"I'm a little concerned because we had a good club and we all thought we were going to be in first place by now, but overall we had a great season," Colon said. "We didn't finish in first place in our division, but the club had a good season."

 

 

We had a great season overall?? I think not winning the division makes this season a waste, at least it does in my eyes...

I agree. Every member of that team should be kicking himself in the ass for blowing such a great opportunity.

Things are goin to be much harder for this ballclub in 2004. Firstly the whole team ain't gonna come back and it's gonna be hard for us to be up near the top unless Colon, Buerhle and Loaiza can win at least 50 - 60 games b/w them. Secondly the Indians r gonna be better, watch their young guys develop and they could be a .500 team next year. And even the Tigers can't be as bad as they were this year. Or can they?

I can see where Bartolo is coming from, from the standpoint that the Sox DID salvage the year in one sense. They were all but dead before the ASG and they did get back in the race and make it very interesting. I think it's human nature to try to find the silver lining, and not to just bash and bash and stay depressed about it.

 

As far as next year, who can tell? At this time last year, was ANYONE thinking that KC would be a contender for the division title? With their pitching staff, is there any real reason to expect them to play that well again next year? If the Twins lose free agents like we expect, will the chemistry suffer? Or will they just plow forward like they did after losing Ortiz?

 

My thinking is that if the Sox don't let EVERY free agent walk, and IF they address a couple key problem areas, they can expect to be in the thick of it next year, and every year brings its own circumstances. All you can ask of your team is to make moves to remain competitive and the Sox definitely did that this year. It just didn't work out.

Imagine if we had signed Ortiz instead of the Red Sox. That guy basically carried that Boston team.

Imagine if we had signed Ortiz instead of the Red Sox.  That guy basically carried that Boston team.

He would have played about as much as Daubach.