FredLynn

And there is no need to use meaningless terms like "OPS+" and "ERA+". Baseball is a simple game. The 04 team was much better in every meaningful statistic than the 2011 team. Thats simply a fact of life.

Well, we didn't have a healthy pitching staff in 2011. Come on User....lets deal with REALITY, not some made-up version of the events.

I think you predicted 97 wins Fred..or was it 99. I predicted 94 wins, but I think Muggah was closest to the actual number we ended up with. Its too soon to predict wins as the Sox are not yet finished rummaging through the scrap heap of has-been pitchers. Its not unreasonable, though, to expect about as many wins as last year.

You won't be doing as much laughing in August.

I would put the Red Sox below the Rays and Braves, in the #9 spot. We just don't have a very good team this year.

Health plays a role, as we have seen. Most teams do not stay completely healthy. Thats rare. So we can realistically count on some key injuries next year. Thats just part of the game. As I said, you can bash your way into the playoffs, and thats the way we have generally done it-except for 2004 when we were THIRD in ERA in the AL and in 2007 when we were FIRST in ERA in the AL. Do you think its a coincidence that those are the years that we won a ring? Funny how that worked out, eh?

FIVE TIMES! Thats a lot! You don't need the BEST pitching, just good pitching. Ninth in your league does not qualify as good pitching. Its mediocre pitching, and that makes it very very tough to win a ring. I would not be betting on the Red Sox winning a ring the way things now stand.

Our pitching has not really sucked for three year by the standards that would be used by most clubs, but if you are trying to contend for a ring (and not just a playoff spot-which I have already stipulated that I think we will do in 2012), then the team ERA should be better than mediocre. Some clubs get away with mediocre ERAs relative to the other contending teams, but most championship teams are really in the top 3-4 in ERA in their league, and frequently higher. It is true that in most cases pitching and defense wins rings. You can club your way into the playoffs, but as we have seen with our team, you won't get far that way without good pitching. Citing injuries as the reason we have mediocre pitching is a copout and I am not buying it for a minute. ALL teams have to deal with injuries. The loss of Matsusaka and Jenks really mattered very little because the did suck. The loss of CB hurt, and we could have made the playoffs, perhaps, had he been diagnosed and treated in a timely manner, but we would not have gone far. We still ended up with below average pitching.

We lost 1/5 of our starting rotation for half the year. I am not counting the loss of Matsusaka for much. His ERA was over 5 while he was in there. Its not like we lost a lot with the guys who replaced him. We lost because our overall pitching sucked: Matsusaka, Wakefield, Miller, Jenks etc etc etc. Using injuries as an excuse is a copout. The pitching has sucked for three years now. You gonna invoke injuries as the excuse du jour for all three years?

If he has many more chips removed from his back he could end up as spineless as Crawford........

Oh, I see. You think that teams should plan on being completely healthy for the entire season. Injuries happen to ALL teams. Thats just the way it is. We got injuries and failed to respond, we failed to show up and compensate for those injuries. I am not buying your assertion that we blew it because of injuries; thats a typical copout. We blew it because OUR PITCHING SUCKED. Oh-and Christ Almighty isn't here........

The list of good FA pitchers that will become available after next year is long. We ought to be saving our money to sign one or two of them as well.