cp176

Most of us have expressed how important it is to be solid defensively up the middle. Although I think that Swihart still has the potential to play somewhere at the ml level, I guess I would be pretty surprised if he was able to play second base well enough to pass the gloves of Hernandez, Marrero, and Lynn in that order for me. Guys who have spent the bulk of their careers around the second base bag.

I have felt this way for a while as well. I also see this as an opportunity for some of these guys. It is possible that we already have our future second baseman in our system.

yes i did. sorry about that.

With the way this team is being currently built, a lot of money could be saved in uniform expense! I am finally realizing what the deal is - we do have a budget.

Agree - When playing, Hernandez showed clearly that he had more to offer than any of the possible substitutes for Pedroia at second. The Red Sox had already made a commitment to him. There is no reason to think that if he is healthy going in to the spring that he will be ahead of all of these guys. I would include Holt in that group.

They really did not look very good as a group against Dallas last night but once again - when you have the bast player on the court you always have a chance. Can't get over how bad Smart can look at times and at how big he turns up at others!

That would not surprise me at all. Class!

We tend to see a lot of that here.

He is a beginner in many respects. He still has the talent it just didn't decide to disappear. This is where I tend to be bothered by the over use of analytics. He has hardly played and someone truly thinks that it is the predictable going forward with respect to what he might do. I'm with you- I really hope he gets a chance and gets it done. If he is healthy, I believe he will.

Being a Maine guy, I admit my bias. I like Butterfield. I also liked Amaro. They both were tireless workers who knew how to teach the game. I hope that Feebles is a good one.

I would be curious to know who would have made adjustments and how many they made? When was the last ml game Swihart played in? Regardless of what he might do going forward, there is no way anybody can guess at what he might be capable of doing. His experience factor isn't very high. We might all be pleasantly surprised.

I can buy someone thinking whatever Slasher about JF.. I get that but I sure wish that our team was stuffed to the brim with guys who approach the game like Chris Sale does. We need more not fewer guys like him. They shut their mouths and do things the right way. I didn't really enjoy this team much after the Pedroia/Price garbage - not two of my favorites by the way. Guys like Sale although we don't have many of them kept me interested.

Yes - Leon = "minor trade chip" As a part of a package, he becomes more valuable.

"Seems to be like" - probably a good way to say it because none of us has any idea as to how all of the coaching changes will amount to anything at all.

It would be an incredibly ugly precedent for future ballplayers. There is 0 chance that it could ever happen. If owners thought for one minute that at the back end of a contract there was a chance that they would get some of their money back... I realize that all professional athletes are over paid but the people paying them are some of the wealthiest people in the world. If Dustin Pedroia never plays in Boston again, John Henry's cash flow will not be affected. Why would he give it back and the better question might be why should he?

Although I did lose a great deal of respect for Pedroia throughout the course of this season, I do agree that he has and will still probably try to give all that he has to give if and when he comes back. My concern with him is how much he will have to give! You don't get a free pass with father time. Ultimately Hernandez might be the better option at second. He likely won't be mvp material but I'm not buying the fact that Pedroia is coming back magically healed.

I'm not surprised at all with the Sox trying to move Leon. i've felt like this could happen for a while now. His reputation as a solid major league catcher makes him a potential minor trade chip. He has value. Vazquez wants to be recognized by more than just the folks here as the number one guy. He wants to catch more games. Leon is too good to be considered as just a backup for Vaz.

IMO there is 0 chance that he leaves any money behind even if he is unable to play. It isn't a precedent any of them would ever want to set. Whether we like these contracts or not, most were signed in good faith. As for him thinking about doing that just because he is a nice guy - really? He plays hard and that's it. He is no leader and proved it this year. His play is enough and it has always spoken for itself but I would stop short of trying to make him out to be something that he just isn't.

When you have the best player on the court, you always have a chance to win. K. Irving Watching Tatum and Brown have a chance to develop makes the trades look all that much better. They needed more than just 15 minutes per game.

I agree. Something that really should be common knowledge, is that what he spends in maintenance year to year, based on what he paid for the franchise and what he will be able to get for it if he ever sells, think he will more than make up any money that many of us worry about him spending on things like free agency and luxury taxes etc. It is good to be able to be in control of the "budget" and even better if you have a fan base that thinks you have a real one.

I know what you mean! No business man wants to ever lose money for sure. That being said, I don't think that making money right now on the day to day workings of his team really means all that much to John Henry. Now that is just my opinion.

I find this to be a very interesting comment. I've jokingly referred to the Red Sox budget being limitless over the years. Although I think that in fact they do have a supposed budget, my guess would be that no one posting here has any idea to what heights it might sore. It is all simple guess work. I was one of the few who felt that signing EE or someone like him was necessary. I still feel that way. Our offense is anemic and needs a boost. I feel very comfortable with my opinion that decisions to improve our offense will not be determined at all by what some here think that budget might be. Talking trade is a different story. Trading away players is entirely different than signing a free agent. I don't think that it will matter at all whether it is Boras or any other agent. The best will be paid and the Sox can and likely will be doing some of that paying. I don't think budget restraints of any kind have really ever been of much interest to Mr. Henry. Oh I understand all about running a business and what we see as his need to stay financially stable. I don't think billionaires look at things the way I tend to though.

About Smart - he looked god awful offensively the other night for sure. Good thing that Defense counts. Ultimately, he winds up helping his team. Pretty to watch - he ain't. Glad he plays for us though.

Bet you can guess where that cp176 comes from now!

I liked the way Barkley played, but after hearing him last night, i'm thinking that there is something he missed about what it takes to win and win big. Maybe he should have a conference call with Mr. Russell just to look at the 11 rings. It is a game that isn't always about pretty. As bad as smart looked last night, there were very few maybe even just one of his teammates who had a better plus/minus line. Sometimes you just got to keep on working.