S5Dewey

I don't deny any of this, but at the same time don't underestimate what the Sox did just yesterday when they positioned themselves much better to obtain International signings. That move went somewhat under the radar but it could be a HUGE move in avoiding the dreaded "cliff".

Who, whoa... let's pump the brakes a little here. As someone said some time ago, "Let's not start sucking each other's dicks yet. We've still got work to do". (one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite movies, btw.) We're in first place by 3 games not only because the Sox are playing better but also because both the Yankees and the O's - both of whom looked unbeatable when playing the Sox - have hit the skids. We're only a 4 game losing streak from being #2 again. Don't get me wrong.. I like this team but baseball has its ups and downs. Right now we're riding the crest of the wave. Let's hope we ride it long enough to build a commanding lead in the division, but at the same time remember that sooner or later this wave will crash down.

I'm torn on this issue. Every time I start thinking they should keep Devers in the minors until he's "ready" I ask myself if the Nats f***ed up big time when the put Stephen Strassburg on the shelf right before the playoffs to save his arm.

Remarkably good post - from a Yankees fan! There are a couple of issues I disagree with, however. I believe our BP is good enough with Kimbrel, Kelly, and whomever as long as our starters can go 6 innings, and that's not an unreasonable expectation. Even "whomever" is pitching reasonably well in the 6th and Hembree et. al. are filling the bill in the earlier innings when necessary. We have to remember that we're not going to win every game but our middle relief and long relief look solid enough to get it done most of the time. I certainly could support Donaldson if JH can, but since he's the guy with the purse strings I don't see it happening. I could even stomach a Devers for Donaldson trade since with Donaldson, Devers may be redundant. Donaldson would put us over the LT limit and while maybe it's a coincidence, the new LT rule regarding forfeiting of draft picks seems to have gotten the FO's attention BIG TIME. So I don't see Donaldson in a Sox uni.

I wondered how long it would be before a comment like this surfaced as I was watching Pom leave the game yesterday. They guy went 6 innings and gave up one ER. That's an ERA of .333 in a quality start. Ya. It would be nice if he could go 7 or even 8 innings but it may not be who he is. I'll take yesterday's 1 run in 6 innings every day without finding anything to gripe about.

All of those big contracts have something in common. The team is hoping the player will continue to perform at a high level at the front end of the contract and hoping that the player will only be overpaid (as compared to being grossly overpaid) at the back end. In fairness to Price, 230 IP & 17-9 in 2016 helped get the team to the playoffs. On the flip side of the coin, that ERA of 4.00 and WHIP of 1.2xx isn't impressive but it is what it is and without him (IMO) we wouldn't have made the playoffs. That may not be worth $31M to us but it allowed the Sox to boost ticket prices so it's worth something to them. He's currently 3-2 and his WHIP is higher than last year but I still don't think 14-15 wins is out of the question for him. But to me that's not worth $31M UNLESS we make the playoffs and he becomes Curt Schilling for a couple of weeks. 4-5 playoff wins can make up for a lot of frustration during the regular season. In short, he's not worth $31M in either of his two years here and those were supposed to be his BEST years. It's safe to assume that he's only going downhill from here. Sometimes those assumptions are wrong and a pitcher 'learns to pitch' and becomes valuable in his later years but that's not the way to bet. IMO the best realistic hope for us is that he becomes a guy who wins 15-16 games a year and becomes only overpaid instead of grossly overpaid for the remainder of his contract.

HOW CANADA GOT ITS NAME The original name for Canada, dreamed up by a parliamentary committee in London was "Cold North Domination, but that was too long so they shortened to C.M.D. The King's Royal Governor presented the name to the new inhabitants and they didn't say a word. They just looked at him. "Well, what do you think?" asked the Royal Governor. "C...eh?" said the first fellow, and looked at the Governor. "N...eh?" says the second guy. "D...eh?" says the third one. Then silence "Hey", says the Governor, "I like that! It's a hellofa lot easier to pronounce when you spell it that way!" So that's how Canada got it's name!! --with all due credit and respect to a gentleman in Oregon who sends me jokes on a regular basis. :-))

Then why does everyone.. .including Kimmie... keep wanting to tinker with the lineup in spite of the fact that the Sox are currently on an offensive tear?? !! I have a phrase for it.. .some people can't stand prosperity!

JBJ makes that play in CF

Does anyone here know what a "knuckle curve" is and how to throw it? As I understand it, the thing that makes a curve ball 'curve' is that the spin on the ball creates a low pressure zone in front and at the side of a ball that the ball "falls into", hence making it curve. But the thing that makes a knuckle ball effective is that the lack of spin on the ball allows it to be succeptable to the slight variations in air currents. So since spin makes a curve ball 'curve' but lack of spin is what makes a knuckle ball work, what does a knuckle curve look like?

Agreed. And this opens up a new avenue of getting to them that apparently not many of us knew existed. But the FO did!

Did Eck just steal my post??? LOL

What Marrero is doing is either very good for the Sox or very bad. It's great while he does it but IF it doesn't continue this streak may make Farrell keep him there longer than he should.

OOps; Sorry 13. You were posting while I was typing.

Mookie's HR is a single at Fenway. That raises the question with me of how many HR's does Fenway take away from him??

I wasn't here at the start of the game and I keep getting confused. Shouldn't the RED SOX be the ones in the RED uniforms? ....and maybe the BLUE JAYS in blue? Jus' wondering.

Could the cliff be not as precipitous as we once feared? Is it possible the FO knows what they're doing..... and we don't?

Have all of you forgotten that the batting order isn't as important as most people think it is? Or are we not "most people"?

I agree completely and that's exactly the point. Whether it's the Sox, the Yankees, or any other team, giving the player the control in the situation almost guarantees that the player will get the best end of the deal.

I hated Price's contract from Day 1. Not getting him or even paying him, but the opt-out clause. I saw (essentially) no way this could work out in the favor of the Sox. The only way it could is if he pitches like a stud for every year of his contract AND the SP market escalates. What are the chances? Now he hasn't pitched like a stud every year and the SP market has yet to emerge. I hope he opts out, but I'm not optimistic.

Did anyone see that??? Pedey swung at the first pitch!!

Where is Jerry Remy to talk about bunting when you need him? LOL

And there, Ladies and Gentlemen, is why we tell kids to USE BOTH HANDS WHEN MAKING A CATCH! Grrrr. Where have the fundamentals gone?

..and in something not related to this thread.... It's 3 hours 'til game time and there's no Game Thread yet! Is Sox Hope shirking his duty of keeping his mojo going? :-) For you non-fans of John Farrell, he's not going to be at the game today. He's in KC watching his son pitch his first ML game. Whether we like Farrell as a manager or not, we can still hope for the best for his son today. Some things transcend his ability to manage.

I hear you, but Mookie helps everyone below him in the order. If he is batting 3rd he's not batting first and not being on base for that #3 hitter. Is it better for him to be getting on base as the #1 guy and having the #3 come up with someone on base, or having him hit in the 3-hole and come up with nobody on base?