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I remember that Pedro interview. He really was pointing out that pitchers no longer know how to pitch inside without hitting somebody or getting tagged and watching the thing find some parking lot past the left field fence. They use the cutter because it is an easier pitch to control while still having some movement and offering an alternative to the FB. I think Pedro is entirely correct. All you have to do is watch some of the younger Sox pitchers to know they struggle with understanding how to throw inside. Very seldom see a young pitcher who can put the ball where he wants to put it inside for one thing. Occasionally you see a young pitcher throw the wrong kind of pitch and he either gets tagged or the hitter just stands there, lets it hit him and takes 1st base.

Was watching the Comcast Spring Training show tonight. I guess Felix is the one guy that Merloni REALLY did not like. According to Lou, Felix has clearly gained a few pounds, was borderline not in shape and the Sox were kinda' babying him a bit at this point. worried about inducing an injury. Lou pointed out that Felix has exhibited this behavior before in his short career. As recall, the last time this happened with Felix, experts were even questioning his commitment to the game. I would have thought Felix would have done almost anything to avoid this sort of perception. Some have offered that the upper reaches of his potential are pretty high. I have not been as impressed nor as hopeful. However I did not expect this especially thinking Felix must know this would cause some concern. I for one am not all that thrilled about the idea of just plugging Frankie in either. This ST has surely started oddly. Guys down there early...good sign. Some saying the wrong things..not so good sign. Felix is one of the guys that showed early I think....good sign. However they are I guess not allowing him to work at this point....not so good sign. Lou was hinting around that maybe zebra's really don't change their stripes pointing at Felix in this case. Definitely not so good sign.

Actually two inches in arm angle is quite a bit. Anyway I realize Jon's issues are mechanical. That was pretty well documented last year. A pitcher does try to disguise his pitches and use the same motion as much as possible. That is certainly true of the FB and the Straight Change and the Cut Fastball. I don't expect Lester to lose it the way he did last year. By the same token I don't expect him to have a super great season either. I think it will depend on what happens with his FB. 1.5 mph is a lotta' velo and i would be surprised if he gains all of that back even if the mechanical fixes bring back some of it. If he has to make the kinds of changes that starting pitchers tend to have to make if they lose velo off their FB, then I think it will be very difficult for Jon to have a great year. He will be dealing with making changes on multiple levels if he has to compensate for the velo on his FB becoming a moving target. Beckett has certainly not handled that particular aspect of his pitching with much success so far. If that does happen to Jon this year then I think the upper end of the spectrum of possible outcomes for Jon's season takes a hit and the best I would hope for would be a good solid performance but not something like a duplicate of the best Jon is capable of giving us.

I wish Jon just had one single pitch that was giving him trouble instead of multiple pitches. Maybe it will all resolve itself in exactly the same solution. It is probably at least a little different in each case.

This year I think the dif between our at least temporarily depleted farm system and other farm systems are going to turn out to be be telling. Not sure but the Rays may not skip a beat. Much of the change/improvement...call it what you want (hopefully without being insulting, something so many seem to find impossible here, preferring instead to be a jackass). There will be some new faces around the league this year, some that have crossed over from the other league and some having come up through their systems. All by way of saying...few are going to get worse in my opinion. Minnesota may be worse by virtue of everybody else getting better around them. Rangers may be worse but still better than most including us. Couple teams look like they are about the same as last year. Orioles may actually be better this year than last but can't possibly be as effective in one run games two years running. It will boil down to the starting pitching for the Yanks....much the same story for them as us. if their guys perform to expectation they will likely compete. A number of our guys will have to excel for us to compete I think. That could turn out to be a pretty big difference.

So many teams have made improvements this season that I think the Sox are just not going to find many patsy's to beat up on this year. The Sox are going to have tough sledding in my opinion because the league is just so much better if nothing else. I think it is entirely possible for the division winner to be the only team to make it out of the AL East this year. There have been years when there was an off chance of that happening. This year it may even be likely. For years we have grown used to just penciling in two teams from the AL East into the post season. Can't do that any longer even with two WC teams.

Listening to LL this morning and a number of the interviews the past few days....if there is one thing long term that bothers me about V last year its the fact that the goons that picked him are still here. Some of us asked this question at the time. How was it possible for those guys to sit V down in front of them, have that interview and at the end of it conclude that "V is our guy"? Did V bring a hypnotist with him to the interview? Having seen V throughout his career, I could see him being attractive at some point as a potential Manager but some guys just don't wear well. V does not wear well. As he has aged he has become more and more of an oddity and I just don't understand how they did not see that. Anyway...welcome Mr Farrell....warts and all he has to be tons better.

Pedey was refreshing this morning. The talking heads trying to draw him down the road of the "great bullpen" and he did not take the bait. Pedey immediately responded with a very Ya' but tone to his voice....."it starts with the starting pitching....you have to have good starting pitching" Thank you Pedey.

Hey, we aren't asking them to perform brain sugary.:D

No argument from me. I really can't say that I saw a 1 out there that the Sox could have scooped up. There was not more than one guy that seemed to me to even have the potential to be a 1 that was available. Regardless, the Sox are still desperate for one.

Lester's velo issues were likely the same as his other pitching issues though....mechanical as opposed to simple age for example. So I think there is reason to believe he will pick up his velo again IF he solves the mechanical issues. 1.5 mph is a lotta' velo though. Even if he solves the mechanical issues, picking that much up might be tough.

I am really interested to see how KC handles its lineup. It does appear that they believe they can and will compete in that division. That said I don't wonder if Cleveland's surge in signings caught KC a little by surprise coming a little later than one might have expected. At one point KC may have been able to convince itself that it had done enough to maybe slot itself into the 3 spot in that division and would fight for better. At this point it looks more like KC is fighting for the 3 spot and fighting for better. Will they stand pat? Will they make some moves within their system hoping to blend up some players to make this fight? Might be one of the best attendance seasons that division has seen in awhile. Poor Minnesota must be wondering what the hell happened.

Of the four of them (Sabathia, Verlander, Weaver and Price) Price makes the weakest argument for himself...which is why I have been close to dropping him off the back of the wagon in this discussion myself as opposed to clearly keeping him with Sabathia, Verlander and Weaver.

While KC may not have made as many changes as say Cleveland nor started with as good a baseline as Chicago or Detroit, that division still looks like an absolute dog fight. If KC can fit itself into it somehow, those teams are going to beat each other silly. That usually works to the eventual division winner's favor though as they become battle tested as part of the process.

The only thing that I look at from afar and wonder about is Buch's weight. He put on the weight because he really felt like he needed it, hoping he would add to his durability. If you recall the extra weight itself turned out to be a problem. So, I have thought since then....where does that really leave him. He needed the weight or at least thought he did. However the weight brought along some other issues that prevented him from pitching and staying healthy. So he took the weight back off again. So....OK....where does that really leave him. I know that without the added weight, Buch almost looks sickly at least to me.

Spring Training always brings out a bunch of media stuff regarding the Sox but this one surprised me. One of the radio talking heads claimed today that there was a contingent of Sox fans that disliked Pedey. I had hard time with that one. I could see fans of other teams disliking Pedey but the comment was specific to a contingent of Sox fans. I did not like the way Pedey handled the Youk thing but ....so what. That was over for me way before Pedey came out and basically acknowledged that he had not handled that situation as he should have. I can't see a Sox fan disliking Pedey over that thing. Anyway I am not going to ask if the argument sounds plausible. Does anybody know a Sox fan, even a casual Sox fan that dislikes Pedey? I don't know one but that is just the folks that I know. Update: I had not been listening to the radio since I had heard the discussion about Sox fans that dislike Pedey. Going back and picking the discussion where I left it, sure enough, the claim is that it is over the way Pedey handled the Youk thing. I just cannot believe that. So maybe there is something about that whole Youk deal that I am not getting. Anybody here still maybe even just miffed at Pedey over that?

I think I saw someplace that they postponed continued work for Buch at this point. I think makes sense. This early.... why push him into something.

They are going to go through stuff like this when they have just started to crank it up. I don't think it indicative of anything at this point. I am far more concerned about where Ortiz is at this point with his Achilles. It certainly sounds like it is still tender...something he still can "feel". That may not be atypical at his age for that kind of injury. However, nothing about that is particularly comforting...Can't ignore his age, the injury nor his progress till now given the importance of Ortiz to this lineup.

Sorry read a 9 where there is an 8. But how is that a career? I think the decision to avoid 2012 is fairly arbitrary. Certainly I would agree that Lester's 2006 and 2007 seasons don't count for anything. I know it is pretty popular to take Jon's 2012 and call it an outlier. However if you take 2008-2012 as his career, you are taking 20% of his total career and calling it an outlier. That is a bit more forgiving than I would be when we are discussing inserting Lester into a discussion that includes Verlander and Sabathia. Even Weaver provides you seven years of business to compare. Price does not give you much in terms of length of service but when you look at Price and Lester, their terms of service are similar. However, the only way you can discuss the two of them as comparable is by conveniently leaving out Lester's 2012. If Jon had a typical Lester year in 2012 as opposed to a disaster, you still could not discuss Lester and Price in the same breadth...not for my money. Price has just been that much better when you include their full bodies of work over what is admittedly a short time frame. This s*** goes on constantly here. This guy is comparable to that guy on the third Wednesday of the second month of the season. It just goes on and on. Do what you gotta' do I guess. I already told you my opinion. If you think Lester deserves to be included in a discussion that includes Weaver, Price, Verlander and Sabathia....knock your mind out. I don't see it. Weaver, Sabathia and Verlander have been putting up numbers long enough for me to believe that including Lester in a discussion with those guys is frankly an insult to them. Price is certainly close to Lester in terms of length of service but there, you have to conveniently leave out Jon's 2012 to discuss Lester and Price in the same breadth. However as mentioned earlier, I am quite happy to see Jon grouped with Grienke and Shields for whatever that is worth.

For those three years Pal..... for three years. If you want to decide that you can take a three year span like that and suddenly bunch all the pitchers with similar stats over that three year span together. Go ahead...do as you please Pal. The bodies of work for those seven pitchers distinctly and to me clearly results in two groups, not one and I prefer to look at the body of work. Lester had a shot to be in a discussion that includes Verlander, Sabathia, Weaver and Price and he will likely have it again. He will need to have outstanding seasons 2013-2014 to be in that discussion. 2013-2014 would have to turn out to be the best seasons of his career. Heck Lester has work to do just to polish the tarnish off his own reputation...never mind anointing him at this point as a pitcher that you can group with Sabathia, Verlander, Weaver and Price.

There is a huge disparity in the body of work for those mentioned pitchers. Lester can be in a discussion that includes Grienke or Shields. The rest of the pitchers on that list have far more impressive bodies of work than Grienke, Shields or Lester. In fact I have no problem with those three pitchers being bunched together. But that makes my point. Grienke and Shields do not belong in a discussion that includes Verlander, Weaver, Sabathia or even Price.

I agree completely Bell. That is exactly how I would describe Lester. The problem with those comments from Lester is that: 1. He bristles at the notion that he is not in the same discussion with Sabathia and Verlander for example. Well they put up much better numbers Jon... 2. The idea that "we" should be satisfied, that Jon himself believes and is willing to say that we have seen the best he has to offer is just truly worrisome and suggests that he has not learned....that we will not likely see the Lester we saw at the end of the season but may very likely be the same whinny Lester we have seen more of lately. The other thing that really bothers me is that so far while it is a small sampling, none of the comments being made by players offer much encouragement. Lackey's initial comments have been disconcerting and smacks of last year as do the comments from Lester. Great that they are down there. Why are they setting the bar so low for themselves? Why are they already sounding whinny. Heck they not only have their excuses lined up and ready....they are already layin' them on us. Better to say nothing than to already be banging us with all the reasons why....why what??? They have not thrown a single ball in anger yet! They sound like the season is 3/4 done, they are already out of the running and they are telling us why it is not their fault. I wonder how thrilled Mr. Farrell is with this stuff? He likely has better things to do than concern himself at this stage with what these guys are saying. However, I suspect he would prefer that his pitchers say nothing as opposed to making comments like this. So much for the members of team having an improved attitude ala' some level of optimism vis-a-vis Mr. Farrell.

Cleveland must believe that the AL Central is vulnerable and they are likely right if that is the case. They are at least giving themselves a shot at pushing past the division's top teams. As a division, maybe those teams have done more to improve themselves in one offseason than any other grouping of teams. However none of them has gone off and done a Toronto for example. That is setting up to be a real dog fight.

Believe it or not, one thing I wish for is that the ballplayers at least just go back to the standard baseball speak platitudes we have grown used to hearing from baseball players. - Ya' gotta' play em' one game at a time - I am just here to help the team any way I can etc. I would prefer that to what I think was Jon Lester's first ST interview of a few days ago. Jon decided to take the opportunity to redefine the definition of the Team Ace to fit his recent history. We argue about the definition all the time here...So what....we are just fans doin' the fan thing. I don't need Lester to rationalize his performance for me or provide me HIS definition tailored to his particular mound attributes from the past few seasons. Worse than that, is Jon redefining expectations for himself in a year when we will need him to do more than just take the ball every 5th day? Is Jon trying to redefine our expectations before a ball has even been thrown in anger this season? Clearly, at least based on the interview, Jon is telling us he does not believe there is a "next level" of performance that he is either capable of reaching or even thinks should be expected of him. Heck he comes right out and says the words in the interview. At the very least the interview dents my hopes that we had seen the last of the whinny, wimpy, fear biting dog side of Jon Lester's mound and dugout persona of recent history. One thing we all agree on is that wins are a very poor arbiter of a pitcher's performance...likely the worst of them. Not in Jon-Jon world. Jon, decided to focus on the number of starts he has made per year and the number of wins per season. Two stats that in Jon's case will leave HOF voters wanting at the end of his career. Most particularly Jon chooses to focus attention on the four 15 win seasons in a row and the short list of ML pitchers that have hit that mark. That said if you asked the others on the list, they would likely not even consider that particular number worthy of mention. Maddox did it for seventeen straight seasons, not four and had 20 game win seasons all along the way. Verlander has done it. Palmer did it. However for all of the others four 15 win seasons is at the bottom of their resume if there at all. Jon has NEVER had an ACE season. He has never had a great season. He has been the consummate rotation #2. In fact, they should simply retire the definition for Jon. Mr. Fan, Ya' wanna' know what you want from your #2 starter or possibly your #3 starter.....see Jon Lester. The problem with that is that Jon has been penciled into the #1 spot since 2010 and could never nudge past the slowly declining Josh Beckett to occupy the spot. None of what Jon has done in the past few seasons qualifies him as an Ace. None of it fills the bill for my expectations of a rotation #1 on a contending team. He has been an innings eater....an absolute horse at least for this team of hospital ward residents. However none of it smacks of greatness. None of it makes me think of Jon in terms of an Ace. Frankly I don't care what Jon says to himself in front of the bathroom mirror. Ya' wanna' run around the house in PJ's with the #1 plastered on the back....go right ahead Jon....knock your mind out. I just don't need to hear it, especially in a year when Jon will have to give us much more this year if this team has any chance to do anything to nudge itself out of the basement of the AL East. I don't need Jon telling me I should not expect better from him. I have to expect better from him! Shut up and pitch Jon.

As I indicated earlier...I don't think much of Lavs arm at this point. He throws with better rhythm than Salty but Lavs does not appear to me to have a strong arm. I suspect the runners he does throw out he will nab because he can move quickly behind the plate and can release the ball quickly, not because he has a cannon for an arm. So far I have not seen any evidence that he has a cannon arm.