SoxFanForsyth

AAV of $23.33mm will justify his contract. Take this year and combine it with his past 2 years and he's had an AAV of 18.9mm, just 1.1mm under his contract amount, and he's having an absolutely horrid year, so I don't see how he can't perform to his prior years levels during the rest of his peak years, which are still in front of him

I don't see how you can't comprehend this. JD Drew's first 4 years should have averaged out high enough that it would absorb his 5th year and his average worth would still be above $14mm. He's been worth $100,000 this year. At this point, if he doesn't contribute anymore, his will have provided $58.5mm of value, at a cost of $70mm for the Sox. So JD Drew, at this point, will need to contribute a value of $11.5mm over the last month of his contract to justify his contract, which he will not do. Carl Crawford is in year 1 of a 7 year contract. He's got 6 years to create $140mm of value. Over the 2 years prior to his contract, he had an average value of $27.85mm. Over 6 years, that $167mm in value at a cost of $140mm. He will need to provide AAV of $23.33mm over the next 6 seasons to justify his contract, which, based on his past 2 years and his age, is very attainable. There's a reason why you can call a contract a bust after one year. It's because it was his last year, and he didn't perform to the contract. Prior to this year, he had. But like Pal said. It was a 5 year contract, not a 4 year. You can't just neglect to consider this season. The difference between Drew and Crawford is that Carl has 6 years to realize his value. JD Drew has 1 month.

It's Gonzo's neck. They've come out and talked about it I believe.

Well, to be fair, Middlebrooks is only 22 and is having a complete breakout year. Plus he started the year in A ball, moved up to AA and had a hell of a year. But regardless, his plate discipline isn't there yet. He struck out 92 times in 367 AB in AA (25%), which would translate to roughly 150 K's in a 600 AB season. He's still learning, all I'm saying is that it's a shame he isn't ready to take that big step to the MLB yet. He'll get there, probably starting 3B in 2013 if he continues his progress.

I wouldn't call it a great pick up, but I liked Mark Loretta for his 1 year stint.

It's truly a shame that Middlebrooks isn't closer to being MLB ready. Obviously Theo would never pull a player from AA to MLB without even a cup of coffee in AAA, but I wouldn't be too upset to see Middlebrooks get a few games in at the MLB level. He can't be any worse than Lowrie has been. Lowrie since coming off the DL: .148/.172/.259/.432. Are you kidding me. Not to mention his defense has been putrid at best.

This may actually be a good thing. Who knows, maybe Lavarnway can hit on the road. We know that Youk sure cant. .191/.310/.356/.666 on the road. .210/.319/.390/.709 in the 2nd half. Maybe he can get healthy and give us the boost we need in September.

Oh yeah. This is a Theo signing. Damn. I thought I had a good one.

Jose Offerman http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2975386

Dennys Reyes. Hahahahahaha. I know, I know, low risk RP, but dude was horrid.

Especially because I remember arguing with my friend who is a NYY fan that the bench was a major strength for the Red Sox this year.

Huh?? How is cheating anything like the salary?? That makes zero sense. Look - you worry about the contracts in the offseason. At this point, his $142mm is a sunk cost. Can't do anything about it. At the time that the contract was made, Crawford was coming off a couple seasons where he was a top 6 WAR player in the MLB. In 2010, he was 2nd in WAR in the MLB. Was it a bad contract? Sure. But don't beat a dead horse. The money is paid. You can be pissed that he's not performing consistent with his career trends, that's one thing, but don't value him based on his contract, that's stupid. Value him based on his talent and past performance.

Especially in a situation when we need an extra PH in a world series scenario. Save Ortiz for the late game heroics, let Lavarnway PH in the 7th inning for the SP. I'm not sure whether or not you can set your roster before each series, but regardless, when you really think about it, do we really need a 12 man pitching staff for the PS? If you're going with a 4 man rotation, Wakefield can be sent to the bullpen for mop up duty, and then you have 6 other guys (Bard, Pap, Albers, Aceves, Morales, Wheeler) who can come in and shut it down. That lets you have a 14 man bench, so you can have Varitek, Lavarnway, Lowrie/Aviles, Drew, and McDonald ready to come off the bench when needed. By the way, speaking of the post season, if JD Drew comes up with a huge hit, or if Crawford goes on an unbelievable tear through the PS, is all forgiven this season? Same thing with Lackey - if he goes 4-0 with a 2.15 ERA, is he off the hook for 2011?

Why don't we have a 2011 Injury and Call Up Thread? I was going to make one, but didn't know if we didn't have it because of a superstition or something. Anyway, since we don't have one, I'll post this here: Hopefully this guy can come up and provide us with some extra pop because this team is flat as s*** right now. We need something or someone to come up and give us some energy.

Team looks flat as s***. As flat as they've looked all season. Very 0-6, 2-10-esque. Going 2-5 in our last 7 against the Twins, Mariners, and Rays is pretty much the lowest it gets in the 2nd half. Absolutely inexcusable. Only good thing is that we're getting this pure s*** out before September and October. Only bad thing is that if we keep playing like this, we're going to have a mountain to climb in September.

Hard to win games with Gonzo and Crawford both going 0 for the series.

This offense is anemic right now. Almost as if they feel like they've clinched and are just taking some personal days.

Magadan needs to go back to the drawing boards with Crawford because there is just something not right with him. Whether he's just uncomfortable or what, who knows, but something is clearly wrong. Even when he was going bad, he wasn't this bad.

Dude. What are you laughing at? A 9 game lead isn't safe with 40 games left. Don't you realize if the Sox go 20-20, the Rays/Angels can go 29-11 (.725) and tie them?!?

Buchholz sucks. He has a career 3.65 ERA. Should have never locked him up, even though he's posted a 2.70 ERA over the past 2 combined seasons. Lester sucks too. He's got a 3.50 ERA. WTF is Theo thinking? I don't care if he's got a 3.27 ERA over the past 4 seasons. His seasons when he was 22 still have to have predictive value!!