#1
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Sports: MLB
The Superbowl thread has started go off on a baseball tangent (my fault I think), so I figured I'd start a thread for the upcoming season.
Post your baseball thoughts here. Looks like my Sox have already sustained their 1st injury of the season (Schilling) and pitchers and catchers haven't even reported yet. Nobody is really fretting over it though, he wasn't expected to play a huge roll this year. Schill and Wakefield I think are seen as a 2 for 1 spot in the rotation duo. Hope to get 15 starts out of each and the rest is bonus. Looking forward to seeing a full season of John Lester and with Schill already on the shelf, it looks like we'll get to see Buchholz early. Last edited by nyys; September 9th, 2008 at 08:49 PM. |
#2
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If my team (MN Twins) ever get an owner who cares about winning and decides to spend some money, they may have a shot at winning a 3rd World Series title but not until then. So I'm pretty bored of MLB until things change in that regard.
I actually cheer for the Red Sox instead, since they usually have a good enough team to win it all, usually, or barring that, some other team that captures my interest during the season. |
#3
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I wouldn't have minded if Santana landed in Boston, but I still think its sad that some owners (who have the $$ even when they say they don't) won't spend it. It was much like that in Boston until the new regime took over.
Sports franchises are just big toys for the owners, you don't buy a team to make money, you do it because you can and you want your toys to be the biggest and best. For crying out loud the owner of the Texas Rangers is an oil billionaire, he could out spend the Red Sox and Y-----s ten fold, he just chooses not to do it. |
#4
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Sox will be fine without Schilling. I was actually hoping that we would cut him, or let him retire...then pull out his contract for Santana. Im still a bit upset that we couldnt land A-Rod...but then we would become the Yankees (spend all our money on big-hitters with no real skill positions).
Dont get me wrong, the Yanks have one of the best teams in the world...just not as good as BoSox! Sox to repeat in 08? yes... |
#5
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I'm ready for the Schilling era for the Sox to be over. He's been great and we wouldn't have our championships without him, but he's about done I think. It's time to let the younger guys take over. Lester and Bucholz(sp?) proved in limited duty that they are ready. Matsuzaka should be better his 2nd season and Beckett is just a stud. Throw in Wakefield with those guys and we should have as good a rotation as anyone. Some really good news that I have been reading about is that Manny is really disapointed with his season last year and has been working extrememly hard. A motivated Manny could mean problems for the rest of the league.
"A good teacher is like a candle: it consumes itself to light the way for others." -Anonymous |
#7
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Quote:
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#8
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I truly can't wait for baseball season to start. I've already been eyeing the websites to see the Sox play when they come to Cincinnati. Last year I had to drive to KC to see them (and Schilling got hammered that opening day game). I can say I got to see Oki's first appearance, although he gave up a dinger first thing.
As for Manny, I don't know about the option idea. I think he wants a longer term deal. His options were big dollars when the contract was signed, but now the market has exploded. I would be surprised if the Sox pick up the options and he is unhappy about it. |
#9
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Quote:
Me and a couple buddies drive down every year when the Sox visit the boys in blue... |
#10
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Read it and weep AL Central fans...
C-Ivan Rodriguez 1B-Carlos Guillen 2B-Placido Polanco SS-Edgar Renteria 3B- Miguel Cabrera RF- Magglio Ordonez CF- Curtis Granderson LF- Jacque Joness DH-Gary Sheffield SP-Justin Verlander SP-Jeremy Bonderman SP-Dontrelle Willis SP-Kenny Rogers SP-Nate Robertson |
#11
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I'm not excited about Boston's offseason. They've dumped salary (most notably Matt Clement, Eric Gagne, and Brendan Donnelly) yet did very little to improve their bullpen or their bench.
Sean Casey?? Where's the power from the bench going to come from? I'm also not sold on Lester. His W.H.I.P. scares the crap out of me. I understand why they didn't want Santana, considering that they would eventually need to rip up Beckett's contract and pay him Santana money if they were to sign Johan. The Sox are in desperate for a young catcher as well. Varitek's contract is almost up and his offensive skills are clearly diminishing and the only thing keeping Doug Mirabelli around is Wakefield. Their farm system isn't strong in catching, so hopefully they can acquire a decent prospect when they try and trade Coco. |
#12
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I disagree. Other than resigning Lowell and Schilling (hindsight on Schill) there really wasn't much the front office needed to do. Nobody's bench is ever that great, there's a reason these players are back-ups.
Casey though I think is a Huge upgrade over Hinske. He's a career .300 hitter and he'll be giving Youk a regular spell in order to try and avoid his normal 2nd half dip (though he did come back huge in the post season). And with Coco still on the team you'd be hard pressed to find a better #4 outfielder in the majors. Granted he probably won't break camp with the team but any trade is either going to bring in a guy to take his place or will put another arm in the pen. Speaking of the pen, what else was there they could do? Paps is the closer (arguably the best in the business right now), Okajima and Timlin are the 7th and 8th inning guys. I don't expect the same season out of Oki, can't expect that same season, and Timlin may not have much left in the tank, but Delcarmen is primed (IMHO) to take over one of those two spots this season. The rest of the pen is decent (no worse than any other back end in the league). As for the rotation: Beckett stud, Matsuzaka I expect big things from this season, the adjustment period is over and he has a full year of training for what it takes to last a full MLB season under his belt. The #3 spot is going to be a mix of Schill and Wakes, if we can get 10-12 wins from there it will be fine. I agree the jury is still out on Lester, but pitching in the #4 hole and with the offense the Sox have behind him, he'll have to be REALLY bad not to get 10 wins this season. Which leaves the crap shoot that is the #5 spot in every rotation in the majors. With Schill on the shelf I expect Tavarez to start the season in the rotation (and the #5 is never needed right away) and then Buchholz will probably take over (if Schill isn't back) by mid June. Yes the Sox have question marks and they need to stay healthy, but their prognosis for the season is leaps and bounds better than most teams at the moment. |