Yes, the pitching should improve. Can the lineup continue to produce? The Sox are 4th in MLB run scoring (NYY 225, Phillies 213, Toronto 212, Sox 210) and have scored more runs than the vaunted Rays. Did I underestimate this team's offense or have they overperformed and are they due for a fall? I'm fully prepared for the pitching the improve and the hitters to go into a funk.
Where is the bridge to? By my count we can count on three guys in the current lineup being there long-term (Ellsbury, Pedroia, Youkilis). That's a lot of spots to fill for an organization that hasn't been awe-inspiring in producing day-to-day players, especially day-to-day players with power. I hope Theo has a plan, because if isn't apparent to me. ________________________________ From: Tom Salemi <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wed, May 19, 2010 12:27:41 PM Subject: Re: Adrian Beltre Now I wish I'd had the nads in early April to post my planned "this team isn't good enough to beat the Rays/Yanks" email. But I let hope and emotion get the better of me. Two things, 1. I never anticipated the pitching would be this bad. And it should improve. 2. While I'm okay with a rebuilding or bridge year, I ahve to wonder what's on the otherside of the bridge that's going to make 2011 decidedly better than 2010? Other than free agents. I know we have a lot of nice young talent, but do we have enough? On Wed, May 19, 2010 at 7:53 AM, Ray Salemi <[email protected]> wrote: Tom was prescient as to the results of this team. Here's his comment from January. > > >I'm on board with the "Theo is rebuilding" as a theme for this year. So now >it's time for some low stress baseball. > >Ray > > >PS. No wonder he's kicking my ass in Roto. > > >On Wed, Jan 6, 2010 at 4:40 PM, Tom Salemi <[email protected]> wrote: > >As am I. I just take exception to the tone of such articles that fawn over >Theo's brilliance in acquiring players like Beltre. >> >>-- >>This is simply a tremendous addition for the Red Sox. They got a +3 win >>player with upside, at age 30, on a one year deal for $10 million. They >>significantly upgraded over Mike Lowell, and put their defense back on track >>to being an asset, not a liability. Theo Epstein saw an opportunity to add >>undervalued assets and made huge improvements to the team by bringing in both >>Cameron and Beltre. >>Boston fans, get ready to be spoiled. You’ll never see another third baseman >>play the hot corner as well as you’ll see it played in 2010. >>-- >> >>I don't think Cameron and Beltre count as HUGE IMPROVEMENTS to the team. >> >>Bottomline, Theo is wisely saving his chits for the next off-season. He'll go >>hard after Mauer and Gonzalez. Maybe take a shot at Lee, who knows. I'd enjoy >>watching Carl Crawford play everyday for the Sox. We'll see if Theo agrees. >> >>I'm fine with that. It's a sound strategy, and it's one that I recognize Theo >>can't say publicly. We need to win the World Series, or at least beat the >>Yankees, every year. >> >>But just because I agree with the strategy doesn't mean I have to buy into >>the fawning that will go on this off-season. If Beltre were that exceptional >>a signing why wasn't anyone else interested in him? Perhaps all other MLB >>teams are just managed by dummies. >> >>In closing, Theo did a good job with what he had to deal with. I just don't >>think his performance needs any lipstick. >> >> >> >> >>On Wed, Jan 6, 2010 at 3:29 PM, Steve Ouellette <[email protected]> >>wrote: >> >>Not saying that it's THE key to winning. It's just one way of winning. If you >>can score 1,000 runs you can outslug people. If you've got a brilliant >>pitching staff, you can win lots of low-scoring games. Any way that you can >>score more runs or allow fewer runs makes you better. I'm just saying adding >>to the defense may be an underppreciated way of improving a team's run >>differential, thus cheaper. If the defense can stop 50 runs from scoring, >>that helps exactly as much as adding 50 runs to the offense. >>> >>>And I don't know what Ray is trying to say. The best defensive teams didn't >>>win last year, so defense doesn't matter? >>> >>>I don't think anyone expected that ragtag collection the Mariners threw out >>>there to win 85 games last year and have the best ERA in the American >>>League. That defense (and that park) made Jarrod Washburn a star, and he >>>flat out sucks. Nobody predicted San Francisco, the top defensive team in >>>the NL, to win 88 games either. Some experts thought they'd be the worst >>>team in the league. >>> >>>The difference between those teams and the Sox is that Boston also has a >>>very competitive offense. I'm looking forward to 2010. >>> >>>Steve O >>> >>> >>> >>>On Wed, Jan 6, 2010 at 2:27 PM, Tom Salemi <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>I agree with the first part, and I'm fine with that. I trust Theo's measure >>>of value. He's right a lot more than he's wrong, with the most glaring >>>example of the latter being Texiera, but the Yanks probably would have just >>>bid $1 more. >>>> >>>>And I'm on board with his signing Lackey. Love the deal. And Beltre is a >>>>good deal as well for the Sox as well. Gives us great flexibility. >>>> >>>>But I'm just not buying the notion that we've disovered the secretthat >>>>defense is the THE key to winning, and that's why we're adding capable >>>>fielders. We signed the capable fielders because they're willing to play >>>>for short money. >>>>. >>>>. >>>> >>>> >>>>On Wed, Jan 6, 2010 at 12:56 PM, Steve Ouellette <[email protected]> >>>>wrote: >>>> >>>>Really? It seems obvious to me that -- unable or unwilling to pony up for >>>>Holliday or Bay -- the Sox decided to focus on defense and pitching. >>>>> >>>>>Steve O >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>But I'm not going to lean too heavily on the defense argument. It just >>>>>>strikes me more as a justification for deals that have happened than an >>>>>>explanation of why the Sox made the deals in the first place. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>-- >>>>>You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>>>"Red Sox Citizens" group. >>>>>To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>>>>To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>>>[email protected]. >>>>>For more options, visit this group at >>>>>http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>>-- >>>>You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>>"Red Sox Citizens" group. >>>>To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>>>To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>>[email protected]. >>>>For more options, visit this group at >>>>http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. >>>> >>>> >>> >>>-- >>>You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>"Red Sox Citizens" group. >>>To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>>To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>[email protected]. >>>For more options, visit this group at >>>http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. >>> >>> >> >>-- >>You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>"Red Sox Citizens" group. >>To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>[email protected]. >>For more options, visit this group at >>http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. >> >> > > >-- > >Author of "FPGA Simulation: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide" >www.fpgasimulation.com > > >-- > >You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Red >Sox Citizens" group. >To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >[email protected]. >For more options, visit this group at >http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Red Sox Citizens" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Red Sox Citizens" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en.
