Elktonnick

Sadly this team has too many holes to be considered a decent team.

I did pick them to win only because the division was so weak. I also said that they could just as easily finish last. I let my heart rule my head when I made the prediction. Many analysts including those on MLB radio, Jim Bowden and Jim Duquette, correctly saw the team's weakness. Many others caveated their predilections because they assumed Boston would get Hamels. They didn't realize how stubborn the Sox would be. If the sabermetricians picked Boston it just goes to show the flaws inherent in their sabermetric approach

Never said you don't need offense what I said and what has been said since the advent of the modern game that it took pitching and defense to win titles. Like all axioms it is generally true. So there are exceptions. Of the past 60 world series that I can recall. virtually every championship team had outstanding pitching and defense.

The problem is you and I remember those teams but most of these young fans don't. Dick Stuart who was the Hanley Ramirez of his day would make Hanley look like a gold glover. He wasn't called Dr Strangeglove for no reason.

He may argue it but the only GM who would agree with him is the dufus in Boston.

It happens to be correct because it is true, just ask the SF Giants

You aren't seriously suggesting that Lester wasn't a Nbr 1 were you? You aren't seriously suggesting that virtually every GM in baseball or that 90% of baseball writers consider Lester to be a nbr 1 are you? Furthermore going into 2013 the Sox had no need to trade or sign a nbr 1 because they had Lester and Lackey.

The teams who win championships have offense but what sets them apart is their pitching and defense. The axiom pitching and defense wins championships has been a truism in baseball since the Cincinnati Red Stockings.

We are talking about championships, not merely making the playoffs.

They had Lester in 2013.

For what's it's worth, I can't help but think that the Red Sox front office of 12 years ago would have made a major play for Scherzer but they were hungry for a title back then.

Excellent point about Masterson.

Not to be argumentative, but if that is their philosophy then why didn't execute to get a true number 1 starter like they did in years past. For some inexplicable reason, Boston has stopped doing the things that got them their 2004 and 2007 titles.

Not only was it not solid, it was dumb. Pitching and defense win championships. The rest is all fluff. If the Red Sox defense sucked as badly as you contend then who is to blame? Obviously the GM who constructed it to support his supposedly ace ground ball throwing pitching staff is primarily culpable. A great many of us had doubts about this "strategy" since there were questions about Bogaerts at short and Sandoval at third. There is no denying that Bogaerts has improved his defense considerably. Nevertheless, whether the pitching was bad or the defense worse or vice a versa, It all goes to prove what many have contended that Ben 's team was poorly constructed. His rationale was deeply flawed.

Ben's construct of the pitching staff is indefensible, Masterson, Kelly, Porcello, Miley, and Clay Buchholtz really now. The first two are no longer in the rotation. The third has the worst ERA in the league, the fourth embarrasses his manager on national television and the fifth is day to day even when he is healthy.

Poor defense didn't give up 16 home runs. The alleged poor defense didn't cause him to throw sinkers that didn't sink etc. The alleged poor defense can't account for hitters batting 297 off him. It is Porcello who grossly under performed. He has no one to blame but himself.

No stat is perfect but ERA especially over the course of a season is a pretty damn good measure of performance especially as a comparative. You can rationalize all you want but the starting pitching sucks and that's the main (but not the only ) reason why this team is in last place. BTW Last year Porcello pitched in Comerica Park. One should have expected that he would find it a bit more difficult to pitch at Fenway. To pay Porcello as if he were a Lester is one dumb move. Cherrington should be fired for that idiocy alone.

ERA is an excellent measure of overall pitching excellence. It is a simple indicator. Regarding Porcello I believe he has the worst ERA at 5,90 of any atarter in the AL and opponents are hitting 297 against him. Those numbers aren't the result of poor defense. To suggest it is, is just wrong.

It's the pitching. It is always pitching. Besides a very weak rotation, the bullpen isn't that solid either. The reason the sox are below 500 is because their pitching is the worst in the American league by ERA , only Philadelphia and Colorado have a poorer team ERA than Boston. BTW I believe only one team in all of MLB has averaged more than 5 run per game and that is the Blue Jays who have 476 runs through 90 games. Expecting a team to score 5 runs per game is somewhat unrealistic in today's game with offenses down throughout baseball.

If he does come back in August, he will be so worried about his arm I expect he will be in full Barney Fife mode.

My question is how much if anything does throwing the cutter increase the possibility of elbow injury. There has been a lot written about the ill effects caused by throwing the cutter. I believe that CB threw a cutter right before this happened.

I think your question is a good one. A lot of posters including yours truly surmised this was the possible plan but I don't recall anyone from within the Red Sox organization acknowledging that this was their thinking.

Ski, Nothing can change the fact that this pitching staff was poorly constructed. One can rationalize all the excuses about projections. The simple fact is that BC picked up other teams rejects and hoped they would all deliver. And they haven't. Losers always make up excuses as to why they are losers.

As GM Ben is responsible for the results that his team achieves. Many serious analysts thought this team was poorly constructed. The coaching staff is also definitely a Cherrington responsibility. He hired them just as he constructed the team. If a team as a whole is under performing then it is a GM's responsibility. That why GMs get fired. I confess I had hoped this team could be competitive in the ALE (and it still may be) only because the division is weak. But we should be under no illusions, the pitching staff sucks. And that is Ben's fault as much as it is anyone's. There were plenty of indications that Kelly, Masterson, Miley and Porcello all came with considerable questionmarks, not to mention the never ending questions about Buchholtz. And we aren't even talking about the bullpen. Why in heaven is Craig Breslow still on this team. Cherrington IMHO irrationally believed that all these question marks would work out in the Red Sox favor. It's like the compulsive gambler who keeps playing roulette hoping his number comes up. Eventually he goes broke.