Sweeny was never expected to be an every-day player, he was a throw in for the Bailey trade. I’m fairly certain they would’ve had to dish out the farm if they wanted another outfielder instead of just waiting for Crawford to come back, who had several setbacks in his rehab because he was either rushing or being rushed back to live up to that contract.

The sox have nothing to gain from throwing in the towel. No prospects would get more playing time. Anybody they call up would have their development stunted by being thrown in front of such a demanding fan base. By playing with the players they have right now and trying to compete, they can surely overcome 5 games. Its such a cheese-dick move to throw in the towel when you are clearly in a position to compete. The team has an offense that can compete with any, they just need more consistent pitching, and when you have a chance to make playoffs yet still throw in the towel, you lose the respect of the coaches, players, and rest of the league. Yet more importantly, you lose the trust from the fans. Thats nothing a first year GM would want to do in his first year.

And it is definitely time to throw in the towel. This team is not making up 5 games in any race with the way it is put together.

That attitude is what is going to cause they to waste what little farm talent they have to bring in some pitcher like Ryan Dempster who is going to come here and S-U-C-K trying to adapt to the AL. They need to focus on next season and beyond and stop clinging to the misguided notion that they can make a run this year. They haven’t been built for it since day 1. Again, they went into the season with RYAN SWEENEY set up to man a CORNER outfield position. That was the plan!

The only positive Ryan Sweeney brought is that he’s, somehow, younger than Daniel Nava.

really?! throwing out how much your home in worth in a post about baseball?! who’s the one with a little dick now?!

Get a clue.

Its a fallacy to say someone cant improve after 30. Sure, its not the norm but Nava’s entire career hasn’t been conventional. Hes only been playing professionally since ’05 so there’s certainly room for growth.

As for Aviles, who else would you like manning the position? Nick Punto? Cherington is playing the cards he was dealt. Ciriaco has been great so far, but expecting this for a full season is unreasonable from a career minor league player. Middlbrooks has gotten all the playing time one could ask for.

Also the sox are currently 5 games out of the wildcard, giving up now would be outrageous given the amount of talent and the fact they are finally getting healthy. Teams inevitably go on winning streaks and with how uncharacteristic the starting pitching has been as a whole, a regression to the mean is definitely not absurd. I’m not guaranteeing playoffs, but at this point last season cardinals fans had no playoff expectations so its ridiculous to throw in the towel, especially with the backlash that would ensue from the fan base and boston media.

And Crawford has about 40 different ailments. And great, so Ellsbury was already injured when he got MORE injured, and then he missed half of this season after being injured AGAIN. Nope, doesn’t sound injury prone at all….although Ellsbury I will give the benefit of the doubt, but Crawford is breaking down. Even he admits he needs ligament replacement surgery.

And Nava is almost 30 years old. He’s not developing. He has peaked. Kalish may have a career, but Nava does not. And have you noticed how his offense has taken an Offermanesque dive?

And umm….Crawford is not in his prime. Crawford is washed up.Granted, they have a couple really solid players that they shouldn’t trade, and will be beneficial in the future….I’m not suggesting trading Petey, A-Gon or even Ellsbury at this point (and it’s not like anyone would take Crawford), but they have to stop trading useful pieces for complete crap (Youkilis…not that they should have kept him, but they could have gotten more for him)….It’s just a lot year and there is no reason to keep running Mike Aviles, and other 30 year old never-weres instead of seasoning some of the few talented players in the farm system, even if they aren’t ready for a pennant run…..because the team ISN’T MAKING A PENNANT RUN.

Give more guys (like Ciriaco and Middlebrooks) as shot and see if you have anything of value going forward.

Oh, I didn’t touch on it and I should have….but start by defending Mike Aviles being an everyday player. That would be fun to watch (you defending it….not watching him bat…that’s not fun for anyone but opposing teams).

If this team is still deluding themselves into thinking they can make a run, they deserve to continue having a completely barren farm system.

The only bright spots to this season are Salty showing some power, and Middlebrooks. Cody Ross has been a pleasant surprise, but they probably should move him while he has value, as opposed to going into next season relying on a 32 year old outfielder to match a career year (which he likely won’t do).

And here’s some more advice…..stop acquiring #4 outfielders and starting them. Daniel Nava is not a legit major league outfielder. Nor is McDonald, or Sweeney. You want to play guys in their early 20s, not their late 20s/early 30s if you want to actually build for the long term. McDonald and Sweeney shouldn’t even be blocking PROSPECTS at AAA.

And KALISH? Are you kidding?