cp176

what I'm hearing you say is that he is a normal human being who gets what is important. And i believe absolutely that you are right in saying that with DD and Cora in charge all things look pretty good moving forward. I would only add that we got us a pretty solid group of owners as well.

I don't think that anyone would be pleased with any of these guys making any demands about anything. Number 1 - It would be so extremely out of character for any individual on this particular team to make a statement like that.

I think that that is quite possible. I'm just having one of those "let's watch what we say days" because no doubt that if someone here makes a statement like Sale or any Red Sox pitcher is demanding anything then the rumors will start and some moron is going to run with it. I'm sure he has preferences as they all do but I can't imagine him demanding anything.

I don't think that there is anything wrong with a pitcher making a request either which is what I think that Sale as well as others have probably done. It's when people start using words like demand without really knowing much about what took place that does bother me. Where has anyone seen or heard that Sale or any other pitcher on this team has demanded that they have a certain catcher? I understand that it wasn't you using demand but it really is how negative things tend to get rolling. Unless someone as the exact proof for suggesting this then it wrong to use the choice of wording. They can suggest away all they want to. it is Cora who makes the final call.

I wouldn't pay him that either but with that in mind, the way i got it figured the Sox payroll this year includes roughly 70 million+ paid out to guys who didn't help at all. With that in mind, why waste 9 a year for an aging Miller (33)? I know that you likely would be opposed to a Miller signing as well. My point is, if that amount of money can be spent on 0 production, how do any of us have any idea what JH will spend even with all of the talk about caps and luxury taxes blah blah blah. I would sooner sign Kimbrel for twice as much as opposed to signing someone for 9 who is probably over the hill.

true

Nice - Thanks for not trying to give us a lesson as to what sarcasm is and how to realize it when you read it as well. (wink wink)

I have mixed feelings about an attempt to resign Kimbrel. I love what he has done for us but ... As for signing Eovaldi and then thinking about making him a closer - sorry - doesn't work for me. Which is tougher to find, a quality starter or closer and also which is more important. I go with the starter. Keep Eovaldi right where he is. When I looked out in that bullpen and saw Price, Porcello, Eovaldi, and Sale out there, I thought to myself - closers get found from people who have tried and often failed to be starters. Or on occasion once were quality starters who were just aging. You will overpay probably for any player including a closer but let's not go crazy and overpay. If a case is going to made to try and turn Eovaldi into a closer i could make an argument to turn Sale, Porcello, and Price into one just as easily which I wouldn't do.

The beauty of it all I think is that that is exactly what JH wants. He wants to see DD and Cora get the credit. We have been extremely fortunate to have this ownership group in place for so long. Most of us who are lifelong fans kind of expected more success when JH purchased the team. It is probably safe to say that not many of us could have predicted the magnitude of the success that we have had. With all of the talk about how tough things are going to be for this franchise moving forward, a part of me thinks that this will be seen as just one more big challenge to overcome. I have learned to not underestimate what can happen when people who care about something get presented with big challenges. I don't think that our owners are going run away from a challenge. As long as they are here, and I think that they like it here, this team will continue to compete at the highest level. We saw what happens when they don't. That is when JH gets involved. Make changes - bring in the right people - get the job done.

Really ? - I'm not saying that you might not be right but I've always considered him at the top of the food chain so to speak. Without him as our owner, we do not accomplish what we have accomplished. i can't be alone with respect to my thinking.

+!+!+!

I think that you are right for sure but i also think that Cora has had a big say as to who the players are that are coming to Boston. I absolutely think that he knows what a winner looks like. I think he had a pretty good idea that once he got everything squared away, which included allowing Hanley to walk, that he had a team of battlers that could and would get along. I think that Cora is tougher than people tend to think he is. He doesn't strike me as the "loosey goosey lets just go out there and have some fun kind of players manager" that some people could think he is. All of these guys are professionals. They are all pretty good at what they do. Finding the right guys is the hard job. It is ok to overpay for players sometimes but you better make sure what they are made of mentally before you sign them. looks like the no prima donna rule applies here and to me that says winner now and going forward.

I think that it is really interesting that we had the highest payroll in the game but a great deal of that money was forked out to players who were not playing for us. The only reason I mention this is because we get brow beaten about the size of the payroll but in terms of what we actually got for it, I wonder where that puts us with respect to other teams. Our data compilation experts I'm sure could tell us the answer in a New York minute. (had to add that one)

Oh you know you and I will argue about lots of other stuff going forward. lol From the looks of things, John Henry liked this team a lot too. That is probably the most important thing.

Francona for the most part did a wonderful job for us. He was what people called "a player's manager"- whatever that might mean to any individual. Cora has been referred to as to being "a player's manager" as well. I think that he is as well but I don't see any idiots playing for him. He knows what types of players he wants and can work with. I like that very much. It is as much to do with attitude as it is with actual talent.

Smith sealed his deal a long time ago by throwing the glove and blaming the coaching staff for his latest injury. He does not fit the current Red Sox mold - no fools. I think that even though Cora seems extremely nice and polite, he has a great voice in who plays for this team. He gets it.

That friggin Dombrowski! He has ruined our future. lol

That doesn't make Price a bad person. Makes him intelligent. Like I said, I still like him, but I don't think that he is coming back to hang with us fans and the Boston media. He shouldn't have opted out and obviously he didn't. I'll bet on the fact that he wasn't going to get abetter offer foramen else. I'm glad he is coming back. As for me - teacher, pay scale, didn't make much money, had fun.

have we heard this before - With respect to David Price (God bless him for what he has done), it is all about the $. End of story. There is no way anyone was going to pay him what What Boston is paying him. I'm sure that he is happy that fans seem to love him now but seriously, it is all about the $ with him. I still like him a lot though.

I think that he comes back fine next year and seriously if Chris Sale has a fastball that tops out at 95 or 96 mph combined with the rest of the nasty s*** he throws, suiters will line up to sign him. They probably won't even care a whole lot whether some of our posters think that he is too light, too tall, or even too fragile. He can and likely will continue pitching at a high level for some time. I hope that it is with Boston. We need players like him. WINNERS

The comparison GM thing just keeps on giving. We currently have at the helm as good a GM as there is in baseball. That works for me. I am overjoyed that he came along when he did. Our future is in good hands.

Come on stop that! You think that there are people posting here who aren't wasting their time? I am I understand that for sure but it is kind of fun some of the time. lol There must be a few people out there - anyone who thinks that he might opt out this contract - who don't realize that David Price is an intelligent man.

Is it just me or would I have found it next to impossible to choose the MVP- Any number of players could have received it. Price I guess would have been my pick but I really don't think one player should have been singled out from this team. It isn't particularly important for sure but the principle of even having this award for this team this year doesn't seem to fit.

you do realize what you have done now right?

Smoltz's expertise is narrow?