH against lefties.

So what does that make Lincecum worth? Saw him pitch tonite, and Beckett is no Lincecum--for sure.

Another pinch hit opportunity for Lowell? Nope. They got the run anyway.

Is Pedroia a HOF player or what?

Ok. 4-5. Does Tito have the balls to pinch hit Lowell for Papi here? The answer is no.

Schoenweiss gets 2 outs, gets lifted. Next guy gets a hit. Nothing going right in this game. Tito getting outmanaged.

That puts VMart in the $12-15mil range, from the stats, defense and age comparisons I've seen.The length of the contract is probably more of an issue from the Red Sox view. I've also read that opposition stolen base efficiency against the Red Sox last year was the highest in Baseball history. I don't know whether that reflects on the catcher, pitcher, or just a blatant disregard for baserunners. That will have to change this year, or they will get killed in the playoffs. Expect teams to run a lot against them, especially TB. Also, I think Tito is going to have to adjust his style a bit towards small ball with this club.

I read a story today where the Marlins or the Twins might be interested in Lowell. I think it would be wise for the Red Sox to keep Lowell through the start of the season, to see where Ortiz is as a DH. He had a good hitting day today after a drought through most of ST. You can't tell anyways about veterans in ST,so they won't know until the season starts where Ortiz is as a hitter. Lowell wants to play every day, but the guy is 36 coming off injuries, so he has to accept being a part-time player any place he goes. If they have to pay most of Lowell's salary to deal him, it makes more sense for them to keep him as DH and 3B/1B insurance. Maybe platoon him at DH with Ortiz if necessary.He will certainly hit LHP better than Ortiz at this point.