Red Sox in on Burnett, but no offer yet

Burnett expecting five years guaranteed doesn't say much for portraying his confidence in an ability to remain in good health. It sounds more like maybe he sees this as his last opportunity. It's going to make a lot of people leery of him. Hopefully that includes the Sox.

I think Burnett will sign with the yankees because they will over pay him. He is injury prone and only motivated during a contract year. If the sox were to sign him it would have to be shorter term (3 years) and with incentives for innings pitched and for staying healthy.

First of all, Lowe isn't worth 16 million a season. He's worth about 10-12 mil. Just because he had a good season last year and a couple good seasons in his past, he thinks he can milk that for 16 million? He may end up having to compromise. And Burnett wanting five years? What is he so afraid of? The most I would give him is four years and that's my maximum. Three seems more comfortable and we'll go from there.

These people are multimillionaires playing a game. A game. There are soldiers dying in Iraq being paid 12,000 a year and someone like Derek Lowe thinks he deserves 16 million. These players' lives are comfortable enough already. Why don't they hardly ever take a cut in pay? This is why I fear we're going to lose Varitek because Scott Boras won't agree on the most reasonable deals and keeps pushing for more, more, more...

Burnett is going to the Yankees, Lowe is a joke with what he wants. No one is giving him Barry Zito money. The red sox are jumping into this to drive the price up on the Yankees.

Redsox need to do a deal....AJ Burnett or Jay Peavy
Jake Peavy
2002-2008 7 86 62 .581 3.25 199 199 0 6 3 0 1261.0 1089 484 455 128 407 1256 121

AJ Burrnett
Sim Player From To Yrs W L WL% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA+
1999-2008 10 87 76 .534 3.81 215 211 1 19 9 0 1376.3 1199 645 583 122 568 1278 111

Bronson Arroyo took a pay cut and ended up traded almost immediately... I don't blame the players for milking the system.. The owners have the money and if they are stupid enough to give derek lowe $16 million a year.. let them. Look at the RIDICULOUS offer the yankees made for Sabathia. Its just completely out of control.

To Komedydude:
Soldiers are making allot more than 12k a year and if Derek Lowe can get 16M per season from someone more power to him. So save the "share the wealth" mentality for another site.

what would make the sox good from the mound is this Trade lugo for dontrelle and hope he was the dontrelle he was in florida. sign burnett to a deal for 5 years. try to get lowe, but if that doesnt happen, oh well

PITCHING ROTATION
1. Jon lester
2.A.J. burnett
3. Josh beckett
4. Dice k
5. Dontrelle Willis.

UNBEATABLE

Hey Bubbagump9512, I am a Yankee Fan, and what I, and probably any other Yankee fan fears is the Rotation (or something similar to that) that you have posted. Even in a best case scenario for the Yankees, if those five pitchers have an average to good year (not great) for themselves, we would not fare very well head to head, nor in the race in the east...Especially while we wait for CC "GRIMACE" Sabathia to digest the offer and his Turkey and Cranberries..Good Luck next year..May it be a fun, competitive year for us both.

C.C will sign with the Yankees and so will Burnett. If this does happen, then could you imagine what the series would look like...Yankees vs Red Sux

C.C vs. Beckett
Wang vs. Lester
Burnett vs. Dice-K
Pettite vs. Wakefield
Chamberlain vs. Masterson

That would be nice Aliboye20!!! Either way, I just hope this is a good offseason for both teams...This seems like one of those years that while the Yanks and Red Sox battle over everyone, they will quietly go sign everywhere else, and we (the Yankees ) will wind up with Billy Crystal as our opening day Starter!!!!

LMFAO!!!! I was just "chatting" with some Rays fans...who are calling the Yankees and Sox old teams...who are not in the same league as the Rays. What bandwagon jumpers. One season they go the playoffs...and they think they are invinsible

Lester; Beckett; Matsuzaka; Masterson; Papelbon; Wake.
Pick up Rodriguez as the closer. Having Burnett would be great, but expensive. Paps could be a great starter!

Sox should sign Burnett 3-4 yrs max, throw an option in there if it"ll make him happy....but not a guranteed 5th year. If he signs with the yankees oh well (there goes his chance for a ring). The red sox are in a possition that they can go into the season without signing a new starter and theyll still wind up in the playoffs. What we need to focus on is on signing V-Tek and making sure the yanks dont end up with Tex. Oh and i forgot.....getting rid of lugo and no NOT FOR DONTRELLE

jseverino...you think if Burnett goes to the Yankees...he won't get a ring??? Come on, you can't be serious. If Burnett and C.C goes to NY, Boston will be in deep ****! Plus "Pap"-smear can't start, he will blow his arm out. Krod ain't going to Boston either....step out of your fantasy world...Zippa Head!

I heard today that the sox offer was going to be 5 years 85 million. (weei)

No way are the sox going to offer 5 yrs $85 mil

Theo, we need to outbid Cashman for Burnett!!!!! If we get Burnett and Texeira in our lineup we will be looking at 2009, 2010, 2011 WS, Go Theo...........diehardbostonfansince1969 and proud of it. Forget Peavy he's not leaving NL!!!!

We only needed 1 more in the bullpen, which we got in Ramirez, we made it to game 7 with Mikey out, Papi, J.D., Beckett, Dice-K, Youk and Beckett playing with pain. Bucholz will be back. Beckett, Lester, Dice-k, Masterson, Bucholz, Wakefield, The bullpen, Bay, Ellsbury, J.D., Lowell, Jed, MVP Pedroia, Youk and Tek Who's going to beat that when we are healthy, I'll take my chances the way we are.

Who cares who or what we get for Lugo - just say bye-bye and thank you!!!!

To vinnie, the one more in the bullpen that we need is Burnett!!!!! Unfortunately Fuentes, Peavy most likely not available. Dempster was just re-signed, as well. If Burnett is added to our current rotation the Red Sox will be unstoppable. Also we need to continue to pursue, Tazawa. Japanese pitcher they were looking at about two months ago, as well. Depth to our bullpen is what is needed. It will give us the winning edge to who we already have in our pitching rotation. Bazooka arms kill bats, and their will be plenty of bats to kill in the American League between NYY, Tampa Bay this year. Burnett is a bazooka arm when he is on, he is on man!!!!! This year was a good year for him, the last two to three not so good, but he has what we need. And we should grab him before the Yankees do. Cashman will try to outbid Theo. We also need first baseman Texeira and we need to move Youk to third, keep Lowell as DH or substitute with Youk, depending how his surgery has panned out. If we get Burnett, our pitching rotation will be the envy of the American and National league. Unique combination of arms from the farm mixed "surgically selected, with arms from the FA list" Theo, keep up the great work. diehardbostonfansince1969, and proud of it!!!!!

Sox sign texeira and lowe im happy. id give burnett a 3 yr 48 mil tops. burnett gets hurt too much. why add another injury concern 2 the rotation. Beckett and Wakefield get hurt often. Lowe will be consistent all year round.
IMAGINE THIS ROTATION
1. Jon Lester
2. Derek Lowe
3. Daisuke Matsuzaka
4. Josh Beckett
5. Tim Wakefield

Beckett will be BY FAR the best #4 starter in baseball.

Texeira would be key too. In the playoffs the Red Sox lacked a threatening, slugging hitter. TRADE LOWELL. Eat sum of his contract up, but at least we'll get some prospects in return. Trade Lugo for Robertson or D-train. It'll give the Sox some depth at starting pitching. Keep Masterson in the pen. THEO SHOULD NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT TRADING BIG PAPI. Papi is on pace for 520 home runs. Papi was hurt. He is not done yet. Imagine this lineup:
1. Ellsbury
2. Pedroia
3. Big Papi
4. Texeira
5. Youkilis
6. JD
7. J-Bay
8. Lowrie
9. Tek (they should resign him. noone else is out there.)

4th OF: Rocco Baldelli (why not?)
Resign Kotsay as a utility 1B
Resign Cora

Someone just said Beckett should be a number 4 starter? I almost choked. He is one of the most dominant starting pitchers in the game, he had a bad year, but he is still our ace. lester is the number 2 definatley, and dice-k #3. 4 and 5 is where there is some flexibility, the sox signed wakefield so i think he is gonna be Number 5. Number 4 could be burnett, lowe, or bucholtz.

I would love to get Tex, man he would add so much pop to this lineup. As for getting the D-Train for Lugo, its a risky thing but risk is my middle name....actually its michael but thats not orginal. I would rather trade Lugo for prospects and sign either Oliver Perez or Ben Sheets. I think Burnett is a walking calamity and Lowe isnt worth 16 mil a year.
And why does everone have Beckett as the #3 starter or lower. He was hurt most of the year and is still the ace of this club. I envision this

1. Beckett
2. Dice-K
3. Lester
4. Oliver Perez or Been Sheets
5. Wake

Lineup
1. Ellsbury
2. Pedroia
3. Ortiz
4. Tex
5. Youk
6. Bay
7. Drew
8. Lowrie
9. v-tek

We get Salty in a deal for either Bucholz or Masterson

We all have prayed on rzors edge this team through trying times. Last years playoffs there were innings that just could not be watched. Youth is a great asset but too much is asking for the impossible. Papelbon has his niche, twenty minutes of adrenalin. Wakefield is a coin toss fluttering quality pitcher. Matsusaka is has skilled greatness but no longevity. Beckett is an often injured super star. He and Burnett were both question marks with the Marlins. Forgive me.. We played over our heads much of last season. Trade Bucholz (fluke) and of course Lugo (errors). Willis is a fantastic pitcher, hits in Interleague games. Varitek's stroke makes me a batting coach, backup catcher now or see you. Texeira is an absolote must signing out of genuine need, gained all of my respect in the playoffs, batting stamina and fielding chutzpah. Youkilis moves to third, Lowell shares a platooned righty/lefty DH, Ortiz like Beckett has given his best already, more productive one will play most. Trading Crisp was a mistake! We saw who Coco is late last season. Now we need a right handed outfilder? We had a speedy gutsy switch hitting outfielder. Ellsbury can steal bases, go three for twenty also. Resign Lowe? Then resign Damon, apologize to Arroyo. This team scares me, other than Pedroia and Youkilis. Loyal and obsessed fan since 1967, stomach lining still mending.

I would never in a million years give Burnett 5 yrs. or Lowe 16 mil a year. That's bizarre. I would give Burnett 3 yrs. and a Team option for a 4th and MAYBE 5th year. I would give Lowe about 9-11 million a year, not 16. If we do get both this is what I think the rotation would be.

1. Dice K
2. Beckett
3. Lester
4. Burnett
5. Lowe

And put Wake in the Pen as a LR and an extra starter.

I agree that Wakefield should not be in the rotation. He was awful last year and hes about 100yrs old. I think that Masterson could find his way back into the rotation, if he wins a spot.
The redsox do need to add another big game pitcher because the rays are going to be good and the yankees are going crazy because they realized how terrible they are so they are having to do all they can to buy more talent.
the rotation would be wicked if it were
1.beckett
2.lester
3. dice k
4. burnett
5. masterson

This division is getting even more competitive so the redsox have to do all they can to have an edge on the other teams.

Lugo needs to go for sure. Lowrie is already better than that joker. if dontrelle willis can get back to his old form which means lose weight and get confidence back but mainly lose weight then he could be another good addition to give the redsox depth in the pitching rotation and bullpen.

Hello out there--Take note the Rangers need a third baseman and have 4, count 'em, 4 catchers. Why not dangle Lugo before them. I don't see 5 years for any pitcher and Lowe has been smoking something if he thinks he is worth 16m per year. I say go after Tex-he wants championships and those don't come in Baltimore or Washington. If you are not successful-you make NY pay more!!

I have a vision of where Theo is headed - for what it is worth! I think Masterson (as good as he is) is being replaced by the new Ramirez and will be packaged with Buchholz (and maybe a minor leaguer) to San Diego for Peavy. That will leave all the FA money for Teixeira. If it all works out that way we can start ordering our WS tickets today !!

The best shortstop Sox have had in the
last 5 years is Orlando Cabrera. Is there
some reason he is not being considered?
It was a mistake to let him get away in
the first place. Going after Tex is a no-brainer,
regardless of the Youk,Lowell situation.Find
a way to work it out. Sox fan since Hal Wagner
was the catcher.(1940)

The sox need to get some thing straight. Don't let the Yankees get Tex or Burnett. The sox have to go after Tex. With him at first, Youk at third,Pedrioa at second and Lowrie at short stop that is an all around gold glove fielding team. As considering to get Rocco Baldelia. I am just going to go out and say it. I personally think it is a bad idea. This is how my pitching roation looks for 2009.
1.Beckett
2.Lester
3.Burnett(hopefully)
4.Dice-K(that is like a first starter so there is another win)
5.Wake(if he is our last option)
The line-up should be like this.
1.Pedrioa
2.Youk
3.Ortiz
4. Texeria
5.Drew
6.Bay
7.Lowrie
8.Varitek
9. Ellsbury(last so he get on base for top of order)
Can't beat that. I want Ellsbury last because I don't think he is ready to be a first batter. May be next season(2010). He needs to get a little better at inside pitches. That line-up is unstoppable. With the pitching you would at the most play 5 games in the World Series

This should be the Red Sox pitching staff

1. Beckett

The Red Sox go for Jake Peavy. He was 2007 National League Cy Young winner.

This is should be the RedSox pitching staff:

Beckett
Matsuzaka
Lester
Buccholz or Masterson
Wakefield

Lineup:
Ellsburry
Pedrioa MVP! MVP!MVP!
Ortiz
Texeira
Youkilis YYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUKKKKK
Bay
Drew
Lowrie
Saltalamacchia (i think thats how you spell it)

Varitek its been a good ride by good bye!
Lugo go away!
Crisp he would have been a good player again, but Ellsburry will do awesome. Bullpen is fine with okajima, rami

i agree with one comment earlier that we should not have traded crisp as is just leaves us one outfielder and a right handed batter short. it was proven thoughout the season that all the outfielders got their at bats and contributed to the teams success. trading lugo is a must and why not get dontrell willis. if he can recapture his old form he would be invaluable and affordable. i dont see the sox willing to pony up the bucks for lowe (and he aint worth 16 mil) or the long term contract for the often injured burnett (anyone remember matt clement). masterson was great in the pen, but i think he needs to start. talk about a great arm. add him to the rotation and work on some trades for middle relief. tex would be a great addition, but we had a pretty potent lineup with youk and lowell when they were healthy. with most of the team injured at some point last year and yet still making it to game 7 of the alcs we dont need to make huge changes.....just sign TEK!!

OK, enough with a knuckleballer being 100 already. Since when does wakefield have to be an overpowering arm, he does what he does and he does it very well. Give credit where credit is due. Id love to see burnett come but with what pricetag both financially and physically, its a slippery slope to put all that cash into a person who gets hurt. Tex is the man, watched him in Texas for 2 years when I moved from Rhode Island for a couple of years and he is an exciting capable and steady powerhitter...

I love Wake. He has given us alot of innings and alot of quality starts that team didn't score any runs.If we didn't need Cash to catch him though we could trade Clay for Teagarden who though he is right handed hit like 320 against righties but 190 something against lefties and Tek hit 284 against lefties but 202 aginst righties. This would be an awsome platoon. Even if this doesn't happen if we resign Tek He should just bat righty all the time no matter what side pitcher throws from. Has to be better than 202 hitting left-handed. The idea of Ben sheets sounds more economical than Burnett also

I have been a fan since 86'. I love the bosox and the job that Theo has done so far. He has been a perfect fit. Sign Texiera and forget about Lowe and Burnett. I also agree with what one of the fans have said, about lugo. Get rid of him for someone in the middle relief or a starter. Jed lowrie is all we need, Orlando C. can stay where he is.

I don't belive the red sox are in dire need of starting pitching this off-season. Keep in mind beckett, lester , and dice-k are still in their 20's and hitting their prime. If you add burnett to the rotation, you have to consider, length of contract, annual dollar amount, and his health in to consideration. He's too young for an incentive-laden contract, and he won't accept option years because he wants the guaranteed salary. His health has always been the main concern. He has only had two seasons in which he has won more than 15 games, most notibly last season with 18 wins. No doubt he is motivated in a contract year, but it's not worth the risk to guarantee 18 million a season for five years for a player with an injury plagued track record. Boston would be better served using contract money for a bat, most notibly texeira(sp?) . I don't think tex is going to end up in boston due to the complication of mikey lowell's contract and his stock going down because of hip surgery. Youkilis is a better first baseman than 3rd base. Tex is probably a better first baseman with a larger sample than youkilis, but boston probably won't weaken one of the corner positions just to get a power hitter.
Now, what do I think boston will do? I think Theo Epstein will jump on the lugo/willis trade for several reasons. Willis's capabilities have been hampered by injury and conditioning problems, but the risk is low due to his contract status. Lugo is going to be traded anyway so adding Willis makes sense in the short term. I believe Epstein will also explore options at short , not for starting, but for an insurance in case Lowrie stumbles out of the gate. Furcal is not out of the realm of possibility, but his contract is a bit much to take on for a guy with a balky lower back. Though in that case lowrie wouldn't start, but that's an example of another short term goal. Finally, this is my rotation for next year.....

Beckett
Lester
Matsuzaka
Willis
Wakefiled

i see everyone here has their own idea of how to spend mr. henry's money. the perfect lineup, the perfect rotation. 1 thing i know being a lifelong sox fan like the rest of you is that we've become spoiled. with 04,07 now we expect a world series every year. not gonna happen, ask the yanks.
free agency has destroyed this game and these premadonna's think they are made of gold. everyone here has written off mike lowell. he deserves the chance of a return, has been a great red sox and a solid bat in the middle of the lineup. i am one to stick with older, consistent
players like wake, he can stay as long as he wants. so forget tex, burnett. remember we did go to the alcs with who's in the clubhouse right now.

To garymit: If we do not get another bazooka arm for the rotation, the young'ins will not carry us to the WS next year, they may in 3 years, but not by next year. Sheets, Burnett, Garland, Peavy, or Reyes would be the FA's to go after. Lowe and Sabathia will make it to the Yankess, Peavy may stay put in NL. We need one more good bazooka arm to kill bats next year Ramirez is not enough.

Whose in the clubhouse right now is old news, to stay competitive with the NL and AL we need good mix of FA's along with the Farm to make it to championships. We should always be looking to improve the ballclub, last year players, just not enough!!!diehardbostonfansince1969, and I know the Red Sox!!!

ok ok here is how i see it breaking down. CC to NY or LAD. sox get tex and give lowe a low-ball offer of 11mil and he goes there. if Ny misses on CC they get burnett. if lad miss cc they get burnett. sox pitching is 1. beckett 2. lester 3. dice-k 4.lowe 5. wake
lineup
mvp pedroia
youk
papi
tex
jd
bay
lowrie
bengie molina yes i see that happening
ellsbury
4th out field balldeli
kotsay leaves casey stays lowell gone lugo can pack his crap and never come back

I propose the Sox do the following...

Sign Teixeira. Do whatever it takes to lock him up for the next 8-10 years. Scott Boras likes money, the Sox have money...it's that simple.

Sign Jason Bay to a long term deal. He isn't Manny, but he doesn't try to be... and he is a very good fit with this team.

Trade Lugo for D-Willis...even if he doesn't return to his "Florida form" he will still be of more use as a 5th starter than Lugo is as a backup shortstop (with Lowrie having as much upside as he does I don't see Lugo getting his job back and Alex Cora is a better utility guy).

Trade Lowell and Masterson (or Buchholz) to the Rangers for Saltalamacchia or to the Indians for Shoppach to replace Varitek. (I love Tek but I think he is on the decline and it would be best for the future to let him go now...same with Lowell)

Offer Lowe around 12 million, like it has been said in several posts above....he would probably take it from Boston since he has said he wants to come back.

2009 Rotation:

1. Beckett
2. Lester
3. Dice-K
4. Lowe
5. Willis/Wakefield

2009 Lineup:

1. Ellsbury
2. Pedroia
3. Ortiz
4. Teixeira
5. Youkilis
6. Drew
7. Bay
8. Saltalamacchia/Shoppach
9. Lowrie

GO SOX!!!!

All the sox fan's in here donn't agree on everything but the one thing we do agree on is that screw julio lugo. he is the worst player in history. he does error after error after error. he is a piece of junk.
Also we need to get TEX. Sign him! With him we have a gold glove at first, gold glove at second, gold glove at third, and may be a gold glove for the future in lowrie. I think the trade Julio Lugo for D-Train is a great one. He may have came off some really bad season, but he could go back to his great form. He could probably be the best fifth starter out there.
As for Salty i think trade for him. I love to watch him play. He is my favorite catcher after Tek. He could split the time with Tek. The most important thing is to sign Tek. Without him you might as well trade Beckket, Lester, Dice-k, Wake, and Papelbon(think is spelled it right.
The line-up should be as followed:
1.Pedrioa(MVP MVP MVP)
2.Youk(hit hit hit hit hit)
3.Big Papi(comeback season)
4.Tex(Please sign him)
5.Jason Bay(great hitter)
6.J.D Drew(good month's and bad month's)
7.Lowrie(great prospect)
8.Varitek/Salty(both outstanding catchers)
9.Ellsbury(last so he get on base for top of line-up
Pitching should look like this:
1.Beckket(may have had a little rought season but still great)
2.Lester(CY Young in 2009
3.Dice-K(get into trouble then get out of it)
4.Lowe(love to see him back in Boston)
5.WIllis(could have a great season if we get him)

TADE JULIO LUGO TRADE HIM PLEASE WORST PLAYER I TELL YOU WORST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m glad these fantasy owners aren’t involved in Red Sox negotiations. The morons on this site forget that Wakefield is an innings machine with a decent era. In the past 3 years Wake has won 34 games and pitched 410 innings. AJ has won 38 games and pitched 421 innings. Wake is getting 4 million per year and AJ wants how much? Why do all the amateur bloggers always leave Wake out of the pitching equation and why does everyone put Lester and Beckett at the top of the rotation? Dick-K has been in this league for 2 years. He has won 33 games and pitched 322 innings. All he did was go 18-3 last year and he should have won the CY Young. However, the idiot bloggers place him as the number 4 starting pitcher and leave Wakefield out of the rotation. The Red Sox do not need another starting pitcher!! They need to bolster the bullpen and they need one more big bat. Let the Yankees have the often-injured Burnett and the 35-year-old Lowe. I don’t even care if they get CC because CC is over weight and he is just an average lefty in the American league. I am so glad Theo is running this show and not the amateurs.

Is it me, or does it seem lately that free agents are asking for more than what seems realistic? For an injury plagued player like Burnett, he has a prayer if the thinks that a team will give him 5 years. Of course, there are some teams crazy enough to be lured into such a deal. I see him with a 2, maybe 3 year deal, tops.

Hey Dmikewil, Being A Yankee Fan, I all too Proudly (sarcastic) will say that we will be the idiots that give Burnett the 4 -5 year deal , so he can keep the seat that Pavano kept warm for us over the past few years. Going into this offseason as hopeful as I ever have been in the last 36 years of being a fan, I again sit sadly and watch as the Yankees covet that one player or intention , and do not realize what will help us the most (i.e Santana to the Mets '07) We wait for CC "Grimace" to make up his mind, when we could go and sign a player like Texiera who could help us win in 162 games , instead of just the 35 he would start...so It is a ridiculous time to be a Yankee fan. Dont get me wrong, we NEED Pitching, now more than ever...but we could spread that $25,000,000 dollars (Plus a little extra obviously, no one is that cheap anymore !!!) a year over 3 starters that could battle for the #2 spot in the rotation (the way it used to be). Now regarding the Red Sox (from an Sox Nation outsider point of view) You guys will be fine!!!, you have 3 front line starters, and as people are starting to mention more frequently, a starting pitcher who will throw his knuckleball another 50 years!!!! Most yankee fans will admit at this point I believe, that years ago the games were ALWAYS fun to watch against Boston because they were filled with Drama and Suspense, and we would usually win (Yankees) but now there is an amazingly different feel to the games between the two. Exciting still, but now it feels like we are always just "Lucky to get that win...So I believe that yopu guys (Boston) are still the Team to beat in the East right now, and I hope that this Rivalry never loses that spark, because win or lose for me and the Yankees, There is NOTHING I would rather watch or be part of...So good Luck to you guys (Boston and their Fans) in the future, and may we always fight til the end for Division Supremacy !!!!

in response for the potential rotation, that's retarded, why would you put your 19 game winner fourth in the rotation and your ace third. dontrelle willis sucks, when you're demoted to the minor league on a fifth place team in a weak devision then you should probably just kill yourself. aj burnett would be an idiotic move especially when you could get lowe for the same price if not less. burnett is so prone to injury even he knows it, hence why hes asking for a 5 year deal. beckett lester and dice k are the 1 2 3 fourth guy is going to be either lowe if we get him, schilling bucholtz masterson or one of the many other potentials we have sitting around and your 5 is wakefield

to aliboye, we already had C.C. against beckett and beckett bent him over and had his way with him. baseball gave CC the cy young because they felt so bad for him. you would think the yankees would learn by now money doesn't buy good teams, considering they faught with the blue jays for third place and barely snuck by while having huge names on their line up. i would take those match up any day. you figure both pitchers have a good day, red sox sweep the series. lester and dice k are getting better while wang is coming off an injury and petite is going down hill. wakefield can either blow it after 3 innings or fornicate you for 8 so go ahead and roll the dice and hope you win against him because you're not winning against anyone else

We do need another bazooka arm in the pen besides dicek, lester, beckett 3 doesn't cut it, we need 4 or 5 good starts in todays competitive market. Yesterdays news, is, we lost our chance at a WS, instead Tampa Bay beat us. Why? We had alot of injuries this year, and yet came to 1 game of division championship? Burnett is injury prone but so is Beckett and Lowell, and big Papi with his wrist injury this year. Garland, Reyes, Sheets, Peavy, Burnett, Lowe will all be acquired by someone this year. Will it be us, who knows. We are in the negotiation mix for Tazawa and Texeira (great prospects here for the Sox, if Theo lands them) As far as pitching goes, we have to be almost surgical in our selection of FA's and mix this talent with our farm prospects. Willis does not have a good record nor does Robertson but either of them will add depth to our rotation like Byrd has, when we get into a bind. We do need one more starter, I donot agree with 3 is enough, there is never enough good starters. Our competitors are watching us in our bidding for FA's as well. Bazooka arms kill bats and there are plenty of bats to kill between the Yankees and Tampa Bay next year! Ramirez was a dynamic gain for our bullpen, good job Theo on that one! Who do you think we could get for that one more starter that will make the difference for us besides Tazawa? Intelligent banter welcome. diehardbostonfansince1969, and proud of it!!!!