jung

Whatda' ya' tryin' ta' do.... make us feel worse than we already feel? He needs to get his ass over .290 next season with double the walks that he got this year in which case he will steal 20 crawling to 2nd base. I could give a damn about 15 home runs if he gets his batting average and walks up where they should be.

There is no way that the Sox should try to deal Beckett and I don't actually think many have called for it. On the other hand there has been a much more balanced discussion about getting rid of Lackey.

Yadi is way more than solid....he is an awesome defensive catcher.

Baseball is that most unique of sports where you could easily play to the requirements of your contract or more importantly the terms of the CBA without being in great shape. For example, in the case of Beckett or even others of the Sox starters the fact that they took the ball for their turn every time would far outweigh their inability to go deep into games if one were to actually try to make a case for termination of contract based on conditioning. The motivation for conditioning is so different in just about all of the other team sports. In football if you are out of condition you can easily be run over on a play and you are taking your life into your hands. In basketball it takes a pretty high level of conditioning just to stay on the floor. The language in the baseball CBA makes it very difficult to do anything to force baseball players to toe the line either. In many ways it boils down to the player himself having enough personal integrity to stay in the kind of shape that allows him not to just take the field but be able to play well deep into the game. Then on top of everything else, there is so much physical effort that a pitcher must put out compared to an outfielder that may have to show a burst of speed on occasion but not much else.

I really don't know why the 1st base ump was where he was on that play either. Why he felt compelled to drift over that far is beyond me as he did not improve his position for any kind of a play you could think of at 1st base. You could tell the ump had no clue what had actually happened on the play as at the end he was pointing to the bag as if the play revolved around whether or not the runner had beaten Napoli to the bag. The ump missed the actual play entirely as the play had nothing to do with whether Napoli's foot was on the bag or whether the runner had beaten Napoli to the bag. I hate the fact that there is currently nothing anybody can do about a play that is blown that badly. Rangers have just scored 3 runs and should now be ahead instead of behind.

In my case it is not that I don't see your point alphilip. The problem is really Theo or Sox in general, not Salty. Salty is who he is. However looking at who he is, the only way to justify where he is is by focusing on his batting skills. As limited as they are, they are without question his best qualities. However the mistake is in thinking his defensive skills are even approaching adequate or that they will improve appreciably and you just cannot view catchers through the prism of their bats. He throws the way he throws because he does not have the arm strength to throw any better. Nothing is going to improve that and his throwing is atrocious, not marginal, not passible, but atrocious. As for his receiving, he stabs at the ball with his glove like a 7 year old little leaguer. It is embarrassing. That might improve a little but if at his age he still has not learned to position himself so that the ball comes to him and he can block it if he can't catch it that is pretty tough to rationalize. So he blocks some balls but stop looking at the balls that he blocks and look at how he blocks them and you will see my point. As for blocking the plate I have literally watched him hunting for the ball AND hunting for the plate like a guy that can't walk and chew bubble gum at the same time. Salty can crouch without falling over and that is about it for his catching skills. The mistake is in looking at his batting skills and presuming that his catching will someday not be a glaring weakness. Catching is one of the few positions on the field where batting should be a bonus. You simply cannot sacrifice defensive skills for batting at catching. In the first place the job of catching is so physically demanding that you can forget about the guy legging out anything or being anything but a big liability on the base paths. In the second place a catcher as deficient defensively as Salty will cost you more runs than he will ever get you with his bat. So that is the mistake. Any organization that puts stock in Salty as a catcher does it valuing his bat and hoping against all odds that his catching will improve enough to go from defensively inadequate and atrocious to acceptable and that is a giant mistake. If you are going to try to bring a catcher along find one that HAS some defensive talents that you can build upon and if he ever hits his weight in batting average ....fine...be happy. The Sox did it the other way around or backwards if you will. What a surprise. I and others have posted almost this same post many times here but I don't expect people to look back at achieves especially at a site like ours. But that is the deal. Frankly there are parts of the world where they build baseball players from the bottom up because baseball is viewed as the only way out. If I were looking for a catcher, that is where i would look because it is very hard to find one just at your fingertips someplace. If your point is that the Sox had nowhere to go but but Salty, that is not entirely accurate in the first place and in the second place, if they left themselves with no options at catching who the hell's fault is that....is it your's.....is it mine???? I don't think so.

Not to cut Theo slack on Salty because he really does not deserve any. In truth as has been stated many times and is as clear as day, Salty does not receive the ball well, he can't throw it, actually does not know how to block the plate and does not appear coordinated enough to block it and control the throw from outfield or cutoff man if he knew how and he can't hit it. As far as I can tell, the only thing Salty is capable of doing is crouching without falling over. The sad part about that is that literally qualifies him as a potential major league catcher these days. The overall quality exhibited by catchers at all levels of baseball has gone in the tank and I no longer can even determine what they must use for a standard. For defense, scouts must have to go view tapes of Yadi every once in awhile just to remind themselves how the hell great defense behind the plate looks. Ya' gotta' kid that you think has some athletic talent and ya' wanna' optimize his chances of turning that into gold....don't have him run miles or hold a tennis racket from age three. Don't put a basketball in his hands and hope he grows to be 6'11" if you are 5'8" and don't expose him to the excessive chance of injury in either form of football. Simply do not allow him to take any of his meals at the kitchen table. Have him crouch at every mealtime. Based on what I see if he can crouch he has a shot at the major leagues. The more things you can teach him to do from that crouch the more you will increase the chance that he will both make it and stay. If you can teach him to catch and throw you have a gold glove catcher sitting there in your own living room and if he can hit you have an all star major league baseball player with all the trimmings.

Ya' gotta' find some humor in anything Sox least you end up a basket case. One thing I have found particularly humorous is the older journalists in this town attempting to help the young and defenseless through the maze that is Sox-dom warning them that this is what it was like here all those years, reassuring them that what they thought was their own personal mystery is solved. They no longer have to wonder why when they were much younger they would look up at their fathers and grandfathers and see in their faces that same single unifying question..... "what the f**k just happened?" Ah yes folks....happy days are here again. All we need is a Nixon back in the White House, VW mini-buses runnin' around Comm Ave and gals abandoning their "structured undergarments" and I will feel like the stars have realigned themselves in their normal places in the sky. Only in Sox-dom is there comfort in mutual misery. I lay myself down in a heap next to my Sox dog brethren comforted by the certain knowledge that I will be getting up with LL's fleas. Somebody do me a favor and reach a paw over behind my ear. My legs are pinned under this damned mastiff next to me and I gotta' helluv' an itch.

That whole management deal in Texas is kinda' different I think, at least based on how teams were run in the past. Apparently the bench coach, Moore, actually makes all of the in-game decisions on hit and run, steal, etc. Washington does make the decisions on pitching changes and the rotation etc. It almost seams like Washington is in large part responsible for setting the overall tone for the team and the coaches get even more of the details than coaches normally get. I don't wonder if more and more managers are going down this road apparently with the approval of their franchise management bosses.

Get Theo a new computer! Oh wait, no sense in that now. Can't help us.

I actually think that the way Paps came back this season is a positive as I don't think many people thought he would come back this strong. I thought Paps would better his 2010 performance but I did not think he would be as good as he has been this year either. As for Salty, he has difficult receiving the ball even when not catching Wake and regardless of how poor a job most Sox pitchers do holding runners that is no excuse for Salty's throwing problems. If you want to see how good a catcher can make the throw to second, watch Yadi here in the WS. Not saying that there are many catchers that can execute the throw to second like he can but Salty is the polar opposite to Yadi. Yadi is not even out of his crouch and the ball is gone with such force that it is aimed directly at the front corner of the bag on the first base side. Many times it is Yadi that gets the runner out as the guy covering the bag does not even have to move the glove from making the catch. Salty must stand, step and throw and even with that the ball is often tailing up and toward the second baseman's normal position. By the time he is done standing and stepping there is just about no sense in throwing.

I should add that I have this feeling that Ellsbury looks back on being moved from his natural position in Center as a key ingredient to his having been run over by Beltri on the play that caused his injury and then we will remember that Ells injury was another that was not handled very well by Sox medical staff. Then when Ells decides that he would like to get as far away from that same medical staff as possible and rehab in Arizona, he gets landed on by Youk. Frankly I think Ells has good reason not to want to come back here.

AGons has his two GG's to Youks 1 at 1st. My comments were more directed at the way Youk has been moving in the field the last year or more. However it just about does not matter as there is little doubt that Youk would play a very competent 1st base. Even with AGons playing better in the field, when one considers all the moving pieces, Beltri, prospects, AGons, VMart, Ortiz, either Salty or Tek if we had not gone after AGons, it would have almost forced the other route that both you and I seem to be suggesting. Heck I would have given Theo Crawford since I have never been convinced the Ells wants to stay here past this current contract. However, Theo has had something of a penchant for painting himself into a corner as now I doubt we will ever know for sure if Ells would have stayed or not. I commented in an earlier thread that the AGons deal, the one that is generally accepted as a success that has bothered me more than the Crawford deal and I was not happy about the Crawford deal. The Crawford deal to me had an impact on what you might do with Ells but going after AGons has an impact on what you did with Youk with Beltri, and by extension how you thought about the DH which brought Ortiz and VMart into the picture and then prospects as you mentioned.

I suppose the Sox could have tried to make a run at keeping Beltri. The Rangers offered him $14M per so it would have taken some number better than that to keep him. If they kept Beltri they could have moved Youk to first base which given his propensity to break down might be a better spot for him than 3rd. If they had Youk at first and Beltri at 3rd, that would have been another right handed bat in the line up. Suppose they had kept VMart as well and had passed on AGons and Crawford. Crawford was still something of a surprise deal at the end. Whether with or without Crawford it would have been interesting to see how the Sox would have faired with Youk at 1st, Beltri at 3rd, no Agons and VMart as DH doing some catching. It certainly seems that would have been a better "team". VMart is widely regarded as really good in the clubhouse, a real team guy. Hindsight is 20/20 but I do wonder how much Theo's love affair with getting AGons here drove decisions to not make serious runs at Beltri and VMart. AGons is certainly a better glove guy at 1st than Youk is. I definitely wanted VMart here. The water gets a little muddier when trying to compare having Beltri and Youk instead of AGons and Youk.

I have seen a few reports of other teams starting the process of bringing guys in for initial discussions/interviews. We have not seen any of that here yet. However I don't think is as much about being a " deer in the headlights" as much as wanting to get Theo and the guy or guys that are going to follow him out of town out of here as it is just not a good environment to have somebody you might like to have in your organization around right now. In effect it sort of prevents the process from moving forward but if that is the case I can't say that I would blame them. I would like to have the guys that are going to leave outta' here before even inviting guys for discussions/interviews as well. I think there was even a piece in the Globe or Herald that said Theo was still coming into the office so I would guess anybody that is considering leaving town with him is doing the same.

Among the morning Sox stories: - Theo deal with Cubs may be announced tomorrow. I guess taking today off the table. Wish this would get done because our new guy does not seem to be anything more than the interim GM in name only. Nothing seems to be happening as yet on the "need a Manager" front. Seems like we have to get Theo out of here for things to start happening on any front. - Buckholtz to get some air time today on EEI. I really still do not know why these guys feel so compelled to get on the air at a time when nothing gets better by putting more people in front of the mic. Maybe it will be fine. - The beer in the dugout thing still won't go away with more apparently expected either today or tomorrow. The HDH story is I guess corroborated as there are two sources telling the same story. That said as each day goes by and nobody else comes up with more input (given the entire town is working on this story) then maybe it will go away. I still cringe at the thought that there is a photo or photos out there that will corroborate the story. - I really hope the Lackey to SD story gets legs as that would really be the best thing for him and for us..

Maybe Sox would end up still paying the bulk of Lackey's contract with the Cubs getting the rest so that SD pays nothing or next to nothing. That might make more sense than a money split between Cubs and SD.

Cards have a better number 1 starting pitcher although Tex starting pitching is really good. In a short series though the better number 1 has a real impact. Playing four in the NL series, the DH, no DH thing is a real advantage for the NL team. This is for me the most disturbing thing about the DH especially now that we have inter-league play in the regular season.

Any one of those Theo/Lackey combinations would likely make folks around here pretty happy.

I would never consider it prudent for a franchise to keep a GM functioning in that position for the last year of his contract unless all parties already know the next step is for him to be kicked upstairs. A franchise might be able to let a Manager go part of a season before re-upping him but a GM's function has him for the most part dealing with issues that stretch out beyond the current year. How do you let him do that when his contract does not cover that period? A practical example here would have been letting Theo pick a new manager when his own contract with the Sox would only cover the first year of that new Manager's experience here. The issues there are less about whether Theo's heart would be in it or not but how does the new Manager feel about the guy picking him for that job basically doing it with one foot out the door himself?

I actually think there is a chance it gets for a single prospect and not much of one for that. Cubs have been holding out for cash. Sox have been asking for more than they should expect but given all the time they have into it I don't see them settling for what the Cubs have been offering from day one. The Sox emblem is so tarnished by now I just don't think they want to tarnish it even more. So I expect the Sox to get some meaningless prospect just to avoid taking what the Cubs have been offering from day one. I see the Cubs going that way because they are going to force some prospect down their throat that is not even worth the cash they have been offering.

Presuming there actually is some interest from SD, I think the "more than half the contract" comment was more an effort to set a place where the discussion might start. Black is in SD which might lend some credibility to it. If the discussion starts at 51% that would give me hope that there is a chance that it might end at the receiving team paying about $5M per year which is a number I can live with. I would like the idea of Lackey ending up clear across the country in the other league as well. But you are right. If they would really swallow 49% I would be ecstatic.

I figured people must have seen today's news but having not seen it posted here yet I thought well maybe not. Apparently the Padres have indicated interest in Lackey if the Sox are willing to eat "more than half his contract".

Well not to defend pumpsie who I am sure can defend himself he may just be referring to the well accepted baseball axiom that good pitching will beat good hitting every time. Basically that says it is far easier for a good pitcher to make a team full of Barry Bonds look like a team full of Marco Scutaro's than it is for a team full of Barry Bond's to make Cliff Lee look like John Lackey. I think we have all seen games where a pitcher that is on makes even good hitters look pretty feeble. The better hitter's additional patience or better hand to eye co-ordination does not seem to buy him very much when facing a pitcher that is really on his game on a particular day. I think what really distinguishes good hitters from bad or not so good hitters is that when a pitcher makes a mistake to a good hitter, it is very often at least a base hit and more often than not extra bases whereas the less capable hitter misses the mistake pitch fouling it off or hitting it feebly becoming an out instead of a base runner. When we get to playoff games you see the heightened awareness and focus of the hitters making pitchers pay even more dearly for mistakes as the good hitter takes the mistake pitch and deposits it into the stands instead of just getting a base hit. But even in the playoffs while that heightened awareness on the part of the hitter may make pitchers pay more for their mistakes there is only a marginal difference in the hitters ability to hit the pitcher's pitch. He may get his bat on the ball but ends up hitting it feebly or on occasion drops it into the field in a place where no fielder can get to it.

Well were they bringing beer back to he dugout, they would have had to have done it in covered and wrapped containers of some sort. You can't imagine open cups of beer in the dugout. Beer smells like beer and looks like beer for one thing. I just hope the denials don't open the door to another set of clarifications for purpose of explanation. "Oh they kept the beer in a cubby off the walkway blah blah blah". There seems to e a bottomless pit of vindictiveness here. Even if they were bringing beer back in some form or another why release that to the press and if false, man oh man that is vindictive to the point of being vengeful. I still don't wonder if this Theo thing dragging on is at the base of these more recent comments to the press. I really don't like the way this information keeps getting squeezed out a bit at a time with the next bit ready to go in this case right after Lester's earlier statement to the press. I really fear whatever is coming next because this stuff followed Lester's comments which confirmed but tried to put barriers around the general allegation of beer drinking during games. Now we have direct contradictions of the "in the dugout" claim and I hope to God there is not video or photos just sitting there ready to go. It is so easy now to just have your phone available to use as a camera. It is no longer like somebody has to be sitting there with a Nikon to get pictures that you can take without even looking like you are trying. If there are photos would you be surprised if they had not been held back either to trap somebody in a denial or just to keep the story going day after day and week after week? If i am not mistaken this is the first story broken by one of the local TV news sources and TV being a visual media I have got a real bad feeling about what is coming next.