he gone.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jun 21, 2016 -> 11:06 AM) They sac bunted in the 1st inning the other day. It's absolutely f***ing unacceptable and incredibly dumb. It actually increases the likelihood that you will lose. Was it acceptable when Pods would lead off, get on base and then Tadahito would hit over to the right side to advance him to third? Essentially a bunt - except swinging? I don't know, I feel that most of the time - as long as they can execute the bunt - that I prefer it. Not with Melky -- but generally.

It's limbo time, but as I have stated before I think this was planned. I don't think it's this year we sell. At the end of this year we lose what? Ajax, Navarro, Albers, Avila? Basically nobody at all. All very, very replaceable players. The following year we are set to lose: Lawrie, Melky, Robertson, Frazier, Duke Not really lose, but you know what I mean. Can be FA if we don't try and re-sign. I think this limbo is exactly planned by the FO. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Sox go hard 1.5 more years (this year, offseason) before re-evaluating around this time next year. Not a great FA year, but I can see them being active on the trade market for an OF and DH and Catcher. And then basically saying if it doesn't look good that we'll tear it all down. Sure if you execute that plan earlier (this year) you can get better prospects for Frazier, Robertson, etc. but you can still probably salvage decent value next year too. No team in this division is that amazing - so like it or not were going to still try. The FO sees it as we have Sale and Q and if we get to the postseason anything can happen.

Here we go -- pull out an improbable win last night, Sale on the mound tonight and all of a sudden they pull me back in again. Time for us to lose a heartbreaker tonight.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jun 20, 2016 -> 08:26 AM) I bought OF bleachers last Wednesday for $18 per ticket and sat in row 5 behind Tigers dugout for entire game. Nobody cares. Ah, so I've bought partial season tickets for a few years now. Usually 7 game package which equates to 1 game per month - which is what I do anyways. One year I went all out - 2010 - and bought 5th row behind the dugout with stadium club - $75/ ticket for about a dozen games. After that I realized it's stupid to get season tickets.... However after a sweep of the Twins to bring us to 23-10 I started running the math -- I go, okay, well if we play .500 ball we'll have 90 wins or whatever. this division isn't going to be a runaway as nobody is that great. I thought at the very least they'd be in the thick of it for the remainder of the year - so I did it, I bought 20 game package -- all the wknd games left for the year.. since then they are what? 10-26? Moral of the story -- NEVER EVER BUY SEASON TICKETS. I've always done what you've done - buy a seat anywhere for $8 and just sit somewhere new each inning and then about the 6th or 7th just move down to 3rd or 4th row behind the plate or dugout. That is the way to do it. That being said if anybody wants a Saturday or Sunday ticket, Section 102, Row 8 for below face value for the rest of the year just let me know.

Remember when we the BoSox screwed up this franchise last year during their 7 game win streak to make us believe maybe we could make the playoffs? hopefully its the opposite this year.... Sweep us. Fire Robin. Trade off a few of your pieces and move on. I say a few because I do believe that take out Lawrie, C, and CF and replace with "baseball players" meaning -- Kevin Keirmeirer type ppl and this team is still very good. I just look though each year and go - why couldn't we sign a guy like Rajai Davis for pennies? Or Uribe? why is it always the other teams that sign these guys? Rajai Davis at the top of your order stealing 40 bases would change the dynamic of this team. Hell even with Anderson at the top I feel completely different. He gets on with a single and all of a sudden steals a base.... and then eaton, Abreu, or frazier gets a single and all of a sudden its 1-0.

I heard a stat that Francona has had a +.500 record in 11 straight seasons - but hey, don't worry - you don't need experience. Ask Robin. As much as I love AJ - and I think he could be a good manager. Blunt, honest, firery, smart, been a long, long time catcher - I just don't want the Sox to hire him. Give me someone with experience please. Or a fresh mind set. I'm completely done with this team - like done done. Awful

Only thing I really like about this is the 6pm start. It is the perfect game time start IMO. I get home, walk the dog, and then the game is on while I make dinner, eat dinner, and veg on the couch. Next thing you know its only like 8:30 and the game is close to over. Perfect time to allow me to do other things.

b+ I mean, kind of repeating what all are saying - but he's so young and was thrust into the majors. Look at some of the other real big talents and how they struggle in the Majors their first go round -- he has done that at times, but not nearly as bad. I thought this year might be the one he took the jump to stardom -- which I think is a question of when not if. He's a good one. The Sox could have a three headed monster if they ever put it together before blowing this team up.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Jun 17, 2016 -> 10:36 AM) NL success does not always translate to AL success. That is the type of thought process that is also like "we can't move _______ from LF to RF or from 3B to the OF because it will mentally be too tough for him do adjust both defensively and keep it up at the plate" I hate that thought process, its a loser's mentality. Just like when they brought up a possible pitchers HR derby. People ran around saying "no!! injury risk for my pitcher!" and Joe Maddon goes on Arrieta - I don't believe in that. These guys workout all year, take batting practice - they can hit a few balls. Not to change this into Joe Maddon - but that's exactly the mindset this organization needs. Shark sucked last year because of mechanics. Whatever. It's not because he had to face 9 batters instead of 8 batters.

Well it's a pretty clear line in the sand of who is for or against Shields. Put me in the "for" category. I think he bounces back and brings value to this team.

I don't know if I can articulate it well. I'm just saying I don't care if he is signed or not. I don't like a lot of people in the world, he can be added to it, but I'll still cheer for the Sox regardless.

It's not a crazy position. It's that people generally like to say things like "my thoughts and prayers" are with someone. Or take a stand against something. But in reality its mostly lip service. I highly doubt any of us would stop watching or supporting the Sox if they got Reyes. I don't have to like what he did or who he is. But not going to make me not like the deal or how he can help the team.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 15, 2016 -> 02:13 PM) Oh who gives a s***? These guys aren't your friends. We are men, who cheer for other men in silly outfits to play a game against other men in silly outfits. You aren't endorsing their character or their behavior off the field by cheering for them to win a game. THIS. 100% I watch for entertainment. Are you giving up Johnny Depp movies? How about countless other stars. Do you really take a stand against this stuff or do you just try to morally justify it by saying the right thing. If Reyes his .300 and stole bases and hit doubles you'd be clapping along with all the other fans.

QUOTE (FT35 @ Jun 15, 2016 -> 03:02 PM) You'd think, that going into the season with a roster featuring the likes of Latos, Gonzalez, Danks, a young Rodon, the Erik Johnson project and now a struggling Shields, over the course of the season, it might be a good idea to invest a roster spot (or 2) in long-relief arms??? Many of these-caliber SPs could be "off" on any given night and require an early hook yet the leader in innings pitched out of our pen this year is Dan Jennings...acquired to be a lefty specialist--averaging just over 1 inning per appearance. Everyone else is mostly a strict 1-inning guy. The issue is 2-fold...not only do you blow your bullpen arms by covering 5 innings on a wild night by your starter, but you're forced to leave in that wild starter WAY too long (to save the pen)--further decreasing your chances of winning even more. Seems these types of situations are abundant these days. Good defense limits pitch counts as well--a good thought to keep in mind as we continue to run out defensive liabilities Garcia, Melky, a very young, unpolished SS in Anderson (although offensively talented). There are many ways our starters could run into trouble!! Do we have any long relief arms in the system? Anyone come to mind as a possible acquisition? That's actually a very good point. We have Carroll as a mop up guy - and I guess Turner and Volstad, etc. could also do that role. Basically if you have a guy coming in for the 3rd or 4th inning the game is most likely out of reach so it really doesn't matter how good they are. But it would be nice to have. Would think we'll focus on OF and late inning guy who's talented first thogh

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 15, 2016 -> 01:44 PM) Charges dropped because she wouldn't cooperate most likely. Treated on the scene, taken to the hospital. This guy is garbage. I probably should have put the first line in green .... I know he's not innocent. But again, I don't really care taking a flier on him. They do it, they do it. They don't? They don't. Nobody is perfect.

Honestly? Probably not. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/shielja02.shtml Run those stats through some algorithms and compare to his splits and velocity and tell me what you come up with. Not saying I did that, but I'm sure someone in the Sox organization did this before getting him. IP have been above 200 every year. His ERA (take this year out - cause you weren't going to count his 2.5ERA before his blow up and you're not going to count his ERA now after the three games... His ERA has been pretty consistent. I mean, no real direction up or down. He hit his prime around 29-32 which makes sense. He is probably trending downward, but again, that downward is still probably the low 4's for ERA. His HR/9 was up last year, however, the year before it was his 2nd lowest ever. So I can't really say anything definitive. His Hits per 9 innings same. His WHIP same. I'm just saying I don't believe the sky is falling. That's all.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 15, 2016 -> 01:14 PM) Yeah, years. http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?sh...&hl=decline Nice! I like that thread. We all think with our hearts too much and just post right away. I hate Shields right now, but I think I am level headed enough to step back and be okay with what we got. A very good #5 pitcher.

Charges were dropped though ... so innocent? Listen, I don't like what he did. Nobody does. But he's going to sign somewhere. I don't necessarily mind if it's with the Sox. Does he upgrade the team? Maybe. As long as the Sox can go ahead and talk to his future teammates and ask if they are okay with the move, then I am okay with the move. Also, anything is better than Carl Crawford.

You know, I'm bored. I don't like the reality of this team. I've gone to way too many games and watch entirely too many on my couch and they all end the same way lately. So started thinking, if you could take 1 player from any team in the MLB -- not via trade. Just take and place on your team, who would it be? I started thinking about this -- the names will likely be similar for most responses. Trout. Kershaw. Altuve. Harper. Arrieta. I came to the conclusion that I'd take Kershaw. Basically if you had him your rotation would be Kershaw, Sale, Q, Rodon, Shields. Those guys would eat so many innings that your bullpen would be that much better. Also come playoff time that would be an impossible 1-2-3 punch to top. The other one I liked was Altuve. Slots in at 2b. Your lineup of Eaton, Altuve, Abreu, Frazier, Melky at the top is about as good as it gets. Would be a run scoring machine. Unfortunately it doesn't plug the holes of OF & C. Harper or Trout were nice too, but I feel the upgrade isn't as great as Altuve or Kershaw would be. Again. I'm bored and hate this team.

Only thing that worries me is that Shark was tipping pitches and mechanically wrong ---- for a full year! Hopefully this isn't the case with Shields. Even with his decreasing velocity, age, etc, etc. he may not be a 3.50ERA pitcher, but 4.20 isn't crazy to expect. Let's hope he finds it, and soon. We NEED him to be a 4ERA pitcher and eat innings if we want any chance to be in this thing. Other thing to think about - Royals, Tigers are probably 85 win teams. Cleveland maybe a tick or two more - say 87 - however Brantley still injured.. Sox don't need to be crazy good here out, just need to play .500 baseball and take a series here and there. We SHOULD hover within 5 games at any given time with this team as currently constructed.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Jun 15, 2016 -> 09:24 AM) If Shields can put up those numbers it'll be fantastic. I just doubt his ability to do it. Time will tell. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/shielja02.shtml I won't post the stats here, but just check out that link - it should give Sox fans some hope. I know he's aging, but he's thrown over 200IP every year since 2007 (which shows his ability to not only be consistent, but go late in games) and has had an ERA over 4 only twice since 2007. Every other year has been UNDER 4. So 4.20ERA to me is very doable even in old age. He's not going to be this bad all year - just sucks it happened in his first 2 starts with the Sox. I hate this team as much as anybody right now and have taken negative takes on almost every aspect, but Shields is one where I think it may work out decent.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Jun 15, 2016 -> 09:12 AM) Put me in the no column. I'm squarely in the Yes column -- the only caveat being, I don't want to hear about his $9mm is handicapping us signing FA in the offseason like they did with LaRoche and Danks. Shields has a track record. He should be able to be better than Danks by a bit -- which doesn't sound great. But give me a 4.20 era and 200 innings out of my #5 all day.

Went to the game last night, here are my takeaways from this no good, bad, awful baseball team. These are in order which pissed me off the most yesterday. - Avi in RF is moronic when you have Shuck at DH. You put Shuck in CF and Eaton in RF. This changes the whole game. Miggy had a ball down the RF line that hung up there forever and Avi dropped it. He's a clown out there. That cost us probably 2-3 runs and about 20 pitches for Miguel Gonzalez which cost our bullpen to work even more again. - Melky charging the ball in LF to try and make a great play when down 6-2 or 7-2. Next thing you knew it was 9-2 I believe. If you can't get the ball just take it on the short hop. No reason to be a hero when down that much. Make the routine play. - Eaton bunting. I mean, he was on base 5 times the night before. He had already been on base that night. He is swinging a hot bat. So Anderson is on 3rd and he tries to do a bunt single? come on! Grant it, it was a good play by Zimmerman. But swing away. Anything to the OF is getting Anderson in with his speed. Killed what could have been a nice inning with the heart of the order coming up. - Leaving Gonzalez in there. Now I get this one. Not much you could do. Just like Purke. He was going to be in there for 50 pitches no matter what the outcome. Just so frustrating. To be honest it was 6-2 bases loaded in the worlds longest inning when he walked Kinsler on a full count bases loaded and the ump just called a strike out of mercy. That inning could of and propbaby should have been 9-2 by the end of it. Record this year when going to Sox games 1-6! That includes 4 games where Q or Sale pitched... so..... just wow.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jun 15, 2016 -> 08:22 AM) The Shields trade accomplished two things. It did the Padres a huge favor and it blows approximately $27 Large of Jerry's largess. Presumably, the trade was engineered by Hahn, and he is still employed. Where else, other than MLB, could this happen? Ummm, anywhere? Listen his first two starts were horses***. But in the end we essentially signed James Shields for a 3yr $27mm contract in June. Tatis Jr. might be something, but in the end - he's 17. So that's a crapshoot. If you take a poll of people, would you sign James Shields for 3yr 27mm I think the majority would say yes -- even with these bad starts. Just like Latos this year --- he wasn't going to keep it up. James Shields won't be this bad all year. He won't be great. But he is an okay #4 and good #5. Now beyond that - Pedro Martinez tweeted something the other day about having to keep his head down and something about follow through. I'm not mechanics guy, so no idea. But I'm sure he'll find what he is doing and tweak it. WE just have to hope it doesn't take a whole year like it did with Smardizja.

QUOTE (TheTruth05 @ Jun 8, 2016 -> 10:22 AM) Anybody have a hookup on someone selling some scout seat tix? I was trying to get some for this Friday's game vs. KC and StubHub has them over my budget.. PM me please and Thanks. As long as you can work a last minute schedule I've been able to get Scout Seats for $120 on StubHub. But I've asked around too. There is someone who is always selling the same section and row. I think its Section 133 Row 7 for almost every game. I've always wanted to figure out who that is because they're pissing away 20% on each ticket for fees on StubHub and so is the buyer.