SoxFanForsyth

This from Jon Heyman - Imagine Bard - Soriano in the 8th and 9th. That would be freaking lights out.

Not to mention the fact that Felix has a no trade clause that includes the Yankees, which I'm sure he would waive if they gave him a CC-like extension, but now you're talking about cream of the crop prospects, plus MLB ready players, plus 22-25mm a year. If the Mariners ever do make Felix available, they're going to dick someone over hard for him. They definitely won't trade him unless they can 'win' the trade.

Well, Francona didn't just come out and say "I'm not giving Lowrie a shot to start at SS", but he said "Scutaro's our SS and Lowrie is our utility man". I understand that Lowrie is very valuable as a utility man, and if that's the role that he has this year, I'm sure he will excel in it. Basically what I'm saying is, barring any injuries, if Lowrie is going to get a shot to get a significant amount of playing time, I think everyone can agree that ideally it would be at shortstop so that he's not taking playing time from Youk, Pedey, or Gonzo. Now - I understand that next season every one of those players I mentioned above are coming off of surgery, which will add more than usual playing time for Lowrie at their respective positions, but it just sounds like Francona has it set in his mind that Lowrie is the utility guy. For the record, this whole conversation started with someone talking about how Lowrie is mouthing off a little bit regarding not being the starting shortstop, and all I said was that he deserves a shot and it sounds like Francona thinks he is just going to be the utility man. Also - I don't like the idea of having Lowrie as the starting SS and utility man when someone goes down. Unfortunately, Scutaro can't play first or third, so maybe Lowrie can split time with Scoot at SS and spell everyone else when needed.

Nobody is saying he's the next Hanley or Tulo, but the article makes it seem as though Lowrie is going to be the utility man and Scutaro is going to be the starting SS. All I said was that I think Tito should give him a chance to win the starting job with a solid spring training. If he can continue his success from 2010, then I don't see why he should be playing in a utility role.

It was just two days ago that Theo basically said the job is Scutaro's to lose, but that Lowrie could win the starting spot with a strong spring training. This is the second time that Theo and Tito have been reporting different things. The first time, Theo said Ellsbury was symptom free, and Tito said he's still feeling it in his back a little, and this was about 2 days apart from each other.

That sounds disgusting. Wash your balls dude. So Dipre - no Atchison? I can see either Atch or Hill, but either way you look at it, they should both be on the 25 man roster and Wakefield shouldn't be.

I demand an apology

i did them this afternoon dickhead!

Shakey Wakey is such a waste. Sucks. Doubront would be such a better option. He can stretch out and be our 6th man, and he can be our 6th and 7th inning guy. Plus we only have 2 lefties on our entire staff. I know you're not necessarily agreeing with the Wakefield option, I just really don't like it.

Who do you put in your bullpen? That's what I was trying to get at - I want Darnell, Cam, Lowrie, and Tek on the bench, assuming Scutaro starts. The problem is that you have 13 position players and 12 pitchers. With Wakefield in the bullpen, you really only have 6 legitimate relief pitchers to pick up 420+ IP (Sox had 440 IP out of the bullpen last year, of which Wake threw 25). It's tough to expect each RP to pick up 70 IP. Which is basically where I came to the argument that Wakefield is wasting a roster spot. But I agree - Darnell and Cam could easily replace Drew and Ortiz vs tough lefties next year.

In all fairness, Francona sounds like Lowrie doesn't even have the opportunity to win the job at SS, and that's not fair to Lowrie. He had a monster 2010 in his limited AB's, and has earned at least a shot to win the starting job. I would be pretty frustrated too if I were him. I think he is ready for some consistency in his job with the Sox, and after some disappointments this is his first opportunity. Personally, I would like to see Lowrie get a shot at SS because if he can perform at or near 2010 levels, then give him the job. But don't count him out before ST even starts. To be honest, I want to see Lowrie play, but not at the expense of Pedey, Youk, or Gonzo, so where is he going to get all this PT? Youk plays about 145 games, Pedey about 155, and Gonzo about 160, so other than at SS, that only allows 25 games.

Yeah I agree with that, Toronto too. And the Jays have 3 lefties in their rotation, so I'm sure Jones will get plenty of PT against them. The Sox only have Lester, and he's a pretty tough pitcher, so Jones may not get too many AB's against Boston at Fenway.

He had 64 hits last year, and 19 HR. That's freaking crazy. Basically 30% of his hits are HR. But - he hasn't hit over .260 since 2006 and Yankee Stadium is a hitters park for lefties, not so much for righties.

Yeah - it sucks that Darnell is out of options. We could go with a 13 man bench and 12 man bullpen? Lester, Buch, Beck, Lackey, Dice, Pap, Jenks, Bard, Wheeler, Atch, Wake, Oki. The thing that really sucks about having Wakefield is that he almost wastes a roster spot. He's only there for mop up duty, and he won't be used in any game that is close. I hate that use of a bullpen spot, and it's ultimately costing Darnell a job. If you really look at it, would you rather have Darnell or Wake? I'd rather have D-Mac, drop Wake, add Albers, which would make our bullpen sufficient at 12, and we could call up Doubront for spot starts.

Having said that - I like the Jones signing for the Yankees. It's a solid move.

You think if Pettitte comes back, you'll be as good as you were last year? Even if he does come back, it's pretty crazy to think he'll post a sub 3.30 ERA again.

So - are there any other moves you'd like to see the Sox make before P&C Report? Personally - I'd like to see them a spot starter (like Duch) that could throw from the bullpen and stretch out as a starter when someone hits the DL Also - I'd like to lock up Buchholz for a deal similar to Lester (5/30mm).

I'd rather have Duch over Galarraga. Much higher upside with some bullpen and starting experience.

I'd love to have Duch on the team as an insurance plan for Beckett and DiceK. If either of them go down for an extended period (30+ days), and Wakefield has to take the ball for those starts, we're in trouble. If Theo doesn't want to give Wakefield a nice little retirement package, a.k.a. a forced retirement, and make room for Duch, I'd be OK with letting go of Atchison for him. If we took a chance on Brad Penny and John Smoltz, we should definitely take a chance on Duch. Limited starts and some bullpen work. Give him a 1 year/$1.5mm deal with $100k incentives for every 25 inning he pitches. Something like that at least.

I'll go ahead and predict a battle between Miggy and Gonzo for AL MVP.

Are the Sox really interested in Duch? I could see that. Injury prone, but he would be a great 6th man which would limit his innings. He's got a career 3.13 ERA, too. I almost would like to see Theo take a chance on Duch and make him our 5th man over Dice, but Duch wouldn't be good for 180-200 innings.

It's not necessarily Oakland over the Yankees. It's probably more Oakland in the West over Yankees in the East. The AL East is solid this year, the O's got better, the Jays are still an 84-86 win team, the Rays have a fantastic rotation, and then obviously the Sox and Yanks are two of the best teams in baseball. I would say that the Jays would win over 90 games if they played in the West.