Designated Hater

Are you nuts? Varitek is one of the most overrated players in all of Red Sox history. He just happens to get a pass because he's a catcher and how many catchers have the Sox had outside of Fisk that have been amazing? Tek was a crappy hitter PERIOD. And this whole "well, he handled the pitching staff so well" thing is lame. Any catcher that did or does his homework could have done the same thing. Don't retire #33. He doesn't deserve it.

I would say trade the guy, but at this point he's of no real value to anyone in that he regularly has high pitch counts, can't pitch beyond the 6th, has an ERA north of 4.50, and is REALLY in his own head. Who needs that? I like his story with how he got healthy again and came back to MLB. Very touching, but at the end of the day it's not even the W-L record that is most important (the old sabermetrics argument), but the ERA and WHIP...and both are high. I say let him walk at the end of his deal to let him test the market. He won't really be able to cash in anywhere and you will probably be able to bring him back at low dollars to be your 3rd or 4th starter. Cherrington needs to find a starting pitcher STAT if they are going to go anywhere in the post season.

Leave it to the Red Sox medical staff to f*** this up royally. It sucks that they resigned him. Can we just admit this RIGHT NOW? Farrell isn't putting guys on the field that you want to take outside and smack around a few times. They actually seem - dare I say it - LIKEABLE! How on Earth did this happen? Ortiz is still the negative link in the chain. The bubbling of this story is going to hold the team back and it sucks because it seems to me the players want to move on and be a team.

Just the fact that Brock Holt is 1) a middle infielder by trade that can be converted to a full time SS and 2) he posted an average in, yes, a VERY small sample size in the bigs, but it was 92 POINTS ABOVE THE MENDOZA LINE is enough for me. Iglesias is going to die in AAA if he doesn't discover how to hit the baseball. Just being able to field doesn't get you to the bigs anymore. It's not 1965. The Bailey deal with the A's looks even worse today, but you can't fix it. Weep for a moment Red Sox FO and then move on. No need to hyper-focus on yet another s*** move. Just make better ones.

The Red Sox and the Yankees will be battling all year for position standing - last place. The other teams in the AL East are good, young, athletic, and ready to win. The Red Sox want to move forward (at least for the next couple years) with players that are place holders for undeveloped young minor league talent. We are crossing the bridge and it's going to be ugly. They may very well be better than last year and I absolutely see the entire division finishing over .500, but that is going to mean the Red Sox are nothing more than an 82 win team. The Yankees are OLD. Old, old, old. They will compete with their pitching being what it is and Robinson Cano, being just about the only piece of YOUNG superstar talent. Here is my AL East prediction for 2013: 1) Baltimore 2) Toronto 3) Tampa 4) New York 5) Boston

Biggest decline in OPS last year in the NL? Shane Victorino. Hands down, this guy is overrated and overpaid. Ben is an idiot and he needs to be fired. Oh...one last point: biggest decline in OPS last year in the AL? Napolli. Good luck Red Sox. At least you have Ortiz to put on the front of your 2013 schedules for the idiots that pay to be members of Red Sox "Nation".

Time to go friend. Your story was a good one while you were fighting and beating cancer, but from a baseball standpoint, you have not fulfilled your potential. You came close in 2009/2010, but went backwards the last couple years. And it also seems that you are easily swayed into partaking in activities that are detrimental to your teams well-being. Ship him to KC and get this thing moving for 2013 already.

Swish being a "must" is the mutterings of a franchise that doesn't know exactly how to get what it really needs. It needs youth, talent, consistent outstanding pitching, timely but patient hitting, and no Lucchino. 2013 will see youth and shades of talent, but I don't see outstanding pitching or patient hitting. Both pitchers and hitters will be trying to force success while trying to erase the mistakes of 2012. Can't be done on either fronts and what we'll end up getting is an improved ball club that is still going to finish under .500.

You might as well bring back Bobby V. They already f***ed up by shelling out $26 million to Papi and if they do an incentive-laden deal with Youk, it will just reek of the same nastiness as bringing guys like Varitek and Pedro back for cush positions in the FO. It's lame and they need to just develop talent at this point.

Varitek is a hump.

With David Ortiz coming back, that should be just enough push to the fans from Larry for everyone to buy tickets in December. That's all this is about: the show. Ortiz is breaking down and will absolutely NOT be as productive as he was even a year ago. I think it's a dumb move, but this works for both sides. How many teams really want an aging, injured DH? That position has been recycled (smartly) by most teams to be used as a "day-off" position for guys that need to take a Sunday afternoon and get off the field. I'm not going to go on a "don't buy tickets" tirade just yet because I don't know what the team is going to look like or what their off-season plans will be to obtain players and shape the 40-man roster. Right now things look grim as you look at the names that are in place for 2013 and no, I don't like the Ortiz signing.

The next manager of this team should be Jason Varitek...says all the sheep in Boston who thought he was a real leader.

Is this a real question? Absolutely trade him. Jacoby is as strong as tissue paper and will only be a problem as he inches closer to his free agency date. f*** Boras and let Jacoby be another team's problem. His value obviously isn't as high as it was a year ago because -yet again-he sat out most of this season, but he still has value and you'll be able to get something half decent for him, say prospects or a good replacement for all those dopes you traded to LA. Get Jacoby out of town.

Pick now. Tito has been hired and I think the Guardians are in better shape than the Larry Sox.

If you bring Youk back you might as well call Varitek back and re-trade for Beckett and A-Gon. This is not a time to take steps backwards. This is a time to move forward. Next season is going to be pretty ugly as well. They don't have the farm system, the young kids are getting there but definitely not ready, and the free agent class of 2012 is thin. When was the last time the Sox finished in last 2 years in a row?