oldtimer

Leon is heavy for his height, not unlike some other catchers. Catching can be an especially grueling position so perhaps what we have witnessed with Leon is that he wears down as the season progresses. If that was the case, the solution might be to get him additional rest throughout the season. With Vaz and Swihart as viable replacements, it would be easy to rest Leon several games per week.

A wag might observe he is on pace for 162 error season. Give him a break, he may go 20 games without another error, I hope.

With bereavement issues and flu going around they called up Hernandez and I believe Pomeranz. Bogaerts will be out for three days and so will Barnes. Holt was sick but is now playable. It will be interesting to see who starts at short.

Last night's performance was of course too soon to draw conclusions about the lineup, team hitting and pitching but two wins against a good team is a start we would have hoped for. The temperature was cold last night and we faced one of the better pitchers from a good team, while we put up one of our aces (nice to say). Our hitting wasn't good but it was encouraging to see Leon hit. Beni made some excellent plays in left and Sale in particular and the pitching in general more than held up. Onward from here. The hitting will heat up with the weather.

Talk about tongue in cheek. If he hits 280, gets 20 HRs and drives in 80 I will think he has had a stellar rookie season. Oh, and his defense will also be a plus.

Trading Marco would be a mistake. Holt is also a very good utility player but probably fits better elsewhere than with us. Marco is young and his abilities are still on the rise. He can fill the utility role in the infield and can play every day should someone get injured. I don't see Rutledge as significant trade bait.

Since Moreland was not sick on opening day, we could have had Marco up instead of Selsky. I agree with you that Holt may now be more valuable to another team than to our team and perhaps we could get something of value if he is traded.

With Sandoval's salary, he is going to get PT unless he totally fizzles. That is unlikely however Sandoval is not a great fielder at 3rd and Marco may be his equal in that regard. Will Pedroia make it through the season healthy? Keeping Marco is essential to me.

When Leon hits, this club is much more formidable. Lets hope he can be anything close to his good stretch last season. Kimbrel is the same guy. Great velocity but somewhat wild. He got the job done today and this is a good start. Homer for Beni on opening day, you have to like that.

I don't think it will be long before Marco is brought up. As far as playing, Pedroia should get a rest from time to time and so should Pablo. Marco can do that and pinch hit for now. I'd rather have him on the 25 man roster and consider what we can do with extra players in the trade market.

Xander was in a slump last year. Put Beni up second.

Strange on opening day to have 5 pitchers on the disabled list. Four of those are meaningful to the team and only Smith was expected to be. Hope the Sox can find a way to keep their staff off the disabled list going forward.

I understand the choice but look forward to Hernandez being brought up soon.

You might get some value in a trade that would further the argument of making it sooner than later if that becomes the long term plan.

Its a strained hamstring on Rutledge. Depending on how serious it is, it is up to a 6 week injury. Someone will need to be in that spot, whether it is Selsky or Hernandez. The complications include Moreland being sick with the flu and Rameriz still dealing with his strain. Love to see Hernandez, but he doesn't play 1st.

Based on their ST performances, is it possible someone would propose a trade for either if we ate part of their contracts?

He is answering the doubters and I am one of those. If he shores up 3rd base with a better than expected season, we are solid at every infield position and the outfield looks outstanding with the one question being JBJ's hitting consistency. Great news on Panda so far.

Looking at the official Red Sox Web site for Depth Chart, not including pitching, it comes out as the following: LF Beni/Young/Brentz CF JBJ/Young/Beni/Holt RF Betts/Young/Holt/Brentz 3rd Panda/Holt/Rutledge/Hernandez SS Bogie/Holt/Rutledge 2nd Pedroia/Holt/Hernandez 1st Moreland/Rameriz DH Rameriz/Young/Sandoval C Leon/Vazquez/Swihart Of those, I expect Brentz to be replaced by Selsky sooner than later. If he is, do we remove Holt from outfield depth? I expect Travis may add to the depth at 1st base during the season. is Holt a superior option at 2nd than Hernandez? I think not. The depth at SS and 3rd include Holt and Rutledge with Hernandez also listed at 3rd. Does that make sense?As the season develops should we consider Holt as trade bait? At catcher, where we start the year is unlikely where we finish. All depends on the hitting of Leon and Varquez and the defensive development of Swihart. We know our 9 starters, the question remains as to who the 4 reserve players will be as the season develops. Clearly Young and Vazquez are likely to remain so we have two slots or 3 depending on the catching situation. Holt/Rutledge? Hernandez/Rutledge? Hernandez/Selsky? Don't expect Travis unless of injury at 1st and Swihart will depend on how Leon and Vazquez perform or if they get injured.

I would like the 25 man roster to reflect the best available depth and hope that as the season progresses, trades and moves will be made to allow Hernandez, Swihart and Selsky to be on that roster. Having those three plus Young as potential pinch hitters would make the team more dangerous and we could rest any player immersed in a slump. Of course that means moving some of last years stalwarts, but we should be thinking about putting the best guys forward. Don't see Travis getting the nod unless we have injury issues.

and parcel analysis for the beginning of the season. Offense: We shall see with JBJ and Leon being the most suspect Rotation: Very good through 3, still questionable until injuries play out Defense: Should be improved in the outfield, Sandoval and Mooreland should hold their own or better. Decent Speed: Yes in the outfield, average or slightly below in the infield and very slow at catcher. Pen: Last years returnees are average with the new guys yet to show more positive results Bench: Do we keep Marco up? do we keep Holt and Rutledge? Vasquez at catcher for now? State tuned!

Lots of righty lefty thinking in this lineup. Swihart won't be there at least to start so the hope is Leon can hit.

I'll bet you could get a good defender to replace him with a much better BA if that was the case. Let us hope he has a decent showing so we don't even have to consider dropping him from the line up.

I'd keep Bogey at SS also. But the idea of having a very weak hitting right handed third base backup last year didn't go well and perhaps Rutledge would do better, but you have a terrific left hand hitter in Marco and he could fill in as utility for Short, second and third. Keep this kid and trade the players that have more value to others than to us.

Thick Ricky Henderson

I hope your right, but I saw the same long looping swing in sept and the playoffs, so I never saw the adjustments you spoke of. That's why when he said he was going to try harder to be consistent this year I wondered what additional improvement he was working on. So far it is hard to see any.