Palodios

He was talking about in Boston. I think he's going to cost as much, if not more than Beltre, and I'm not sure if that's worth the investment, especially since the cost of a good shortstop is a bit more than that of a good third baseman.

On an oddly related note, did anyone else see the Other Guys? It will make any Sox fan cry out in sheer bliss.

The simple fact is that he is a player's manager. Most of these guys don't like being shuffled around, so he avoids it unless its necessary. It was such a problem in 2009 that they traded away LaRoche for the considerably worse Kotsay. They're going to have to sign VMart long term, and they run the risk of frustrating either him or Napoli with plate appearances, whether it be in NL games or otherwise. I like the idea, but I think that its not an ideal situation.

Yes, in 2009, he did a lot of swapping players around. But he wasn't happy about it, and the players weren't happy about it. Its generally not his style, which is why things have been so stable this year.

Youkilis has played 2 games at 3B this year. Vmart has played 7 games at 1B. Does that really make it seem like he's willing to shift players around?

David Price versus Cliff Lee. That's about as marque a pitching matchup as you get.

The unfortunate part of that plan is we know how much Francona hates moving players around. He far prefers to give players their one position, and keep things simple. That's pretty much how he thinks-- the simpler the better.

They just dedicated a lot of money to Dan Haren, I'm not sure if they're going to be willing to be looking to spend 22+ a year on another pitcher when their offense is mediocre. Weaver/Haren will be a very strong top of the rotation for them.

I get the feeling Varitek still has his hardbound binder with hitter's weaknesses and spray charts.

CC was a few years younger. Halladay at his age only got a 3/60 deal. I'd say 4/100 gets Cliff Lee, considering that he is probably bringing home a Cy Young this year.

The deal ended up being for a 12th rounder who is hitting .156 in single A, an international player who has been struggling badly in low A, and a 13th rounder 1B playing decent in intermediate A. If any of them reaches the majors, it will be a surprise. Salty is here to give depth, he isn't guaranteed a spot unless he hits, and he wasn't hitting for Texas.

I think its pretty clear that Varitek is great in limited time. Yes, his defense is suspect, but his offense has been ridiculously good, especially against lefties this season. He is still very valuable to this team as a captain, and with his working knowledge of how to command a pitching staff. I think he's worth bringing back if VMart walks. On another note, does anyone have opinions on John Buck? He's only 30, he hits for power, and can probably be gotten on the cheap. He's another one that fails to throw out baserunners, but if he can save the team 40 million while waiting for prospects, he may be worth looking at. As usual, the free agent market for catchers is dismal, and offense seems to drop off substantially after Buck/Vmart. Kottaras is hitting .196. I don't think he's a huge loss.

They need to look at Konkero/Dunn/Ortiz/Guerrero/Huff etc for short term solutions. I'd love to see them fill DH and 1B for two quality 1/10 type deals, maybe cheaper. A two year obligation at DH (Or a 1B who would transition to DH) wouldn't be horrible either, but it is definitely in this team's best interest to find guys who don't mind knowing that they may be succeeded by Agon/Fielder/Pujols/Rizzo in 2012/2013. Besides Drew and Bard, the entire outfield/bullpen has drastically underperformed, and their WAR values show that pretty cleanly. They can't just expect mediocre players to serve significant roles in 2011, they just can't. But my number one priority is to find a new pitching coach. John Farrell needs to go. The pitching staff has been in ruins over the last two years, and he can't fix bad pitching mechanics to save his life. Maybe if he helped Papelbon develop a second pitch, he wouldn't be underperforming this badly. He also goes something completely against the philosophy of this team's coaching staff, and will openly criticize players to the media. He does not deserve a free ride because Schilling and Beckett won a world series.

Its not overreacting. His stats have been on the decline for a while. I think he has too much pride to realize that he needs to develop a second pitch, and that's a serious problem, especially with a moron like Farrell as a pitching coach.

The starting pitching is fine. Lester and Buch are #1 and #5 in ERA in the AL, so they're going to be one of the best 1-2 punches out there as they approach their prime years. Between Lackey, Dice-k, Beckett, one will have a great year, one will be average and one will suck-- that's what we need to expect from now on. But even with one underperforming, its still a great rotation, and on any given week, three pitchers will be lights out. The positions this team needs to replace with big bats are C, 1B, COF, and DH. VMart will cost a bit to resign, but besides that the others are fairly cheap fixes, especially with the 50-60 million that this team is shedding. This team needs one more elite setup guy, but I think that will put them over the top. Some of this solutions may come from within. The core of this team is too good for it to fail with the money available for them to spend.

That's true. But he also has the 3rd most saves in the league, so his save percentage is a little better than most.

He has a 0.00 ERA in August.

They haven't figured him out all season, why start now?

They just mentioned that Lowrie is still having a tough time with heat exhaustion. Its probably not a good idea to have him out there today.

Who on earth is Bryan Bullington?

Well, its not like the rules are posted anywhere... maybe someone should put a sticky up? On another note-- did talksox just go down?

While I'm very intrigued by having Napoli and Vmart share C and 1B, I still dont think its going to happen, and especially not for Doubront.

Wait wait wait... Patterson is in LF? Bring up Nava please. Its also very important to note that Patterson is a career .200 left handed hitter facing a pitcher that dominates LHH. Does anyone else see something seriously wrong with this?