Kimmi

One thing that the team was lacking last year was depth. You're absolutely right that Hanley and Victorino are both injury risks, and JBJ might well be needed come midseason. I understand that there will likely be a need to trade for a pitcher before the deadline. I just want the trade to make sense for the Sox and not be a trade to appease the fanbase or to get rid of excess parts.

I would not sell low on JBJ if I were the FO. His defense is worth his weight in gold, and by all accounts, he looks a lot better at the plate. He's never going to be known as an offensive CFer, but if he can hit decently, he will be a valuable player. If the Sox are not given an offer that they are happy with, then I'd be fine stashing him in AAA for another season. In other words, don't trade him just for the sake of trading him because he is "expendable".

Some of the shine has come off of Betances this spring. It might be nothing, but it might be something. How's that for expert analysis?

He has pitched all of 38 innings at the AAA level. Patience.

I wouldn't be surprised.

I love Betts. Then again, I love Bogaerts too. Everything I've seen and heard points to Betts being the real deal, and many have projected that he could be the best player on the team this year. I'm excited about watching him play and develop this year, but I'm trying to keep my expectations in check. If he lives up to all of the hype, that would be awesome!

I realize that you have to give up talent to get good talent, but I would really hate to see any of our players traded right now, JBJ and Craig included. I love defense, and am really pulling for JBJ to hit decently so that he can make it back to the big league roster. As you said, I am glad that I don't have to make the decisions. I could never be a GM. I get too attached to the players.

lol

No kidding. That drives me crazy!

I haven't been able to watch a lot of ST games, so I've had to go by what I've been reading. I am mostly encouraged by what I've read and what little I've seen. I'm hearing that Bogaerts defense is much improved over last year. That's encouraging not only because better D is obviously better, but also because it shows me that Bogaerts took his struggles to heart during the offseason, and that he has the right attitude and work ethic.

I don't think you can put too much stock into ST stats. I'm not trying to say that Mookie isn't the real deal, but ST stats just don't correlate much with regular season stats, for various reasons. JBJ's spring training a couple of years ago is Exhibit A. All of the hype surrounding Betts concerns me a little. We had the same thing going on with Bogaerts last year. Bogaerts recently admitted that all the hype and having the spotlight on him affected him last season, and that he prefers sort of being in the background, like he has been this year. Hopefully, Betts' mental makeup will allow him to deal with it better than Bogaerts did. Either way, I'm sure that Betts will have his fair share of growing pains, but you get the sense that he will make his adjustments quickly.

The Yankees must be doing well in spring training games.

We don't need Koji to be as good as he was in 2013. Koji can still be a very good and effective closer without reaching his 2013 level. Mujica was very impressive after the All Star break last year. Taz should be solid and consistent. Between Breslow, Ogando, Layne, Varvaro, Barnes, Workman, Escobar, Hembree, Spruill, and Ross, we should be able to round out a decent pen. There may even be a diamond in the rough amongst those guys. If not, the Sox certainly have the means to trade for a reliever before the deadline. As far as starting at a bigger workload for the pen, the Sox starting staff in 2013 averaged 6.1 innings per start. For some reference, league average that year was 5.9 innings per start. Our projected starting 5 averaged the following # of innings per start last year: Buchholz - 6.1 (6.8 in 2013, so he could conceivably do better than 6.1) Porcello - 6.5 Miley - 6.1 Kelly - 5.7 Masterson - 5.0 (6.5 in 2013, so he should conceivably do much better than 5.0 if healthy) Provided the rotation stays fairly healthy, I'm not seeing the bigger workload.

Personally, I think the Sox have as good a chance or better of appearing in the WS than any other AL team except for the Angels. That's not to say that the Sox will breeze into the postseason. It will be a tough battle all the way. I have the Sox as the favorites to win the division, but I will say that they could just as easily finish 4th.

Yes, as far as I know, Jacko is a Yankees fan. And that would explain why he is often wrong. ;-)

Congrats on the new grandchildren! You make sure that they are Red Sox fans. I have a neighbor who is trying to convert my son into a Cowboys fan. Can you believe that???

I read another article this morning regarding the positive effects to pitchers who pitch after a knuckleballer. This one talked about Wright's numbers specifically, rather than Wake's or Dickey's. If Wright made 30 starts, he would effectively be worth an additional 2 wins to the team over what he provides with his own pitching, one for the BP and one for the following day's starters.

LOL Spud. You are cracking me up!

I, unfortunately, think the Yankee rotation will be better than you think it will be, if they stay healthy. But I really like your self-perceived realism and I hope that you are right.

I don't think the FO would have spent as much money on Panda and Hanley if they thought that they didn't have a contender for the forseeable future. That just doesn't make any sense. I'm not sure what you mean by the state of the lineup. The state of the lineup looks pretty good to me. The FO might not be as confident in the starting rotation as they're letting on, but I think it's now a wait and see approach. I think that they are confident enough in the team as a whole to believe that they are a contender.

Bummer. Welcome back to reality. On a good note, only two more weeks until real baseball!

Wright has looked solid through 4 innings against the Phillies. And so has our offense. Buchholz pitched well in an intrasquad game today. As far as Kelly goes, haven't you heard that he's winning the Cy this year? ;-)

Why are you always ragging on our beloved Red Sox? Tearing our team apart is not going to make your team any better. I have my concerns about Koji, but if he can't close, I'm sure that the Sox will find someone else, either internally or externally, who can. As has been stated many times, BPs are a crapshoot. Just as easily as someone who was lights out last year might be meh this year, someone who was meh last year might be lights out this year. To me, it seems that most of the best closers aren't the high-priced free agents, but rather the no name guys who seem to come out of nowhere.

LOL I Googled him. Even if I were old enough to know who he was, he plays the wrong sport, so I probably wouldn't know who he was anyway. If it makes you feel any better, I mix names up all the time.

And I'm glad you're enjoying yourself in the Florida sunshine. Go Betts!