The Red Sox Thread

[Yanksfanintoronto]

http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/bos...golf-tomorrow/

[Yanksfanintoronto]

http://audio.weei.com/a/56227617/jos...e-wants-to.htm

He claims his off day is his off day and that he is entitled to it since he only gets 18 off days a year.....including the offseason and the fact that he is a pitcher I dont know how he reached that conclusion.

[DrNick]

http://audio.weei.com/a/56227617/jos...e-wants-to.htm

He claims his off day is his off day and that he is entitled to it since he only gets 18 off days a year.....including the offseason and the fact that he is a pitcher I dont know how he reached that conclusion.

That might be the best possible answer to add fuel to the fire..well done Joshie

[nnysiny]

Buster Olney said Beckett is the most stubborn person in baseball, but there really isnt a way to trade him unless they get an albatross contract in return. he mentioned Alfonso Soriano

[Yankee Fan in Boston]

http://audio.weei.com/a/56227617/jos...e-wants-to.htm

He claims his off day is his off day and that he is entitled to it since he only gets 18 off days a year.....including the offseason and the fact that he is a pitcher I dont know how he reached that conclusion.

And some Yankee fans were questioning Joba's judgement for jumping on a trampoline with his son. Well done, Josh.

[RenoHightower]

This is fantastic. Think they might have a fire sale before the All-Star break?

[ieddyi]

This is fantastic. Think they might have a fire sale before the All-Star break?

Don't think that's gonna happen for a number of reasons

They don't have valuable tradeable chips except Youkilis. Joshie got 10/5 rights and is toxic right now. TEams would know they were desperate and they wouldn't get value if they were able to make a trade

Lucky won't admit he was wrong on Valentine, so he's not gonna get fired this year

There's still the hope that DiceK and other returning players will right the ship

Despite the fact that the sellout streak continues, there have been a lot of empty seats. If they bailed on this season that would get a lot worse

[False1]

http://audio.weei.com/a/56227617/jos...e-wants-to.htm

He claims his off day is his off day and that he is entitled to it since he only gets 18 off days a year.....including the offseason and the fact that he is a pitcher I dont know how he reached that conclusion.

I agree with his position generally, but in this specific instance when word on the street is that he has an issue in a muscle that was going to prevent a start (and based on yesterday maybe it should have) it was very bad judgment.

[35Knucklecurve]

It seems like the clueless virus had infected the entire franchise:

http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/news/ar...k_bos&c_id=bos

As for the golf outing, Beckett and the Red Sox seemed unified in saying the uproar was much ado about nothing.

"I don't think it was a big deal at all, but people feel differently than I do, I guess," said Buchholz. "Just like last year. The whole beer and chicken thing wouldn't have been a story if we would have won and went to the playoffs. There's always got to be something to talk about. I think that's what it comes down to."

Valentine also dismissed the story as a non-issue.
"I've never seen a pitcher get hurt playing golf," Valentine said. "Again, I didn't think he was injured when he was skipped."

Just because he's never seen a player get hurt playing golf, it doesn't mean it can't happen. However, he and the rest of them seem to be missing the point - if you're not able to pitch because of a strained muscle (or whatever else) and you choose to participate in another physical activity, you're running the risk of doing further damage and/or having an impact on your performance on the mound. Additionally, you're inviting people to wonder, "Just how much is he really hurting?" If he really thinks the fans were only booing him for a crappy game, it must take him an hour and a half to watch 60 Minutes.

Yes, Bobby, there's always something to talk about......and the Sox are doing a pretty good job of providing the material.

[False1]

I've never heard of a pitcher getting injured shot putting, but that doesn't mean a guy with forearm stiffness should go do it.

[Yankee Fan in Boston]

It seems like the clueless virus had infected the entire franchise:

http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/news/ar...k_bos&c_id=bos


Just because he's never seen a player get hurt playing golf, it doesn't mean it can't happen. However, he and the rest of them seem to be missing the point - if you're not able to pitch because of a strained muscle (or whatever else) and you choose to participate in another physical activity, you're running the risk of doing further damage and/or having an impact on your performance on the moung. Additionally, you're inviting people to wonder, "Just how much is he really hurting?" If he really thinks the fans were only booing him for a crappy game, it must take him an hour and a half to watch 60 Minutes.

Yes, Bobby, there's always something to talk about......and the Sox are doing a pretty good job of providing the material.

Agree. If he was healthy and making his starts, this wouldn't be an issue. But the moment you skip a start because of a tight muscle -- which was the rationale the Red Sox provided -- it's disingenuous to say "I didn't think he was injured."

So, Bobby, what are our priorities here - he's healthy enough to golf, but not enough to pitch? I can't imagine that makes paying customers feel very warm and fuzzy.

[YankeePride1967]

Sure Bobby V, you skipped over your number two pitcher for a journeyman minor leaguer just because you felt like it.

[35Knucklecurve]

http://www.boston.com/sports/columni...t_needs_t.html

Forget about the fact that Red Sox "ace" Josh Beckett got lit up to the tune of seven runs over a measly 2 1/3 innings by the Cleveland Indians last night at Fenway Park. Forget about the fried chicken and beer, Beckett's reported refusal to participate in workout drills, and his public relations firm members who sit high atop home plate at Fenway Park.

Those are all reasons Josh Beckett needs to go. But during last night's postgame press conference, Beckett gave everybody -- fans, the front office, media members -- a reason to run him out of town with a ferocious vigor not seen in this town in years.

Beckett's smug defiance encapsulates everything we need to know about the 2012 Boston Red Sox, an over-privileged, under-achieving group of players who have become enemies to nearly every baseball-loving fan in Boston.

And Beckett is the contemptible bandleader.
[snip]
Spare me the notion that the Red Sox can't get rid of a guy who gave them almost 200 innings of work last season. The franchise is a disgrace, and Beckett is reason No. 1 why they have been an international laughingstock (Hello, Anfield) for the past nine months. This team is going nowhere; poorly constructed, poorly managed, and poorly marketed. The Red Sox need Josh Beckett why again?

It's not that Beckett doesn't get it, he just doesn't care, and that is the most damning characteristic an athlete, someone who gets paid millions of dollars to achieve his greatest heights possible in order to help his team, can possess. But it isn't just his public perception that Beckett clearly doesn't care about. Last September proved he doesn't care about his team, causing his manager, trainers, and countless others to lose their jobs.

And he's still here. Why?

Ben Cherington now has the unenviable task of trying to find some team willing to take this infectious load off his hands. The Red Sox will have to eat a significant portion of Beckett's contract, but what else is new? Add it to the list.

Boston fans deserve a lot better than what they've had to watch the past few years. As a player, I just do not understand how you can think that you can do whatever you want and not be held accountable. In this case, the FO is just as responsible for this monumental collapse as the team. These are grown men, getting paid a boatload of money to play a game for a living. You need somebody to tell you that drinking beer during a game is not going to go over well with fans? Maybe you'd better re-think shelling out money to a public relations firm because right now, your realtionship with the public is shot and there isn't any amount of spin they can put on it to justify keeping your sorry ass in Boston.

[YankeePride1967]

"The franchise is a disgrace, and Beckett is reason No. 1 why they have been an international laughingstock (Hello, Anfield) for the past nine months. This team is going nowhere; poorly constructed, poorly managed, and poorly marketed. The Red Sox need Josh Beckett why again?"

Strong words but hard to argue.

[ArodEra]

I'm telling you it's the curse of Pete Abrambinoham.

[BobLoblaw]

http://audio.weei.com/a/56227617/jos...e-wants-to.htm

He claims his off day is his off day and that he is entitled to it since he only gets 18 off days a year.....including the offseason and the fact that he is a pitcher I dont know how he reached that conclusion.

What a dummy. Just apologize, regardless if you're really sorry or not, and let it die.

Oh man, I am enjoying this Sox team this year.

[RenoHightower]

Don't think that's gonna happen for a number of reasons

They don't have valuable tradeable chips except Youkilis. Joshie got 10/5 rights and is toxic right now. TEams would know they were desperate and they wouldn't get value if they were able to make a trade

Lucky won't admit he was wrong on Valentine, so he's not gonna get fired this year

There's still the hope that DiceK and other returning players will right the ship

Despite the fact that the sellout streak continues, there have been a lot of empty seats. If they bailed on this season that would get a lot worse

Beckett's 10/5 rights are irrelevant if the team is having a fire sale; he's not going to veto a trade away from an awful, self-destructing team, particularly when the fans already hate him.

Pedroia would probably bring back more than he's worth, but that might be too much of a PR disaster given that 1) he's still reasonably young (won't be 29 until August), and 2) he's playing well and generally not embarrassing himself with douchebaggery.

I definitely think that Lester would be easy to trade. His contract jumps up next year, and then there is a somewhat pricey ($13m) team option in 2014, but he still has a rep as a #1 guy.

Ortiz is on a one-year deal, and he's raking, so he'd be really easy to trade to a team needing a left-handed bat. I could see him vetoing a trade, but if they're dumping the rest of the high-priced veterans, he'd probably go with it.

Gonzalez is still highly-regarded. They wouldn't be able to get full-value for him, but I doubt they'd have a hard time moving that contract.

The real problem is going to be Crawford. I'm not sure he's ever going to be an impact player again. Wrist injuries for hitters are the kiss of death, and Crawford at his best was only a good, not great, hitter. When you consider that he's going to be 31 this season, and that a lot of his value is tied up in his speed, which already looked to be in decline last year, in addition to the fact that he's got a potential long-term wrist problem coming off an abysmal season, I can't imagine anyone even considering a Crawford deal unless Boston eats literally about $80m, which seems unlikely.

[NerfBall55]

http://www.boston.com/sports/columni...t_needs_t.html

Boston fans deserve a lot better than what they've had to watch the past few years.

After listening to the litany of Yanees suck chants at every event from baseball games, to football rallies to weddings, christenings, etc, combined with the ridiuclous arrogance I've witnessed since 2004*, I completely disagree.

Now, if we broke Boston Fans down into the subset the posts here, it's a different story.

[Mr Coffee]

Now, if we broke Boston Fans down into the subset the posts here, it's a different story.

[NerfBall55]

Exactly, Coffee. Well done.

[4bronxbombers]

After listening to the litany of Yanees suck chants at every event from baseball games, to football rallies to weddings, christenings, etc, combined with the ridiuclous arrogance I've witnessed since 2004*, I completely disagree.

Now, if we broke Boston Fans down into the subset the posts here, it's a different story.

Agree.

[4bronxbombers]

I'd like to see the pic of the guy near the front row imitating a golf swing as Beckett left the mound.

[ieddyi]

Sure Bobby V, you skipped over your number two pitcher for a journeyman minor leaguer just because you felt like it.

That's the weird part of the whole thing

Were they that worried that they would lose Aaron Cook???

Joshie himself admitted that the lat was bothering him before the 126 start, so why is he pretending now that nothing was wrong?

And why is it that the Boston fan base deserves anything? They've been rooting for the dirt dog/cowboy up/gritty image for years.

They're just reaping the dark side of that BS now and it couldn't happen to a more deserving group

[ieddyi]

Beckett's 10/5 rights are irrelevant if the team is having a fire sale; he's not going to veto a trade away from an awful, self-destructing team, particularly when the fans already hate him.

Pedroia would probably bring back more than he's worth, but that might be too much of a PR disaster given that 1) he's still reasonably young (won't be 29 until August), and 2) he's playing well and generally not embarrassing himself with douchebaggery.

I definitely think that Lester would be easy to trade. His contract jumps up next year, and then there is a somewhat pricey ($13m) team option in 2014, but he still has a rep as a #1 guy.

Ortiz is on a one-year deal, and he's raking, so he'd be really easy to trade to a team needing a left-handed bat. I could see him vetoing a trade, but if they're dumping the rest of the high-priced veterans, he'd probably go with it.

Gonzalez is still highly-regarded. They wouldn't be able to get full-value for him, but I doubt they'd have a hard time moving that contract.

The real problem is going to be Crawford. I'm not sure he's ever going to be an impact player again. Wrist injuries for hitters are the kiss of death, and Crawford at his best was only a good, not great, hitter. When you consider that he's going to be 31 this season, and that a lot of his value is tied up in his speed, which already looked to be in decline last year, in addition to the fact that he's got a potential long-term wrist problem coming off an abysmal season, I can't imagine anyone even considering a Crawford deal unless Boston eats literally about $80m, which seems unlikely.

No, the real problem is that if they trade Pedroia, Lester, and Gonzalez they'll have no team left and will be playing to an empty stadium and plummeting ratings and ad revenue

They could trade them in theory, but in reality, they can't. It's not like the Nomar trade, this situation is f'd up way beyond that

[fredgmuggs]

Sure Bobby V, you skipped over your number two pitcher for a journeyman minor leaguer just because you felt like it.

Remember back a few years ago when there was a group here that wanted Valentine to replace Torre?