5GoldGlovesOF,75

I think Beni has to hit leadoff. I know he struggled there last year (and his predecessor was MVP), but he's used to leadoff since at least college. Plus, long-haired Beni is faster on the bases! Then I'd go X, Rafie, JD and Verdugo; Alex may turn out to be a top of the order guy, but we gotta slot Bogie in there so there won't be three straight lefty sticks in order to take advantage of the new three-batter pitcher minimum. Or we could flip X and Rafie -- either way, Devers has to get up in the first... I don't think many fans realize just how destructive he was in '19, leading the MLB in extra-base hits with 90. Since the Integration Era began in 1947, only 12 others cracked more XBHs in the AL (Big Papi holds the Sox team record with 91 in '04).

While watching the 1970 World Series on MLB, I noticed the Reds put a shift on O's lefty Boog Powell (the original) -- three guys on the right side of the infield. They pitched him outside hoping he'd roll over and pull a grounder or worst-case, just take a single to the opposite field instead of crank one. Instead, Powell homered down the leftfield line. This is why we didn't see many shifts 50 years ago, because batters could bat. It seemed like Benintendi lost a hit a week last year ripping a one-hopper up the middle right at an infielder standing behind second base; there has to be a good reason defenders didn't play there for an entire century. Athletes today may be bigger/stronger/faster but in some ways they're not as good at being baseball players. What -- Beni and everyone else can't practice going oppo until it's part of their approach? Or at least push a few bunts down the line for gift doubles? When some manager finally orders his hitters to practice beating shifts, will he be called an innovator or a throwback? Edit: when we coach young players to hit, we always stress hitting the other way in practice -- mainly because it keeps their heads down (when kids try to pull, they invariably pull their heads and miss the ball... just like many modern pros).

This is a Red Sox baseball forum, but politics drove Rob Manfred, Major League Baseball and the Houston Astros to conveniently make Alex Cora the scapegoat in a massively sensationalized scandal last winter. Cora admits he was involved, but subsequent interviews and testimony with front office employees confirm that the sign-stealing system was devised by the organization before he was hired, and implemented by and through every level after. And yet, Boston and Red Sox fans were adversely affected. As one poster said, politics pervade and are unavoidable.

Isn't it obvious by now this is all just a hoax by the lefty players to hurt their conservative-walleted owners (who think they're always right)? So many local left-handed pitchers missing time with the virus: ERod, Darwinzon, Josh Taylor... and now Chapman. Watch, as soon the new CBA is settled, all this will go away.

Bloom is just pulling a sly one on the sprint season -- he knows the MLB changed its mind on the new rule that limits position players pitching.

On their uniforms: Tributes (official name: the Cleveland Tributes to 600 Different Indigenous Tribes baseball club). The Tributes play in the Central Division of the Continent Named for the Italian Merchant/Explorer/Chief Navigator for Spain Who-Was-Not-A-Mass-Murderer League.

I wouldn't call it a grudge, but there's no underestimating the ego factor in young professional athletes who have always been adored as the best at basically anything they ever tried their entire lives. No matter how much guys like Mookie publicly rationalize that they know "it's a business", there's always an initial shock period after getting dealt for the first time, adjusting to the novel concept that someone (for whatever reason) actually didn't want them on their side. Then, once they're gone, there is also the possibility they realize that the grass is actually greener somewhere else -- and no simile is better in Betts' case than the literal weather conditions in LA compared to Boston. Ultimately, a traded player's new team -- if they have the resources to compete for his services longterm (like the Dodgers) -- then has the added advantage of showering him with the love and re$pect he felt was just denied him at his old address. And remember, going into free agency, he knows his new club sincerely wants him because they already gave up actual bodies for the rights to make him the first offer.

That was always my position -- once he is traded, he is gone (though some posters still insist it is all about money).

That would be a Theo kind of move, to get back at the Yankees in some way a couple decades ago... maybe Epstein is Bloom's mentor from Chief Baseball Officer school -- like Charles Bronson tutoring his protege in The Mechanic -- and Chaim's compelled to out-GM him...

It would be a great -- for Red Sox fans... and the one gesture that would best renew vows with John Henry, and result in a flood back through the Fenway turnstiles. But let's not kid; if Dombrowski was still around, and Cora, too, it might be possible. However, every time I see the look in Chaim Bloom's eyes, I see a guy determined to break from the past, as he refashions the Red Sox brand through his own machinations, justified by the literal reasons he was recruited: rebuilding by buying low to stockpile disposable, revolving bullpen arms and the Nick Yorkes of the world.

Mike Lupica, in today's column on MLB.com: "No player in the history of the Boston Red Sox ever had more all-around talent, at the plate and on the bases and in the field, than Betts." ...not that I need another observer to tell me what I knew I watched the past half dozen years. Reading Lupica doesn't make me feel justified for all my Mookie posts last winter. It just makes me feel a little sick...

If he's telling the truth, that sounds to me like he no longer wanted to work in Boston... for which we cannot begrudge him. Put it this way: being from the South -- if, say, comparable offers came from all over, I'd be shocked if Betts signed with Minnesota or Detroit. Same with JBJ; we know they're close buds, ex-minor league roomies and all, and both talked in the past tense recently about their fond experiences with the Sox. A consideration: playing in crappy weather gets old when you get old. Now if either signs with a New York club, then they'll be mere mercenaries and as booable as Damon.

Me, too. It would seem organizations may be faced with a lose-lose: losing a year of a top prospect's development (with no minor leagues) or wasting a year of service time in a truncated season that may not even finish. As fans, we would of course rather see the young guys -- especially on a team that our GM already told us would be worse when he traded his best player. As for Duran, RR really liked what he saw four months ago... which now seems like four years ago.

You're not looking at the benefits: older fans will have more opportunities to watch advertisements for products they don't need (cars), don't want (airlines) or already can't live without (beer). It's all about the sponsors... though subliminal jingos won't make a difference if there's no disposable income in a pandemic.

I swear I thought I read "midsection form".

Without researching, I'm wondering how the Red Sox and MLB think later games will lead to an increase in viewers? Games already run too late for kids to watch in their entirety, so I guess the Sox are just giving up on that segment of fans (you know, the future of fandom)? Political pundits may argue the MLB is just appealing to its base... except old white guys pass out earlier than everyone else.

Why reduce the expanded rosters (with more injuries expected from the sprint season, teams are going to need more players present)... unless, they want fewer players together as possible in case of a positive. I'm staying neutral -- don't wanna sound negative, and certainly don't wanna be positive (in a Covid sense).

Left, right, black, white, red, blue -- hey, aren't you at least glad the Red Sox don't have to change their names? (yet?) The Washington DC football team was long over for a new nickname... and the Cleveland hardball contingent... but what about the Atlanta club (originally from Beantown)? If we consider the Braves as a worthy adjective, we could also have teams named the Gallants, the Valiants, the Stalwarts, the Valorous... but maybe not the Stouthearted (folks would be campaigning for IPAs and lagers)...

If I wanted to make this political, I would say your last line could describe a lot of people in any country where outbreaks are breaking out all over...

No politics, gol durn it... whatayou a greycoat?

This is just one of the impracticalities of not playing in a bubble like the NBA and NHL will be (trying to do). Boston can't just take a team bus to places like Baltimore, Philly, Washington, Atlanta, Miami, Tampa and Toronto. The closest bus ride from Boston is to NYC at four and a half hours... even if teams wanted to risk packing onto buses for 10-20 hour trips, there's no time if they really want to play 60 games in 66 days. The other impracticality is to trust athletes mostly in their testosterone 20s to avoid socializing or patronizing establishments when not at the ballpark.

Freddie Freeman with the Covid fever... three other Braves positive... total virus cases in the MLB in the 30s. And the season has yet to begin, when teams will be packed together on airplanes. Remember in March when one NBA player got it, and all sports shut down indefinitely... pro, college, high school, youth... Buster Olney gives baseball a 5% chance of even starting -- and zero chance of finishing. I'm watching Game One of the 1970 World Series this weekend... harkening back to a time before free agency, when Baltimore and Cincinnati played the best baseball in the land.

How will all the negative fans deal with all these positive reports?

Good call, as guys like Devers, Bogie and JD will be the ones foes really focus on pitching to, so don't be surprised if one or all have off-years... but that means other batters may see easier pitches and have break-outs. Other candidates: aren't we about due for a JBJ hot streak? This could key a fast start; just think -- if Bradley puts together a 30-game binge, that's half the season! What about Pillar, coming off career highs in HRs, RBI, OPs... If I had to bet, I'd say a surprise star may be Verdugo, since AL pitchers haven't seen him much and by the time someone finds a hole in his swing, it will get late early.

And who really benefits with going public with all the dirt? Fans admire pro players for what they give us -- dreams and a rooting interest: 1). we'd all like to be good enough to make the majors, and 2). get rich playing a game, but as a consolation for 99.9% of us 3). the MLB invites us to spend our free time and disposable income watching rich big leaguers. When they start rubbing 1. and 2. into our faces, however, is when the MLB risks losing both -- as we decline #3....