SoxSport

Yeah, Size-JBJ-Vic, LF-CF-RF. That's their best OF, though Vic and Size have questions about durability, and JBJ has to keep hitting and drawing walks. Plus there are other factors at play here--as always on a team. You got Gomes, Carp and Nava who need touches, and are viewed as depth from last years' champion team. And you got Nap at 1B, who needs a backup. You figure Gomes sticks--he bats RHd. Plus he's a big hit guy off the bench. Nava is a high on base guy. Carp is weak defensively, but he's their 1B insurance. The problem with all 3 is none offers good backup defense in the OF. You take a hit defensively if one of them replaces any of the top 3. It's a dilemma. Though you wonder why the heck they would get Roberts for 3B when they have Herrera. If Herrera can't play 3B, then move him to SS and play X there for awhile. No big deal. X has played there. Who needs Roberts?

You'd think Koji's arm fell off, from all the news hype this morning. They overdo it every time. The guy has a little shoulder stiffness... maybe none this morning, maybe something more serious...who knows? Hopefully not. He hasn't been overpitched--yet.

Years ago, in the playoffs, I remember that call at 1B at Yankee stadium that went against the Yankees. I forget the details. The next day, Steinbrenner kicked and screamed in the media about that call. Since that time, I can't recall the Yankees ever getting a close call against them in Yankee stadium in a big game. The notorious one was the HR they got in RF when a kid caught a ball in play with his glove.

haha. that says it all.

Farrell's got balls for putting Mujica out there tonite. But this Yankee lineup is not the Yankee lineup of old. Ellsbury is their 22 million dollar rabbit. Sizemore hits for more power at leadoff. Red Sox sitting pretty right now compared to this time last year.

What they are missing is VICTORINO.

you should check the numbers. The LA teams and Philly are richer, and Texas is very close--maybe ahead now. Houston is also very rich, but they don't spend it. Sox in top 5, no doubt, but way behind NY and LA. The Yankees have put an incredible amount into the luxury tax over the years. Their media resources are boundless.

The Yankees are so desperate to get into the playoffs they will try anything. LOL.

The Yankee Yes network is worth $3 billion.

Costas is a New Yorker--Yankee fan since a kid. Most of those network people are NY based.

Who's crying? And who's poor? LOL.

NESN is not in the NJ-PA area on FIOS.

The Yankees have been in a class by themselves for a long time spending-wise. Their revenue pool has been the biggest due to their cable Yes network. How many people know the Yes network is stuck in cable packages all over the country? So aren't the Texas Longhorns and NCAAF networks. If you have these channels stuck in your cable package, you are paying the Yankees, UTexas and the NCAA money out of your cable bill. And you have no control over that, unless you want to lose some channels you watch. The cable system sucks, but that's the way it is, and that's why athletes in the TV cable sports make millions in salaries. Especially MLB, which has no salary cap--no way to control salaries. Salaries are lowest in the NFL, with a hard cap, but they still make millions from lucrative TV contracts. TV pretty much runs the show these days. They even set up the schedules in these sports--including college football. In MLB, the new Kahuna on the block is Fox Sports West, and the huge cable contracts given to the LA teams--Dodgers and Angels. The Dodgers have spent out of sight because of this contract, and have surpassed the Yankees. The Red Sox actually are behind the Phillies in spending--I think they are 4th--about $50 million below the Yankees and $65 million or so below the Dodgers. The latter two teams are over $200 million. The Phillies have a bigger ballpark and generate more revenue from it than Fenway with 3 million or so yearly attendance. The Red Sox aren't really "rich" compared to LA and NY. They do have a sports network NESN, but it's a regional network--you don't see it nationally like the Yes network. The killer for them is their small ballpark--they have to charge the highest per capita ticket prices in baseball to max out their revenues. Mostly because they are in a division where their rivals are the Yankees. If they were in a different division, I suspect their payroll would be much lower--and they are going in that direction anyways. Relying more on their farm system and shorter FA contracts.

It's difficult to compare salaries from one team to another, since they are all working from a different revenue base. That's the mistake the media makes. They think just because the Dodgers or the Yankees pay a certain amount, so should the other teams. Some agents feel that way, too; others are more realistic. Baseball is set up for the biggest markets to dominate. That they don't says something about the real value of free agents. They are overvalued. There are also other factors, such as revenue sharing and the draft which even the playing field. It's unrealistic--to a point--to compare what one team is paying a guy relative to somebody else of comparable? abilities on another team. It is more a question of what a team's revenue base allows it to pay. If a player doesn't like that, he can go to free agency. If he likes where he's at, he works out the best deal he can with his current team.

Papi earned his pay today. The guy has a flair for the dramatic. Saw that homer. He doesn't miss mistakes in that situation. I don't know if Ted Williams had as many big hits as this guy.

Lester isn't Ellsbury. If he was, his agent would be Boras. I would expect he will re-sign with the Red Sox for $16-18 million range. That's enough money for him to live his next 9 lives.

As far as "ripping the team" is concerned, they have lost 5 of their first 6 games at home, so something is wrong. The first thing was having Vic go down so soon. That hurt, because Farrell stubbed his toe putting Nava in RF and Carp in LF--and immediately got burned for it. Fortunately, JBJ seems to have found his confidence and Size is holding up. The other thing is a couple of pitchers have s*** the bed and cost them a couple of games. Maybe Farrell needs a quicker hook when a guy doesn't have it. If you play fantasy, you go nuts the first couple weeks about all the guys who start hot and all the guys who can't hit or pitch a lick. Entirely unpredictable. Maybe the same goes for the teams. Everything eventually balances out. Cream does rise to the top.

I think it's inevitable somebody is going to get dealt from among those 3 left fielders. It would be Carp, except he's their backup at 1B. They all have proven their worth as role players, but none are as good as the other 3 OFers--Size,Vic, and JBJ. It looks like they are in their bean counting mode--sending Workman down?--one of their best pitchers, while others have been s***ing the bed. Not a good sign. I get the feeling some of these guys just didn't throw enough innings in ST. Too many innings spread around to minor league pitchers who weren't going to make the team.

I think all the kid needs is confidence at this level. Maybe he's getting it now. He and Sizemore are strong in the OF. Size almost made a great catch on that ball over his head in CF. Amazing comeback if he keeps it up.

The Globe says they hadn't lost 3 in a row in the home opening series in 30 years. Right now, I would guess the FO is looking at the OF situation in a slightly different light. Vic is as fragile as a lot of people expected. That means JBJ has a role. Carp/Nava together in the OF doesn't work defensively. The pitching implosions were unexpected. Middlebrooks would appear to have a somewhat worse injury than a "strained calf."

The thing about role players like Nava is you can't elevate them too high. He is not Victorino. Nor is he Sizemore. The same goes for Gomes and Carp.

OF exposed without Vic and Sizemore.

Looks like some of these guys might still be in ST. Nava and Carp in the same OF at Fenway is a no-no. Roster dilemma out there.

Hey, this sucks. They don't even have Braun. Wake up guys. You got 2 pitchers who got blown out in 2 days. And you got Nava and Carp starting in the same OF at Fenway. How do these things happen.

I was thinking the same. Buchholz, too. Some of these guys don't appear to be ready yet, and I wonder if the management was a bit too lax with the regulars in ST--playing a lot of minor leaguers too much--especially early. And especially the pitching. Don't the minor leaguers have their own ST games? I don't know how that works, since the media doesn't seem to cover the minor league teams in ST. No reason why the minor leaguers can't have their own ST games--some nearby?, so the management can watch them too. The team just won a championship, and there is a natural tendency to relax a bit. The Red Sox always seem to start slowly, which maybe is due to their stressing of minor league players in early ST. Having said that, the team has looked pretty good so far, except for a couple of bad outings by Mujica and Buchholz, which were unexpected. These guys had pitched well in ST--but we know that ST can be a mirage. You got to be pleased with most of the rest of the guys--Sizemore, JBJ, Middlebrooks, X, Nap, Pedey, etc. Lackey and Lester have looked great. Peavy, OK. Doubront holding his own. Koji unhittable again.This still looks like it could be a better team to me than last year.