S5Dewey

The problem with this of course is that if he doesn't pick it up soon he's not going to be around during the second half of the season. I'm predicting The Dreaded Fenway Flu if he's not pitching better after his next couple of starts to help him get his head together and then see if he can help the team in July and going forward.

Then what's your point? Is your standard that they never make a mistake? Because the only person who never makes a mistake is someone who's not doing anything.

Again I like the new av. Very appropriate for today.

A fastball, huh? It seems like Papi may have gotten into Betances' head a bit with the observation that he always throws a curve on the first pitch.

I'm new here, a transplant from the BDC board. Is there a list of topics that I'm not allowed to discuss? Ok, snarkiness aside, I AM new here and when saw Cherrinton's name come up I put in my $.02. Sorry if I offended.

Or maybe Chiccini. Or maybe the guys we traded to get Kimbrle. There are any number of players who could have been traded in an effort to make the team better but he didn't. Instead he stockpiled them in AAA while the team spiraled to the cellar. And that's why I'm critical of him.

You apparently don't like my use of the word "wallowing". That's ok. Would you have preferred that I use the word "allowed"? I certainly wasn't accusing any player on the 2014 or 2015 teams of "tanking". The players did what they could do and it wasn't enough. My criticism is of Ben for "allowing" the team to finish last in two consecutive years while stockpiling prospects in AAA. I agree with you that the FO tried some things to make the team better. However, when something doesn't work the smart thing to do isn't to retreat into your foxhole and lick your wounds, it's to try something different. We have watched players like Garin Chiccini go from "almost untouchable" to "bust" while in AAA. ] One never knows how a prospect is going to work out. Travis Shaw is a good example of that. Were it not for Panda, Shaw would be stockpiled in AAA awaiting....what? Being traded? Waiting for him to "age out"? Instead the FO gave him a chance to play rather than making a trade for another third baseman. Thanks, JF & DD! When a team is faltering the GM shouldn't say, "Well, we tried something and it didn't work so let's see how it plays out". What he should be doing is something else. One of the greatest observations I've ever heard is that "It's a funny thing about people. When they find something that doesn't work they do the same thing only HARDER!" That's what Ben did and I'm critical of him for it.

I've often thought and said that great big b(.)(.)bs are overrated. They're nice to look at as a novelty, but on the whole, yep. Overrated. JMO though!

Good Lord. I had teenagers of my own in the 80's! Now you're making me feel OLD.

Wow. Your family's a fertile bunch!

Or Benintendi-Bradley-Betts with Moncada @ 3B. This team has some difficult decisions to make in the next few years with too many (?) young players beating down the door. We currently have five of our eight position players (P & DH excepted) as young, cost controlled and pretty darn good. In addition we've got Benintendi, Devers, Moncada, Travis, and let's not forget Swihart in our minor league system. Something's gotta give there someplace or we're going to eventually be losing them in the Rule 5 draft. And no, I don't see that happening but it IS the option to not doing something with them. I know that DD has been criticized for his raiding the minors in Detroit, but my criticism of Ben was that he let the team wallow in last place for two consecutive years while hoarding draft picks. I won't criticize DD for making a trade or two for pitching. The question is which young players to trade and if I knew who those are I'd be sitting at DD's right hand rather than sitting here typing on a computer.

There's a lot to be said for retiring a year too early rather than a year too late.

Yaz is also a Minister, for Pete's sake!! And very possibly the only minister who'll even speak to me. Doesn't that get him a little slack??

No Kidding! We now have TWO outfielders who are outperforming Ellsbury, at a fraction of the cost.

Even if I agreed with you (which I don't necessarily), where's he going to play if he stays with the Sox? He's not going to displace Shaw (assuming Shaw continues to play like he is), nor is he going to replace Hanley or Vazquez. I like his bat - for a middle of the IF bat. I see him hitting between .280-.320 with 15 HR power and an OPS of ~.700, which is good for a middle of the defense bat but it doesn't get it done at the corner positions. IMHO he has more value to the Red Sox as trade bait as the centerpiece of a trade with a team needing a catcher and being willing to trade a #2 or #3 pitcher to get that catcher. I could even be persuaded to trade him for a high level pitching prospect (think our EdRod) with a big upside but who's still unproven. What I wouldn't do is give him away for less than he's worth. We're dealing from a position of strength with our younger players now. We've got five - six if you count Brock Holt - of our starting eight being young cost-controlled players at the moment with more in the pipeline. DD is going to be getting the calls and he can show up to meetings with a mask and a gun and get just about what we need for them.

I've always been a fan of Clay's, mostly because when he's on he's almost unhittable. (literally unhittable on one day!) However, it's getting harder and harder to champion the cause of his being here. I have no objection to paying him what he's getting for half a year's production but he's got to produce for that half year and if he doesn't produce during the first half of the year he's not going to get the chance to produce for the second half. Re: Swihart - We have a very nice problem with Vazquez and Swihart. Both of them are good enough to be starting catchers someplace and both of them are too good to be backup catchers. That means one of them will go in a trade. I don't understand Swihart's getting time in the OF though. His primary value is as a catcher and he hits well enough to be a good hitting catcher - but not well enough to be a good hitting OF'er. In addition, our OF could be locked up with cost controlled good OF's in Bradley and Betts with Benni (never mind. I never can spell his name!) allegedly knocking at the door and guys like Young and/or Holt in reserve. So where's the value in playing Swihart in the OF?

Vaz gets yet another one. When will they learn??

Ok, but do I still get to refer to Sandoval as "The Fat Man"?

Thanks. This the way I remembered him but I had no idea where to find those stats! BTW, love the new av!

Great. Thanks for the help!

. It's difficult for me to express how much I like these guys going to the opposite field, almost at will. I've very old school in some aspects of the game and I've always felt that the shifts were somehow "cheating". (That's probably one of the reasons I have such a Yuge dislike for Joe Maddon). Being able to 'go the other way' beats those defenses at their own game, and I LIKE IT!

Howdy King! As you noticed, I kept part of my old BDC name when I came over here so my old friends would recognize me. Glad to see that it's working! I'm liking this format, in fact I haven't found anything about the format here that I like less than the old BDC one. I still have a lot to learn here -like is there a more appropriate place to post a personal message?! - but I'm working on it. The regulars here seem to be ready to accept the new blood as well as being patient while we learn our way around, and it's much appreciated. BTW, you're moving up quickly in this world. You've only been here a week or so and you're in AA already! :-)

Has anyone else noticed that more and more Red Sox players are hitting to the opposite field now? First it was Pedey (a couple of years ago) who was serving an outside pitch to right field, then it was Xander and Mookie, now Papi is doing it more and more, and even Shaw is occasionally getting into the act. Is it possible this is Chili Davis' doing?

I'm a transplant from BDC and this is my first post here. Please bear with me while I figure out all the nuances of this platform. Old dog That's a 4.5 ERA but it's still only three runs, and the way our bullpen and offense are looking that's going to win us a lot of games.