SoxSport

They'll be OK. They like to look at the kids in the beginning of camp. They are being attentive at the key positions--CF,3B and SS. Plus the bullpen. That's where the choices must be made. Farrell will have the starters playing together for the start of the season. They feel no media pressure to win games down here. A luxury the Yankees do not have. My suggestion: follow the Cardinals, too. Plus the Pirates. The model teams now, with the Red Sox and the Rays.

Caught the game against the Orioles yesterday on MLB network. It's a pleasure to listen to the local team announcers in these games, in this case, the Red Sox, rather than those network announcers who feel obligated, it seems, to mention the Yankees every 5 minutes. Those of you that watch MLB network know what I mean. Bradley and Bogaerts gave a very good account of themselves. A couple of hits each. Moreover, JBJ got his (at least the first one off the wall in left) against a lefty. A good sign. Bogaerts looks as polished at the plate and in the field as a shiny sportscar. Any thoughts of Drew disappear after watching this kid for 5 minutes. Middlebrooks I'm less sure about. Still a bit tentative at the plate trying to figure things out. That other kid Checcini? looks pretty good, and could give Will a run for his money if they want him to.Will has a power advantage, however, and looks good in the field. Britton looked real good, and should make it as a lefty out of the BP. Doubront, too, and Peavy's carelessness with fish knives could cost him. The Sox are playing a lot of kids right now who won't make the team, so it's hard to assess performance based on W-L record. I mean like, 2 losses to the Twins? In this game, that scrub pitcher Farrell stayed with in the 9th almost gave the game to the Orioles' scrubs. Why ST games can be boring. They are "games" only to the media--for the coaches they are an opportunity to look at the young talent they have while the veterans get into shape. Some of it they won't see for the rest of the season. Looks like the positions to watch are CF, SS and 3B. You have to wonder where Sizemore will be at the end of the camp. Even if he makes it as a backup, it will be an accomplishment for him.

Drew is a pretty good fit for them considering their terrible infield. Plus he hits left handed--and most left handed hitters improve in Yankee stadium. Can he play 2B? It's not automatic. He has to be able to make the DP pivot. He's a big lanky guy more suited for SS. Jeter for 2B. I'm not sure the Yankees like Drew for what he will cost, and the years, which may be why they haven't taken the bait so far.

What's surprising is they pretty much had the same record last year after losing Buchholz. A lot of things went wrong, but a lot of things must have gone right to balance out. You go through the team, and you can see all the successes they had and their great depth. I'm not surprised a lot of fans are picking them to repeat--they have a hell of a team right now. Plus strong coaching. But there are a lot of other good teams, too, and serendipity is always a major player.

Well, the Yankees threw a lot of crap against the wall last year, and some of it stuck for awhile. So they're trying the same thing this year. What kills their lineup and infield is losing Cano. Their best player. They blew it and they know it. They tried to make amends by going on a spending spree after signing Ellsbury, but that didn't bring back Cano. Plus, you look at their starting pitching, and it's a bunch of question marks. Could be good, could be not so good. And then there's the closer... The best thing the Yankees have going for them right now is a fawning network media based in NY.

Which team will luck out this year? I wonder if it isn't the Orioles time. But they have to get lucky with their pitching.

I suspect the Red Sox would be very happy if Sizemore could just be a backup in CF and RF. It's too much to ask a guy with his injury history to do much else.

So they turned $13M Dempster into $2.25M Capuano. Warren Buffet would like that.

The way I see it, every good team has to have a few young guys with upside to balance out a few older guys over 30 who may be on the downside. That's the Red Sox right now--with their blend of younger players, middle players in their prime, and older players. You can pretty much fill in the names by age. Those younger guys may make the season if some of the over 30 guys (Vic,Nap, Papi, etc.) get hurt or have off years. The same goes for the pitching. They have a nice blend of age. You look at the Yankees, and they are the opposite. Very few young players. A lot of old guys with big contracts on the downside. A few retreads signed to fill in holes. Sure, their blank check philosophy and Baseball's lack of a salary cap helps to patch up these shortcomings, but age inevitably catches up during the season. The stronger teams in baseball will continue to be teams like the Cardinals, Giants, Rays, Pirates, Red Sox and a few others. The Dodgers have done a better job than the Yankees in mixing in young talent, so you expect they will do well, too.

I don't think the "insurance" argument for Drew holds much water, mainly because it doesn't hold much water for Drew himself. He sees himself as a starter, and wants to be paid accordingly. In that sense, he is no longer a fit in Boston. He doesn't see himself as the type of role player they need. In fact, they already signed one in Herrera.

Papi is quoted as saying there are "haters" out there. Haters? I don't know if there are any Red Sox fans that hate the guy. There are people that love him, and want the Red Sox to give him anything he asks. And then there are people that respect his output and what he has done for the Red Sox--especially in the playoffs--over the years. Most of these think he should be extended a year for roughly what he makes now. And some of these think he talks too much--about himself, mainly. Why should anybody "hate" Papi? I presume he's talking about Red Sox fans. Is he posturing for a bigger contract? He doesn't have to.

They are talking to Capuano, but I bet they would have to pretty much guarantee him a spot in the rotation to get him.

Farrell may have come to grips the FO wants X at SS and MBrooks at 3B.

Farrell's lineup on twitter has X at SS and Mbrooks at 3B. Abraham says X really wants to play SS. I say he could be the all-star AL SS off his playoffs form.

the case for not re-signing Drew: http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2014/02/the_case_for_not_signing_stephen_drew.html I like the energy argument. JBJ and Iggy certainly added some energy to that starting lineup in the opening series at Yankee stadium last year. The reader voting on the page is 3 to 1 against signing Drew.

Those are the right reasons. A $13M pitcher for them he was not.

I heard some think Ethier might be a good pickup for the Sox, because he is good friends with Pedey, who would push him harder--which is apparently one of his problems in LA. His contract is better than Kemp's. With the FO mindset right now, I don't think they are interested in any big tickets in the OF. They have a bunch of role players who can be slotted effectively for different situations. The star system doesn't work nearly so well in MLB as it does in the NBA, because you have so many starting players in MLB. Star pitchers can have a bigger impact. Greinke had a big impact with the Dodgers.The same is true in the NFL, except a star QB can make a big difference if he has somebody good to throw to. The NBA is all about stars--except for Pop and his Spurs.

I had a guy from the Globe tweet me that Dempster was really a good starter for them last year. Dempster is getting a lot of love at the Globe right now--for the wrong reasons.

Nobody except the Yankees would pay Ellsbury that kind of money. They had to go that high to get him. The mystery is why they didn't want to overpay for Cano. Perhaps they were intent on pulling another Damon on the Red Sox. If so, the Red Sox didn't blink. My guess is they changed their tune on spending at some point after losing Cano and signing Ells. They went whole hog.

Too bad Darrell Johnson (was that his name?) lost the 7th game bringing a rookie reliever, Jim Burton, in to face Morgan (Rose?) in the 9th--with two 20 game winners sitting in the bullpen. McNamara did the same thing 11 years later, replacing an unhittable Clemens with Schiraldi. Both got fired the next spring. I remember it well.

Dempster saves his rep by going out this way. The Globe this morning even used him to take still another rap at ARod. I've long suspected their sports editor is a closet Yankee fan. They never have a bad thing to say about the Yankees--or the MF Jets. Both these teams get constant stroking in the sports media. We'll never hear the end of Tanaka and Jeter. Anyways, Dempster deserves a lot of credit for letting the Red Sox off the hook for a 2nd year. He knew he wasn't worth $13mil at this point, and he was honest enough to do something about it. That's the way it appears on the surface, anyways. It makes Ben's and Farrell's job a lot easier with who makes the pitching staff.

I'll go along with that, too.

I don't know if we have the whole story on this. Perhaps he was going to be cut. Though they wouldn't save any money there. The ideal was for what he did--quit or retire. Then they don't have to pay him. Maybe he was telling truth--just didn't want to pitch this year, and could afford NOT to pitch. Doubt he'll come back, though, at his age. You figure the FO has to be tickled about this. It changes a few things for them.

Well, they just generated another $13M from Dempster's retirement. I hope it doesn't go to Drew/Boras. I'd rather see Ethier.

Ha. That's a big jolt to the Yankees. Dempster was the one guy the Red Sox didn't need. They could use his $13M salary and his pitching spot more. Maybe he saw the handwriting on the wall. He wasn't in their playoff plans last year, and maybe he thought he could do them a favor. He got himself a ring, and has $100M in the bank, so why get greedy. LOL. Good luck to him.