cp176

Yes I have very much so. Considering the fact that really neither Vazquez nor Leon seem to be able to hit much of anything these days a possible tactic might be to let them each get one trip to the plate and then pinch hit for them. Use all 3. lol

My biggest disappointments this year are even thinking that there were any disappointments. You really have to be kidding me right. Of course there will always be players that you want to be better than they are and in some cases better than they may even ever be but there is 0 to be disappointed with this year. End of story.

I like this one - Why don't you just say stuff like this the first time through! I agree with everything you said. That's the problem with the internet and forum boards. I'll bet that you and I and at least 3 other people here operate on the same page most of the time! LOL Keep em coming my friend.

Is this a question? if yes - no I did not have a question about Bogaerts becoming our future ss. I liked very much what he did that winter and appreciated the work the kid put in. He also had Brian Butterfield around to work with him.

Ya ok Slash - Another good one! You rascal you. I can just hear Sale saying right now - screw all you guys I'm the man and i want my 300 and I don't give a s*** about how the team does. Really Slasher - How does this absolute ******** even start? Is it because people are bored and just want to drop a few names or what?

I'm confused once again. Why would anyone plant the suggestion that Chris Sale would place his chances of winning a Cy Young award over a World Series title? Chris Sale is a gamer - the kind of team player that coaches dream about. He wants to pitch and that is it. I think that he probably has a pretty good idea of how valuable he is to his team. Since coming to Boston, if he has once given anyone any idea that he might be a selfish player, I must have missed it.

Bogaerts is a worker. Since the winter he worked with Pedroia in Arizona, his defense looks to (I wonder if it is legal to say that here) me to be pretty good and getting better. There is nothing about this guy that I do no like. He is a shortstop and that is where hopefully he stays for a long time in Boston. There would be absolutely no reason to try to move him off short. Are there better fielding shortstops? pretty sure there are. Does it matter? nope - He ain't bad.

My condolences and thank you for sharing.

I tend to agree with the way you look at Espinoza but I do also think that you have to take his age into consideration when he was actually pitching. He was younger than most.

I'm pretty sure that Pomeranz is gone but I don't discount his 17 wins for us last year. It will be a long time before anything other than personal sentiment dictates whether this trade was right or wrong. Hindsight I guess. I will eat the boiled crow when and if Espinoza gets to his 20th major league win. JBJ sure isn't much of a problem for us. Never was really. I don't even remember who it was hollering about trading him. It still might happen I guess but if it does I bet it will be for an all around upgrade.

I would be stunned if Devers was not on the playoff roster. I like Phillips and Kinsler as well. they both can catch the ball and throw the ball but still not keeping Devers on the playoff roster? Nope - I don't see that one at all. Maybe I guess but I don't see it.

Hey I'm not particularly upset by any of this. Certainly not with you. I hope JBJ finishes his career in Boston. Guess I'm just having a bad advanced stat kind of day. I love the fact that our team does not feel restricted by what the stat pushers say is inevitable - age,past performance, age ...

You see this is exactly why I think that a constant barrage empowering stat geeks ( whoever the f*** they might be ) is not only overblown but foolish at best. The Red Sox likely will never have to worry about being in a situation like this so even discussing a topic like this is a major league fool's errand. I get the fact that you are a JBJ super fan. Many of us are just not to the same extent. All of a sudden out of virtually nowhere we are now discussing the likelihood of keeping JBJ over a top of the line MVP candidate - ludicrous. If people want to use all of the advanced stats in the universe to in some weird way justify never signing anyone with this person's unbelievable talent, so be it. Oh my goodness - He is over 30 - average at best in the field - makes too much money - etc. etc. etc. I'm really happy that our ownership and GM do not adhere to some of the most totally f***ed up theories that I have heard in my lifetime. I'm also really glad that I am a simple average fan and a member of a vast majority who really could care less about the minutia represented by the advanced stat deluge.

Oh good one Slash! Nice one.

I guess that it is a good thing Moon that the reality of his situation really calls for no hypotheticals. He has made no demands other than being up front about his desire to play some in the outfield. I don't think that is going to change. I guess I could pose a question that is about as likely to happen as yours - If you could only keep one of the two JBJ or JD, which would it be? That is a no brainer for me.

There really wasn't any doubt about it in my mind. I agree with you about the staying healthy part. He has been one of the very best hitters in the game for a while now when healthy. No one should have been in actual doubt as to what he would likely do. It is of course great to see the numbers that he has put up. Although I would have been satisfied with less, I'm not surprised by them at all.

I agree with you that these types of contracts make no sense . (to us) The owners with pockets this deep I don't think particularly care what the statistics say when the opportunity to sign a top of the rotation arm presents itself. Once again, this is a discussion that we have had. I don't see John Henry buying into the philosophy of not signing an ace because of fear that it might cost money on the back end of a contract. With respect to a top of the line closer, oh well, if he decides to pay the man I guess we will just have to accept it. I'm not going to question how he chooses to spend his money.

I view momentum much like I do confidence. Is there a way to measure how confidence in what you do might make you better at your job? Confidence can be shaken by lots of things for instance a hostile crowd. Just had a talk with an outstanding former college athlete - 4 year football guy at a pretty good school. Momentum which leads to increased confidence is for real. I'm going to side with what almost every athlete and coach I have talked to about things like this believe in. Oh and they aren't people who believe the world is flat either. lol

Right again - Coaches and players would certainly agree. People who have practical experience in athletics at any level probably would agree with you. Because it can't be measured does not mean that it can't happen.

I'll say it again - that post should not have been made here at all.

I'm thinking that I agree with you. Momentum is a curious thing. I believe in making sure that your players are rested too but too much time off can sometimes be just as harmful as too little time off. Oh - also once again I'll say that the playoff season has become much too long for me. I'm easily bored I guess lol

All very true but naysaying and worrying really are big parts of who many of us are. I am fairly sure that this team is and will be just fine but I do worry about losing momentum as we move forward. Understand that I get the fact that there is little to no significance placed on positive momentum by many here because it can't be measured. Works for me though - i don't believe that it is soley about talent particularly at the highest level.

I'm not sure how you guys seem to get away with the political innuendo.

To not totally embrace the world of advanced metrics, does not necessarily mean that someone does not see their value either. It just isn't something that I am particularly interested in. For the most part, I am very content with what I see through observation coupled with some basic statistical evidence to formulate my own opinions. I like to share and discuss what I believe to be true. Many of the things that I absolutely believe in I truly believe cannot be statistically proven or disproven. I don't think that this makes me anti- Copernican not an anti Darwinist. I honestly feel that often times people become so adamant in their beliefs on both sides of the aisle that they choose to not believe in anything other than what they "know" to be true. It is entertainment - that is it.

Your comments and observations really do make an impression. It is interesting too because I am relying on my memory with respect to that catch. I like what I remember about it so much that I don't want to see it on video - if that makes any sense. Statistics at the highest level available are intrinsic to this game. That being said what I love about the game is what I remember about it. Sometimes I really don't want my mind changed by any type of replay. Was Evan's classic catch in right really that great? Do we see Mays's catch duplicated every year? We might but at the time these were incredible plays. You see baseball is very much about memories to me. I'm certainly no Yankees fan, but I would take the play of Bobby Richardson at second base even up with anyone's I have seen and for the record if the statistics could prove my belief wrong, I might not care. I love the memories. It is simply entertainment for me.