SCCWS

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Apr 4, 2014 -> 02:20 PM) I was thinking this earlier today too. I would love an infield of Abreu, Micah Johnson, Semien and Davidson. They might be very good offensively but awful defensively. The knock so far on Davidson and Johnson is defense and we shall see w Semien as a SS and Abreu as a 1B.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 3, 2014 -> 06:06 PM) 11,056 today. With so few fans, they should have invited them all to sit in the press box.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 3, 2014 -> 05:55 PM) Avi Garcia played about as bad of a game as you can play. Well if he collided with Abreu on a pop fly and knocked them both out for the year, that would have been much worse. Compared to that , today was no big deal.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Apr 2, 2014 -> 06:46 PM) It should be De Aza against RHP, no questions asked. In fact, it's so obvious Ventura will never do it. Actually a question asked. DeAza has swung a hot bat in ST and the first 2 games. Shouldn't he be the 5th hitter between the righties instead of (all)Dunn? Move (all) Dunn down to 7th. Got to give Semien more than 2 games hitting 2nd before you move him down or even out.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Apr 1, 2014 -> 03:46 PM) Thanks for the compliment! Not having an established closer may kill any chance for Sale. I was glad yesterday that the pen was able to finish off his start.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 06:53 PM) Sale 1-0, Eaton and Abreu were great. DeAza was greater.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 04:21 PM) JI DeAza will be the LH bat next year.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 30, 2014 -> 03:15 PM) You know when it's bad when Opening Day isn't sold out yet. Even Tampa Bay is already sold out................

QUOTE (oldsox @ Mar 29, 2014 -> 08:30 AM) Hawk doesn/t sound well at all. Medically, that is. He sais one very odd thing. He complained that last year's team was the worst defensively he has ever seen . But his biggest complaint was their attitude towards playing D. This year, he said, with the changes Hahn made, there is a new and improved attitude. But then he went on to say that a poor attitude would not have happened under KW either. So who were these players and if Hahn or Williams isn't to blame is he complaining about Robin allowing it.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 29, 2014 -> 09:05 AM) A major league team needs players like Alex Liddi? Try again. He has one tool, power. Strikes out more frequently than Adam Dunn. Doesn't walk and defensively, although you can put him in at several positions, he doesn't play them well. Sounds like Flowers. He strikes out more than Dunn and he doesn't walk much either. Can Liddi catch........................................

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Mar 26, 2014 -> 08:40 PM) So pumped for Monday I can barely handle it Really???

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Mar 25, 2014 -> 11:53 AM) Theoretically, we could acquire Grandal in trade and sign Kendrys to be our DH next year. Begin 2015 with six Cubans, five in the starting lineup. Crazy. OR JR is getting ready to sell the team to a Cuban owner and they become the Havana Bananas

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 24, 2014 -> 06:44 PM) Correct. Hope he saved most of his signing money. Must be nice getting a couple million for being able to swing a bat fast and hitting high school pitching. Hopefully the scout who recommended him saved his as well.

QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 24, 2014 -> 03:47 PM) Honestly if I was a young pitcher who is already successful I'm not sure I could pass down a team friendly deal in hopes of a huge FA payday. That is such a huge risk that a freak baseball to the elbow even will cut your value to nothing. Your living in the 50's. These players all have big time agents. Do you actually think their agent is advising them to take a huge risk and blow their own cut???? They all have special policies that in the case of injury their income is protected for life. Once they sign the mega deal they drop the policy. It is why colleges are able to get a one and done player a policy to protect them until they make it to the NBA.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Mar 21, 2014 -> 10:04 AM) If you are looking at ST numbers, there is no way you can equate Danks and a hole in the rotation. Johnson may be a work in progress, but 90% of rookies are. Paulino is a question mark, granted, but the fifth rotation spot is not going to make or break this team, if it turns out that the only between the Sox and contention in mid-July is Felipe Paulino, Hahn has the assets to make and upgrade at that time. I think a lot here are underrating our pitching and overrating our offense going into this season. Rebuilding, especially a team as bad as last year, is not a 1 year process. Hahn has made changes that has added youth to several key offensive spots in RF, IB, 3B and CF. Now hopefully 3 or even 4 develop into full-time players. By next year he can hopefully find a closer, another starter and most importantly a catcher. He should also have made decisions on LF, SS and 2B. I look at this year as developmental, next year as vastly improving and 2016 as contending again.

QUOTE (MEANS @ Mar 20, 2014 -> 08:49 AM) fix that for ya But the caution is who they produced against. A GM will also look at spring stats versus level of competition. If a player is producing mostly against the opponent's AA/A pitchers then the stats are really inflated.

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Mar 18, 2014 -> 03:28 PM) In the 315 PAs before last year he had a 700 OPS. So by your metric we're to only consider his 275 PAs last year? Is that fair to him? You need to read what I said. He strikes out more than any catcher in baseball. Last year he struck out 37% of the times he came to bat. I gave him a break using last year. If you add inyour 315 PA before last year it jumps up to 39%. To put it in perspective, that is about 5% worse than Adam Dunn. Regardless of what he makes, he may actually strike out more than anyone in baseball

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Mar 18, 2014 -> 04:39 PM) So you'd prefer they start either a guy who was even worse than him in the majors or a guy who has never played a game above A+? It's not a good option, but Tyler Flowers is absolutely the Sox best option at this point. I wish it weren't so, but it is, so there's no time to dwell. (I was wrong on this front too, but it is what it is) NO. Flowers may be the only viable option. My problem is with Robin 's quote that "he has done a good job and he is picking up offensively. " He strikes out more than any catcher in baseball based on at bats and he has done the same so far in spring training.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 18, 2014 -> 08:45 AM) 6 Ks in 26 ABs as opposed to 5 Ks in 34 ABs. Might as well cut Flowers. I'll simplify it so you can understand. Flowers struck out more than any catcher in baseball last year based on number /AB. 6 out of 26 is a small sampling and it is only the mid-point of Spring training, but it is also against a range of ML to Class A pitchers. On a team that needs offense, he may be headed for a worst season this year.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Mar 15, 2014 -> 11:45 PM) Yeah, and Stephen Drew will be an upgrade over Iglesias. I don't get all the hype around Iglesias. He is more Didi Gregorious, and less Andrelton Simmons. Dude has no bat. In 350 AB's last season, as a rookie, he hit .303. With his defensive ability, if he hits .250, he is a prize.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Mar 17, 2014 -> 05:53 PM) T-Flow More like T-Blow. Flowers has struck out this spring more than Phegley and Nieto combined.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 15, 2014 -> 07:04 PM) Of course, a notable counterpoint is the Yankees having won 5 world series since 1995 and in those years they started 1 shortstop. Of course, a notable counterpoint, is during the span the Red Sox won 3 World Series with a different SS every year, the Yankees only one won while having the same SS.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 14, 2014 -> 10:32 AM) Other than the fact that the Sox would then be major league shortstop-less, yes. It isn't an easy position to fill. Even the organizations that are always listed as the best systems, STL, TB, are always throwing retreads in to fill that position. If you have a good one, trading them, unless it is a crazy haul, is very dangerous. Besides, if Stephen Drew is available for money and a 3rd or 4th rounder, it has to be less than what it would take to get Alexei. SS can also be overrated. The Red Sox have won 3 World Series since 2004. In those 10 years, they have started 9 different shortstops.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Mar 7, 2014 -> 04:40 PM) Adam Eaton has come to the plate 13 times in Spring, and reached base 9 times. .600/.692/.600/1.290 Maybe we finally have a leadoff hitter. But one big concern w him is his defense. How has he looked so far in CF.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Mar 5, 2014 -> 06:41 PM) Except it's not a real game. Now we see why Hahn got Axelrod back. He put a stake in the ground today for a starting job.