S5Dewey

That post would have been a lot less offensive without the last sentence. Jus' sayin'.

Those are pretty good numbers for a player who less than a year ago was considered to be "no more than a .200 hitter", "self-centered", "egotistical", "uncoachable", and "will never be more than a late-inning defensive replacement". It amazes me that some are still talking about him as "trade bait".

This discussion reminds me of another player who was at the very top of the "EXPENDABLE" list last season because he allegedly 'couldn't hit'. What is it...24 in a row now? (and dear Lord, please don't let this post jinx him!) I'm not saying Vaz is going to turn into JBJ at the plate now. What I'm saying is that it's often worthwhile to cut a player with outstanding defensive skills some slack offensively. He may be turn out to be better with the bat than is believed and if he doesn't anything you get from him beyond 'below average' offensively is made up for by his defense.

I was wondering when you'd chime in with this! I remember you as being the guy who wanted to sign him at the end of last season. Now it's looking like you may have been right!

Is concussion now the new "Fenway Flu"?

I don't know where you get the idea that soft stuff away is a problem. Just stick the bat out and there it is! Pedey is an expert at it. As for hard stuff inside, bsolutely true, but if you watch the games you'll see that often times the pitcher will pitch the ball to the outside of the plate in an effort to get the hitter to try to pull the ball, thereby resulting in a weak ground ball to the infield. Who was it who said, "Hit it where they ain't"?

I wouldn't put what the RH Sox hitters are doing now in the same category as a bunt. A bunt is intended to be an out, an expense to be incurred to move a runner along. OTOH, I've seen Pedey, Mookie, and Xander intentionally reach out and "serve" the ball to RF. In the worst case scenario it's as effective as a (successful) bunt but in the best case scenario it's a base hit, which doesn't cost the offense 1/3 of an inning. The strategy is much preferable to a bunt, which too many ML players can't do successfully anyway! My personal favorite, of course, is when an LH hitter serves the ball to an almost vacant left side of the IF. This has to improve the chances of the batter getting a hit.... doesn't it? Shouldn't every LH hitter be able to successfully serve the ball to an semi-vacant left side of the IF more often than one time out of three? Getting back to my OP three pages ago, if more players would go to the opposite field it would discourage these shifts.

\ To let him go for anything less would be a TRAVISty. (Sorry, couldn't resist. )

"The bitterness of poor quality lives on long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten".

Wow. A lot can happen between now and then. I think he's gone. He's a very proud Papi and I believe he wants to go out on top, maybe a year too early rather than a year too late. I also think he's very aware of his legacy and the damage he could do to it by sticking around too long. In the best case scenario I see Hanley moving to DH and one of "The Travis Twins" at each corner IF position. In a slightly less favorable scenario I see the Sox signing one of the guys from Toronto to be the DH. Bautista is my personal favorite. (and how in God's name did Teix get into the mix? Ugh) Since we will still need pitching and money is going to be an issue I'm going with Shaw and Sam at the corners and Hanley as the DH. So much for voting anonymously, huh?

No kidding!! He got all three batters he faced in the 9th but he went 3-2 on two of them. I mean, I like the outcome but it raises a couple of questions with me: Does he get paid by the pitch?? Did we get spoiled by watching Koji throw a maximum of 5 pitches to each batter with at least one of them being a foul ball? I like(d) watching Koji pitch but I'm old and I don't know how long my heart will take watching Kimbrel.

I don't see how DD can be blamed for the lack of Tiger's WS Championships. In 2013t he had the three most recent CY award winners on the team and the Tigers were in a position to win the ALCS. Had it not been for Iggy's 2 0ut error in the 7th innng of game 6 prolonging the inning the Tiger's possibly/probably would have been in a 3rd WS. DD did all he could do. He got the players to the field. They (or rather Iggy) just didn't perform. However, I'm not giving DD a complete pass on how he handled the 2013 roster. IMHO he should not have allowed Peralta to come back and play in the playoffs immediately after a PED suspension. I would hope that if that situation should arise in Boston (Ugh!) that he'd have enough consideration for the integrity of the game to not let that happen again. Maybe that loss was the Baseball God's way of telling DD that he'd made a grevious mistake by letting Peralta play.

A solid argument can be made for either Edgar Martinez or Papi. If the voters are going to let a DH into the hall someone has to be the first one in and since Martinez isn't in yet it looks like he's not going to be - unless someone else with somewhat equal numbers gets in first. Papi's performance in the post-season should give him the edge he needs to get in the door. Once that door gets opened - and it certainly should get opened - both of them should be in. Matrtinez should be Papi's biggest fan right now because if Papi gets in Martinez will get in on Papi's coattails.

You bring up yet another good point. For example, the only debate about Mo is whether he'll be 1st ballot (he obviously should be) HOF'er and yet he's a man without a MLB sanctioned position who only pitches in certain situations and never grabs a bat. Papi OTOH, is a regular player with a sanctioned position and his biggest "fault is that he doesn't play defense. Mo is "in" and Papi is debatable. The more I think about this debate the less sense it makes.

This^^. MLB has declared the DH to be a legitimate position in the American League. There's a DH in everyone's lineup every day, hitting for the pitcher, and it's sanctioned by Major Leage Baseball. Not allowing a DH into the HOF because "he's not a part of the defense" makes as much sense to me as denying an AL pitcher entry because "he's not a part of the offense".

Just a general question I've always wondered about regarding MLB players and church. I know a lot of players are quite devout, regardless of their particular religion. When the teams are on the road do the players attend church in whatever city they're in, does the Red Sox hold religious services, or do they just skip it on road Sundays? I know... I think about some weird things.

Weather.com is saying showers starting about 7:00 and showers and light rain continuing until about 11:00. Perfect timing to rain on the game!

It's possible, but IIRC the Red Sox organization as a whole has been reluctant to have 40 players in the dugout in September. It's more likely that he'll get an invitation to Spring Training next year, something not all 2nd year players get.

Sorry. Joe Castiglione.

Good point. At the end of the day perspective is everything!

yeah, you're right. There is that.

Well...yes. But let's not scoff at the value of a good first baseman. I was expecting Hanley to NOT be a good first baseman this year by NOT scooping throws in the dirt well and NOT hustling. But he's doing both and it's making a big difference. I liked the idea of moving Youk to first base - you're 90' away and the ball comes off the bat at the same angle (only the mirror image) and both positions require quickness rather than range. It always seemed logical to me that if a player could play 3B he could also play 1B, the only real difference being the footwork. I also liked the idea of Napoli moving to 1B for somewhat the same reasons. Handling balls in the dirt and quickness as opposed to range. Having a converted SS at 1B is a huge plus in that he not only has some quickness left he also has some range. On occasion he's still learning about how to handle balls weakly hit his way (for example) and how far to his right he can roam to get to a ground ball, but he's embracing being as good a first baseman as he can be. IMO he will only get better.

Houston is 27th in team BA (.229) NYY (whom Price faced in his most previous start) are 22nd (.237). A difference of .008 or Price gave up 6 runs in 4.2 innings against the Y's and 1 run in 6.2 innings against Houston last night. I'd call that a significant improvement. A "sign", if you will.

My thinking goes along that same line. The Sox have a solid core of young players signed for a relatively long time. That's why I don't do much hand-wringing when DD trades prospects. If I were the GM I'd identify one or two prospects whom I'd deem untouchable and all the rest would be available in the right trade. I'd also be trying to sign those three 'up the middle' players + Mookie to long term deals ASAP.

That's one of those situations where Yankee fans got what they deserve. Ya know, I like NYC to visit and I don't even dislike the Yankee players all that much (with certain notable exceptions), but they have to have the most obnoxious fans on this side of "the pond". Some of those British soccer fans can be pretty brutal too!