Comments on: Directionless Red Sox hope for addition by subtraction

By: mornelithe

mornelithe — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 19:42:09 +0000

If both Youk and Papi are holding onto a grudge over something that happened a few years ago, regarding a piece of trash like Ramirez, they should both probably reevaluate their priorities in life. Yes, Ramirez had some exceptional production in Boston, but his transgressions were obviously quite glaring (to the point of getting physical with a team liaison over free tickets), to say nothing of his issues w/ PED’s.

I’d like to think (maybe naively) that both are more professional than that.

By: psousa1

psousa1 — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 19:02:00 +0000

A disgrace? Do you follow sports?

By: wendell7

wendell7 — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 18:42:10 +0000

The headline should have read: “Matthew Pouliot’s Directionless Attempt at a Red Sox Article”

By: bigleagues

bigleagues — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 18:03:44 +0000

And for all those who love to excuse their own poor nutrition byway of pointing to pro athletes who also have poor nutrition . . . Buchholz has admitted that his diet consists of fast food and junk food.

And if you don’t understand why that’s a problem, you just haven’t been paying attention. Good luck to you.

By: bigleagues

bigleagues — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 17:49:34 +0000

LOL. It already did. Valentine kind of hung Buchholz out to dry for making his Start.

By: mornelithe

mornelithe — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 17:22:33 +0000

Which is only 5.5 games back for the lead of the AL East.

By: sabatimus

sabatimus — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 17:15:34 +0000

Yep, and to put THAT in perspective, they’re 4 games over .500.

By: sabatimus

sabatimus — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 17:13:41 +0000

I think the article has some salient points, but “directionless” is a very poor choice of words, and incorrect.

By: sabatimus

sabatimus — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 17:10:53 +0000

I think Crawford should be traded and the Sox should eat his contract. He’s a bust. Nava on the other hand is playing fabulously and improved a LOT since he first came up.

By: sabatimus

sabatimus — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 17:08:32 +0000

One thing they should have done differently was not have Lucchino as the GM. Yes, Lucchino, because Cherington is just his lapdog.

By: sabatimus

sabatimus — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 17:06:06 +0000

That might be somewhat due to the near-fight in the dugout between Ramirez (Papi’s best friend) and Youk a few years back; the reports were that the players were on Ramirez’s side on that one.

By: sabatimus

sabatimus — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 17:03:18 +0000

This current diet could include an unhealthy dose of Bobby V…

By: riverace19

riverace19 — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 17:02:37 +0000

Well Ari, since you asked what the Red Sox should have done differently, I will put in my $0.02:
First move was letting Papelbon go. The majority perceived that Papel had to go, so fine, he had to go. They had Daniel Bard groomed to be his replacement and he had problems towards the end of 2011, but he should have inherited the closer job. INSTEAD, they made him a starter which never made any sense to me and now he’s in AAA. THEN, they traded a starting RF (Reddick) for always injured Bailey, and a starting SS (Lowrie) for another reliever in AAA (Melancon). Right field has been a black hole all season and while Aviles does a good job at SS, I’d rather have Lowrie in there for better or worse.
Aceves has ‘saved’ their bullpen but these 2 trades killed their starting lineup.
I thought picking up Shoppach was good, and Ross has the perfect upper cut swing for the Monster.
When Middlebrooks started ripping the ball it was obvious he had to play. I thought Adrian Gonzalez did a good job in RF, which seemed to solve the problem. Then they trade Youk for essentially nothing and all they saved was $2 million. Right field will return to being a problem.
I feel like their awesome 10-year run as being an elite contender is OVER.

By: jimeejohnson

jimeejohnson — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 15:02:38 +0000

Red Sox 8-2 in their last 10 games. I’d say they are headed in the right direction. As for the Phillies, that’s a team headed in the WRONG direction.

By: mornelithe

mornelithe — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 14:58:30 +0000

To put that in perspective, the Red Sox have more money on the DL than the Diamondbacks, Rays, Pirates, Royals, Astros, Athletics and Padres entire 2012 payroll.

By: hammyofdoom

hammyofdoom — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 14:44:34 +0000

I think I’m with every Red Sox fan where I say that I will miss youk a ton and he did a lot for this team for eight years. However, he hasn’t been himself since 2009, with only 100 games played in 2010 where he played great, and 120 games played in 2011 where he sucked. I don’t quite understand the media and baseball fans who are making a big deal about this trade…he was gone after the season at least, Will Middlebrooks is obviously a great 3B and Youk has not been healthy or playing great since 2009. It was time unfortunately for him to go

By: mornelithe

mornelithe — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 14:42:42 +0000

Any team with $75,657,000 on the DL (Including their closer, and All Star CF and LF) is going to have troubles. That they’re only 5.5 games back from 1st in the AL East is a testament to their durability. It’s been a rough road for the Sox this year, but they’re doing what they can to keep themselves in it, and definitely playing much better now than they were at the beginning of the year.

The Pitching Staff really needs to step it up though, of any problems they have, the pitching staff is where it’s hurt them the most. Doubront (5th starter) has outperformed Boston’s 1-3 Starter’s, though Buccholz and Doubront are tied for Win lead on the team. Doubront leads the team in K’s, and is 2nd in ERA, and WHIP. I’m sure if Beckett had started every game he was scheduled to start this season, Doubront would be clearly leading all statistical categories for the Sox pitching staff.

By: mornelithe

mornelithe — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 14:01:55 +0000

@Hockeyflow33: They have ‘some’ pitching, definitely not what people are used to seeing, not even close…but they have some. And Aceves is currently 8th on the saves list (tied with Francisco and Broxton), with an 85.7% SV percentage. Is he elite? No…but for a guy who’s been a Starter, and long reliever for the Sox, that’s pretty good.

And they do have a closer, Bailey’s just been out with injury.

By: Ari Collins

Ari Collins — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 13:57:39 +0000

Actually, they have a pitching surplus, which is great after last year.

Their overall ERA is ugly, but when you adjust for Fenway park, they’re more middle-of-the-pack in xFIP. Which is fine given their offense.

And the bullpen has been one of the best in the majors. And since the disastrous first month, they were third in the majors in ERA in May and have been first so far in June.

By: hockeyflow33

hockeyflow33 — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 13:10:26 +0000

They have no pitching and certainly lack a closer

By: bigleagues

bigleagues — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 12:09:50 +0000

Lillibridge will be the 6th Infielder. He’s low cost depth. A luxury for the Sox. Stewart hasn’t been good with his first few cups – but his upside is good.

Despite wiping Youk off the checklist . . . the Red Sox remain in a rare position where they may be buying and selling leading up to the deadline with Nava, Ross leading the way and quite possibly – I believe – one of their SP like Beckett or Buchholz.

Two years in a row Buchholz has missed Starts due to intestinal distress. That’s diet and there really is no excuse for it.

By: urfinished

urfinished — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 11:05:35 +0000

Not a RedSox fan by any means, but kind of cool Youk finished his Red Sox career with a triple…sliding hard into third base where he played his ass off for many years.
Maybe I can actually root for him now that he left Boston.
As for Papi and Youk…I think a few are you are looking for something that isnt there. They arent best friends, but there was no animosity in that video.

By: badintent

badintent — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 06:01:37 +0000

The Miller Truck is coming to a Red Sox clubhouse near them and you.How come no one mention that the bartender is Kim K ? Stay classy Boston, maybe Brady’s wife will show up and scream at the Umpire

By: badintent

badintent — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 05:55:52 +0000

Here’s what to do with that toliet seat of a field. Have Donald Trump buy it , tear it down, put up a casino and condo tower with putt-putt golf and name it Trump’s Dump. And move the Sox to a little league field, it will suit them but ban beer and chicken wings. And Hazel Mae

By: aceshigh11

aceshigh11 — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 05:24:25 +0000

Well, yes, but it’s more than that.

There’s a VERY ugly, negative, nasty vibe surrounding this team, and it’s been there since their collapse last season.

Now, of course, some of this is overblown Boston media B.S. When a team is winning, all of that negativity goes away and everyone is smiling and playing loose, but there just feels like something is fundamentally broken about this team.

Carl Crawford’s been a zombie since he got here. Adrian Gonzalez has completely lost his power stroke. Youkilis has been miserable and angry for some time. Ortiz is always disgruntled about something despite playing brilliantly and making shitloads of cash. Beckett is a nasty, hateful piece of work who has had a negative effect on Lester and Buchholz.

It’s just really weird…they went from the best team in baseball last August to missing the playoffs in less than a month, becoming a national laughingstock, and whatever infected them is still there.

By: mornelithe

mornelithe — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 05:11:45 +0000

Well said Ari.

By: mornelithe

mornelithe — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 05:07:08 +0000

I did notice that, not sure if it was mutual, from Youk or Papi, but there definitely appeared to be some animosity there. I wonder if words had been exchanged during that whole players taking responsibility meeting, that Papi organized.

Either way, I’m just happy Youk’s going to have a place where he can be consistently active. Must’ve been tough seeing the ‘new kid’ out there in your place everyday. But, it happens. Good luck Youkilis.

By: patsfiend

patsfiend — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 04:53:28 +0000

This article is BS. “Directionless?”

By: dan1111

dan1111 — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 04:49:06 +0000

I completely agree. This article makes little sense. The Sox’ main problem this year is injuries, something over which they have no control. Despite this, they have been heading in a pretty good direction lately: up in the standings.

By: Ari Collins

Ari Collins — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 04:30:24 +0000

He’s reportedly a better defender than many of those guys, and he has more upside than some others. There’s a rationale, though I certainly don’t know the player well enough to know if it’s a good one.

Currently, with the injuries, he’s probably 4th or 5th, don’t you think? At least until Sweeney comes back.