cp176

I would have yanked him as well. I understand what Moon is saying and agree with him also.l. My personality would have had me getting the ball from him with 2 outs and runners on 1st and 3rd. As it is, I still think that it is kind of tough to praise him too much yesterday. That strikeout pitch he threw to end the game certain should not have been swung at. Oh well - I'm just happy that we won the game. Kelly just kind of is what he is and we need him. He can be just a little frustrating though.

I'm with you on this one. Too much specialization for me. Might even be called a waste of resources at times.

I love a pitcher's duel and solid defense possibly more than most. The issue I had with this series was that based on what everyone has said and written, The Rays stink.I'm going to go out on a limb (just not a very big one) and say that our pitching isn't going to be quite as consistently dominant against better competition. If we hold the yankees to 1 or 2 runs a game when we play them, you won't hear me complain about the offense one bit. I kind of liked the White Sox of the late 50's! lol

I'm not really I guess. I was just disappointed as I'm sure most of us were with their inability to make much hard contact. I'm suffering from a last year hangover.

JD is going to be just fine - Benintendi, Ramirez, JBJ, Vazquez, Leon - need to produce as well as others - hope it happens.

I like this and I know that I am suffering from something because I want them to hit better than they did last year. Hope it happens.

I'm concerned too but I also think that 4 games is way too soon to assume that this is who they are going to be. What bothers me was the lack of guys driving the ball anywhere. There were some shots but way to many weak outs against a team that we have been led to believe isn't much better than a solid triple A club. It is pretty obvious that they are going to have to hit soon.

I think that 3 of the guys you mentioned will be just fine. The guy named beni - I hope to hell so. He looked somewhat weak to me regardless of how his newly acquired strength is supposed to help him. We need him to hit. JD I think will be fine. I'm worried about the rest of the boys. I'm a show me what you got kind of guy and I do not think that a team with just 4 or 5 solidly productive hitters is enough.

I don't think that you have to worry about JD. He drove a couple shots this weekend. He will hit. As for the rest of the gang, let's hope - lets go.

I sure and hell would not consider trading him right now. I wouldn't trade anybody who even looks as though they might hit right now. The all powerful rays holding these guys to 10 runs in 4 games is pathetic whether we won 3 or not.

I don't know if the weight he gained was gained the right way or not. I also am hoping that although we have all heard about how hard Benintendi worked to get stronger during the off season, I am really hoping that it translates into good hitting. It can but it doesn't always work that way. I'm hoping that they will hit but I am not an unquestioning believer that what we saw out of some of them last was not who they really are. They need to hit!

I know that he was never what we would consider fast but I never saw him as sloth like either. Pretty sure most when have been thrown out on that one but he literally had no chance.

Thought I remembered Holt being quite a lot faster. Out by a mile. Is he a little heavier than he used to be?

I don't disagree with any part of your post. The debate comes when people start talking about what is a good decision and what isn't. There are a ton of factors that could enter into this one. For obvious reasons I guess, I see all of these things or try to anyway from a coaches' perspective.

So seriously is it time we sat benintendi down as well. No free passes right!

A good post once again. I don't agree with some of it but that makes no difference. At this point in time, with Bogaerts I would say that it is all about him and his health. If any coach helped him, they must not have worked with Benintendi, Bradley and others. When Bogey is healthy, we have seen this before.

Next weekend is a semi-sacred day for the golfers of the world.

Coaches all know the difference between bad baserunning and aggressive baserunning. It makes no difference at all whether it succeeds or not. Fans tend to laugh and clap which is all good when these mistakes turn out well. Good coaches aren't going to go nuts over these things when they work out for them either. They happen all the time but when the coach is alone with the player I'm pretty sure that if he is a good coach he'll tell the player involved that it was a stupid thing to do whether it worked out or not.

whew - Kimbrel time

just what i was thinking???? really Marcus Walden in this game - say it ain't so.

My guess = could have been Zimmer

I've liked him for a while now. The first winter that he spent working out with Pedroia in Arizona did it for me. Understand though Moon, I'm one of those guys who like him in the field no matter what all the analytics tell. He's bright and he works hard and he plays one of the toughest positions in the game to play. If he is healthy , his combination of positive things would be hard to replace.

I like your post also here Nick probably because I agree with most of it. The jury is still out on most of these guys for me. I don't feel emotionally tied to very many of them as well. If a healthy lot of them do not wind up spending a great deal of time with us, I would be ok with that. Unless what we saw last year wasn't who they really are and we see significant improvement from many of them, I don't care if we keep them or not. Sale - Kimbrel - Betts - Devers - Bogaerts ( I've liked him for a long time - hope he keeps hitting) I know that Devers is with us for a while anyway but I just like how he looks - works - and plays. Why isn't Benintendi on my list? Oh I don't know - just because. I actually do hope that I can develop some positive emotion for some others but I need to see them play better before they get to my list. I think that most of them are replaceable. If Kimbrel has a year anywhere like what he had lat year, I think that they have to make a big run at him. His talent cannot in my estimation be replaced by the normal methods used to build a bullpen. He has been to relief pitching what Sale has been to starting pitching. Tough to put a price on the best.

I guess a lot of strange things happen but I would be very surprised if he got an offer that topped 31 million from anyone. If he does, I hope he takes it. It doesn't look like the market is heading there but you never know what nutbag out there is willing to throw their money around. If he was to be offered more than he is making now, what would be your best guess for Sale moving forward? Do brinks trucks carry that much money?

I think that you should have put that smiley face here. As has been said many many many times before, looks like the market has changed. IMO - 0 chance Price is going to get a better offer from anyone - note just my opinion. If he should opt out, I think that it will be because he has all of the $ he is ever going to need and that he is just sick of playing for Boston.