5GoldGlovesOF,75

I have been in weekly contact with students in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Qingdao for over a year. They have all been in their apartments since January and don't yet know when they'll be allowed out.

I didn't mean to hijack, I was just referring to the ESPN article of assembling a team you'd want for one big game. For me, such a lineup wouldn't necessarily include the best career players, but the guys who could usually be counted on to perform when it really mattered; for example, Jeter instead of ARod (or if you go back to the 80s, Dave Stewart over Roger).

Game Seven NLCS, bottom of the 9th, trailing 3-1, bases loaded, two outs, pennant on the line... bat on shoulder

My students in China are still under apartment arrest -- but are hopeful they'll be allowed out and back into school buildings in April. That will be 10 weeks minimum they will have been sheltered in place, but without any choice, enforced by a communist military regime. Meanwhile, U.S. citizens are strongly advised to "enjoy your living rooms". Even if people here did stay home -- which they won't unless ordered back inside by National Guardsmen -- we're looking at half a baseball season by the time players ramp back up and are ready to rock. I like the idea of playing July-August for seeding for one entire 30-team tourney... set to played in September and October. This way every team is in it, every team has a shot, and everybody is still alive in the fall. Half the cities that usually have no choice but to focus on football may have renewed interest in baseball. It's radical, but so is this calendar year. And a perfect excuse to try something new and different to generate interest.

You can be sure Papi is my DH for one game with the universe at stake. Beltran was also a great postseason player... but taking that third-strike curve from Wainwright to end the Mets' season will also follow him (more in lore, I surmise, than stealing signs with a system devised by the Houston analytics dept).

The premise of ESPN's article was supposed to be a team put together if you needed to win one game. In other words, not just the greatest players all-time, but the best under pressure in an elimination game. In such a scenario, I'd have to go with Schilling over Pedro. No matter his politics (something we can all avoid discussing on a baseball forum), Big Schil's postseason stats are hard to top: 11-2 W-L, 2.23 ERA, 0.968 WHIP vs. Pedro 6-4, 3.46, 1.080. The other modern choice or if we add a lefty to the staff is MadBum 8-3, 2.11, 0.899. Depending on how far back you want to go, there's always Koufax -- whose only postseason numbers are from the World Series: 4-3, but 0.95 and 0.825.

I get the example of the Nationals that people bring up. But there are also a lot of factors that are different from the Sox' situation, besides the fact that Betts is a better all-around player and helps impact wins in more ways than Harper; among them are that the Nats had a future star replacement already in their outfield in Soto (plus, other young talent like Robles) -- Boston's call-up last summer was Gorkys Hernandez. Then Washington used the Harper savings to sign probably the top free agent pitcher in Corbin (he's not Cole, but the Yanks still went hard after him, and he was the victor in the game that won the World Series). Meanwhile, the Sox used their new financial flexibility to land Colin McHugh. I know... all the good guys were gone by then, but the class of '21 doesn't look promising, either, for prime-time pitchers... Trevor Bow-wow? Anyway, Mookie is gone, and I doubt the Sox even make him a legit offer next winter, so we may have to wait a few years for the acquired prospects to make it and then use the monetary resources to fill in around them. Maybe by then Noah Song will be ready for the Show -- he's not losing much developmental time this year after all.

Bloom instantly looks better today -- imagine if he decided to keep Mookie for one last season that wasn't? And I admit I was one fan who preferred one more year of Mookie... Now, instead of negative-1, we get plus-15 of Wong and Co.

I don't expect the MLB to open until at least June. That brings up a lot of questions, like how long will it take pitchers to get ready again, and then how do owners make up all that lost revenue? I'm thinking something radical, like a half-season regular sked for seeding of a round-robin tourney where everyone competes for the ring. That's if there are enough teams healthy enough to play. If there is a season, at least this format guarantees the Sox get back to the playoffs...

Fellow posters: I am not a doctor nor a scientist, just a lowly educator. But if I can give any advice, it would be to prepare to stay home -- not just for two weeks, like some "authorities" warned earlier this week, but for two months. I tutor several students online in China, where they have been basically under house arrest for eight weeks already. Their public schools have gone entirely online, with some kids taking courses on devices from 8 am to 5 pm (10 min breaks, plus lunch). Most of them live in high rise apartments -- 28th floor, 34th floor, etc. -- where the only time they've been outside in months is to get some fresh air on a small balcony. This is not media hype or fake news, but reality.

I agree; it's ideally fast guys who don't have to pace themselves and can air it out. Braiser's best pitch is his fastball, though the Sox are also considering Brewer -- known for curveball, but who is suddenly throwing harder now -- according to RR... R-squared? ...2 R R2 D2... R2 Declawed... R2 Detoothed... R2 Me, too

Maybe Sale's docs can re-evaluate Alex after another 10 to 14 meals compared to six months ago. That transition from Pacific halibut to Atlantic flounder can be traumatic -- though I'm sure some poster will generalize all flatfish as mere "bottom-feeders". My grampa used to call them fluke.

Not bad, but we just have no idea yet how Verdugo -- and his back -- are going to respond to Boston and the AL East... because according to that media maven David Price, the opposite coasts contain such opposite atmospheres (laid-back LA vs. uptight, unlaid-front? Beantown). Ideally, Verdugo becomes both physically and mentally able to embrace the challenge and use Fenway to develop his potential into a gap-to-gap star hitter. No one can ever totally replace Mookie or make fans forget him, but I'd love it if Alex could make me forget to regret trading Mookie Betts. As for the batting order, I know there are stats that supposedly show the myths of hitting in specific spots, but if I'm the manager, I want to make sure my best hitter who can do the most damage always gets an at bat in the first inning... thus, I vote for Devers to hit second or third.

Sale may be looking at the Pedroia case where even Dustin has second-guessed the decision to have an op that basically ended his career. TJ may be over 40 years old, but it's still radical, and every surgery entails risks. Who knows, maybe docs are telling Sale that his elongated ligaments and tendons aren't ideal for the procedure. We can be sure that the Red Sox are considering all options to see if he'll be able to contribute, whether as an opener, closer or in-betweener... though, one label that seems unlikely is "workhorse".

Right-- gone are the days when starters go 7, and you can win with just a good set-up man and closer (like Okie and Paps). Ironically, Francona was the guy who basically started the new trend using his best reliever whenever -- in Cleveland, with another ex-BoSox in Miller. The Sox tried Barnes at both last year; he couldn't do 1., but was good at 2. until he burned out by summer. Then we also learned he was ineffective on back-to-back days... hey, how about Barnes for Opener every five days? He could still be used for late-inning fires once or twice in between...

14 is even worse -- because according to medical experts, we're all supposed to stockpile enough provisions for 14 days of self-quarantine. Doctors won't need to re-evaluate me, because if I run out of beer in two weeks, then I'll really have a drinking problem.

No argument from me, though there is certainly value in someone who can be trusted to finish the deal (a role that takes more than talent and isn't for everyone) and shortening games. I think from a WAR standpoint, average starting pitchers can be more valuable than even the best relievers because they get more outs. Thus, big salaries for pitchers are justified by total innings instead of specific innings. Sox fans just gotta hope a couple hundred frames are forthcoming from a few guys who haven't even arrived yet.

I tend to view Weber in your second-man-in scenario, but I'm sure the club's plans for openers will ultimately fluctuate based on match-ups. The "traditional" opener or trend (in a concept two whole years old), I think, is to preferably start someone with an unhittable fastball and let him air it out against a lineup's top of the order, then bring in a "bulk" guy to hopefully flummox the bottom a couple times through (but only once against the top -- those are the guys you want to keep showing different looks to). Ideally, this keeps your team in the game and gets you to the back end of the bullpen... With expanded staffs and three-batter minimums, I can envision two sets of openers/bulks that take turns in rotations just like starters. For example -- and these are examples, not my suggestions -- Taylor opens, followed by Weber on Day 4, then Darwinzon opens, followed by Johnson on Day 5. If pairs are effective, they get regular rest and do it again in five days. Best case, this strategy works maybe half the time, and we'll be treated to a cavalcade of call-ups... ... until someone shows he can be stretched out into a real starter who give us actual quality starts!

Good idea; then he could earn more of his salary by going back to the dugout and yelling at the "f***ing pussies to start hitting" like he did in Dodger Stadium.

Alex Where'dUgo?

I was also on board with this, especially after the last inning of the Series. But some dissenters said closer wasn't that important -- which doesn't make sense when the modern game is all about back ends of bullpens (particularly if you were a Sox fan who survived Kimbrel's postseason). Eck became a Hall of Famer as a closer and no one said his talents were wasted there.

There are a lot of reasons why it's not funny, besides Betts will rock and Fenway will be a hard place. Diehards like us will always be caught in between, because anyone who takes the time to post about the Sox is surely going to take the time to keep watching them. I'd love to see Boston contend, just to disappoint all the beat (as in defeated) writers who say the season is lost before it even begins.

Here's a really bad one: Red Sox trade their best homegrown player in a generation to restock the farm, and none of the prospects they get in return are pitchers. Sorry. Some day we'll look back on this, and it still won't be funny.

It's not a weak link; it's a giant gap in the chain-link fence... the hole is getting big enough for sheep, cows, and even fans who don't do the wave or sing "sogood, sogood" to escape -- look, there's a path to the beach, there's another to the pool (just don't take the one to the left, to the kids' soccer game)!

But don't all muscle "strains", "sprains" or "pulls" involve partial tearing, even if they're micro tissue fibers? I'm just going on experience from years of injuries (mostly my own) and hearing the interchangeable nomenclature. A lot of problems with athletes or even active peeps involve the build-up of internal scarring from strains/sprains/pulls that impinge full range of motion, and thus performance... so a lot of "procedures" that aren't reconstructive are just lasers zapping crap and making space in the joints again. Of course, every operation -- even the one-inch incisions for the arthroscope and camera -- will then cause more scar tissue when those holes heal. Ugh, I typed all this standing up, and not sitting in an armchair.