SoxFanForsyth

By going out and getting a guy like Garza, you're hardly mortgaging the future. In fact, I would argue you're enhancing it. And you're not going to get a top 100 prospect for Beckett. Trading away the s*** from the team isn't going to build the farm. I wouldn't be opposed to trading Lester for Justin Upton if that was available, and we were able to acquire Garza. That would make Ellsbury available to be dealt in the offseason for an elite SP. By the way, the Sox are talking to the Cubs about Sweeney. Lavarnway + Cecchini + Sweeney for Garza?

Whoa! Another negative post from Brennan? Cool. I thought you were going to say something constructive but evidently you are still the same annoying poster as you always have been. Now I can see why all of the regulars have left this site because of train wrecks like you.

Oooof. Scratch the Lee trade. Didn't realize he was signed through 37, or, well I forgot.

I think Upton gets dealt at the deadline, so if they pull the trigger on that, then they have to deal Lester this year. Now, what if they deal Lester for Upton, then deal Cecchini plus Lavarnway for Garza? That way they don't really lose a SP. A downgrade, yes, but it would also make a guy like Cody Ross expendable at the deadline. What about this - what if you trade Ellsbury plus Beckett for Cliff Lee? Money comes out even, there's your ace. And you have him for multiple years, and now the Phillies can sign Hamels.

I thought that too but you have to split up the 4 LHH with someone. Maybe Ross 3? He can destroy LHP, so a lefty reliever would be hard pressed to get through all 5 guys.

Crawford to return on Monday, July 16th.

Ellsbury Crawford Middlebrooks Ortiz Gonzalez Salty Ross Aviles Circiaco When Pedroia is healthy: Ellsbury Crawford Pedroia Ortiz Gonzalez Middlebrooks Salty Ross Aviles Oye. That looks so good after seeing that puke from Sunday night.

Buster Olney reporting that Crawford will return on July 16th against the ChiSox. So he will miss only 3 more games. Fantastic news. Can't wait for him to shove his foot in a lot of mouths around here.

Yikes, I don't like that too much. I think the Sox will keep Ortiz. And if they don't, they're not going to want another aging player. They will likely use a utility player who can give guys days off from defense but keep them in the lineup. But I'd be shocked if they didn't keep Ortiz.

True but I think the underperformance does not continue.

Although this team is still very much in it, I also think they need a little shake up. How is this? 1. Ellsbury + Beckett for Hamels. Clears money, sign Hamels long term. He's the ace you need. 2. Cecchini + Lavarnway for Garza. Cecchini and Lavarnway are blocked. Lavarnway is a 25 year old. Let him play already, and get something in return. 3. Jon Lester + Tazawa for Justin Upton. Lester isn't happy in Boston, according to Gammons, and he could almost certainly pull a guy like Justin Upton. Pitching in the NL West, he would be a beast. Justin Uptons swing in Fenway would be beautiful. Thoughts on any of the 3?

Would not be at all surprised if the Sox dealt Cecchini (.309/.389/.444, 23 doubles, 30 SB) plus Lavarnway for Garza. Could very well be the piece that pushes them over the hump this year. Would make the rotation solid. Also, thinking out loud, why not a Lester for Justin Upton trade? Lester is under control for 3.5 years at a total of 35mm. Young, cost controlled SP. the deal would make sense, especially now that Gammons has come out and said Lester isn't happy in Boston.

True but Lester Beckett and Buchholz are not 4.5 era pitchers. Would it really shock anyone if they came back and returned to form for the 2nd half?? Same thing with Adrian Gonzalez. If he hit 18 HR and drove in 65 in the 2nd half, that wouldn't surprise anyone. It was a s***** 1st half, but that's because of underperformance and injuries. I think the SP is much, much better than they showed in the 1st half, and I strongly believe they come out with something to prove in the 2nd half.

Then how did he have so much success in 08, 09, and 10? You know, when he was throwing more cutters than he is throwing now? Such a typical uninformed, trendy response.

Yup, and I also noticed that of the 76 games left, 50 are head to head against teams that we will be battling for a PS berth. That's the best and easiest time to make up ground IMO. I think the Sox are better than the Rays, Tigers, Guardians, A's, and Orioles. Those are the teams they need to beat out. They just have to win 3 more games than those teams. That's not that difficult. We are extremely fortunate to be in a position to make a move in the 2nd half with all of our injured guys getting healthy.

Why don't we hang tight and see how Beckett Lester and Buchholz rebound in the 2nd half, as well as Pedroia, Gonzalez, Ellsbury, Crawford, Bailey, and to a lesser extent, Bard before we start calling this team irrelevant. If Lester, Beckett, and Buchholz throw the ball like they are capable, and the offense gets healthy and performs just to their average talent levels, this team is absolutely a WS contender. I don't think it's kidding ourselves to think that most of these players will return to their norms in the 2nd half. I hope everyone here who is saying this team is out of it, etc remembers who they are and what they said in October when the Sox are making a deep run in the playoffs. 2.5 games out of them WC guys, with a huge amount of talent coming back. Come on fellas.

Lester's avg FB velocity for his career is 92.5 mph. It's. 92.6 mph this year. He has not lost FB velocity. It's not his cutter either.

What are you talking about?!? Lester has thrown his FB 56.8% of the time this year, which is the most since 2007, when he threw it 57.0%. I hate all of the analysis based on what everyone says and not looking up the stuff yourself. It's not hard to go to Fangraphs and look at his stats. He is throwing his fastball at a more frequent rate than he has since 2007. He is not throwing his cutter too much, 16.4% this year and that's actually the lowest of his career. He is walking 2.4 per 9 which is well below his career average of 3.30. The reason that he is throwing so poorly is because he cannot strand runners at all. He has an atrocious 66.9% strand rate, and his career norm is 75.4%. He is giving up hard hit balls but he is also giving up bleeders and bloops, which are falling much more frequently (.326 Babip vs career .302). The good news is that these numbers tend to normalize over the course of a season. It's not like he's somehow lost control and has been walking the bases loaded. We will see if the numbers do normalize or not, his FIP is 3.57 and his xFIP is 3.60, so statistically speaking, he is likely to get much better results in the 2nd half. But the one thing you cannot point at is how often he throws his FB and cutter.

Morales vs Hellickson. Ellsbury back in the lineup. Morales will absolutely dice up this awful Rays lineup. Contrary to popular belief, the Red Sox still have 76 games left. Ellsbury is back for this game. Buchholz is back for next game. This team is starting to get healthy. And they are only 2.5 games back in the WC. I, for one, am not close to giving up on this team. Not with nearly half the season left and a 2nd half team that won't even resemble that abomination of a lineup we featured vs the Yankees. Call me overly optimistic, but this team can certainly leapfrog the standings. It starts with this game. Win.

You gotta be s***ing me with the wave right now.