kenmeister

Beat me to it. The Sox made the Orioles look really, really good. Chris Sale could return and lose 3-0 just like everybody else in the rotation.

The 1932 Boston Red Sox went 43-111 for a .279 winning percentage. I think the 2021 Sox just said, "Hold my beer."

I'm revising my former prediction of roughly .500 to 0-162.

E-Rod officially on the DL. Sigh.

For what it's worth, I was against the Sale extension, and I'm against extending E-Rod until he proves he's healthy. I'm for extending Devers - even if it turns out he can't cut it at 3rd, he'll move to 1st. Now that Sale is hopefully on the other side of his injury, I'm certainly rooting for him.

I realize he claims he "wasn't prepared" last season, but I've never seen a guy hit above .300 for 6 consecutive seasons, then all of a sudden hit .213. Very alarming.

My worries about JD are not alleviated.

But the pen does seem like a weak point. My hope is that DHern turns out to be great.

I've been saying all offseason we won't have a chance of contending without a closer, and Houck could be a very good closer this year. He might develop that third pitch and be an above average starter next year, so it's a question of how best to utilize him.

Ah yes, you are right! In 1995, Don hit a respectable .288 batting average (.754 OPS) in 128 games. Then he retired and the Yanks won it all in '96. Don hit .288 / .288 / .291 / .304 / .288 in his last 5 years, so he finished strong.

I still can't believe Mussina, after winning 20 games, retired and missed the Yankees last WS win by 1 year.

I fervently hope JDM's bat returns, but he was horrible last year. I wouldn't pencil him in hitting 4th unless he shows something this spring, but that's just me.

I'll be very disappointed if the Red Sox don't feature an above average offense. And I even think the starting pitching will be middle of the pack, maybe even above average later on in the year if Sale comes back and is effective. But defense and bullpen are my areas of worry.

The Beckett/Lowell trade is fascinating. We did have to give up the prime years of Hanley Ramirez, and Anibal Sanchez had some big years as well.

It might end up 87 wins, but it will be frustrating because some of those losses will be 9th inning meltdowns without a closer.

I really hope things work out at the last minute and he joins the Sox. Great baseball name. Two o's, two i's, two z's. Very cool.

Mike Stanley, yes! The greatest pinch hitter of all time.

Except for Tom Gordon at the end of the game. He was awesome. 46 saves that year led the league.

No because I'm not convinced we have a quality closer. I still think Houck could be that guy, but he seems to be being groomed as a starter (in the long run that could be best anyway).

Sorry that was explaining Jim Rice. The subject was around favorite player, and my feelings on that subject were colored by the games I actually went to moreso than watched on tv or read about in the paper in the late 90s and early 2000s. A coworker was a season ticket holder, and I'd buy 7-10 games worth a year in that period from him. I think I went to 3 Pedro games in all, and in each one he was playing through injury and wasn't very effective. There were 2-3 more that he was supposed to be the starter in but didn't appear. That's what I meant by always injured - I meant it in a very subjective sense. I realize it was just my bad luck to never catch Pedro at his best. Contrast that with Nomar, who I got to watch have some sizzling games. I even saw Juan Pena dominate lol. Sadly I don't go to games anymore. Maybe I can turn that around this year. PS: I did get to see the "mother's day miracle" against Baltimore... and I think the last game I saw in that time period they scored 20+ runs against a Marlins team that would win it all that year.

I started paying the Red Sox some attention in 1986, but I didn't start watching games regularly until 1988.

Rice's golden years are just before I started watching. When I started watching, he was sadly a double play machine. Pedro was a close second to Nomar for me, but he was injured a lot. I wish I could have gone to a game where he was smoking, but the Pedro games I went to he was done after 5 innings.

Ooh this is a fun thread idea. My favorite player transition has been ... Wade Boggs Mo Vaughn Nomar Garciaparra David Ortiz Xander Bogaerts I liked JBJ a lot that one year he hit like Willie Mays from August on, and I think the year later he had that hit streak, but he never put all that potential together in one killer year.

I'm impressed at how much work you put into that post. Reminds me that I'm still miffed the Sox didn't land Kluber. Time will tell whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Am I correct that Jackie Bradley Jr. and Jake Odorizzi are still unemployed? I have to wonder if they will take low money just to stay working...