Bellhorn04

Mets have a grudge against us for letting them have Jason Bay.

A statmeiester told me hitters like this are called TTO hitters. Stands for Three True Outcomes-Home Runs, Walks and Strikeouts. Adam Dunn is a prime example.

Good news.

Maybe Bailey will be motivated to come back strong this year. It's a pretty important one for his career.

It almost feels like we're moving toward a consensus here. A legit first baseman, a legit right fielder, maybe Drew for shortstop. Sign a pitcher like Haren on a one-year deal. Sign somebody like Brian Wilson. If they do those things I don't think there will be too much to complain about to start the season with.

Average OPS for AL cleanup hitters in 2012 - .811

Yeah, that's the 'we would have sucked anyway' defence which came in handy last year. People already have it lined up for 2013 as well.

Here's what I think, and you'll have to excuse for me for being philosophical but I get like that sometimes. To me it's a little strange how so many people, including people whose baseball knowledge I totally respect, are so easily dismissive of Papelbon's contributions. He's arguably the best at his position in team history. I think to a certain degree it reflects the new mentality of baseball fans. We're in an age where salaries are insane, fantasy gaming is huge, and fans get a chance to come on forums like this and play general manager, or fanager, on a daily basis. When a player like Papelbon is let go, the fanagers don't look at it from a baseball perspective as much as they once did. They look at it as 'How can we replace this guy and at what cost? Hey, we can spend that money better elsewhere. Good riddance!' I've been a fan since the late Sixties. In the late Seventies we had some great teams and then we let some great players like Fisk and Lynn go, and there was outrage that still exists to this day. Hardly any of us who were outraged were thinking about the money saved by letting those players go. Another thing that works against Papelbon is his personality, I think. Not the most likable guy, said some really stupid things, and seems to be a me first guy all the way. I think that adds to some bias against him.

Papelbon can go more than an inning. Of his 18 appearances in the postseason, 13 of them were more than an inning, the first 12 of which were scoreless.

Papelbon pitched more innings than Mo in 09, 10 and 11.

It's December 1, 2012, and Jonny Gomes' $10 million contract is the leader in the clubhouse for signings of the Cherington Era.

Well when we look back on this offseason we might be saying 'well played, they were smart and patient'. Or we might be saying 'holy s***, those *******s totally f***ed up again'. It feels like it could go either way.

I don't like the new WC setup either. I think it's rinky-dink. However, I think we've already seen that the second WC can win it all. If St. Louis didn't lose Game 5 at home to the Giants, and Barry Zito no less, they'd likely be your 2012 champs.

They could have come up with the money, it wouldn't have bankrupted the franchise. They didn't really have to trade Scutaro to sign Ross, although yes, that's what they told us. They made a conscious decision to not exceed a certain payroll for 2012, I understand that. But it doesn't mean they made the right decision. The decision helped pave the way to a historically dismal season.

You should give yourself a shot if you can. Baltimore made the playoffs this year after going 69-93 in 2011, without even spending that much money. I don't understand all the defeatist, 'let's wait till 2014' thinking. We have a lot of room under the cap. It's crazy to just punt away 2013.

It's not just Papelbon's saves, it's that his save percentage is very good. That has to be one of the key stats. Rivera's save percentage is incredible and that's why he's the best. It's not so much his number of saves as the fact that he hardly ever blows one.

There's always risk, you're right. We could trade prospects for an apparent stud like A-Gon and it could backfire. Sure things are rare.

For me, the thing about Papelbon's 7 straight years of 30+ saves is this: it shows that he stays on the field and does what he's paid to do, year-in, year-out. I think Papelbon works hard at keeping himself in great physical shape.

It's great to hang onto your money, but for who exactly? The cap goes to 189 million next year. We have a ton of room. Who are the targets for 2014? Are we sure they'll still be available?

Sure, maybe they don't bounce back. But signing Sanchez could still be a plus 2-3 years down the road. Pitching is a very limited commodity. We can't assume our pitching prospects are going to develop. They should at least make him an offer, just not for 6-90.

Well, it's not really that cut and dry. You sign a Sanchez, you get lucky with Lester, Buch, even Lackey bouncing back, and then maybe you've got something going. You add another pitcher at the deadline with the extra money you have. There are a lot of uncertainties and possibilities. Signing a Sanchez simply improves your chances.

Nathan was making in the area of 10 million a year his last few years with the Twins. He missed all of 2010 and a big chunk of 2011 and at his age there was no guarantee he'd come back to where he was. Texas took a chance and it paid off. Even at that they're paying him 7 million a year. We took a chance with Bailey and it failed dismally in Year 1.

It is just a tad ironic that we had one of the worst pitching staffs in team history last year and we're going to non-tender Atchison and his 1.58 ERA.

Here's a funny thought...I've heard a number of people say that we shouldn't sign Anibal Sanchez because he's just not that good. And I don't totally disagree with that. But the funny part is, he would have been the best starter on our 2012 staff. And it's very possible if we signed him that he'd be the best starter on our 2013 staff.

Those are some pretty big assumptions. Maybe 2013 will be dubbed by the Sox front office as the 'year of the bounceback'.