FredLynn

Great start by Kelly. He needs to throw strikes and needs to start keeping his PC down. He is destroying the bullpen

The Rays sure picked a good one to start the game today.

We are going to face some tough competition all year. Its obviously very early, but our team ERA is next to last in the AL. Its improving, but overall, it has not been good. This team had better have some padding by September because that month we have 19 road games and only 8 at Fenway Park. And the home games are against the Jays (1) Orioles (3) and the Yankees (4). They also will be making trips to the west coast for six games and play away against the Orioles and Yankees. Its going to be very difficult to make up ground in September, so they need to be in a very good position by then. A 6-6 record is not a great start, and a .500 team on Sept 1 has no chance of making the playoffs. There needs to be a sense of urgency right now.

Whatever it is, a 7-7 record after 14 games isn't what I had hoped for. This team needs to play well early on if they are going to have a shot to make the playoffs. Check out the Sept schedule; its a bear.

Truth is, its likely that no one here knows Pablo Sandoval, so no one has any right to "hate" him. For my part, I almost feel sorry for the guy as I would any human being with an addiction problem that they cannot or will not address. Thats the human thing to do. I do not feel any more sorry for him than I would any stranger with that problem. But the guy is getting paid $17M, and when he took up a spot on the pine instead of at 3B, that hurts my team. Part of that is on Cherington for signing him, but part of it is for Sandoval failing to get some help. I think its time for the Red Sox to move on past Pablo Sandoval. He is sunk money.

Nobody is beating on Pablo unless he reads this forum, which is highly unlikely. I think commenting here about a guy who showed up so out of shape that he could not compete for a starting position is fair game for fans. The fact that $17M is sitting on the bench or on the DL because that player failed to address his addiction is hurting our team. That money could and should have been spent elsewhere.

OK...you are right. He has a serious problem. Losing weight is not easy for anyone, and much harder for some than for others. That said, if I had a serious addiction problem that affected my job performance (or my relationships/family etc) I would get some help. Its pretty clear that Sandoval didn't do that over the winter. While the Sox made a mistake in signing him it is HIS responsibility to do his job to the best of his ability, and if that requires seeking the help of a trainer and dietician to do it, then that is what he should have done. I am sure the Sox would have paid for it. Instead, he just ate all winter, ignoring the issue, and showed up so far out of shape that he could not perform his job. If he had an ounce of integrity he would forfeit his salary until he got in good enough shape to be able to compete for a roster spot.

Well, Cherington is gone. That helps, right?

Rusney was never given the chance to play regularly. He was given only 289 PAs in 2015 and just four this year. Thats still not a lot. I would have liked to see more of him (and less of Chris Young) before I throw him out the window.

Yeah, maybe 2% of the fault lies with current management, and 98% lies with Sandoval himself. I suspect he was told to lose some weight and show up in shape and that Farrell, assuming he did as he was told, told the press he had lost 20 lbs before even seeing him. Meanwhile, Sandoval probably weights more than he did last year. Its particularly noticeable when you look at the other main guy Cherington obtained, Hanley Ramirez, and see someone who has busted his butt to get in shape and to be as good as he can at his new position. He has worked as hard by all accounts as anyone on the team learning to play 1B under Butterfield and even changed his swing to hit the ball to RF more this year after trying to hit everything over the LF wall last year. Kudos to Hanley Ramirez; shame on Pablo Sandoval. He is on his way out but before he leaves he deserves to be embarrassed a bit the same way he embarrassed the franchise by showing up looking like a wild boar.

Pablo has no "shoulder sprain". When he eventually makes it back I think he will have lost about 15 pounds, at least. He has been sent off to fat camp, something he should have done during the winter.

Seriously? You would give up Betts or Bogaerts for two years of Stanton? That's a pretty heavy price to pay for a two year rental.

I used Baseballreference.com. He was in positive territory this year, but not by much (defensively). Watching him play, he is average in my own estimation, at best. Obviously he has a cannon for an arm, and that is his best weapon defensively. I see him getting poor reads on balls all the time. I do not think he is much more than average defensively, or maybe slightly above ave. Also important: he refuses to play in RF where his best weapon, his arm, would be better used. That reflects a bad attitude. I think players should play wherever they are told to play and give it their best. Offensively, in 130 PAs at Fenway Park (admittedly a SSS), his OPS/tOPS is .672/74. My guess is that the dimensions and layout of the park do not favor RHH line drive hitters where the wall blocks his hard hit line drives. Its also possible that its just not enough ABs. Everyone is aware of his alarmingly low OBP. Assuming he doesn't get traded we will see what those numbers are after 250-300 ABs. Its a contract year; they should go up. Cespedes is not a bad player; he is a good player, but not an excellent one. I do not believe he is worth a long term expensive investment. If we can trade him and get value in return we ought to do it. That would help relieve the OF glut as well.

If we put together a package for Stanton, who would you include? Remember: he is a FA after two more years. How many top prospects would you be willing to give up for two years of Stanton? Might be better to wait until next year when the Marlins lower the price or two years when he becomes a FA and then, if he is still worth it, go after him with $$ and no prospects.

His dWAR over his time in the majors is minus 1.0. The notion that he was nominated for a gold glove is in line with Jeter's nomination from time to time-a joke. His OBP is worrisome: .296 with the Red Sox and .316 in three years in the majors. Also, he is mostly a line drive hitter and I think the wall at Fenway will hinder and not help his HR production. I do not want to see him signed long term with this club; and I also think that other GMs will see his negative dWAR , his low OBP, and consider the fact that after one year he will sign for whoever gives him the most money. If he is offered as trade bait, I do not think we will even get a good prospect for him, just a midlevel prospect or a borderline ML player. He just isn't that good; just flashy.

Cespedes has one year left on his contract. He is also overrated. Last I checked his OPS was well under .800 and his OBP was under .300. He is also a below average fielder. Therefore, we are unlikely to receive a valuable player in return for him.

Whoever wins game 5 is in the drivers seat. Tomorrows game is the key to the series. We will have a very hard time beating both Scherzer and Verlander; they will have a very hard time winning both of those games as well. Its on the line tomorrow.

I like Choo as well. But he is not a very good defensive player, and is not someone I want in CF. In addition, Boras is his agent as well, so he is likely to demand a contract similar to what Ellsbury is going after. I do not think Vic is going to be able to handle CF next year for 140 games, and Bradley is still an unknown quantity. Its a difficult choice. If we could get Ellsbury or Choo (either would be fine) to play for us next year I would be happy, as long as the price is reasonable.

It would be a coup if we could manage to keep both of those guys at the top of our lineup. They are dynamite there. Bradley is an untested rookie, and I do not see any other OF who are as good as Ellsbury on the market, including Choo. Unfortunately, I do not think that will happen, not with Boras representing him.

Not trying to put Ellsbury down at all. I think he is a very good player and I would love to have him return to the team-IF the price is right. I am quite sure the management has already had some thoughts about what their bottom line will be, and as others have said, we will probably be outbid by some team looking for an impact player, which Ellsbury is. The purpose of the original comparison is just to draw attention to the fact that a guy who has at least as good a track record over the past four years got a deal for $13M for three years just last year. I do not want the Sox to overpay Ellsbury either in money OR in years-especially with his injury history. And I don't think they will do that.

We certainly are the favorites at this point, and rightfully so. Whichever AL team gets to move on will be tough, but their SP rotation will be out of whack because of today's game; ours is set. Our offense is better than that of anyone else, and perhaps most importantly, we have home field advantage. While the odds of us winning it all are still probably less than 50%, they are better than those of anyone else at this stage. Its going to be a fun ride.

More on Ellsbury and his upcoming contract negotiations: Lets consider the last four years in terms of games played and OPS. Player A: 147/.756, 132/.847, 154/.704, 122/.801 Player B: 18/.485, 158/.928, 74/.682, 134/.781 Player A is a bit faster; player B has a MUCH better throwing arm. There is just a two year age difference. Player A costs $13M and is signed for just two more years; Player B is likely to cost $18M or more over at least six years. Which is the better deal?

Got it. I thought I must have misinterpreted what you wrote. That said, do you really trust Tazawa vs Longoria? Farrell could have played it that way, but Breslow is also a good choice: our best RP (outside of our closer) vs their best hitter. Hard to fault Farrell for allowing Breslow to remain in the game IMO.

Actually you are right Username. Breslow does have a noticeable platoon split this year. He has been MUCH better vs RHH (OPSa of .581) vs LHH (.704). In addition, he has pitched to more RHH than LHH this year (135 v 102). For his career his OPSa splits are nearly identical: .644 v 642. He gets hitters out from both sides of the plate, and he has been our second most effective RP for a long time. I think it was a good decision by Farrell. Maybe I am misreading your post.

They are exactly as good as their record says they are. They are the best team in baseball right now; they led all of baseball this year in runs scored and OPS, and their ERA+ was fourth in the AL-good enough certainly to win the WS. They have a bona fide ace in Buchholz whose ERA has been below 2 all season and won 97 games even though their ace missed three months and even though they lost two closers for the year. Lester and Lackey have both pitched like #2 SP this year. Their turnaround from last year is truly extraordinary. I have been trying to find the record for such a turnaround, but I can't find it. The 28 win turnaround has to be close to that record I would think. Yeah, they are that good. And frankly, although it would be disappointing if they failed to at least make it to the World Series this year, the season cannot be regarded in any other way than a smashing success.