SB Nation User Blog: fishfarmr

20 - 12 and it's the end of the world!

fishfarmr — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:29:30 -0000

A sign that our front office is great is the fact that at 20-12 we feel like our team stinks. We have such high expectations that anything short of 26- 5 is failure! All of us would have taken 20-12 at the beginning of year, The fact that Ortiz has no HR's and our Starters have been lackluster (don't get me on Lugo!) we cannot get discouraged. We should rejoice that we are on a 100 win pace despite these things! Ortiz may not hit 30, but he will get his average up and hit some homeruns. Our starting pitching will get better and Lowrie will be back and Drew will get better(he always starts slow). So at 20-12 we should be happy and keep our concerns low and not blow them out into full fledged panic. Relax......until Paps comes in and then prepare for a stessful rollercoaster ride called the 9th inning. And to think, I did'nt mention injuries.

Forget Manny......

fishfarmr — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:35:39 -0000

What the dodgers should do is get Bobby Abreu and Adam Dunn for less than the 25 million on Manny. Those Guys will generate ticket sales and more importantly, wins. Dunn can play first and Abreu in the outfield. they will generate the same offensive numbers for you as well with the added benefit of two guys a pitcher has to worry about. If you have discussed this already, forgive me. But how is this a bad plan?

Do you trade pitching for catching?

fishfarmr — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:02:30 -0000

Do you trade pitching prospects for catching prospects? Or do you hold on to them and sign a few short term deals with has-beens (how about Pudge?) until our catching prospects arrive?

I have always said to trade prospects for proven players, but this has not proven to be so wise in hindsight. while Santana would have been nice, the prospects are all parts of our club. So I am not sure. Now add the fact that what we would be trading for is a Catcher prospect. Salty or Teagarden (the better of the two) are as major league tested as Buch. So do you make the trade? I am inclined to say yes for two reasons:

1: everyday player for fifth day player

2: Catching talent is scarcer than pitching.

Plus really skinny guys never last.

Commissioner Bush? {political by commenters}

fishfarmr — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:23:29 -0000

Congratulations to Barack Obama and all who voted for him. And to the county as a whole, the peaceful (and ease of) transfering power has always amazed me. With that being said, is George W. Bush the next commissioner of MLB? Or do you think Bob Costas or George Mitchell is the guy? Since Bush is now an ex-president , I thought I would start this debate. He did say on Larry King that he was not looking for the job and Selig may never leave. On a side note, my daughter said Selig looks like Slugworth from Willy Wonka.......

What are the Most Valuable Intangibles?

fishfarmr — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 20:53:01 -0000

With all the talk on Varitek now and his "handling the staff" as a major plus and also his "clubhouse presence" as another, I often wonder what is the most important and/or overlooked intangible for Baseball. Some would argue handling the staff is tangible, but it is not a stat we can firmly stand on. The Red Sox in the past have had teams with great players but had the "25 cabs for 25 players club house". We never won the World Series. So My opinion is that the clubhouse presence is the most valuable intangible (MVI). What say you?

How Quick We Turn...... [Promoted FanPost]

fishfarmr — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 04:07:54 -0000

[Note by Randy Booth, 01/19/09 3:17 PM EST ] Figured I'd add this to the front page for a little more exposure.

What a bunch of bad fans we at Red Sox Nation are. We all talk about loyalty and that players should take less "for the team". Fine, but we then cannot turn on them. Jason Varitek Has been our captain and we now want to throw him overboard. Where is our loyalty? Does he not deserve it? Should we be asking him to please come back? Shouldn't he get the 20 mil for two years as a thank you and out of the Teams loyalty? We love Pedroia's loyalty, but it has to go both ways or we are just MFY Fans. Maybe the guy was going through a divorce and that impacted his offensive stats. Maybe he comes back and hits .255 with 17 HR's. The clubhouse will be better with him, and it is a big factor. Ask the Yankees about "on paper" teams and how it has worked for them. But that is what we do, plug in a guys potential .280 and say how much better we will be. It may be true, but we should be better than that. I am not happy with Tek's numbers, but I am more unhappy with Sox fans lack of loyalty and double standards. I know the Boris thing clouds this, and we need to get a young guy for the future. But Jason was in the trenches with us, and we cannot turn on him. We can, but then we are as classless as the New York Fans.

Our Bench is now better

fishfarmr — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:11:31 -0000

Lugo - excellent (first time with him in the same vicinity)

Baldeli - Excellent (if healthy of course)

How many teams have this quality ready to fill in?

Now, why is Dusty Brown not a candidate? Or even Mentioned ever? 84 games at AAA and .290 and 12 Knocks? can't do worse than Tek!

And Carter or Bailey are adequate as that third option. I believe that trading Bowden or Buchholz for a catcher prospect (salty or teagarden) is not the way to go. Surviveat that position for 2 years and either our prospects pan out or Mauer is a free agent.

Don't Pencil the Yanks in just yet....

fishfarmr — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:32:12 -0000

Spend some money and create a buzz. That is what the yankees do and in fact needed to do( season tickets and luxury suites). But as for on the field, did they really improve over 2008? I say the got better defensively and that's it. All you stat guys can respond with the details, I am a macro guy. The bottom line is Tex replaces Abreu and Giambi and in my head those 2 guys killed us. Also Giambi always got big, clutch hits. His HR's always counted unlike A-rods 9-1 game solo shots. CC and AJ replace Moose and Pettite. Again, for 2009 are the newbies going to put up more wins? Long term it may work for the yanks, but they did not get better than 2008. They have as many questions as we do with health and age, and they are in no way as deep as we are. Furthermore, What is their bullpen consist of? With this being said, I really don't think the Yanks are the team to beat. If I know this, so does Cash, so I am predicting they will slide in at the end (ala Tex) and sign Manny. And with that they will slug their way to the WS. Although Chemistry may be the X factor. Am i wrong here?

No Tex, No Worries.

fishfarmr — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 23:55:16 -0000

So we lost a a very good player, and to the Yanks no less. But lets look at it this way, Over Lowell, he was 8-10 HR's better and lets say 20 poins in average. For 23 mil. it is not worth it. If we got him, all would have been happy with resigning Veritek. We now can get a catcher who can make up that difference. We also don't have the behind the scenes fall out with his contract- Mainly Youk feeling his value is Identical and losing Lowell as a clubhouse leader. Plus we can get some pitching with that cash. If Papi and Lowell have bad seasons it then becomes an issue. If we get Teagarden and he hits .280 with 20 HR's, we lose nothing and have cash to spend. I say no worries, have faith in the ownwership and management that gave us 2 World Series Championships. What say you?

Why is manny not being suspended?

fishfarmr — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 22:47:35 -0000

Is not what Manny did the same as the blacksox? Didn't he just throw a game or an at bat to get a bigger payday? I say that is gambling or at least severely usurping the integrity of the game. Pete Rose at least bet on his team, Manny bet on his lack of play (throwing games) would get him a contract or free agency. So he was just basically rewarded for it. Am I the only one that sees this as the same as fixing a game? I cannot believe the Commish has not slapped a fine and suspension on Manny. And the press seems to be giving Manny adulation instead of scorn. What’s wrong with us?