cp176

I saw Pomeranz pitch this summer and very much liked what I saw. I still think that the potential for him to be a very solid contributor is right there.

Doji - has he dominated anyone yet?

I asked for your opinion here. I realize it is a bit slanted. I really hope the best for Espinoza but I would be much more upset if some young arm closer to actually pitching at them level - say a Kopech- was traded away. Saying that Pomeranz very well might be a solid 2/3 (although DD thinks he could be better) is a far better bet for me personally than saying an 18 year old is going to be a totr pitcher in five years. Too much can go wrong. I'm just not much of a gambler.

Moon - really - are you trying to be a little wise with me here?

Based on what tends to happen to highly proclaimed prospects often times, what do you think the odds are of Espinoza becoming that totr guy some are saying he might become?

And the good news is that you are certainly entitled to your opinion. i liked it because we were getting a young lefty who had already experienced success at the ml level. I am very excited to see what he can do in the future for us. Plus the fact I think that Dombrowski actually knows something about the importance of pitching.

Maybe we do nothing. Maybe we get the dh most of us want. We might have a GM who is confident enough in his decision making so that he feels no need to pacify the fan base. To date his moves have made some sense. Whether people like his moves or not is debatealbe. The big arguement seems to come from people that think he gave up too much young talent to get what he wanted in return. It is possible that he thought and still thinks that much of that talent is over rated. It is what we tend to do. I have just read recently that now many scouts seem to think that maybe the euphoria surrounding Moncada (I'm guilty here) is a bit over blown. Also, even though his youth still factors in, there are those that are now saying that maybe even Espinoza might now come with the "next Pedro" sticker firmly stuck to him. Having a solid farm is vital. Everybody knows that - even our GM (little sarcasm) knows that. Over rating young prospects is just something that we tend to see here. My bet is that we sign a dh. If we trade with anyone, I bet it will be because somebody really wants the player or players that we have and are willing to give us a great deal in return.

On the record - I did not dislike the Pomeranz trade!

Wait - What happened in the backseat? Brings back fond memories.

You know what - i agree with you based on what we have seen from him so far for sure. The arguements of the sample size being too small to date could certainly be said about Leon and for sure about Swihart. With respect to leon and Vazquez, it is Leon for sure. We really don't know much about Swihart just yet.

i truly think that good teams have to have very strong leadership. I'm not sure the people that you mentioned necessarily had bad attitudes. Things happen that can't be explained quite often when the heat rises. It is a long season and these guys have to be close. I'll bet that there all types of things that go on that we don't hear of. That's a good thing. We don't need to know everything. If a team is going to win, they have to perform much like a strong family. Families are going to have problems but the best ones find ways to keep plugging along. It is about the leadership. We will miss Ortiz for sure and that is why when I read what Porcello said I was very pleased. He makes a lot of money but it seems like he gets it. I'm pretty sure Price does also. We just need a little bit more going forward. I like what I have seen and read about Beltran. I think that he would fit very nicely in the middle of our lineup. Good character guys. I have seen so many kids over the years that had great talent but their attitudes got in the way of its development. More often than not they let themselves and their teammates down at some point as the pressure built.

i got your point first reading - how about that. the importance of the non-quantifiable piece we have argued for years here. I spent my life coaching so it really is a waste of time for me to defend the importance of attitude and mental approach as being more important than statistical driven data. In my world, it has always been much more important. I'll say again how pleased I am that the Red Sox seem to be paying very close attention to the types of people they bring on board.

I think that attitude is a very significant factor in winning or losing. Character counts greatly. More than most realize at any and all levels.

Congrats again go to Rick Porcello! He is an example of the importance of character. If you have a larger number of players with his approach with respect to team first, incidents like the beer and chicken fiasco don't really tend to occur. Our current team seems to be composed for the most part by players that have this type of attitude. Character counts for much more than people realize at any level and for the most part in any craft.

I agree with you. Once again though - I wish that the MVP was a team given award and the best player was a league award that was in fact given to the 'best player" each season. Not likely to change any time soon though.

I love the reasons Porcello gives for not pitching in the WBC next year. Hopefully he does not get talked into it. It is pretty obvious from his comments that he understands the physical and mental too doing what he does demands. His loyalty is right where it belongs with the Boston Red Sox. Hope Price follows suit.

I like this and I agree with it. Maybe that's why I like it. Personally there is no question in my mind that Trout was the the best player this year perhaps in all of baseball. That being said, I also think that David Ortiz was the most valuable player. Take him out of the Boston lineup for any extended period of time, this team does not win the east. Take Mookie out - I don't know. Still, Mookie is one helluva player!

there has been some chatter about Sonny as well - it seems likely that something must have been wrong with him. He went from basically a clout to an out in a very short period of time. DD knows something about pitchers it seems. It should be interesting.

i really don't think this would get it done. Bradley would have to be in there and I'm thinking that right now we are not so bad off. I would not give up Pomeranz. Now if we still had Espinoza and we could stuff him in there in Pomeranz's place - then maybe(lol-wink - wink).

Yes that might be true but that scenario is as likely to happen as pigs flying . For the record, if Moncada was the primary in a package to get us a "Sale like" starter, I would do the deal yesterday - today- and tomorrow.

yeah well let's see - If DD sticks with his current plan, I wasn't great math student, but it seems to me that trying to make an outfielder out of Moncada at this time might be a waste of time. He would have to stand in line to get at bats.

The crow I'm eating this morning really doesn't taste all that badly. Congratulations Rick Porcello!

Porcello - Verlander - Scherzer - Thank you Dave Dombrowski.

Would all of the rest of you who were in favor of the Porcello extension please stand up here. I was not one of them but there quite a few others.

I would hate to see Swihart go, but I also think that without the injury he might have already been traded. Beltran is beginning to draw some real interest from a number of teams. Ultimately, I think he gets paid a lot by someone. I'm not sure how much of a bidding war DD wants to get into for him. I still think and hope that they sign a dh and don't try to massage the pieces together from within.