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Although I think the idea of letting JD get a few days off to rest the ankle isn't a bad idea, I doubt it happens if he is able to move just a little bit. The bigger question for me I guess is who plays second base? There is no doubt that JBJ is one of the best center fielders in the game but Mookie is damn close behind him. Martinez has played a solid right field for us (please don't waste your time trying to make me believe otherwise). Kinsler is a good second baseman who is comfortable playing beside Bogaerts and he is starting to hit. Mookie, no matter how talented he is, has not played that position in some time and throwing him out there thinking that it is an easy position to play is not right. It might happen I guess but I think that overall with Mookie in Center and Kinsler at second we are a stronger team up the middle then we would be if we played Mookie at second. Once again, it will be interesting to see if it happens and it probably will work out fine if it does.

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That might actually be a good idea. That would make as much sense as any of the other suggestions floating around.

With respect to the bullpen and its' leap to stardom, it hasn't hurt one bit that E-Rod, Eovaldi, Porcello, and anybody else who can pitch has been moved out there. It would sure give me a confidence boost knowing that if I screwed up, I had these guys backing me up.

Of course those reasons are valid to those who endorse them all. I am an outlier - I think that if wants him, he'll go after him and every one of those reasons will seem very secondary.

Me too - I hope you didn't interpret what I was saying as truly meaning anything else. I think that his best team out there right now would be with JD in right and Kinsler at second. I do love me some JBJ and I think Mookie is a super hero but moving him to second and sitting down a good second baseman who is producing at the plate would be a risky bold move and likely not his best team.

I think that I must be missing some posts here also because the constant refrain all season long has been that Devers just can't field his position. I'd say so far so good. He has looked good out there and not just average. The right guy is playing third base right now. Our utility players are just that although they are awfully good at what they do.

Not to mention the fact that they have all of that money tied up in a guy who can't pitch in October - Is too old to be productive going forward - has fingers that tingle in cold wet weather - doesn't like talking to the media - and must be a bad teammate because he hasn't publicly apologized to Eck. LOL LOL LOL Sorry I just couldn't help myself. But what the hell, I'm one of the guys who has tried to be supportive of him and not so much with Hanly Ramirez (nice guy who just wants to spend time with his family).

With a 2-0 lead in the series, I think that moving Betts to second would be a hasty decision and I hope he doesn't do it. Plus the fact, Kinsler really looks pretty decent to me right now. My vote - JBJ sits for the third game anyway. We shall see.

Good for him. I hope he winds up in Boston. He is the kind of team player that everyone wants. He has been through quite a bit and when bums are being paid huge amounts of money, it will be nice to see someone who is earning it getting it. For the record, personally I could care less about this "small sample size theory" and his "injury history". He has a rebuilt arm and he is getting better and better. My guess is that Boston will make a big play for him. I totally endorse this comment understanding now that I might get to hear: 1. injury history 2. small sample size 3. JH will not be willing to spend the $ due to restricted budget and penalty costs 4. signing him will make it impossible to sign our other favorites 5. since the cliff is threatening our borders, it would be a waste 6. we should be building from within and he just didn't come from within What did I leave out? Will the braintrust please set me straight. I have clearly become enamored with this flash in the pan. How could I possibly want just another guy who throws 100 mph virtually unhittable strikes. Plus the fact that his confidence grows every time he goes to the mound. Take my comments here for what they are worth though because I am one of those guys who has always felt that anyone saying that David Price just couldn't pitch in October based on his record was nuts .

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nice start

Wait hey wait a minute - I like that one! Did you come of with that change yourself? That gave me my daily chuckle and I will drink to that shortly! My personal post of the day - a gold star to you! Humor is ok

Now that is a firm opinion. lol - It's a good thing none of us on here are opinionated. Just a joke - I'm pretty sure my years of posting here tell me that most of us are.

I understand this and I get it and you quite likely might be correct in your thinking but trying to predict how a billionaire chooses to spend their money isn't always an easy game to play. Looking at all of the monetary restrictions that have been imposed in an effort to create parody and the size of this team's current budget, i think that the common sense route agrees with your thinking. That being said, it wouldn't surprise me if JH didn't feel quite as constrained by spending limits as most of us think he might. Maybe there is a billionaire amongst us. I'm not sure they view the world quite like I do. There I've come clean - I'm no billionaire!

One of those unwritten rules absolutely unless you truly believe that every umpire who witnessed players leaving the bag early or not even touching the bag were simply just blind. My point which I guess I wasn't clear about was that by using slo mo replay to make sure that an infielders foot made contact with that bag coupled with the rule change (trust me I'm familiar with it) was supposed to give an infielder some protection that he did not have before . If replay is insisted upon in this situation and the sliding rule is not enforced at some point in time it is very likely that a middle infielder is going to get hurt. The only rule change I was even remotely referring to was the sliding rules meant to protect.

It would be nice I think to let the Hanlley thing just go. We don't really have any real evidence that tells us much about him. It is all based upon personal perspectives and things that we think we heard or maybe observed. Hanley had a lot of baggage that he possibly dragged around with him. When he was here I made an honest attempt to like and support him but I think that it is ok if I say I am glad that he is gone.

I've always believed this to be true. Many of the Dodgers will tell you right now how much they like and appreciate Machado. We see him do things that we don't like. It would have been easier I think for all of us if Pedroia had been just a little angry at him and not at his teammates when their incident occurred.

Obviously the term limited is relative used in this context. I thought that it might amuse you when talking about millions of dollars being thrown into the the world of entertainment. It is relative - to some 39.9 M really appears more dreamlike. I missed my humor mark - sorry about that. If John Henry wins this year and wants to continue to win and it means that he might have to spend more than what you or our other resident budgetary geniuses suspect he is willing to spend, imo he will spend it even if it means that he has to ignore our opinions. He likes to win.

Peoria means what he says and he knows what he is talking about but the rules around protecting second base became a heck of a lot more important when video review was instituted. Remember the old days when you really didn't have to be all that close to the bag to turn a dp. Things have changed.

Moon - really - "limited budget" - Could you make me feel better by using another expression? LOL Regardless of how much money the organization chooses to spend, it isn't limited. I wonder if any of the other teams in the game feel sorry for us having to get by on our limited budget. I'm just kidding around there but what I'm serious about is that if John Henry wants any of these guys badly enough, he isn't going to feel restricted by any budgetary restraints particularly if we win the series this year.

I think that it would take another foolish move by Machado in order for the Red Sox to conjure up any thought of retaliation for anything that he did. They might not like the thought that Pedroia suffered his injury in the way he did but I doubt seriously that any of them thinks about that incident much. It's over. I hope it stays over. I also hope that this series can remain sort of clean without a major incident. Just win. No one has to like this guy but the fact remains that he is just an incredible talent.

He probably still could be!

I think that what you are saying is accurate. I'm looking at a guy that I want to start very badly though. I saw what you saw for most of the season. I thought it was a good pickup but not special but when the games became ultra important he came up very big and very surprising. The potential which is clearly just that, would put him right up near the top of our rotation. not there but close. I just have started becoming very confident when he is pitching. The arm issue and its' health doesn't bother me too much. i have faith and believe that it has been rebuilt and might even be stronger than it was. And he is just 28. I tend to get a little caught up in the moment when a player goes through what he went through and comes up big. Mostly I just like him, and his attitude. I hope we wind up keeping him. He won't be cheap. Have to add though that when he comes into the game from the bullpen, right now I have more confidence in him getting the job done than anyone else.

I read your post and payed close attention to him fielding and throwing the ball last night and boy are you right on. That arm and quick release in general is very special. Note - I'm not going to be joining his fan club anytime soon but boy oh boy...