oldtimer

JF tried last night but the playerss couldn't come through. Maybe the general tenor of the team is something he can impact and also he can make the moves, but individual players have to take responsibility and deliver. They still need to win one of the next two and it is possible but the odds keep getting shorter. Hope for the best today.

The problem is many of our players are slumping and not performing as well as thier season long performances would indicate. The same can be said for our starting pitching. It is still doable to win the pennant but getting more dicey as opportunities get fewer. Hard to argue that the Guardians, Houston or even the Yankees are inferior to us. There is no immediate fix for that and many suggested long term fixes lead to derision. The closest thing anyone can agree to is that we need a power bat or two, probably through FA acquisition. Suggesting that Chili Davis has any culpability in our general decline in hitting has been labeled asinine by some. It's all on the players is the retort. Now, suggest we use some of our worst performing hitters as trade bait is a non-starter for some. If Chili isn't responsible and the players are not responsible, who is? The logic escapes me. Moving Devers to 1st base as a possibility is beyond the consideration of some, even though he has had a very poor start at fiiellding his position. Lots of other discussions on this web lead me to believe that we are better off leaving DD to sort out the situation and take steps to make this team more competitive.

We held that team to six hits and yet only got 5 ourselves. Beni is slumping, JBJ is slumping, Pedroia is not himself and Nunez is out. Someone just needs to step it up. I hope Vaz wasn't sick. He is a darn site more of a threat than Leon at the plate.

The pitching staff was very solid tonight, we just lacked that one big hit to give us a win instead of a loss. Too bad Beni is in an obvious slump right now and we aren't getting anything our of JBJ. Two games to go and we have to do it soon or lose the pennant. I do notice the similarities with last years fold down the stretch.

Too bad Nunez couldn't be in it too. He likely would give us a lift with that one more guy getting a hit. Tonight a single hit at the right point and we would be in the lead.

Another wasted opportunity. Beni takes two over the plate and swings at one above the letters. What is the thinking there. Then Holt tries to steal with Mookie at bat. Holt is no burner and Mookie just might have done something. Keep failing when opportunities arise.

Your right. He is a rally killer in the lineup. What happened to the guy who hit so well at the early stages last year?

Price is doing the job and putting the Sox in a position to come from behind. Need some bats to wake up.

Devers error puts Price in a tough position. Two others tonight a quality 3rd baseman might have gotten. Good hitter but not good fielder. Maybe Marrero or Lin at 3rd and Devers at DH.

Runners at 2nd and 3rd and no one out. Heart of the order up. Unable to score more than one and that on a ground ball to the infield. Tough way to squander a chance.

Good hitting by the kid but his glove is a liability. He still may make more sense at 1st. His bat is good enough and maybe his glove would be a better fit there.

When the majority of players are hitting below expectations then it makes sense to look for a common reason. One that is clearly common to them all is the hitting coach.

The Yankees lost, now the Sox have to win one and should, so the chance for the pennant is good. What we do after that can be anticipated by what we do against Houston in the current series. That is not off to so good a start.

Kimmi. There needs to be a balance. Cleveland has pitching and defense achieving to a greater extent than ours, if you look at errors and pitching performances. They also has run production and more reliable hitting. Same with Houston. No team is perfect but the better teams have balance. Our team doesn't hit that well and right now our pitching is not going well so it seems worse than it is. We still are a good team but not one who is competitive with the best. Many of us see the handwriting on the wall this year and look to see improvement going forward. Better hitting, better management, improvement in our weakest areas and we can be more competitive. For those who are Pollyanna's, good for them as it doesn't hurt anything to hope.

The Silver lining is the Yankees are down by 4 in the 6th. Hope TB can pitch a little.

The last 4 games, our starting pitching has looked tired and ineffective. I would have hoped at least one of the guys would come through. Putting us behind by 5 (Devers had a part in that) in two innings is a lot for our offense to overcome.

Its a shame. E-rod is not getting people out. Its as if people know what he is going to throw. The game is already getting into hopeless conditions.

Could be just pride and determination. He has looked better and better for about a week. Good time to straighten things out.

Pom had a rough outing and his velocity was down. He might have been sick or perhaps the long season is catching up with both he and Sale. JF should be in an excellent position to make the call and I'll look to his choice as the smartest one.

I couched my cosideration of trading him as only if we could get someone who would improve the team overall. I generally have this feeling about many of our players, since the team is facing an uphill battle against the best teams in the league. Clearly we need a power bat and Nunez or his equivalent and we probably need another good hitter. Af far as guys that I wouldn't trade, I would include the following Betts Beni Vaz Devers Possibly trade under the right circumstances Bogaerts (very reluctant to let him go) JBJ Leon Guys back next year that won't be traded or are not tradeable Pedroia Rameriz FA that we want to return: Nunez if possible or his equivalent Major Hole(s): 1st base power hitter Any starting player we trade 2nd base caused by expected PT limitations for Pedroia Agree with others, our utility players can come from our existing roster of possibles. Coaches and Mgr: Need to try a different path at hitting coach I'm not sold on JF but a new one could be better or worse

He is the last guy you say you would trade, meaning you would trade Betts, Beni, Bogaerts and Vaz before him? I believe you are taking a silly position for not considering it.

And how do you view ir?

We will see when they face Houston pitching starting tonight.

Now we need at least 1 against Houston and the Yankees need to lose one of their last 4. Sounds doable. If we can split with Houston, then we don't have to watch the Yankee box score. It was enouraging to see us score 10 runs without either Betts or Nunez active. Did they have a team meeting that we didn't hear about? Looked like a different team tonight. Very encouraging to see Price throwing well and with a 97 mph fastball. Also very encouraging to see Bogey playing so hard and well. Good time for him to extend what seems to have been an offensive streak for him. Both Hanley and Moreland also connected. We need rested pitching to go along with this desperate effort made tonight.

If we keep 4 starters, then we need 7 total relievers: I would go with the following: Kimbrel Reed Kelly Price (Could start?) Maddox/Barnes Smith Scott I would makle the final decision on Maddox/Barnes after the final four regular season games. Right now, Abad, Workman and Hembree would not make the roster.