SoxFanForsyth

Just a quick factoid: Since 7/1/13, Koji Uehara has thrown 59 innings and allowed 2 Earned Runs and 2 walks. Let that sink in for a few minutes. That's a 0.31 ERA for essentially a full seasons worth of innings. On average, if he threw complete games in every single start, he would allow 1 ER every 3 starts. It's laughable.

We do not lose on April 10th. We win on April 10th. We win today.

We do not lose on April 9th. We win on April 9th. We win today.

This walk off bomb by Bogaerts is going to be sick. That is all.

Fellas, whaddya say we go streaking?

Prediction: Xander Bogaerts will be your leadoff hitter by Memorial Day.

Wait, I had one issue. I couldn't believe that Farrell didn't PH for Pierzynski against a LHP in the 8th. That was mind boggling.

Take a step back from the ledge, SBR. It's just game 1. I can count 4 balls off the top of my head that would have gone out had it not been for those ridiculous winds. Bogaerts, Pedroia, Ortiz, and Pierzynski. At least 3 of those 4 go out. I was shocked when Bogaerts' shot didn't leave the yard. The Orioles won on a walk and a bloop, then a few innings later Lester made a mistake pitch to Cruz. The Sox squared up a ton of balls, a heck of a lot better than the Orioles did. Just a little snakebitten today, that's all. They left 12 men on base and had 10 opportunities to cash in (0-10 with RISP). Frustrating? Yes. But they gave themselves a few opportunities. If Carp hits that little flare texas leaguer that Weiters hit, the Sox score 2 runs in the 4th and probably win the game. I have no issues with yesterday's game. There were exactly zero things that concerned me.

LEGGO!!!! P.S. - Wife and I are having a daughter in August, this is why I haven't been around in a while.

NESN airing their first Live from Spring Training tonight \o/

Save the money or go give Hanrahan a 1/4mm deal that can get up to 6mm with innings thresholds, and really have an outrageous back end of the bullpen. Uehara, Mujica, Taz, Miller, Breslow, Hanrahan, and Workman is an outrageous pen. I'd rather them give Cordero a try in the 6th inning and let Workman start though, and if that doesn't work out then give Workman the job. Either way, the rich get richer. Could also wait until Kemp gets back, see how JBJ is doing, and then go trade for Ethier if JBJ needs more time (Vic in CF obviously)

Yeah, sad news huh?

Bring him to me now. I would love to add him to the back of this pen. Koji is 39 and coming off a ton of innings, wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to have Balfour right behind him. I know we have Mujica already but if you can get Balfour on a 1 year pillow deal a la Napoli to prove his health is nothing to worry about, I would love to have him. Problem is, Balfour almost certainly doesn't sign a pillow deal without a closer role. But it's fun to dream.

Bogaerts and JBJ are both Boras clients. Wouldn't be surprised in the least if Bogaerts is a lifer, and maybe JBJ too.

Well I just think they want him as a staple in the rotation rather than a depth option, and Peavy and Lackey would bring more back than Dempster. I agree, with Peavy and Buch you're going to have injuries, but I would think they want him to make 25-30 starts, not just 12-15 based on injuries. The way it sounded, I think they want him to go into 2015 as a set piece in the rotation with a full year of starts under his belt.

Listened to the Hot Stove podcast with Bradford and Speier last night. Farrell came on the show. They asked him about his pitching prospects specifically and his answer was interesting. He mentioned that Workman is the next guy to step into the rotation. He said that they want at least 1-2 of the guys in that group of SP (Barnes, Workman, Ranaudo, Owens, Webster) to be in their rotation over the next couple years, but wants to be able to insert them kind of one at a time. They want to "incrementally build those guys in", and they're trying to "stay ahead of the curve a little bit and work those guys in". Makes it almost sound, to me at least, like they want to have Workman starting in the rotation this year so they can work him in this year, and then another guy in mid season or next year. They also asked him if this offseason has shaken out as he had expected, and he was extremely hesitant (paused for what felt like a good 10-15 seconds) and mentioned that he was really surprised at the pitching market still being so flooded. Almost sounded a bit frustrated in that regard. The inference that I can make out of this is that they're not just trying to unload one of their pitchers, but they're trying to unload one that would open up a slot for Workman in the rotation. To me, that would mean trading Lackey or Peavy (leaving Dempster in the bullpen and as the #6 starter). We'll see how it pans out, but that's how I read the tea leaves. Here's the link to his interview if anyone is interested. http://audio.weei.com/a/85249740/john-farrell-on-the-hot-stove-show.htm

You don't. You have 6. Bogaerts, Drew, Pedroia, Napoli, Middlebrooks, Herrera. Not to mention Carp.

If you move Carp, you have zero LH pop off the bench. On a team that already has Ortiz and nothing else in terms of power from the left side, getting rid of Carp does not appeal to me.

Don't be so sure of that. If last year told us anything, it's that the Red Sox are being aggressive with their prospects and their promotions. JBJ, Workman, & Webster all had little or no experience in AAA before getting called up last year. Middlebrooks only had a handful of at bats in Pawtucket before being called up in 2012. JBJ spent 61 games in AA, hit .271/.373/.437 in 2012, started 2013 in the MLB, and essentially played the rest of the year in AAA. Cecchini played 66 games in AA last year, hit .296/.420/.404, and could very easily start out 2014 in Pawtucket, at which point, as Cherrington says, he's no longer a prospect as much as he is MLB depth. If the Sox don't sign Drew, and Middlebrooks gets off to a slow start while Cecchini starts out white hot, I can definitely see the Sox giving Cecchini the call. Not to mention, as of right now, the Sox IF of Nap, Pedey, Bogaerts, WMB is all RHH. Cecchini is a LHH, which plays well there.

Drew and WMB can. But Drew, WMB, Bogaerts, and Herrera cannot. Right now, your 13 position players are as follows: Ortiz Pierzynski Ross Napoli Pedroia Bogaerts Herrera Middlebrooks Nava Gomes Bradley Victorino Carp Who are you getting rid of for Drew? Carp? Now you have 4 OF, Middlebrooks isn't playing everyday, which devalues him, and you've got no real back up at 1B other than Nava or WMB, neither of which have much experience at 1B at all. It just doesn't fit with Drew in there as well as WMB.

I assume they will extend Lester, though, at probably 5/90-100. They'll lose 15.5 of Lackey, and Peavy is actually 16.5, not 14. Plus Dempster's 13, so they'll lose (including Lester's $12) $57mm off the books, add $18-20mm, so they'll have ~37-39mm to play with and really have no position players to replace. I would assume the rotation would be something like Lester Buchholz Doubront, and then two of Barnes, Ranaudo, Workman, Owens, Webster. But again, you go get Tanaka, and you can probably dish a few of those prospects for a big bat in LF. This obviously isn't even counting the loss of Pierzynski, Ross, & Gomes (~18mm), two of whom can be replaced internally with Brentz and Vazquez, and then sign a backup C. The Sox will have a ton of payroll flexibility going into the 2015 season. And there are some very intriguing names hitting free agency. Clayton Kershaw, Justin Masterson, James Shields, potentially Tanaka (give me Kershaw, plz)

Too many IF though. If the Sox sign Drew, Middlebrooks gets traded.

Certainly he had issues that he needed to work on, but again, he was going straight from AA to MLB when he had those issues. He then went down to AAA, worked on them, and came back and started playing much better. From June 1 to the end of the season, Bradley posted a .755 OPS. And once he got called up in September, he posted a .317 OBP. Again, these aren't eye popping numbers, but what they do show is that he made adjustments in AAA and took them into the MLB. Too many people seem to think that transitioning prospects to the big league level is a smooth, seamless transition. But it's not. There are bumps in the road and you have to ride them out with the understanding that these players have made adjustments their entire careers, and will continue to make those adjustments to become above average MLB regulars.

To be fair, it's not like Bradley flopping is going to sneak up on them. They're going to give him time, and during that time, if they think he needs to be sent back down, they can always shop around at that point. I just think it would be silly to get rid of a bat like Carp for a long-term insurance plan when you've got guys who can already step in for a few days at a time in Carp and Gomes for LF, Nava for RF, Vic for CF. There's a good bit of flexibility there, if needed, for a short term DL stint or something of the likes.

The Sox will also have a much better idea of what to expect from guys like Ranaudo, Barnes, Webster, Workman, Hinojosa, and even Owens going forward, so they'll be able to adjust how much they want to invest in a guy like Tanaka.