Mikon

Our roster is better than last year, the Yankees didn't sign anyone yet, Rays is still a team with a lot of promises... of course there are many factors to consider, including lucky or, in our case, the existence of a little lucky to not have the same health crisis as last year, but the fact is: we are truly a major contender. The guy just said the obvious. The truth is: I do not have almost no concerns regarding our bullpen... it's not as tragic as most writers says.

This is a really difficult question. By the japanese baseball book I would say the one that have the highest chance to contact, so maybe it's... Pedroia (I don't know the statistics of who's the best in this one). The 4th should be the power hitter, the big bat, so I would choose A-gon. But, It's kind hard to come up with a solution, as the american style of baseball just hates to do smallball tactics, like bunt or sacrifice... Me, personally, I would put Ellsbury and Crawford and probably Pedroia and A-gon, in this order. Let the top quickest men of the team in base, put the one with the best contact worry the pitcher even more and as a final act, let the power hitter smash the ball out of the park. Ellsbury is used to be the leadoff man, we put Crawford in a confortable position so that he can use his full potential, the third man, the contact man, will have an even more easy chance to contact, as the pitcher will probably be afraid of (dozens) stolen bases and the power hitter to destroy the concentration of the pitcher.

May I add a possibility? Trading Ellsbury, this year or the next one, for a righty? About Crawford, isn't he the kind of player like Ichiro? The late one is old but still have a lot of speed. Being as athletic as Crawford is, it would not be a surprise to see him still "fast enough" in his last years.

"It's all about the show? Freakin' yeah". I have mixed feelings. A hell of a player... a hell of money spent. Is Theo the guy from Kiss that screams, at the start of the show: "YOU wanted the BEST you've GOT the best...!!!"

This is just the way I see things: we already have a pretty good lineup for infield and outfield, going after Cliff Lee we solve part of our problems with the bullpen, we cause a major problem for the Yankees and we even have the chance to trade Dasiuke Matsuzaka. It's almost a "win win" situation. And, in fact, this is actually what I'm betting, as Crawford seems unrealistic and is probably the one and only player that would add something to our already well balanced lineup.

I would go for Upton. For some reason I'm actually afraid of the market. I would go for him right now before someone crazy offers him a 200 million a year for 6-8 years. As things are happening, the market that already makes no sense in terms of money will be even more senseless in the very near future. Werth's contract just makes me shiver.

Thanks for the welcome! I'll try to contribute as much as possible!

Sorry, man... I prefer asian girls XD

Yes, it's portuguese.

It's not my "natural language". Next time I'll be more careful about my grammar. Sorry. By the way, I'm not that hated guy. People actually know me for being almost blind for the things I love, including my baseball team.

I'm a baseball fan for no more than 2 years: I always thought that baseball was a really annoying and dumb, a sport without action. Well, I'm from Brazil, so it's no surprise that I'm a huge fan of soccer and information about this incredible sport is non existent. Everything changed after I discovered that my friends used to play when they were younger... and actually explained to me that it's really not an "action sport", but a much more "psycologycal war game" with such finesse, such details... I found myself reading about baseball and than... the story of Babe Ruth and it's curse appeared. I was so surprised and shocked about the history and the history of the club that I became a fan instantly. I've been reading these foruns for about one 1 and a half year, and I learned a LOT and I undestood why baseball is such an incredible sport. And, of course, I found a new love, haha! Sorry for the long post and sorry for my poor use of english, as I actually do not have opportunity to use all my knowledge of the language.

My first post here: I'm happy to be a Sox fan! One of the players that I like the most coming to the baseball club I love! By the way, although the discussion here is REALLY heated, I do learned a lot. I had no idea baseball was so passionate and complicated at the same time.