SoxFanForsyth

How do you figure that?!? Bay: 3 years, 49mm left on contract Lackey: 3 years, 45.75mm left on contract. Lackey could be a decent pitcher when throwing in spacious Citi Field and in the NL. Bay sucks because Citi Field is so big, and he's a horrible defender. I don't think the Sox would have to eat much, if any, of Lackey's contract in this deal.

Now is NOT the time for gloating, believe it or not........ You should be more disappointed with the fact that this team lost than proud that you made a ******** prediction

Just heard an idea on WEEI. How about a Trash for Trash trade - Lackey to the Mets for Jason Bay? Make Bay the DH maybe?

We've already got a thread for this. There's a lot of talk about all of that already. Take a look at it, you'll get a lot of different opinions. Well, no you wont. Everyone hates Francona right now.

Yeah. You're right. A guy who put up a 13.5 WAR in the two seasons before moving to Boston has suddenly morphed into a 0.7 WAR player. That's reasonable. But no, we're the stupid ones for thinking that he'll return to form. You're the smart one for thinking he's a .250/.290/.400 hitter from here on out.

And FWIW, Crawford has a career 9.3 UZR/150 in CF. In 2004, when he played his most innings in CF (225), he had a 17.2 UZR/150. That's pretty solid.

First off, I don't think Ellsbury will be a perennial 30/30 guy. If he hits 15-20 HR next season, I think that will be about right. He's the Joe Mauer of CF. Regardless, though, our offense was absolutely elite. You would be trading away a huge chunk of your offense, but it was the best in the MLB. Our SP posted a 4.49 ERA. 22nd in the MLB, 9th in the AL. Plain and simple, we're rich in offense, poor in SP. It needs to be balanced. Take out Ellsbury, sure it hurts. Replace Wakefields starts with Felix starts? Worth it.

Francona is gone. No question about it. Seriously though. Dennis. Eckersley. Give that guy a job. He would be an incredible manager.

We need a lot more flexibility at the DH position. We handcuffed ourselves horribly in interleague play by having our biggest bat unavailable. Youk clearly isn't going to be an everyday 3B, he's entirely too fragile, and would be much better suited at DH. Then again, who are we going to get to play 3B? Middlebrooks isn't ready. The FA market for 3B is atrocious. Should be interesting.

Any significant move that the Sox make this year will come via trade. They will almost certainly trade Lackey and dump 1/2 - 1/3 of his salary. To an AL West team, Lackey at 5-8mm is a pretty good pitcher. He needs a big park to throw well. He'll be gone next year. Beckett is absolutely not going to throw to a 2.6 ERA next year, he'll probably be the 3.8 ERA guy that his career numbers indicate. So he'll be a solid 3 guy, with Lester and Buchholz as the 1-2 punch. I can see the Sox lining up a trade for Danks and Quentin from the ChiSox. I can also see the Sox working on a 3-team trade for a stud pitcher like Felix. There will be no big-name FA acquisitions this season, the payroll won't allow for it. The Sox are around $170mm after arbitration + Ortiz + Papelbon. If they can dump $7mm of Lackey's salary, they'll have around $15mm of wiggle room for all of their acquisitions. The biggest moves will be done via trade.

Well, there's a start. Between the complete s*** April records over the past two seasons (22-27 combined), along with the rash of injuries, it's clear that Francona is not, by any means, promoting conditioning of his players. Francona and the Strength and Conditioning coaches will be the first on the block, and rightfully so.

Good things and bad things: The Good: - The core of this team is returning. Carl Crawford is a much better player than this, and I fully expect him to return to form next year. Say what you want about him, but I think he'll be the Crawford we signed. - JD Drew is gone, as stated before. I also think, however, that John Lackey will be gone, and that DiceK won't throw a pitch. That means this team will have Lester - Buchholz - Beckett as the top 3, and that Theo will make a move for another SP. Trade for Danks from the White Sox, and then let Aceves start as your #5 man. That would be a very solid rotation. - Maybe (and hopefully) the sellout streak ends next year. This team needs fans who aren't blind to failure. - I think most, if not all fans were pretty numb going into this week. I know that I had already come to grips with the fact that the Sox weren't making the post season. If they won last night, and the Rays lost, I would have been ecstatic, but that didn't happen. That's not to say I am not pissed/depressed, but I think most of us saw this coming for the past couple weeks, even though we tried to remain optimistic. - Francona is gone. Maybe we'll get a manager who can manage a bullpen. Maybe. - I'm not sure about anyone else, but one of my absolute favorite times of the year is the offseason. The Winter Meetings are extremely exciting and fun to keep up with. - Surely, with Francona gone, Bogar will be gone too. We've seen far too many mistakes from him. The Bad - Worst collapse ever. - 5 months of no baseball sucks really bad. - No lead will ever feel safe again, and from now on, every September, all we're going to hear about is the 2011 Red Sox. - God forbid the Sox ever lose 2 or 3 in a row in September in the next 10 years, lines will be forming on the Tobin.

Just wanted to add that little tid bit.

LAVARNWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Lord. Ortiz just crushed that ball. That's way gone in Fenway.

Damn. He missed it by less than a hair.

Bases juiced for Tex. Come on Tex. Flash some power.

Alright. Lets go, score a bunch here. Knock Britton out of the game.

.....as he strikes out his 5th in 2.2....

Bedard has no put-away pitch.

Hellickson starting to lose it. Walks Gardner on 4 straight after giving up leadoff HR. Little pressure on the rookie.

Russel the Muscle Martin hits a HR. 2-1 Rays.