S5Dewey

Having JDM being able to play 1B seems like such a natural move that I've been amazed that it hasn't happened before. I don't see any downside to it for anyone. He's a relatively big guy @ 6'3" & 220 lbs so he has the natural size for it and he's a good athlete. Moving him to 1B could make JDM into a full-time player on the Sox without weakening our OF on "rest days" for the B's, it would make everyone available on interleague days, and it would build JDM's value on the market if/when he opts out by making him more versatile. In addition, he wants to p/ay defense and if he's not going to do that on the Sox as long as the B's are roaming the OF. Win/Win/Win.

I would hope that he knew more about baseball than any of us just from hanging around baseball people, but in all actuality that sets the bar pretty low. Most of us are long on opinions but short on real baseball knowledge. If you doubt that try talking to someone who's played at a high level for a while. Everyone within a successful business brings different things to the table. IMO Lucchini's strength was in marketing - creating revenue. Now he's going to use that strength by moving the PawSox to Worcester. I predict the team will be financially successful there under Larry's direction. Or it could just be that he naturally appears to have an abrasive personality.

Get well and get back to us as a more healthy Moon. We'll be thinking of you.

Kelly has the stuff to be a closer but can't seem to be able to control it reliably. If he can get his head and his stuff on the same page at the same time he could be formidable. If we're going to go into December without a closer (and it looks like we're going to) I'd like to see Kelley's name on the 25 with a solid chance to be finishing games in 2019.

Here's an easy question for everyone: Q. What do Buckner, Gedman, Pesky, and Willams have in common that Kinsler doesn't? A. The first four all played on teams that lost. Kinsler's team won. Time heals all wounds when you win. It also keeps wounds open when you lose. This whole thread is much ado about nothing. In five years Kinsler's error will be nothing but a footnote, an E in the box score.

I know there's a lot of optimism regarding ERod, but has it occurred to anyone other than me that he might be a bit of a head case? Without even blaming him for his ankle sprain, he once failed to cover first, then when called on it he said he slipped on the mound, which was belied by the films. Then in the playoffs he was absolutely dogging it between 1st and 2nd when a double play was in order. I know the case can be made for his not wanting to hurt himself, but still... the playoffs?... and running from 1st to 2nd ?? IMO any runner should be at least pretending to show some effort!

I like hockey when I see it live. Living where I do the local college has a storied history of NCAA hockey and although they've struggled some in recent years I still try to get to a few games each winter. However, I can't get into hockey on tv. For me it's as someone once said, watching hockey on tv is a lot like watching ping-pong when you can't see the ball.

I have only two pieces of true Red Sox memorabilia. I've got a Jim Rice autographed baseball that was given to me by a friend, but my favorite one is a signed print of a picture of Gomes hanging the 617 shirt on the World Series trophy at the finish line of the Boston Marathon during the parade in 2013. I don't think it counts as memorabilia now but I also have some framed and signed pictures of a few current Sox players - Workman, JBJ, etc. that were given out to all attendees at the Sea Dogs Hot Stove Dinners.

I agree. It seems like if Patriot's Day is a State Holiday then Yankee Elimination Day should be too. Everyone should get the day of, with pay. Just because.

:-))

Yes. We have the same concerns here. To paraphrase an old nursery rhyme, when Kimbrel is good he's very good and when he's bad he's horrid. Obviously I haven't stood up there with a bat in my hand trying to hit his pitches but watching the K-Zone it's apparent that he gets a lot of swings and misses on pitches outside of the strike zone. What I don't know is whether those pitches go where Kimbrel wants them to go, or if he just throws pitches in the vicinity of the plate and the break on them is so hard to recognize that they all appear to be strikes as they come in. Were I an opposing hitter I'd at least be making him throw more strikes. I'd be taking more pitches once I get to a two-strike count. I'd pick up more K's but I'd also pick up more BB's. I still keep asking myself if we got so spoiled by Koji that we expect our closer to be Koji #2. IMO there is no clear-cut answer to the issue of signing Kimbrel. I agree that he *might* be on the downside but again, 52 wins is still 52 wins. Regardless of what their name is, if our closer had 10 fewer saves/wins we wouldn't have won the AL East.

I'll confess that I looked at the total saves and didn't consider the total chances. My point remains though that 'Not having a lights-out closer isn't a big deal... until you don't have one." I don't doubt that there are numerous closers out there who would pitch for less money and save fewer games. If saving money has a higher priority than winning the WS then by all means the Sox should sign anyone to do the job or fill it internally 'on the cheap'. I know there is debate as to whether it's worthwhile to pay the money for a known successful closer but it seems foolhardy to me for the World Series Champions to experiment with an unknown quantity as a closer. Craig Kimbrel may not be the answer because of the salary limitations but I wouldn't dismiss the possibility of signing him without giving it a good try. 52 wins with Kimbrel's name on this is still 52 wins.

One problem with online posting is that sometimes it's difficult to distinguish the sarcasm from the real opinions.

I hate to come to Kimbrel's defense because I was as frustrated as anyone with his performance this year, especially toward the end of the season. However, 42 saves and 5 wins isn't to be sneezed at. We have no way of knowing how many of those 47 wins Kimbrel was responsible for. Would the results have been different if we'd had, say, Joe Kelley or Barnes or Brasier as our closer? As someone - I think it may have been Doji - said a while back, 'Not having a lights-out closer isn't a big deal... until you don't have one." To put it in perspective, Kelly Jansen had 38 saves and Aroldis Chapman had 32 and had either of them been our closer we wouldn't have won the AL East. I'm not advocating signing Kimbrel at any cost but 47 wins is a lot to dismiss out of hand when we're talking about making a run again next year. Jus' sayin'.

That's what I was telling my s/o recently, only as it pertains to the players. They've spent nine months together as friends and teammates, attempting to reach a goal. Now they've reached that goal and suddenly they've parted. That's got to leave a void in their lives, doesn't it?

Yep. That (and $2.39) will get you a small cup of coffee at my local Dunkin Donuts. When they start having parades for attendance be sure to let me know.

There's a lot to like here from everybody. Everyone seems to get along and IMO most of the credit for that goes to Alex Cora. Cora was able to convey to the players that he'd cover their asses no matter what they did and he conveyed to JH that while he (Cora) had his own opinions he also recognized that JH was the guy with the money and therefore the one who could make the hard decisions if push came to shove. It looked to me like everyone in the FO did exactly what a successful manager should do. They gave Cora all the tools to do a good job and then got out of his way and let him do it.

Mostly because Swi isn't as good as the guys he'd be replacing. Swi is stuck in no-man's land. He's probably good enough to be a backup catcher but we've got one of those. He's also good enough to be a back-up position player, but not on the Sox with Nunez and Holt already there. I like Swihart and I think he has a future in MLB if he'd get the playing time but there's no spot for him on the Sox. Do the kid a favor and trade him.

Fanatics.com or any place that sells World Series gear. https://www.fanatics.com/mlb/boston-red-sox/boston-red-sox-majestic-2018-world-series-champions-locker-room-pullover-hoodie-charcoal/o-1298+t-81888519+p-47258091104+z-9-474745420?_ref=p-TLP:m-HNAFM:i-r0c1

Wait a minute... speaking as someone who was AT the parade, can I chip on on this (knowing that the last time I did this my opinion was dismissed)? I was in the area of Boston Common along with thousands of other fans lined up four to six deep along the route. I saw several beer cans thrown TO the people on the duck boats but NONE that I would say was thrown AT them. (A infielder throws the ball TO the first baseman; a pitcher who's trying to hit a batter throws the ball AT him). In fact, I saw one rider on a duckboat catch a beer in midair, pop the top on it, and pour it into his mouth until the beer ran down over his tongue and into the street. To say fans were throwing beers AT the players mischaracterizes what was happening - unless of course it was a misguided Yankees fan - which is possible - but if that's what was happening there was more than one Yankees fan doing it. Of course, the whole thing came from the NY Post - 'nuf said about that.

You never cease to impress me with the stuff you can pull up. Do you remember all this, or do you have it stored in files somewhere?

Yeah, but how would they cut up that truck?

Yes. and I expect to see you too, Thunder. And anyone else who's in Ft. for ST. I'm always up for putting a face with a name.

and wrapped in bacon.

Some people are very good at doing that. The last few years before I retired we had a new department head come in and Cora reminds me very much of him. He was honest, fair, and a good communicator. He managed to take all of our personal strengths and mold them into one cohesive unit. We didn't always like what he had to say but we'd run through a wall for him. I got the feeling the Red Sox players would do the same for Cora.