FredLynn

Hey, I would love for us to have the resources to fix the pitching problem we have had for the last three years. I want us to compete for a ring every single year. IMO Epstein screwed things up in that regard by choosing Lackey and Matsusaka and overpaying Beckett and signing Jenks. Aceves and Bard will be IMPROVEMENTS over our #4 and 5 last year-huge improvements. But they cannot toss more than 160 innings or their arms will fall off. That takes time, building up to that many innings. And if they leave the pen then the pen is empty. Too much to do for one year IMO.

Let me understand this: you are telling me to GTFO.....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Get a grip man....you really need to lighten up. Now, back to baseball, eh?

Good question. I would prefer to look for cheap one year pitchers if they are available. I would see what Bard and Aceves can do as SP and backfill the pen with those cheap pitchers. Maybe try to get Wheeler back. Use Doubront and Miller as depth in the SP area and maybe use Bowden, who stinks, out of the pen. I give up NOTHING this year and save all my chips for next year. Maintain as much flexibility for next year's run as possible.

Why would you want to put him on ignore? Its too much fun watching him fly off the handle. He has no self control. Admit it: its amusing.

Its hard to get past the fact that we have spent the last three years 1. without a playoff victory and 2. with an overall ERA that has been #7, #8, and #9 in the AL. We have done nothing to improve the pitching as yet, and are unlikely to be able to afford anyone who will make an impact on that ERA. I am not displeased as yet with what our FO has done (which is nothing, essentially) because I think that the smart business decision is to save your chips for next year. There are some here on the board who cannot respect that opinion even when its expressed as an opinion and as food for debate. If lots of the players, especially the SPs, have great years we could indeed contend because we certainly will score runs. But SP has been our problem area (and pitching in general), and NOTHING has been done to fix that problem.

Sure...but you have to admit: that last one was pretty funny!

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Who is available and affordable to bring in as a decent SP? Who is the RHH OF we can afford that is available? I would have liked Cuddyer; he is gone now, as is Beltran. Where are these good bullpen arms? Miller and Jenks are on the team; do you think they will help get us out of the middle of the AL pitching pack? Sure, we will probably bash our way into playoff contention then have a quick exit (again) IF we make it. Thats realistic. More than that IMO is a pipe dream as things now stand

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I comprehend just fine. It is the jibberish you write that needs improvement.

That was Beckett in 2007. That was four years ago. He has had an up and down career with the Red Sox. Last year was certainly an up year; I am not expecting another one like it this year. Yeah, he has guts, but he is also stubborn and recalcitrant to valid criticism. I think we would be better off with someone perhaps a little less talented but with a better clubhouse personality. What have we done to improve our pitching so that we do not finish in the middle of the AL like we did for the past three years? Well, we lost Papelbon, so thats a minus. Of course, we also lost Lackey and thats a plus no matter who fills in for him. I just don't see how we have improved our pitching-always our Achilles tendon since 2007-enough to make a run for a ring. Our problem was never scoring enough runs; we WILL score runs. But bashing your way through a season only gets you so far. You need good to great pitching to win a ring. How have we improved in that arena?

Its likely that he will improve significantly. He is too good an athlete and works too hard for that not to happen. I think he was taken aback by some of the BS that was going on in the clubhouse this year. If however he has a repeat performance in 2012 then we can add him to the long long list of mistakes that Epstein committed while he was here.

This is not a "beautiful" team by any stretch of the imagination. Look at how Beckett responded to his new boss the very first time Valentine called him: he was "displeased" with the criticism leveled at him for taking so long in between pitches-instead of accepting it as something his new boss felt he had to work on to improve his performance. Beckett is a stubborn oaf...not beautiful at all. There are other prima donna types (interspersed with class acts like Pedroia), but overall this is not yet a truly professional team that plays the game right. Maybe that will change over the next few years.

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No problem.

In a nutshell, here are some of the reasons I think we will contend for a playoff spot but not a ring next year: 1. We are not a better team in 2012 right now (things could change) than the team we had the previous three years that failed to win a single playoff game. 2. I do not expect Beckett to repeat his fine performance of 2010. I think he is a stubborn oaf who will clash with his manager. 3. I am suspicious about the health of Buchholtz. Back problems tend to be recurrent. 4. We have only three decent (ie no "aces") SP. 5. If we convert Aceves and Bard into SP they will not be throwing more than 140-160 innings next year-and that would complete the rape of the bullpen, having lost our closer. 6. Our pitching over the last three years has finished at #7, #8, and #9 in overall ERA in the AL. This year it is not better than last year in any significant way. Pitching wins rings, and we don't have pitching. 7. The clubhouse is a mess. It will take a year or two for Valentine to change the clubhouse culture. Team chemistry DOES count. 8. There is no financial flexibility available this year. Epstein left the team in a severe financial bind. 9. The Angels and other teams are improving and that will lead to increased competition for a playoff spot. We have done nothing this offseason because we can't do anything. See #8. Those are some of the reasons. You might not agree with them, but they are valid reasons for some pessimism for this year.

This board does degenerate at times to name calling, eh? I realize that others feel differently and have good reasons for having those opinions, but I also have good reasons for having the opinion I have. The team has not won a postseason game in three years. Exactly how is it that we are a much better team that those three teams? There are more reasons too, and I plan to brow-beat everyone all season with them. We will see who is right in September.

Just pointing out that it is YOU who is flying off the handle about what I write, not the reverse. And reminding you that some of the nonsense you write DOES reflect short-sightedness.

Rebuilding is different for the Red Sox than it is for, say, the Twins. We do not have to start from scratch as some other teams do. When I refer to "rebuilding" I mean that we are trying to rebuild a team that can realistically compete for a ring. As I said earlier, we will most likely compete for a playoff position, but IMO the team will fall short of that too. For those people who think that winning 90 games next year represents contending, it will be a great year for them. For me, a very good year is going deep into the playoffs and at least having a shot at the fall classic. I don't see that happening next year, and I have some very good reasons for believing that even if Username keeps having hissy fits at regular intervals in response to what I write. And Ortiz was offered arbitration not because the FO was drooling at the prospect of overpaying him this year, but because they wanted the two draft choices if he signed somewhere else, which would have been likely had they not offered arbitration. The rolled the dice and lost. Now they are even worse off, if only for one year.

I think that we WILL contend for the playoffs. We will lose out to teams with more solid pitching, in the end, but we should be in contention for most of the year. And I agree with you that we are not good enough to contend for a ring this year. Good post.