cp176

If Hanley comes out of the gate strong, my guess is that Moreland will see fewer at bats. None of them need to play everyday. Cora will have to find ways to play Nunez, Ramirez, and of course Martinez on a very regular basis. It can be done. Mix and match and everybody gets a little time off. I really like what Cora has said about Ramirez. We need to find out what he has left.

I take it as a sign that Jacksonian is starting to get nervous and will resort to the proverbial backhand slap to defend his team. He must have read Tomase's piece this morning and actually thought about the Red Sox batting order. All teams have a laundry list of ifs and buts at this time of year but if our ifs turn positive, our starting pitching (say again) could be the best in the league. As for the bullpen, a couple of more ifs. If things work our way, I think that we are going to have plenty.

It a new year! I would not want to have to pitch to this new and improved Red Sox lineup and our starting pitching could very well wind up being the best in the league.

Absolutely. JD can certainly play left and we have two very good center fielders and one outstanding right fielder on the roster.

I mentioned this earlier but I will say again that with what our potential looks like at the plate, keeping Marrero around doesn't look quite so ridiculous. This team will need some solid infield defense and Marrero can field well 3 different positions. All of a sudden, they don't really need his bat. They will need a glove though. I'm not a big Marrero fan but I think they may need his glove. Devers, Nunez, Bogaerts. We hope that Devers comes along but in reality what do you see there?

Ok - here we go - Good for you Max that you give notin some credit. To some maybe notin clarified something but I would guess that almost everyone posting regularly on this board knew exactly what would happen with respect to our 40 man roster.

I'm thinking that JD will find some time in left field. I'm not of the opinion that he is as bad an outfielder as statistical evidence seems to make him out to be. Hanley's playing time will absolutely be dictated by his health as well how he produces. If he is healthy and hits, he will play. Moreland will still get his at bats. He can field the position and has a little pop in that bat. This is a great problem for Cora to have. Personally, now it makes no difference to me where Betts bats in our lineup but I would really like to see Martinez, Ramirez, and Devers lined right up. This potential lineup has got to look devastating to any opponent. Particularly when you consider what our pitching staff could also look like. Jacksonian whatever was absolutely right. My dreams for this team have come true and I am all aboard this train. Now that some of the pressure to produce bigly at the plate has been eliminated, some of these guys that some here feel grossly under achieved last year may very well surprise us all.

Oh come on notin, just because I didn't mention Ben Taylor doesn't mean that I won't be pulling for him. I did not realize that the Sox simply released Brentz. I thought they traded him to the Pirates for cash. Thanks for clearing that up for me. I absolutely will stop the idiocy if that is what you consider it as soon as you stop trying to educate me with respect to things that I actually know something about.

i agree

I forgot about Hernandez. I think that he gets a good luck once again as well.

I feel the same and would hope that any loyal Red Sox fan would feel that way also.

and on and on and on you go. beat beat beat goes the tired old drum. Once again as I mentioned earlier - I hope that he gets an opportunity. What part of that statement would lead you to think that I did not realize that he still has to earn his stripes? I would love to see him be successful primarily because he came up through our organization. Not that it matters but I might feel that you were something other than a huge wind bag if you could show a little loyalty to a young man who paid his dues in our organization.

I would think that now it looks as though we have plenty of firepower at the plate, there has to be some concern for our infield defense. We all hope for the best with respect to Devers but I would think that Marrero's stock just jumped a bit.

Here's to Bryce Brentz!!! I really wish him well. I really think that with the signing of JD it became inevitable. I hope that he does get the opportunity that obviously he was not going to get in Boston. I also hope that this young man (yes notin he still is young) just rakes it over there in the nl if for no other reason than to just piss off the haters(i'm looking at you).

if Hanley is truly healthy and hits like the Hanley of old, which I still think might be a longshot, he will vest and the Red Sox could be one hell of a baseball team. I think that our ownership kind of wants to win.

You are absolutely right and all Red Sox fans should literally be all frothed up over the potential of having a healthy Ramirez and a power hitting Martinez in the middle of that lineup.

I don't necessarily think so. If he is healthy and hits, he plays. Moreland becomes the super first base sub in that case. Hanley gets to dh and play first. JD gets to dh and play occasionally in the outfield. I'm glad that i don't have to figure it all out but It is a great problem to have. With a healthy Price, this team isn't even close to being the same team that started off last season

Don't forget a full year of Devers as well. This really is a different team than the one that started the 2017 season.

I think that it is possible that the A L East could produce one team in the World Series. it's a long season and anything can happen. It should be very interesting. It works for me - I'm looking forward to a great season from a team that at least for now looks substantially improved.

And he could throw that speedball by you, make you feel like a fool boy.

I know that you are! I'm not an anti stat guy either.

It is good stuff - bring on them Yanks now!!!

I agree with you and I don't blame them one f***ing bit for keeping things in house and away from both the public and the press. Look what happens here. Like the style or not, that is one of the things I like about the Pats. We just don't need to know everything that is going on.

I think that that certainly is a valid point but even though we all know that you can never have too much pitching, the Red Sox are in position to address immediate needs and trading a very young solid player who is proving to be a real hitter would be asinine considering what our pitching staff potentially looks like right now.

Saying that he and his coaching staff sucked with everyday players is just a little too extreme for me. I wish Alex Cora well and maybe they will win a game or two more but John Farrell and his coaching whether you like them or not did not suck. I shudder to think what will happen to Cora and his staff if this incredible high number of what you and a few others say under performed so dramatically last year don't show an equal amount of improvement this year. I think that it would be a good thing for everybody if this concept of extreme under performance was allowed to just kind of fade away. Maybe we will find out that last year was really closer to what Betts and Bradley really are and maybe we won't. I'm not willing to grant membership into the under performing society to any player who played through injury. Crap happens - it is a new year and the under performance drum has been beaten to death. It is now all about this year not last year or the year before. Like I said before, Alex Cora may be very successful but it won't be because he has some secret baseball formula that no one has ever seen before.