RedSoxFan84

I agree completely there. If you have an injury but playing wont make it worse, then you should play, as long as you're still able to contribute effectively. I don't understand all the details of Ellsbury's injury, so I don't know if he is or isn't capable of playing at an effective level or not, nor whether his injury would get worse from playing or not.

Pods isn't going to make the Boston lineup, so I don't see why some people are reacting like they have to this signing. The only time that he WOULD make the lineup is if our first 6 OF choices were all injured, and in that situation, we're pretty much screwed anyway, regardless of who fills in. This move is purely for depth purposes, and when adding someone to fill that sort of role, I'd rather add a guy who had game but is getting old than a younger guy who never had game to begin with. All in all, quality signing for depth purposes which will have essentially zero impact on Boston, barring a major injury collapse (as I mentioned earlier), in which case we're pretty much f***ed anyway.

I understand both sides of the injured players in the lineup debate, but I think that it is being over-simplified here. Would you be pissed if you took your kids to a game to see Pedroia but he was sitting out with a toothache (as was the example given)? Of course you would. However, there is a vast difference between playing with a toothache and playing with a busted shoulder. A toothache is just annoying pain that you can deal with before or after the game with asprin and a trip the dentist. There is no risk of causing further injury. With a busted shoulder (yes, that is the correct medical term), you are risking causing further damage to the shoulder and/or injury to other areas by over-compensating for the shoulder, all of which could end up with a 6 week injury break with a healthy comeback turning into a more severe injury where the player could miss significantly more time, even the season in certain cases. Basically, I think if you're hurting but you're not risking further and more severe injury by playing, then you should play. Now I'm no doctor, but in Ellsbury's case, how pissed would we be if he played through it and ended up with a serious long-term injury that kept him out for the rest of the season or something?

From what I can tell so far this year, Bard is the least of our problems. This pitching staff has bigger fish to fry. First of all, what the hell is wrong with Beckett? It honestly seems like he just doesn't give a f*** about the team, his responsibilities, or the fans. It would be different if he was pitching at an elite level, but for me, a 5.97 ERA isn't worth putting up with his ********. I honestly think he would have been traded by now if we weren't so short of options to replace him in the rotation. Also, what's up with Buchholz? I know he has struggled with injury, so is it just a matter of him working his way back into good form and good health? I hope so, because I've always been a big fan of Buchholz and I think that he can be one of the best #3 pitchers in baseball if he can get things working properly for him again. So yeah, I see those as being the two biggest issues facing the rotation at the moment. In contrast, Bard's development as a starter looks pretty bloody peachy. As Dojji said, we need to start planning for the long-term future, and I think that Bard and Doubront are looking like they will be pretty solid starters. I know that both will have their bumps in the road as they learn, but with the long-term in mind, we really need to perservere with them in the rotation. I get that with Bailey out, the temptation is to throw Bard back into the closer role, but Bailey wont be out forever (at least not that I've heard), so what do we do when he comes back? Throw Bard back into the rotation again? Management obviously see him as a long-term starter, so the sooner he can get into that role and stick there, the better it will be for his development. I understand that some people here are saying "he did this wrong" or "he did that wrong", but if he is going to start long-term for us, which all indications seem to suggest, then he is better off getting through the learning curves now. Juggling him back and forth between the rotation and the pen will only delay his development. Speaking of the pen though, I don't know a huge amount at the moment about what's up with Bailey and Melancon. I know that Bailey is injured, but how severe is it? When will he be back? How has he looked when healthy? Also, what the hell happened with Melancon? When we picked him up, he was a young kid with a lot of potential, and he and Bailey seemed to have the setup and closer roles locked up for the forseeable future. What went wrong with Melancon? Is it something that can/will be fixed with time in AAA? Or is he a bust? My personal thoughts are that, as well as sorting out the Beckett/Buchholz situations, the main focus of the coaching staff and the entire organization should be on "fixing" Melancon and Bailey, because if you throw them back into the setup and closer roles and they can be successful, along with Miller, Aceves, Padilla, etc in the pen, then all of a sudden our relievers don't look so bad.

They said pretty much the same thing on the news here as well. They talked about how much heat he can put on the ball for a 17 year-old kid. Fingers crossed that he keeps adding to it. On a sidenote, did you or anyone else happen to hear or read what role the Sox plan to use him in? Like do they plan to develop him as a starter or reliever?

Oh, you're from the COUNTRY India? Let me ask you a question... any chance you could freeze a bulk quantity of butter chicken and post it to me? I'll pay freight costs.

There were reports all over the news last night that the Red Sox had signed a 17 year-old pitching prospect from the same state as I'm from here in Australia. Apparently there were multiple other teams interested in him, but his mother is from Boston or something, and he has grown up as a Red Sox fan. Has anyone else heard this news? If so, do you know anything about him, or his potential, etc?

I am another poster here who doesn't know a huge amount about the guys that we have signed as well, so it's hard for me to make any informed comments or opinions on them. I was hoping for a bigger-name signing or trade, someone along the lines of Oswalt, Jackson, Garza, Floyd, etc. However, I do feel that we have some nice young talent in the system in guys like Pimentel, Britton, Doubront, Barnes and Ranaudo though. However, the key word there is "young". We already have a young guy making the transition to major-league starter in Bard, and I think that banking on one or more of those young kids to make a breakthrough in 2012 is as risky as banking on one of the veterans we signed having a career year. However, at least with those young guys we have some talent that we can hopefully bring in over the next few years.

I'd be fine with that rotation too, except for a few things. The front office have shown that they clearly don't plan on spending for a pitcher on more than a one-year deal. That rules out Jackson, Floyd, etc. Also, even if we DID sign one of those guys, who is the "replacement" that you mention? If you're referring to one of the scrub depth guys that we have signed this off-season, then honestly I think you're reaching a bit. Bard is much more lilkely to be a successful starter than any of those guys. So I guess IF we were to sign a guy on a multi-year deal, and IF we were to miraculously get regular starter-quality pitching from one of the depth guys, then sure, Bard would be great in the pen. Basically, I think most people would agree that if we could afford to keep Bard in the pen then that would be wonderful. However, for the reasons that I mentioned above, the reality is that we most likely wont have anyone better than Bard to fill the 4th or 5th spot in the rotation. It sucks, but it doesn't seem likely that anything much is going to happen to change it.

I honestly don't know much about Bobby V, but I hope he works out. I think all he really needs to do is keep everyone motivated and working hard, and cut out the ******** that was happening last year in the clubhouse, and that will be enough. If he can do that, this team has the talent to go a long way.

Looks like you must be a happy man then.

Great win last night (Aussie time) by Novak Smackabitch. I'm actually looking forward to the Mens Final on sunday. I'm also looking forward to seeing Sharapova tonight. As far as I'm concerned, when she is playing, there is no one else on the court but her. She is one seriously hot young woman.