reYoukilis

If thats true then they are idiots because they are doing the total opposite of the team that got them discombobulated. And yes, its fun to watch.

I think firing Francona was an overreaction. Babe Ruth probably did alot more than eat chicken and drink beer during games. Sure, the collapse was caused by a case of cockiness and overconfidence but what was Tito supposed to do? They were the best in baseball at the time. Its hard to tell your team to stop partying when they have the best record. To them, maybe, the partying was one of the reasons they were successful. And who can blame them, that cavalier attitiude worked in '04. And it was especially an overreaction to go the complete opposite way and get a manager that treats his players like kids, players who won the first Red Sox championship since 1918, and again in '07. Players who were veterans. This was all brought on by the headhunting media and Red Sox fans who force GM's hand. I think Francona deserved a chance to redeem himself. As for his reluctance to bunt, hit and run, or steal, I like the steal and hit and run. Im not partial to the sacrifice bunt, I also dont agree with giving up an out. But then again, maybe my time enjoying the Red Sox has trained me that way.

But do we have an excess of quality arms? I understand that we are at the beginning stages of a youth movement but if say Lackey starts losing his mojo, do we have a comparable talent to take his place or will this youth movement have us, maybe, getting worse before it gets better? In other words do we need another big name to shore up the rotation?

I mentioned trading Middlebrooks but what I really meant was only if we cant keep all three (Middlebrooks, Bogaerts and Drew). All three is the ideal I think. We dont know yet what we have in Mbrooks, we dont have to rush Bogaerts and Drew is someone we should be able to count on.

I'm for Drew at SS (pending a reasonable price of course), Bogaerts at 3rd, and trading Middlebrooks for pitching. And no Kemp

Matt Albers is available. He did a good job here and kept on doing a good job after he left.

Youre right, my mistake. Still though his pitch calling is his best strength, enough so that it overshadowed his lack of arm strength throwing out stealers. Not sure about his glove really.

Red Sox fans should never discount the impact a catcher has with calling a good game. That was probably Varitek's only true strength. And we all know where that got us.

I like this signing and I hated Pierzynski. I live in Texas so saw him alot and though he's ornery I think he's going to be good for this team. Having said that, living in Texas, other than the reported tiff he and Peavey had when with the White Sox, when he was in Texas he stopped being Yu Darvish's catcher because of a tiff they had too. Something to think about. Personally, in the case of Darvish I think it was about Darvish's overreliance on the perfect pitch vs throwing strikes, something he was definitely known to be guilty of. So if thats true I agree with him. But also think Pierzynski was clutch and ready for the big moment.

Nelson Cruz, though coming with a big question mark attached concerning how much PED's contributed to his numbers.

I like Drew. In the World Series his glove was great. His offense is better than it showed their but they won it with him which should be stat too. I like him at SS and Bogaerts at 3rd where Bogaerts saves more energy for offense. Drew is only 30 years old, I thought he was older. What that means for Middlebrooks I dont know. I don't think we can keep all three. Just looked at future prospects for 3rd base and saw Garin Cecchini. He's got damn good numbers and was drafted a year before Bradley and a year after Bogaert so could be close to ripe. So yeah that makes, in my eyes, Middlebrooks the odd man out even more. The biggest question is center field. I would like Bradley to come out but in split duty with someone else. How about Nelson Cruz in right and Victorino in the middle, slowly bringing Bradley along?

How come teams aint learning from the teams who actually make it, or even win the World Series for chrisakes. How many of these teams spent zillions for one player? None. Teams like Red Sox, Cards, Giants, Texas, Phillies win with no namers practically. I mean look what happened when we went on a spending spree. We end up in last place. Who are our best players? Other than Papi, theyre all homegrown. Youk, Pedroia, Lester, Ellsbury....WTF!!

Well its their weak point compared to offense and starting pitching. Don't forget Hanrahan, he maybe did more damage to the ERA than anybody.

I would love to get a good, smart catcher, but one who is going to be around for awhile. What about bullpen, isn't that still the glaring need?

Especially considering the good Vic has brought.

Again, assuming age is the culprit with Victorino, like people did with Ortiz. Always ready to throw people away. I wish there was a chart showing what people said so we can see how little credibility they really have.

Im all about waiting and seeing and giving everybody the benefit of the doubt. Since I really cant do anything about it I might as well stay positive, maybe my positive vibrations will help in some way. Dempster was the one guy, of all the new acquisitions, that I wanted to do well.

Well then Ellsbury should do the same thing as Cano because if it were me, I would want to stay on the Red Sox. You got fans in the stands, a seemingly good system in place, etc.

Without knowing for sure why the pitching has improved so much, I would certainly bet that a big reason for it is Juan Nieves but its also probably John Farrell, improved defense (on paper), C Ross as catcher, both Pedro and Varitek being a part of it all, etc.. However listening to Nieves on NESN during ST, he seemed more interested in the pitcher throwing the correct pitch for the pitch count, than he was mechanics. I have a feeling that thats where their interests lie vs other pitch coaching philosophies.

I feel the same way about Salty. Do these people not see the successes of people like Pedroia and Napoli?

Exactly. If theres 2 strikes stop swinging for the fences and start fouling pitches until you get the pitch you want.

That and the change in coaching and philosophy. Obviously it makes a difference too since only Dempster is new to the rotation.

All Im saying is what I saw and that was that the difference between Hamiltons numbers of good pitchers and bad is a bigger gap than the norm. People fall in love, or fear these larger than life cats like Hamilton, A-Rod and Pujols but its really guys like Youkilis, Pedroia, Berkman etc that get you the ring.

Yeah but, like A-Rod, he doesnt do it when it counts. The difference between Hamiltons numbers when it comes to good pitchers and bad pitchers is huge. Nava is more patient and gets on base more.

Im watching this on Gameday and all the pitches were outside. After the first strike, he shouldve gone inside.