wyo-sox

Well we agree on Ells. My brain fart for not thinking of Bailey, we agree there. We are close on Youk, but I lean towards iffy on him. We are miles apart on Crawford, I do not see him returning to past form. He proved the pressure bothered him and it will be stronger if he returns this year. Plus he will be contending with injuries he is fresh off of. Dice K would shock me if he could contribute better than our 4 and 5 starters are. The last three years he pitched his era was 5.76, 4.69, and 5.30 so I do not feel good about him. Jenks, 2008 2.63, 2009 3.71, 2010 4.44, and 2011 6.32. Not trending in a direction that gives me hope. Plus he seems like a head case.

Other than Ells, who is injured that would give me hope of helping this team when they come back? Youk and Crawford are maybes at best for contrubuting. Lackey and Dice K would probably make us worse if they came back. I do not think Dubront or Bard deserve to loose their spots to those clowns

I have three sons. Often as a parent it feels like one of them has to be grumpy. If any two are happy the third will be pissy, its like they take turns so someone is always in a bad mood. Between starting pitching, bullpen, and the bats..... that is how watching this team feels to me.

Sweeney plays like he's hungry to succeed. One of the few on this team.

You know I would grade him a C to a D so far, but I can't see any manager making a difference.

Can Bobby V. pinch hit himself? Could not be any worse, and would be awesome.

If Albert does not play like Superman it will cripple that club for years. If CC does not produce, Lackey I count as a lost cause and A Gonz only hits singles in the first inning, I have a hard time seeing us recovering for years.

I guess the kick ass perm is worth more than I realized.

Wow, even Angels fan smart enough to boo Albert. Maybe at some point people will curb these insane contracts.

By Salty, goodbye. I really thought he would improve as a player. I missed that as bad as Salty missed that pop fly.

Just turned on the game. Wow. Streaky offense, either 20 home runs in a game, or everyone fans at the balls. Pitching..... don't even need to comment. What a joke. At some point people are going to stop being mad at Bobby V. And start feeling sorry for him. I will keep watching the game in hopes the crowd will start booing the crappy play they have it coming.

I thought Carl has said he was never comfortable last year. To me it is a flip of the coin if he would be worth anything. I wonder how comfortable he will be with a more outgoing manager, the pressure of coming off a bad year, and knowing his fill ins are hitting the all really well. Can you imagine if he comes back and stinks with the bat- how is the tension of the team going to be with Ross or Sweeney on the bench after gelling with the team and hitting the ball so well.

Fair enough I do not know Kevin well enough to know why he I struggling, but what I was trying to relay is that it is obvious Kevin is struggling. And if any player on this team is thrown off his game because of a dozen words spoken by anybody then they need to hang it up. You told me to forget about last year in the same sentence you justify Dustins comments by talking about how the team played over the last decade???????? I would love to move on from last year but it does not seem the team has. The roster is a bit different, the manager is way different, the GM is different, it is a new season....but it just feel like the same lack of heart. No, I don't know or can't know anyone's passion, but that is what it looks lke to me. And I am holding manager and players to the same standard. Bobby V.is exactly what I expected. Youk, Bucholz, Melancon etc..... are not what I expected. Changing gears..... I suspect really great teams or really lousy teams are probably never the result of any one thing. Either extreme I suspect is the result of a ''perfect storm'' when the right players, right managers, lucky breaks etc..... all fall in place it is easy to be a great club house guy, team leader, say the right things...... and probably easy to start to over value yourself. When the perfect storm brews on the negative extreme....... we will find out who our real leaders are.

Valentine is managing a bad team. That is the reality. He leaves Bard in and Bard falls apart so Valentine is crucified. With Dubront he does the opposite and the pen melys down- so everyone boos Valentine. Where are the boos for Bucholz, for the bullpen, for the non clutch hitting ''super stars'' Valentine makes one painfully honest statement about his weak third baseman and the media acts like he did some unspeakable evil. Pedroia has the nerve to call out his boss with ''he'll learn how we do it in Boston'' Hey Dustin, the way it is done in Boston is one of the very worst teams there is. I do not want to hear how for a few months last year they were the best team..... that is about as relevant as winning it all in 2004. Consequtively through last Sept to now it is a bad bad team. It was not Franconas fault and with a weaker roster now it sure ain't Valentines fault. Hit the ball, pitch like a pro. Add a couple relievers. Send non productive lazy guys to AAA.

Valentine is managing a bad team. That is the reality. He leaves Bard in and Bard falls apart so Valentine is crucified. With Dubront he does the opposite and the pen melys down- so everyone boos Valentine. Where are the boos for Bucholz, for the bullpen, for the non clutch hitting ''super stars'' Valentine makes one painfully honest statement about his weak third baseman and the media acts like he did some unspeakable evil. Pedroia has the nerve to call out his boss with ''he'll learn how we do it in Boston'' Hey Dustin, the way it is done in Boston is one of the very worst teams there is. I do not want to hear how for a few months last year they were the best team..... that is about as relevant as winning it all in 2004. Consequtively through last Sept to now it is a bad bad team. It was not Franconas fault and with a weaker roster now it sure ain't Valentines fault. Hit the ball, pitch like a pro. Add a couple relievers. Send non productive lazy guys to AAA.

I see lots of talk about being willing to trade Youk. What makes us think we could get anything for him? Who would give up anything substantial for him right now? I think Ells would be the guy to move maybe even package someone like Youk to get a little more value for the other player. My thoughts are that first of all there is a good chance Ells does not want to be here. Secondly there is a good chance we can't or won't pay what it takes to keep him next year. Additionally every other team still has Ells last amazing season fresh in their mind and the reality is there is a good chance he may never have a season like that again. Again remember I am proposing this as as a hypothetical. I do not think it is time to jump ship on these guys yet. In my opinion if they are not playing 500 baseball by 20 games I will be nervous. If things have not changed by 40 games I think the Sox leadership should seriously move some of their big name players.

Seems to me if you have a team you believe one of two things about it. One, you can or are very close to winning the World Series. Two, you know you can't seriously contend for a WS so you are "rebuilding". I firmly believe it is to early to tell, but boy oh boy it is looking more and more like the Sox are more like the later. If they are not a team that can seriously contend and you were the GM, who would you start offering to trade for prospect? Clearly some of the big name contracts we have do a team no good that is loosing. In addition what positions would you prioritize in getting prospects?

OK Dustin get the lead back

Tie thing up David!

uh oh

No, we did not... not at all. That cost me a point.

And now The Austin Power Balls are mad at you Aviles!!!!!!!!!!!

Atta kid Aviles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Red Sox and the Austin Power Balls (my fantasy team) appreciate the hit.

I hate some of the left hand right hand chess match ups..... would much rather see Sweeney in the outfield rather then repko

If you are wearing a Rangers jersey please do not sit near the bull pen. You may cause the pitchers to wet themselves. Seriously though hope you have a great time.