SoxSport

Lugo hasn't played that many games in St Louis at either position, so those defensive stats aren't very significant. Nor are his offensive stats, for that matter. A scout can probably tell more just watching him for a couple of games. I do think the Sox made a mistake pulling the plug on him before they had a good take on Lowrie.

With all the lying and the stonewalling that's gone on in baseball about steroids, it's not unfair to assume that the public is only seeing the tip of the iceberg. The only real information that has been forthcoming has been leaked to the public or volunteered by trainers who supplied steroids. If you go back to the Mitchell statements, he implies that steroid use was common, everybody knew about it and nobody did anything. That would explain the stonewalling. You can't convince me an owner or a GM who is paying millions to these guys doesn't know what's going on. Heck, 76 HRs was great for baseball, tickets, TV ratings and the rest of it. Remember when Mac hit about 10 in a row over the screen at Fenway. Wow. Now we know thanks to ESPN they cork the bats and the balls in HR hitting contests. In the world of theater, everything is fakery and deception. It's entertainment. Sports TV, with all the revenue and the importance of ratings, has become a bit like theater. And with the entertainment has come the deception.

Papi's only good month was the month of June. His OPS and OBP numbers have been down below acceptable DH levels in July and August, even though he has hit some HRs. 4 in the last 5 or so games. He's hot right now, and we'll see if he can maintain it.

You have to look at the defense, too. This is a good lineup. I would platoon Lowell and Ortiz at DH and use Lowell some at 3B if he can play. AGon may make Lowell more playable at 3B with his restricted range. Lowell is hitting well right now, and they need his bat in the lineup, especially against LHP.

Hey, this one was a no brainer. Theo and Tito take note.

I think he is hitting better in the bottom part of the lineup. I'm sure the data will show that. Maybe some of it is mental. maybe he gets more pitches to hit in the bottom part of the order. I don't know. But he is hitting just enough right now for Tito to justify keeping him in there. They still have a dlemma about improving their infield defense without sacrificing hitting. AGon should be a big defensive help at SS without decreasing the offense. VMart should replace Tek at catcher, as I suggested in the thread I just posted. Papi is now doing some damage hitting at the bottom part of the order. But what about 3B? Lowell is hitting, but is subpar right now defensively. Maybe Lowell platoons with Papi at DH, Youks plays 3B and Kotchman plays 1B. Ideally, you want Lowell at 3B and Youks at 1B.

VMart has a .920 OPS since joining the Red Sox. He's batting 3rd. He is at least as good, probably better catcher at this point, than Varitek is. Tek is showing signs of his age in the 2nd half. They are stealing him blind. He has a "neck" injury right now, so VMart will probably catch for awhile. It's obvious that one major way the Sox can improve their sagging offense is to replace Tek with VMart, and make Tek the backup. This had to happen sooner or later--and it should be sooner. If they want to make the playoffs, they need their best team out there. And that means Tek on the bench. While an improved offense is not going to catch the Yankees (that one is all about pitching--which the Yankees are better at right now--thanks to Dice-K), it might get them into the playoffs. And if Buchholz can be a stopper, you never know.

Saito just struck out a guy on a 93 fastball. Looks very sharp.

Cliff Lee, by the way, threw another strong game for the Phillies tonight. The big market media insists the Yankees and Dodgers are 1-2, but the Champion Phillies are the team to beat. No way the Dodgers beat the Phillies, who are better this year. VMart just hit a dinger to the opposite field. Should this guy be the starting catcher or what?.920 OPS for Boston. Wake up, Red Sox. This isn't 2007. Great pickup by Theo. Youks just got hit again. If he played for the Yankees, that pitcher would be gone.Youks gets in a rundown--and escapes. This target Youks stuff has to stop, Selig.

Nice play by Green at 2B. I could have sworn that was Pedroia. Maybe Green's better at 2B than SS. A bit easier on the arm and the range.

I see Papi is teasing again. He's a teaser.

Like I said somewhere else, they do great things and they do bad things. One thing they should do is not get rid of players prematurely. Especially SSs. Renteria should have been given more time to adjust. And Lugo was released too soon, before they were sure about Lowrie's soundness. I hope they didn't make the same mistake with Smoltz. Another Sox castoff doing well in St Louis is Pineiro. Duncan is a great pitching coach. Wonder what he will do with Smoltz.

I saw Anderson lead off and play CF in Pawtucket a couple of games a few weeks ago. He looked pretty good. Lanky guy, hit a game leadoff HR, almost made a great catch. Think he stole a base. was hitting .296, OPS .840, OBP .321 Another guy who needs to walk more if he wants to bat leadoff. Pawtucket looks like such a lousy team right now--it's no wonder Smoltz didn't want to go down there. LOL.

Don't get me wrong. I like Ellsbury, but he obviously has to walk more to get that OBP up, which isn't adequate for a leadoff batter. His agent is Boras, and you know Boras will have Ellsbury as the 2nd coming of Ricky Henderson contract time--which he isn't. That will be a ticket to NY. I like Drew, too. He's had a few big hits in Boston. He can play--when he can play. There's the rub.He's overpaid, to be sure, because his agent is you-know-who.

Clay Meredith's 1st ML appearance in Boston coming from single or double AA was with the bases loaded and nobody out--in the late innings, as I recall. He was predictably bombed, and promptly sent back to the minors. He was then traded with Bard to SD to get back Wake's caddy (what was his name?), when they found that Bard couldn't catch Wake. Remember that police escort from Logan? LOL Meredith blossomed in SD. Not in Boston. The Sox have gotten away with a lot of bad stuff in recent years, because they do a lot of very good stuff, and make the playoffs and win Championships. That might change if they don't make the playoffs for a couple of years in a row.

Can't tell. They still haven't played either of these guys at their OF positions at the ML level. I guess Reddick did play some LF when Bay was hurt. Then they put him in center for one game, he screwed up defensively, and down he goes to Pawtucket. Anderson was playing center when I saw him in Pawtucket--then he plays RF in Boston. Who's on first? I'm not happy with the handling of some of their rookies when they have come up. I still think of that mismanagement of Clay Meredith.

I don't think you'll see the Red Sox involved with any more waiver dealings this year after Gonzalez. They just didn't figure on the two things that have killed them this year: Dice-K's disappearance and Ortiz' further decline.Waivers won't solve those issues. SS has been damaging as well, as they let Lugo go before they had assurance Lowrie was OK. That was a mistake. Their only hope is Buchholz suddenly becomes the stud Theo thinks he is, or Dice-K finally starts earning his pay.

The handwriting is on the wall with this team. They can't get to the playoffs with teams stealing them blind every game. And they can't survive with their DH hitting .220. They have some hard choices to make, and the sooner they make them the better. Since I don't think they will, I'm inclined to write the season off at this point. The caveat is they have had so many things go wrong after the all-star break, things are bound to get better in September. For example, Dice-K could come back strong. I think the FO has to take a look at the way they value their young players. They should be dealing from their strengths to correct their weaknesses. No sense in hanging onto surplus talent in one position while another position remains weak. With all this talk about surplus pitching talent, they have been unable or unwilling to find a suitable no.3 starter after DiceK went down. There's still another way to look at this season. The Yankees spent almost a half billion dollars signing the top 3 FAs on the market pre-season. That's when everybody else was tightening due to the uncertainties in the economy and the financial system. At the same time, they managed to finance their new Stadium with taxpayer-supported bonds. Baseball is set up for them to succeed, and it's remarkable the Red Sox have been so successful in spite of this. You have to give them some slack.

Another dinger by Papi today. He loves to tease.

This is the 2nd troll negative thread I've seen in here from a first time poster. FWIW.

I think Smoltz should have gone to the bullpen. Actually, I think he should have started out in the bullpen, but without Dice-K they are desperate for a no.3 starter. Still don't have one. I don't think you ask a 42 yo HOFer to go to the minors. Pawtucket looks so bad right now I wouldn't want to play there. LOL. Smoltz should have gone to the bullpen to build up his stamina. His main problems were in the 4th-6th innings, indicating he needed more conditioning? Some 2-3 inning stints from the bullpen. But the Sox have a full bullpen right now, and a 1-inning mindset.

Papi is teasing. Just when you think he's cooked, he hits a dinger. Then goes back into hibernation for 2 weeks. I still can't figure that month of June, when he was the old Papi. He should have bottled it.

Things just worked out for the worst. One thing I suspect is they let Lugo go too soon. Sure the guy was a step slower coming back, but so is Lowell. Lugo is now doing well for the Cardinals, and they are also looking at Smoltz, who may be another premature castoff. Nice to have another team pay your salaries. My view is you can't expect players to come back 100% immediately after serious injury. Sometimes it takes a season. The Red Sox have had too many players like that this year, including some FAs they signed on the cheap--and none have panned out. That's one of the reasons why they might not make the playoffs--along with the Ortiz and Tek holes in the lineup. And Oh yeah, Dice-K's disappearance.

This guy has been reading Joyce.

I feel better about losing O. Cabrera now that I see it translated into Ellsbury. But then his agent is Boras so I don't feel so good again. Most likely, Buchholz was part of the several "good" packages offered for Halladay. I never thought Toronto's GM was serious about trading Halladay. That's why I think it didn't happen. They had their chances to get Lee and Peavy. Both were seriously on the market. But Theo seems to prefer to go after the toughest fish to catch. In this case, Hernandez and Halladay. I hope Gonzalez still has some D left in his game. They need it at SS. I see Tito wants to keep Tazawa in the rotation. He and/or Buchholz will have to step up to Lester level if they have any chance. I don't see Penny or Wake as playoff starters.