jetsniper Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 The season is just around the corner and I need somewhere to get my Red Sox updates from simonus. Beckett still seems to be having trouble but it doesn't sound like he's going to miss a whole lot of time. That starting rotation to start the season still worries me though. On the Blue Jays side of baseball, Janssen is gone for the season, announced today. I don't know much about the kid but what I've heard from Jays fans, thats a huge loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathieu30 Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 here's hopin Felipe Lopez will have a great year.. go nats go!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quebecois Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Really sucks to lose Janssen, but i think we have the depth to survive his loss with Ryan, League and Accardo still in the pen. The bigger loss might be in his ability to be the 5th starter, as right now it's Jesse Litsch and nobody behind him. Gotta hope our top 4 stay healthy or a good rotation could suddenly turn suspect... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetsniper Posted March 14, 2008 Author Share Posted March 14, 2008 I predict Billy Crystal will be the 2009 AL MVP. You heard it here first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain_Stealth Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 I predict Billy Crystal will be the 2009 AL MVP. You heard it here first. Richie Sexson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre the Great Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Mariners will win the division Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain_Stealth Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Mariners will win the division Hopefully. Sportsnet televises so many of their games I have kinda just dropped in from time to time to watch some of their games. Haven't been able to watch entire games really but it was like when I started watching the Nucks. Those I watched the entire games though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quebecois Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Mariners will win the division good insight... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre the Great Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 lol oh oh more insight coming St. Louis Cardinals aren't going to win their division. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLassister Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Baseball still alive ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain_Stealth Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Baseball still alive ??? Sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonus Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 The season is just around the corner and I need somewhere to get my Red Sox updates from simonus. Well I can't do as well as I have in recent years because I mostly follow red sox preseason when the habs are depressing me. As you might imagine, this has left me relatively ignorant this year. Look for JD Drew and Manny to have slight bounceback seasons this year. Last year Manny started the season with some nagging minor injuries which kept his numbers down, but after the all-star break (and during the playoffs) he was very close to the Manny of old. Aside from adjusting to the AL, JD also had to deal with his child having major health problems, requiring multiple surgeries. He had a fantastic playoffs, IMO, and I look for him to add up around 40-50 OPS pts this year. JD won't be the huge offensive juggernaut fans may have hoped for, but he'll be better. Matsuzaka's wife had the family's baby earlier this week, so all indications are that Daisuke will be opening day starter. He is in no way Beckett, but I think around 4 ERA is an appropriate benchmark for him. Beckett has already resumed throwing, so I wouldn't be too worried. I really like the minor player additions the sox did this year - Sean Casey and Bartolo Colon. Sean is getting paid ~1 mil to back up Youks and I'm betting he's going to be one of the best bench players in the league (although PECOTA has him being slightly worse than Hinske). I think Casey's best days are behind him, but the guy can still play. I think the extra rest playing backup to Youks affords him can't hurt. Colon is still the Jabba the Hutt of pitchers... but don't forget that Jabba was pretty powerful. Colon signed a minor league contract with the sox with an out clause allowing him to opt out if he wasn't in the majors by May 1. This doesn't seem to be a problem as he has come back from last season's injury hitting up to 93-94 on the gun. He's still getting into game shape (think gelatinous cube), so there is some hope those numbers will improve. I've heard that his first outing was decent (2IP, 2ER) and I am looking forward to a chance to catch him on tv as spring training games get picked up more for broadcast. Ortiz's knees look for from what I saw and although I don't think his overall power numbers will be better than last season (the best of his career), look for him to translate some of his doubles into hr's and end up around 40hrs this season. Lugo has been injured this spring training and is just getting into the lineup. Jed Lowrie is the prospect infielder who would love to find his way onto the lineup, but his SS defense ain't great and probably slots more to be a 2B or 3B. Obviously nobody is going to jump over the sox's 2B and 3B for the time being, so I wouldn't be shocked if Lowrie is a deadline trading piece. Coco Crisp is rehabbing from injury and many signs point to him being gone once he shows that he is healthy. Rumours I hear have him going to the Cubs. Ellsburry is the starting CF. Mirabelli got released (kthxbye). Kevin Cash (he of no bat) will probably get to start the season as the backup catcher (as he can catch knuckleballs) but look for the sox to try at some point to bring up Dusty Brown or George Kottaras - 2 B level catching prospects in AAA. Right now there are some question marks as to bullpen formation, but when you have Okajima and Paps holding up the back end I have trouble getting too worried. Not to mention that Manny Delcarmen used the end of last season to show he could be the third member of a shutdown triumverate. The rest of the pens slots to be some combination of Kyle Snyder, Julian Tavarez, Javier Lopez, Corey, Hansack, and/or Hansen (I am so tired of Hansen at this point). IMO, look for the Sox to try to dump Hansen. As always, look for the Sox to pick up trash off the waivers to try to tweak the BP. Opening Day Rotation - Daisuke, Lester, Wakefield, Colon, Buccholz. By the time the sox get back from Japan, slot Beckett in front and probably send Buccholz to AAA to keep his innings down. Opening Day Lineup - Ellsburry (CF), Youkilis (1B), Ortiz (DH), Manny (LF), Lowell (3B), Drew (RF), Pedroia (2B), Varitek ©, Lugo (SS) - Daisuke (SP) Ellsburry, Youks, and Pedroia will fight over the 1-2 slots for much of the season. Varitek has been slowly but surely marching down the batting order for a few years. Lugo is undoubtedly the emptiest bat on the team. Lowell and Drew will flip flop prolly at points throughout the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre the Great Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 I used to love the red soxs because they were the anti yankees. Now they have become the yankees. Reminds me of communism. so I root for the little guy, the hungarians of 1956 of that division. Toronto. blue jays will one day free us from the cold war. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonus Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 I used to love the red soxs because they were the anti yankees. Now they have become the yankees. Reminds me of communism. so I root for the little guy, the hungarians of 1956 of that division. Toronto. blue jays will one day free us from the cold war. wow, it's like deja vu. It's like you say this in every thread where baseball comes up. Way to raise the level of debate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain_Stealth Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 I used to love the red soxs because they were the anti yankees. Now they have become the yankees. Reminds me of communism. so I root for the little guy, the hungarians of 1956 of that division. Toronto. blue jays will one day free us from the cold war. What happens when/if the the Blue Jays make some solid moves and one day get to the point where the Red Sox are? Will they be the Yankees too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetsniper Posted March 18, 2008 Author Share Posted March 18, 2008 I sure like the looks of that rotation over some of the others I've seen. I've read Tavarez as our 5th and that just scares the crap out of me. I was wondering about Dice-K's baby as well because I knew he wouldn't make the trip if he/she still wasn't born yet, glad everything went well. I'm looking forward to the season and can't wait to see Boston defend their title. *throws on Bo Sox hat* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre the Great Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 What happens when/if the the Blue Jays make some solid moves and one day get to the point where the Red Sox are? Will they be the Yankees too? no because they will never have the money that boston and ny have. i was listening to jim rome a couple weeks ago when I was driving around, this was after stienbrenner's kid who now runs the show said ESPN created this fake red sox nation. Which is totally false, you win a lot you create a "nation". For example I see a lot of Cardinals hats out here on the Island. I wonder why?... But it is true that Boston has just become another Yankees, people are beginning to hate them just as much. I was a red sox fan for eons. I liked that they were the antithesis of the Yanky doodles. Now I know no difference between the two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonus Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 (edited) I sure like the looks of that rotation over some of the others I've seen. I've read Tavarez as our 5th and that just scares the crap out of me. I was wondering about Dice-K's baby as well because I knew he wouldn't make the trip if he/she still wasn't born yet, glad everything went well. I'm looking forward to the season and can't wait to see Boston defend their title. *throws on Bo Sox hat* tavarez might get a spot start or two over the course of the year, but he ain't the 5th. As a spot starter/long reliever he has great stats, actually. Right now the battle for 5th starter is between Buchholz and Colon. Good thing we have these cheap options in the rotation considering that we are operating at a $60 million disadvantage compared to our divisional rival. Edited March 18, 2008 by simonus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quebecois Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 tavarez might get a spot start or two over the course of the year, but he ain't the 5th. As a spot starter/long reliever he has great stats, actually. Right now the battle for 5th starter is between Buchholz and Colon. Good thing we have these cheap options in the rotation considering that we are operating at a $60 million disadvantage compared to our divisional rival. Sox fan complaining about a financial disadvantage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonus Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 Sox fan complaining about a financial disadvantage I would only ever do so in the face of somebody (not you) conflating the sox and the yanks. Are the sox a well-off team? of course, can they buy their way out of contract mistakes to the degree the yanks can? absolutely not. The difference in salary between the (1)yanks and (2)sox is about the same as the difference between the (2)sox and (9) Tigers. The red sox have a financial advantage over many other teams (although teams like the Cubs, Angels and Mets choose not to spend money that they could, a far greater sin) but to nowhere the same degree. Let me be clear - I am not complaining about the sox's finances. I am lucky to root for a team that can and does compete with the $200mill monolith that resides in the division and this last decade has been pretty good for us. I just hate the whole "they are just the yankees" meme. In truth, the Yankees are doing everything they can to stop being the yankees - they want to shift away from free agent talent to homegrown talent. The red sox are much farther along in that transition - see Buchholz, Ellsburry, Youkilis, Papelbon, Lester, and ROY Pedroia. Both teams augment their cheap homegrown talent with FAs and use their superior resources to hold onto good homegrown players when they become expensive - see Jeter, Rivera, Posada. If anything, since the Abreu deal the Yanks have been trying to become the Sox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenadian Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 (edited) Poor Barry..................Looks like NO team want any part of him http://tsn.ca/mlb/news_story/?ID=232316&hubname=mlb Edited March 18, 2008 by kenadian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonus Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 Poor Barry..................Looks like NO team want any part of him http://tsn.ca/mlb/news_story/?ID=232316&hubname=mlb I'm actually a bit surprised that nobody has picked him up. The man can still play and its not like there aren't other current or former steroid users in the league. One has to wonder if there is a bit of collusion going on here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre the Great Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 The D-Rays would pick him up, but i think nobody's picking him up because of the trial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quebecois Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 I would only ever do so in the face of somebody (not you) conflating the sox and the yanks. Are the sox a well-off team? of course, can they buy their way out of contract mistakes to the degree the yanks can? absolutely not. The difference in salary between the (1)yanks and (2)sox is about the same as the difference between the (2)sox and (9) Tigers. The red sox have a financial advantage over many other teams (although teams like the Cubs, Angels and Mets choose not to spend money that they could, a far greater sin) but to nowhere the same degree. Let me be clear - I am not complaining about the sox's finances. I am lucky to root for a team that can and does compete with the $200mill monolith that resides in the division and this last decade has been pretty good for us. I just hate the whole "they are just the yankees" meme. In truth, the Yankees are doing everything they can to stop being the yankees - they want to shift away from free agent talent to homegrown talent. The red sox are much farther along in that transition - see Buchholz, Ellsburry, Youkilis, Papelbon, Lester, and ROY Pedroia. Both teams augment their cheap homegrown talent with FAs and use their superior resources to hold onto good homegrown players when they become expensive - see Jeter, Rivera, Posada. If anything, since the Abreu deal the Yanks have been trying to become the Sox. Pretty much agree with everything, i just wish we weren't in this bloody division. I kind of think we are better than the Yankees this year but I often overestimate the Jays so who knows. Looking forward to the start of the season though. Our first home series is against the Sox, I'll definitely be going to at least 2 and probably all 3 of those games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenadian Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 How 'bout those Blue Jays.............................. http://tsn.ca/mlb/news_story/?ID=232688&hubname=mlb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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