cp176

For what it's worth, I really agree with you about Holt. My next statement might seem ridiculous but oh well - I would feel much better if Benintendi was our starting left fielder right now and Holt continued to be the outstanding utility player that he is. If Holt looks like in fact he will be the man out there for the time being then - Travis - Shaw - Swihart - Moncada - Benintendi- ???- all of the above to be shagging some fly balls.

It might be a change in the approach the Sox have taken in recent years. Size and length of contract in addition to years under team control although needing to be considered are not what is driving the lineup. People keep saying that Sandoval and Castillo have been benched. That is definitely semantics. They were outplayed and are getting what they deserve for now. Things could change for sure. IMO it has very little to do whether Farrell fears for his job or not. I also think that it is a safe bet that Dombrowski is not totally pleased with the roster at this point in time either. In a perfect world , Holt, a very good utility player, would not be our starting left fielder and a World Series MVP at the age of 29 would be playing third base for us. IMO once again, the right message was sent if you happen to be into messages. Your contract guarantees your paycheck but not your playing time. It is what it is and hopefully everybody learns and takes something away from the experience. This way of doing things tends to work for me thus I like it.

So here are my concerns - I see Holt as a tremendous utility guy for sure. I think that I prefer seeing him being used in the infield as opposed to a great deal of time spent in the outfield. Declaring him to be your starting left fielder on opening day and the one who will play in left and hit against the majority of righties that we see all but eliminates the Castillo experiment. I think that it is to early to make that type of commitment and sorry I guess but I'm not liking Holt as an everyday outfielder.

More to what point? baseball is doing well? true - just baseball? I don't think so. The economy in general looks good or bad depending on who you talk to, where you are, and what you do. It stuns me daily to see how much $ is being spent on all things in these very difficult times. That is me being sarcastic.

What it tells me is that Dombrowski probably told Farrell to get Castillo off the field. Farrell has a track record of playing some of the guys to death in high hopes of great things to come. Most of us realize that at this point we ought to be seeing at least some sort of progress out of Castillo. He has shown none. Not Dombrowki's kind of guy.

The state of our economy can be an interesting picture to paint. It absolutely depends upon who you choose to listen to. There seems to be absolutely no correlation between what anyone thinks the shape of our economy is and the salaries being paid to mlb players. Seats are full - roads are full - goods are being purchased like never before. When I travel from here to Boston weekly, I wonder who works anymore. It is about supply and demand as it should be. Game after game after game - those seats aren't all being filled by rich folk. When people can't afford to go, salaries and prices will start coming down. If the economy is as bad as some would have us believe then all of the rich people in New England chose to live in Boston based on the prices you pay for anything once you cross the city limits.

I certainly have learned the value of being patient throughout the years. It is a virtue. I also believe that each situation presents a very different approach on occasion. Being patient and maybe overly patient with players like Ortiz and Pedroia is much different to showing patience toward players like Sandoval, Porcello, Ramirez, and Castillo. Ramirez gets a pass form me right now based on his performance - the others not so much. I do believe that the time seems to have come when a sort of changing of the guard was (is) a good thing. I supported those signings because I am a fan but I did not like any of them. They looked like a waste of money that could have addressed real needs by moving in a different direction. For the record, I really don't care who the GM was or is, I think that they are given far too much credit and far too much blame in most instances. The product on the field is what matters most to me. Looks as though the changes are just starting.

I understand that - I shouldn't couch my words. Just spit it out. these adjustments, changes, call them what you will aren't Farrell's. He is close to being done. Louvello(sp) might get a chance be he represents no major change. Dombrowski is in charge. Personally I am ok with it. the good old boys days of lets give them a chance - basically a half a season- might be gone. Imagine that you have to earn your paycheck. Job security doesn't get guaranteed when signing the fat contract. Sandoval actually is starting to look alive now that he figured out he might on the outside looking in. Far as I'm concerned, Dumbrowski looks like he gets it. He operates in the real world.

I also just read that Farrell was impressed with Kelly's performance today. that is scary. I don't care what anyone thinks about the importance of spring training, performances like he had today are only impressive if you are talking about how bad they are.

I'm not a big fan of Farrell's but by the same token I'm not holding him as accountable for how some of the knuckleheads are playing or for some of the out of character somewhat strange things that we are hearing these days. Very unusual for John Farrell to even allude to the fact that there is an ongoing battle for the third base job as well as the latest moves relating to Castillo. His career has been highlighted by being overly cautious about making any moves and tireingly boring with respect to his allegiance to players that have done nothing to deserve it. Maybe he got the memo that the season starts before Memorial Day weekend!

It seems like a very strange move to me thus the word odd. what have they seen from Castillo this spring to warrant using Holt and Young in left with Castillo out there as well. Holt has always seen some limited time in the outfield but just saying specifically left really kind of looks like Castillo is the next man down. It probably is the right move. It sounds like a Dumbrowski move. Castillo has progressed about as much as a snail over the past couple of years. Fish or cut bait - might be some more $ out the window.

I'm simple and I think that this is simple - Supply and Demand

I agree with you I think here. If farrell goes, and Louvello gets the job, he won't be there for long. Everybody seems to be on his bandwagon - I'm not but see the following : I am (or so I have been told): passive aggressive - old and traditional - a hater - I am on board with all that stuff plus I have s*** in my hat. to my credit, i left the hat behind so to speak.

Castillo's stock seems to have gone the proverbial drain. Something I missed here or what? never been a big fan but this seems like an odd move.

Just got home getting ready for some entertainment - what is this? fuel on the fire!

Ted - i get what you are saying here and I sort of agree but there is a but. First of all I think that if Ramirez is competent at first, unless Travis has a monster year, they will try to get at least one more year out of him at first. When you talk 20 plus million though I would always of course go with pithing first. As I've said before, if there is a team with an unlimited budget, I think that it is our guys . Big question is how do you spend that 20 million? If Porcello is the best that you can do, you might just as well go for the bat. I'm hoping that Dumbrowski kind of sees it our way.

I get the fact that Murphy didn't fit but I like him and always have. I hate the fact that such a commitment was made to Castillo. Ultimately I don't think that from a baseball production standpoint that he will do more for us than Murphy could have. Castillo represents just another in a line of players that we hope will become something special. We knew what we had in Murphy.

You can't get away with anything these daze!

fat joke! unacceptable!

good post from my little Maine cave! sometimes it is just damned good to be wrong. Sadly not many people are good at admitting it. I'm ok with it due my vast experience at being wrong! I really have never been a fan of Hanley ramirez and I'm not quite ready to hand him the keys to the city but I am cheering just as hard as I can for him to succeed. Really - so far so good. I don't label people and as a result I don't like being labelled. Never felt like I really fit any particular mode. For the record - I do have a very difficult time trying to understand (which I do) anyone's vigorous defense of Pablo Sandoval - but I do not hate him. I don't even know him.

Or say Jimmy Leyland. Wonder what he is thinking watching this melodrama.

A good third baseman in decent shape could have backhanded that ball and made the play. His inability to move because of his pathetic fitness level was a major reason for his injury. I said earlier that as he stepped up his level of effort to win the job at third, he was an injury just waiting to happen. The injury was inevitable. I am just sort of surprised that it wasn't a hammy.

If the landscape was a little different - Bucholtz was tough mentally and healthy Kelly had reached some sort of turning point health wise Porcello performed like the solid number 3 and even the number 2 some thought he might - I think that everything would just look fantastic. Even with all of that, my guess is that E-Rod would still be no lower than right behind Buchholz in the rotation. Our dreams have been rapped by this illustrious group so we need to be reality based. Price - Rodriguez(I'd bet on him) - everybody else and a big dose of "c'mon boys" Rodriguez's days in the minors are behind him!

We don't have the luxury right now of making what looks like a really good move - move Kelly to the bullpen. Our starting pitching although upgraded with Price is still just a major question mark. Thankfully it doesn't look like Rodriguez is going to miss much. Anyone who has any confidence in Buchholz, Kelly, Wright, Porcello, Elias and whoever else you want to throw in the mixing bowl, is living in a pretty good world. With a healthy E-Rod and Price at the top and something that resembles a contribution over a significant period of time and we still might be ok. Reality just says there are still a lot of ifs and buts here.

think I knew that. Doesn't change how I feel about what I have seen so far this season. there is a different outlook being shown that I am willing to give Dumbrowski credit for. My opinion is that I like his approach.