redsoxdirtdog

Atta boy Pedey!

Ughhh. Sorry s5! THIS is what I agree with!

Now I do agree with this. I would have dealt him eventually, BUT for a big time #1-2 SR pitcher or other. WE SOLD WAY LOW!!!!

Good on ya mvp For the record, I totally agree with you! That was the whole ball of wax. So many doubted he could even be serviceable at SS, Let alone solid. Admittedly, it started out a bit rocky, but the growth he has made at SS has been nothing short of stunning! That's probably my favorite thing about this kid... the hard nosed dirtdog like work that he has put in to get him to this point. By all accounts, he has put in a massive amount of time, effort, blood, sweat, & tears to make any Red Sox Fan incredibly proud. You just love to see this in a kid his age!!! Or any age for that matter. We knew his bat would be a major upgrade over Iggy, but few thought he would be this good & consistent this quick. So far, it seems clear that he is & will continue to be a generational contact hitter. I personally have no doubt that he is capable of very good power numbers if that 8s what the team needs from him. He definitely looks very capable of making another shot at a batting title, but if they asked him to sacrifice a bit of average, & focus a bit more on driving the ball as opposed to shooting it to the oposite field, he is more than capable. I'm confident that his slugging % and overall OPS will climb steadily over the next 2 years. Mookie, who I love, definitely has captured all our hearts & minds has received much of t he attention last year, but I see X-Bo as being more of a lock as our next big Superstar. Having said that, I think X-Bo, Mookie, JBJ, Vaz, & Shaw will all form the nucleus of our next great era in Red Sox History! If the FO is able to surround this new core with a solid starting rotation???? I could see these kids leading the Sox to several WS runs over the next decade. I hope the FO locks all of these guys down with LT contracts.

Not sure what type of "beach goer" we're talking about? I live in Oregon, but go back to the Cape each summer. Is discussing the mid-Cape ok? Those Pikers on the lower cape can blow it out their ar$$e $, but the mid-Cape is life itself! This could be a deal breaker!

Fair enough. Is it outside the lines to as what got Pumpsie banned here? I'm all for fresh starts, and would love to see ALL the great posters from BDC come here. As a moderator, i'm sure you know the tough judgement calls that have to be made every day. I'm sure quite a few were gunning for him. Anyway... not his nanny, but just curious. I would also love to stay reasonably within the lines. I like to mix it up & have fun, but some can take it the wrong way. Honestly wondering what the lines are here, what with being new.? Thanks! RSDD

Take it back redsoxdirtBAG! Clay will be starting in the All-Star Game! Who is this guy anyway!

Speaking of mvp, that was the theme of his article. That The X-Man ( as I will now refer to him every other Wednesday, minus February ) is this team's mvp. I personally think Papi still owns that, but he makes a very strong case! He will be soon enough! The Sox need to lock him down, and sign him LONG TERM!!!!!

Is mvp safe to poke? Hope he doesn't mind some heat? All in fun. LOVE my Sox!

& rock solid at SS! NOT the range that Iggy had, but who does? This kid is bound for the HOF!

What did he have, another 3 hits tonight! His power will come in a few more years. NO WORRIES! I bet he still hits 12 -15 this year. His walks are way up, & he's tearing up the base paths!!! Love this ALL-STAR!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iggy_Pop Ha! I knew it had something to do with Bowie! Serves me right for getting "cute" with my title selection. mvp is right about the title! It didn't POP, IT BLOWS! :0 Having said that, he's dead wrong about the issue! There was a RAGING DEBATE back when we dealt him. Glad the powers that be had faith in X-Bo!!!!! If it's OK to call him that here?

Yeh. Bad title. Nobody ever has called him Iggy Pop. It popped, pun intended into my little brain while in the John posting. Wish I could even remember what I was thinking. Maybe that Iggy had popped out of the picture? I'm reaching here? Wasn't there a pop culture iggy Pop back in t he day???? God knows!???? Anyway. Good topic, s***** title! Should have flushed it!!!! PERHAPS i'll re-post, & steal Slasher's tracker title.????

I guess the lack of response answers the question. X-Bo has made us ALL forget about Iggy. It'S Amazing CONSIDERING just how good a fielder we all know Iggy to be, and the raging debate over how we could never let Iggy go, the widespread doubts about X-Bo at SS. Many said he could never make it at that position. Bad title though... Perhaps I should have made it the "X-Bo vs. Iggy Tracker?" Damn you & your brilliant thread titles Slasher!

X-Bo has officially caught fire!

Time to face the facts. I thought the gamble on picking up his option was good. NOT LOOKING THAT WAY NOW THOUGH. Other than needing warm bodies for innings.... he's killing us! The kid is a major head case! Absolutely ZERO doubt about it! At least half the time he is around, he flakes. Folds! I won't pretend to know what if anything is in his head, but it can't be good. All the talent in the world, but a weak mind & fragile body. There is no denying this.

1st inning w / Chi WS.... Clay gives up 2 more ER's. ain't looking good!

btw. He really helped clean up BDC when Pike was trying to hijack the board on aa every quarter hour basis! Some other bannings were too much imo, but that board had devolved into chaos with some of the nuts hijacking every thread. i.e. Pike. Who was going as far as cyber-snooping on posters, & trying to "out them" for nutty nothing stuff. Posting the whereabouts of posters in the real world. Anyway. Pumpsie seemed like a pretty straight shooter. ? I say let him in & find out who the problem is. Pike will reveal himself. p.s. Thanks for the nice welcome!

Too bad!!! Why?

Anybody here miss Iggy? In my mind X-Bo is headed toward Superstardom! I've loved this kid for quite some time, but are we already taking him for granted? X-Bo's career will massively eclipse Iggy's! What do you say? By Alex Speier GLOBE STAFF MAY 03, 2016 Pop quiz: Who has been the best player on the Red Sox so far? Related question: How is it that no one has noticed him? The Red Sox’ leader in Wins Above Replacement, at least according to the calculations of Fangraphs.com, is unexpected: Xander Bogaerts. In a vacuum, that status doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Rob Mains of Baseball Prospectus found that April says less about how individual players’ seasons will unfold than any other month of the year. The fact that Bogaerts currently leads the Sox with a 1.2 WAR doesn’t mean he’ll be the team’s best player for the full season. And even in the short term, very reasonable cases can be made that the Sox’ most valuable player in April was David Ortiz or Travis Shaw (whom Baseball-Reference.com pegs as the Sox’ leader in WAR) or Dustin Pedroia. Red Sox are showing resilience early on Yet there’s still something fascinating about how easy it’s been to overlook a star-caliber opening to the season for a shortstop who is batting third on a first-place team. Even in the absence of power numbers, a case can be made that Bogaerts is making a larger comprehensive impact on the Sox than any other player. He has made noteworthy progress, even from a year ago. His baserunning has been a difference-maker. He has taken an extra base (first-to-third or second-to-home on singles, first-to-home on doubles) on 86 percent of his opportunities, the highest rate of any big league regular. At the game’s most demanding position, he is typically a rock of consistency, having yet to commit an error and grading as 1.3 runs better than average, according to Fangraphs. While his batting average is down slightly from last year (.320 to .306), his on-base percentage has gone up from .355 to .376, while his slugging percentage is up from .421 to .439. Also, his walk rate has nearly doubled (from 4.9 to 9.2 percent) and his strikeout rate has declined slightly (from 15.4 to 14.7 percent). Even though he occupies the spot in front of Ortiz in the batting order — and in theory would get attacked aggressively by opponents who do not want to issue a free pass in front of the slugger — Bogaerts is getting on base more than ever. That development — and the increased frequency with which Bogaerts is barreling the ball for extra-base hits — reflects an intriguing improvement. For much of last year, Bogaerts was something of a free swinger. He hacked at 33.6 percent of pitches outside the strike zone, above the league average of 30.6 percent. This year, that number has plummeted to 25.4 percent, meaning that his plate discipline has gone from below average to above — a development that, if sustainable, could lay the groundwork for improvements in OBP and perhaps more power down the road. Of course, the Sox aren’t in a rush to see more power. Bogaerts’s value is considerable regardless of whether he’s clearing fences, even as he hits a ton of ground balls. “Everyone talks about his power, his power, his power,” noted hitting coach Chili Davis this spring. “The kid does have power. “[but in 2015] he realized, ‘I have the ability to shoot the ball to the other side, hit the ball up the middle, stay on pitches, hit line drives, and you know what? The power is going to show up when it’s going to show up.’ “[Derek] Jeter didn’t hit a lot of home runs, but he hit .300 every year. He ended up with over 3,000 hits. If that happens to Bogey, I’ll take it. “They’re both very good players, very good shortstops. Jeter knew his swing. As a young player, he knew his swing and worked his swing every day. That’s what Bogey is doing right now.” Davis, who played with Jeter in 1998-99, noted that there are differences in the swings of the two players. Jeter understood his swing completely even before his arrival in the big leagues, holding his hands close to his body to keep them inside the ball at all times. Bogaerts has had quite a bit more development to do at the big league level, but has arrived now at a place where his confidence and self-understanding permit him to focus on what pitchers are trying to do to him rather than on his own mechanics. “When you know your swing, it’s all about, ‘What am I going to swing at?’ ” said Davis. “As he’s getting older, he’s learning the cat-and-mouse game.” To this point in 2016, Bogaerts has taken a considerable step forward in that game from the leap he made a year ago, whether or not it’s being noticed. Alex Speier can be reached at alex.speier@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexspeier. I agree! YOU?

Actually, his absolute lack of pride, shame, awareness, dignity, work ethic, self-discipline, loyalty, self-respect, self-control, or the realization that he owed it to HIS TEAMMATES, the team paying him an outrageous long term conract, the owners, one of the most storied franchises in mlb history, or the RS Nation fans a decent effort, is both bad and now good. Sure, he's a pathetic excuse for a bad team member, who gave us less than nothing as thanks for this mega-contract, but if he had any shred of decency or self-control, we would never have seen a full time Shaw at 3rd, and we would be having to deal with a slow rolling train wreck all season long. His contract is a bona fide disaster, but at least he did us the favor of pulling a complete collapse, instead of a partial. Thanks for making the decision an easy clear cut one Pablo!

Even if I'm wrong, I would never let that stand in the way of a good old fashioned rant!

They don't routinely test for marijuana as far as I know. I looked it up a while back. I could be wrong, but I don't think so.

It's quite clear that many island boys, PR, the DR, etc have some African ancestry. Check. Got it. Who gives a rip! What the hell is the point? African-Americans can't handle Boston? Please! Most white guys can't handle Boston or NY. The glare of the big lights can get to anyone. We could spend ALL YEAR discussing big WHITE flops in Boston or NY. Yes. There was a history of some racism here in Boston, but that died a LONG TIME AGO! Anyway... JBJ, Mookie, yes Papi, & definitely Price will all do just fine here! Price, Mookie, & JBJ ARE ALL rising stars, & will continue to be loved & adored by RS Nation. It's completely a non-factor in 2016 Boston Mass! I really hate when we try to make Boston out to be 1970. Time to move on. No offense, but this really is a stupid point! Blacks & Hispanics are over 50% of this rising team , & it's quite obvious Boston is loving it! Papi, XB, HanRam, Mookie, Vaz, Price, ERod, Pretty damned good core, with a sh!toad of African heritage. All breakout stars!

If a guy's out fishing, knock yourself out. Spark that bad boy up. If you're playing 3rd for my RS, BEING PAID 19M/ yr., sucking mlb dique, & the only way you find your arss at the plate is by busting belts & seams???? No! His coming back fatter after last year's epic disaster was a major D MOVE, as my son would say. I'd say he flipped his team, management, the ownership, new GM, his buddy manager, & ALL OF RS NATION the bird, but i'm not sure he's bright enough to think that through, or straight enough to have it even cross his radar. Then again.... we now know he has a long history of playing hide the salami with SF. HE's a worthless POS, WHO HAS ZERO RESPECT for anybody or anything. Good on ya Pablo. Stay high & gone!