vilehoopster

The Sox will pay for it by Colson not wanting to resign with the Sox, or a action like that is a big step to turning Colson into a Clubhouse cancer. I'm telling you; Colson is not gonna be happy about it.

Managing a professional team means more than managing the talent, making lineups, scouting, skill development, and whatever else we associate with running a professional team. It also means managing players and their egos, usually big egos. You have to take into account those egos. So, let me say something that many on here will disagree with. I really don't think the Sox want to leave ST with Meidroth on the MLB roster. For one reason, I don't think his bat is ready. But here's the other. . . Also, if Meidroth, batting .133 or whatever, is playing in Chicago, and Colson was sent down to the minors two weeks ago, Colson is never going to forgive or forget that. I'm sure Colson will say all the right things, blah, blah blah. But he will see the combination of those two decisions as a big slight to him (he's been in the orgainzation much longer) and that is going to fester. Colson already feels he wasn't given a real shot due to an injury that he will feel is not his fault. Can I prove this? Of course not. but if you work with players and their egos, you have to know this is a reality. If Colson is at Charlotte and Meidroth is in Chicago, down the road, the Sox will pay for it. I've said this before: Send them all down to Charlotte, let them play together and win together; then after the big flip sale at the trading deadline, bring them and their winning attitutes and expectations up.

Maybe because he was their best (least bad) bat the 2nd half of the year.

1. 63 wins 2. Even with the super lefties and Grant Taylor coming up, Drew Thorpe will be the Greg Maddux-like ace of the staff for the next five years, at least.

This is a great point that's hard for me to argue with. I'm upset about the team not looking at ST performances, especially Smith's; but then I'm ignoring Burke's incredible September in real MLB games. Maybe he is the way to go? We'll see. With that said, if Smith is not in the starting rotation, I'm going to be posting the first fire Venable post . . . maybe.

Have you seen Smith in ANY of his starts this spring. In his first start, he was nervous and walked the 1st two guys and they scored. But since then he has been amazing. Did you see him against the Dodgers and a very real Dodgers lineup? And I know it's spring training yada, yada, yada. But Smith has looked really impressive.

This is me. I am shocked (and concerned) by this call. It seemed Martin really, really deserved it. But I could have understood Perez or even Shane Smith; Cannon not so much. Martin has been in the organization longer and has been untouchable in ST. I would really like to know the logic behind this decision.

I said this in the other thread: Vaughn at 1st; Drury at 2nd; Sosa at SS; and Vargas at 3rd. Injuries have to stay away and Drury not be flipped, but that could very well be 70 to 80 home runs from the Sox infield. Maybe more than 80.

Drury is a 2nd baseman. Play him at 2nd and let's get some home runs out of our infield. I think someone suggested this in the Opening Day 26 man roster thread. Oh yeah, it was me.

If Shane Smith is not in the starting rotation, my opinion of Venable is going to plummet. Really, right now, I have no opinion of him good or bad, but not going with Smith is a good way to start it off really poorly.

I don't understand people suggesting this or that lineup or infield and everyone seems to keep leaving Sosa out of the lineup. He's cooled off lately, but he was/ is one of the Sox's best bats in spring training, and that's coming off his great September where he seemed to really figure things out at the plate. I really think he's got to play and have his at bats. Also, I don't start to understand this, "Play Amaya at short until Colson is ready" thing? Amaya is terrible offensively; I'm angry he's still getting ST at bats. He's Maldonado 2.0: a complete dead bat in the lineup. Why would anyone want to play him? Meidroth is not quite ready yet; I really think he needs to go to AAA for a while and to bond with the others. So, this is the lineup, more or less, that I want to see; let's score some runs! 1st Vaugh 2nd Drury SS Sosa 3rd Vargas Rojas fills in five days a week where he can. At 3rd when Vargas is DH or at 1st, same with Sosa, Drury and so on. That's 70 to 80 home runs next year from your infield. Again, let's score some runs. When whoever is ready to come up at the trade deadline, trade Drury, hopefully he'll have 12 or so home runs with less strikeouts and be this year's DeJong. Outfield: Benintendi, Robert (let him prove he can stay healthy and get some real value at the trade deadline), and I have no idea in right. There's nothing in right as a option that I start to like, some lefty/ righty platoon. With Benintendi and Robert (full season, maybe traded), that's another 50 home runs. Now, what I would like to see is all the youngsters stay down in AAA and have success and bond. Then I say bring them all up together in late July: Meidroth, Colson, the cacthers and the two lefty pitchers a little bit later in August. But basically bring them up as a group and work them in full time into September. Well, I'm tired typing, but that is what I would like to see.

I hate to say it, but there's a lot of truth here. It would take more than a nice spring training to remove both the odor and the injury fear.

For the Sox to have a chance to win 63 (which I think is possible but doubtful), the Sox need at least three starters better than Perez, which I think is very possible.

Iriarte will go down to Charlotte and do just fine. He'll probably have a locker right next to Burke. But both of them will be very good pitchers in the future.

Really for a 23 year old on his 2nd ST appearance. That trade is looking just fine. Actually, I think he will solve this and turn out to be a very good pitcher for the Sox. (Just not today or anytime too soon.)

Did I miss it in this thread anywhere, but did anyone bring how well Martin pitched today, especially against a very tough set of six batters. I thought he looked outstanding, his 2nd game of the spring where he's been really good. Again, he wasn't throwing against minor league batters, but some really outstanding bats. I have to think right now (I know, only two short outings) that Martin has the inside track of being the opening day starter.

I just went and looked at the game stats. Amaya has been up three times with runners in scoring position and all three times he has struck out, all three times. If the Sox lose this game by a run or two (I know it's only spring training, but still) you can squarely put the blame on the loss on Amaya's shoulders. But really, I don't think that's true. I think the blame has to go to Sox management for ever wasting the time to sign him and play him this spring. Why waste at bats that could have gone to so many more deserving and real prospects. Why did we waste a second of spring training time on Amaya?

That has to be the 9 or 10th time this spring that Amaya has been up with runners in scoring position, and he has gotten out EVERY time. Am I correct, it's happened three times alone in today's game. Just cut him. He's terrible; he was terrible last year. Cut him.

Wow, he did not help himself today.

What other pitchers are we excited to see today? In a way, kinda all of them. I'm very curious about Smith, Booser, Leasure, Mason.

No one has mentioned him, but I think that there's a very real chance that Shane Smith could be in the starting rotation this year. His minor league stats are rather impressive. Also, as the # 1 Rule Five draft, I would think that means the Sox have some high expectations for him .

I have a question. I've thought this for years, but this spring with all the pitchers in camp and all the NRIs and all the position battles, this question seems more relevant than even in past years. But with so many players in camp, shouldn't that Sox be trying to play two split-squad games everyday or almost every day? I always wondered why there weren't more split-squad two-game days. Was it lack of pitching? Well, the Sox have plenty of pitchers they want to look at. Is it hard to find other teams to do this with? Are the games for spring training already scheduled and can't be changed? I really don't know much on this subject. Can anyone say why a team does or doesn't play more split-squad games?

I understand the appeal of Meidroth and his great OBP in the minors. But I still think that a lot the reasons why people are thinking he'll be the Sox starting 2nd baseman is "Second-String quarterback syndrome" (when a team is playing badly, fans always think the unknown player must be better than the present player). I still think that outstanding September earns Sosa a huge edge to be the Sox starting 2nd baseman this year. And yes, "Look at Meidroth's stats," you say. And they are impressive. But look at Sosa's stats from his last two years at Charlotte; they are also very impressive. Both years with an OPS well over .800. It's up to debate and fun to talk about. That's why Spring Training is exciting and gets us all talking.

You are showing your ridiculous anti-Getz bias trying make the DeJong signing sound like anything but a total win for Getz and Sox management last year. DeJong hit 18 home runs for a team starved, STARVED for power, and then he was flipped for a prospect. That was exactly what Getz and management was hoping to get out of that signing. A total win.

Yes, it's the strike zone.